214 plain recipes

Old-fashioned pound cake with a full pound of real butter, eight eggs, and no leavening. Baked low and slow for a dense, velvety crumb with deep buttery flavor.

Plain basic chili, a Texas-style chili con carne made with cubed beef, not ground, simmered low in chili powder, beef broth, and crushed tomatoes until fork-tender. No beans, no filler, just rich, beefy chili.

Thai-style plain fried rice with tofu, garlic, soy sauce, and white pepper, served with fresh cucumber, cilantro, chilies, and lime wedges.

Homemade breadsticks with a simple olive oil yeast dough rolled into thin ropes and baked until crispy and browned. Plain or seeded with fennel, caraway, or poppy seeds. Keeps for weeks.

Homemade yeast breadsticks, plain or seeded with fennel, caraway, or poppy seeds. Thin, crispy, bakery-style sticks that keep for weeks stored airtight.

Plain Italian minestrone with potatoes, celery, green beans, peas, and ditalini pasta in a simple broth, finished with Parmesan and parsley. No tomatoes needed.

A nearly flourless Italian chocolate cake made with melted semi-sweet chocolate, ground amaretti cookies, rum, and nine whipped eggs. Three thin, crackle-topped layers that are rich, dense, and deeply chocolatey.

Southern chicken and okra gumbo with salt pork, fresh tomatoes, and hot pepper, served over fluffy white rice. A slow-simmered Plains-style gumbo with deep, smoky flavor.

A hearty bread machine loaf with whole wheat flour, oat bran, vital wheat gluten, and honey. High fiber, soft crumb, and completely hands-off.

Kid-friendly banana nut muffins with yogurt, brown sugar, and walnuts. No eggs needed, easy enough for young bakers, and ready in 30 minutes.

Give twice baked potatoes an Indian twist with some delicious Indian spices.

Mile-high blueberry muffins built on tangy plain yogurt and butter cut into the dry ingredients (biscuit-style). Bursting with fresh blueberries and finished with a crackly sugar top, ready in 40 minutes.

Recipe yields 1 loaf. Find more recipes on TheNibble.com.

An rustic and authentic version of a very popular Palak Paneer from North India. Out of several version I've tried this Palak Paneer is the best one yet.

Whole-wheat grape juice muffins with blue cornmeal, yogurt, and a pinch of nutmeg. Naturally sweetened with concord grape juice, no refined sugar. A wholesome lunchbox snack.

Chipotle potato salad swaps mayo for tangy yogurt and roasts the potatoes until golden, then folds in smoky chipotle, lime, cilantro, and Dijon. A lighter, bolder no-mayo potato salad for any cookout.