128 basic sauce recipes

Pappardelle smothered in a chunky red sauce with artichokes, roasted peppers, cannellini beans, and sun-dried tomato pesto. Hearty, rustic Italian comfort in 40 minutes.

Restaurant-style penne in a rich coconut-curry cream sauce with crab and broiled scallops, finished with spiced tomato chutney and fresh basil. A showstopper fusion dish.

Crispy pan-fried vegetarian pot stickers filled with tofu, brown rice, shiitake mushrooms, and olives, served with a fresh tomato-daikon-shiso dipping sauce.

Semifreddo is another popular dessert in Australia besides pavlova that I made a few days ago. Semifreddo is basically made with egg yolks and heavy cream, it's rich, silky and decadent. Fruits, chocolate or nuts all can be added into the base, pour into a loaf pan, then simply freeze it until it's firm. It's usually served with fruits, or fruit sauce, or candied nuts.

Hickory-smoked pork ribs marinated in cider vinegar and garlic salt, grilled over charcoal, then dunked in a warm BBQ-and-steak sauce with molasses. Backyard classic.

Easy raisin sauce: a classic sweet-tangy companion for baked ham, made with brandy-plumped raisins, Dijon, red wine vinegar, brown sugar, and brown sauce. An Easter dinner essential.

This is a great way to liven up a basic white sauce. Works great over veggies or even as a healthy topping for mashed potatoes.

This is one of the basic dessert sauces. It is luscious simply served with fresh fruit.

A basic soup base that's made with tomato sauce. Perfect to use when creating any kind of soup!

This pasta sauce is basically a variation on the Indian raita, a cooling, soothing combination of cucumber, cilantro and yogurt.

An authentic basic salsa using dried chiles for use as a sauce for egg, Chilaquiles or Enchiladas. It also makes a nice spicy dip for tortilla chips.

Seven-ingredient vegetarian chili built on a can of refried beans, tomato sauce, and basic pantry spices. Comes together in 20 minutes flat. The college-dorm chili that scales to a real weeknight bowl.

Summer bean and basil soup is a classic Provençal soupe au pistou. White beans, leeks, potatoes, zucchini, green beans, and macaroni in a light broth, served with a fresh basil-garlic pistou sauce on top.

Pan-seared fish fillets in a Mediterranean sauce of kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and capers. Ready in 25 minutes with trout, sole, or orange roughy. Quick, elegant weeknight dinner.

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Hearty vegetarian mostaccioli in a wine-simmered crushed tomato sauce with toasted walnuts, sherry pepper oil, julienned zucchini, and red peppers, broiled under bubbly mozzarella and fresh basil.