2,556 bitter recipes

Slow-simmered Italian pizza sauce built on canned plum tomatoes, olive oil, oregano, basil and tarragon. A balanced, herb-forward sauce that gets even better after an overnight chill in the fridge.

Slow cooker chocolate pudding cake with cocoa, chocolate syrup, and chopped pecans. The batter steams into a fudgy, gooey cake with its own chocolate sauce on the bottom. Served warm with cream.

Old-fashioned bean and bacon soup made with dried pinto beans, smoky bacon, carrots, celery, and a splash of vinegar at the end. Slow-simmered, hearty, and far better than the canned version.

Moist Jewish apple cake layers cinnamon-sugared Granny Smith slices into a tube-pan batter made with applesauce and orange juice for an oil-free, dairy-free dessert that stays tender for days.

Mom's apple cake loaded with five fresh apples, crushed nuts, and cinnamon in a one-bowl oil batter. No eggs, no butter, and incredibly moist. Swap applesauce for oil for a lighter version.

Chocolate sheet cake (Texas sheet cake) with hot cocoa-buttermilk batter and a poured cocoa-buttermilk icing finished while the cake is still hot. The Southern church-supper crowd-feeder cut into 24 squares.

Smoky, sweet stove top baked beans loaded with crispy bacon, brown sugar, bell pepper, mustard, and liquid smoke. No oven needed for this crowd-pleasing BBQ side that gets better the longer it sits.

So good impossible pumpkin pecan pie skips the crust: Bisquick in the batter makes its own as it bakes. A spiced pumpkin custard studded with pecans, topped with spiced whipped cream. Easy, no-roll holiday pie.

Mexican-style chili with ground chuck, kidney beans, three cans of tomatoes, and green chili salsa simmered low for three hours. A big-batch chili built to feed a crowd, freeze well, and taste better on day two.

Wartime impossible pie from South London with one batter that splits into crust, custard, and filling as it bakes. Use it sweet with coconut and vanilla, or savoury with canned tuna or salmon and frozen vegetables. Pantry magic.

Simple chili is a no-bean Texas-style ground beef chili built on chili powder, cumin and a hit of hot sauce. Browned, drained and simmered until thick. The kind that feeds a crowd and tastes better the next day.

Chocolate bar nut cake melts ten ounces of chocolate bars into a buttermilk batter loaded with two and a half cups of chopped nuts and chocolate syrup. Baked low and slow in a tube pan for 90 minutes. A dense, fudgy Bundt-style chocolate cake.