7,151 light recipes

Deep-fried banana peppers stuffed with taco-seasoned ground beef and melty cheese, dipped in a light cornstarch batter that fries up shatter-crisp. A handheld game-day appetizer.

Pecan crunch apple pie with chopped apples, brown sugar, and toasted pecans baked into a single-crust pie. The separated egg trick gives the filling a light, almost cake-like lift.

Chicken salad chinois is a light Asian-inspired chicken salad with yogurt, ginger, and soy dressing. Low-fat and diabetic-friendly, this make-ahead salad gets better as it chills.

Deluxe chocolate chunk walnut cookies with semi-sweet chunks and milk chocolate morsels in a chewy brown sugar dough. Bakery-style thick cookies with two kinds of chocolate.

Aunt Grace's fruit mayonnaise folds a cooked pineapple-orange custard into whipped cream for a light, fluffy, sweet dressing. A vintage spread that turns a simple bowl of fruit salad into something special.

Macadamia chiffon pie folds rum-spiked custard, beaten egg whites, and chopped macadamias into a feather-light filling, set with gelatin and topped with rum whipped cream. A retro showpiece pie.

Restaurant-style crab cakes bound in a light herbed batter instead of breadcrumbs, fried golden in clarified butter and plated over silky beurre blanc with julienned peppers and capers. An elegant starter or main.

Sweet potato bread, a soft, golden yeast loaf enriched with mashed sweet potato and eggs and studded with raisins. The sweet potato keeps the crumb moist and tender. A lightly sweet bread, lovely with butter.

Flaky pastry tart crust made with grapefruit soda instead of water. A 4-ingredient shortening crust that blind bakes golden in 20 minutes. The carbonation keeps the dough light and tender.

No-bake refrigerator cheesecake made with cottage cheese cooked in a double boiler with lemon juice, cornstarch, and folded egg whites. Light, tangy, and set in a cinnamon graham crust.

Herb dumplings made with sour cream, milk, and thyme, dropped onto bubbling soup or stew and steamed under cover for 15 minutes. Light, fluffy, and ready to soak up any savory broth.

Oven-poached fish fillets with water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, snow peas, and scallions in a soy-sesame-ginger court bouillon. A light, elegant Asian seafood dinner ready in 30 minutes.

Kitty Wells' 7-Up pound cake uses lemon-lime soda for a light, tender crumb with subtle citrus flavor. A Southern classic baked in a tube pan with just seven ingredients.

Cream cheese Snickers candy bar pie folds melted Snickers and peanut butter into a light cream cheese mousse, lifted with whipped cream and egg whites and set in a pastry shell. A chilled chocolate-caramel-peanut showstopper.

Great-Grandma's lemon cake with real butter, lemon zest and juice, and beaten egg whites folded in for a light crumb. A heirloom loaf cake recipe that makes two freezer-friendly loaves.

Salmon croquettes with remoulade sauce: pantry-friendly canned salmon patties bound with mayo, mustard, tarragon, and cracker crumbs, then pan-fried golden and served with carrot slaw and tangy remoulade.