542 plate recipes

Melrose plates: chicken and pasta salad with mandarin oranges, water chestnuts and a honey-mustard poppy seed yogurt dressing. A lighter chicken-pasta luncheon salad served on lettuce.

This old-school blue plate special piles savory ground beef smothered in rich brown gravy over creamy mashed potatoes. Ready in 40 minutes with just 5 ingredients, it's the ultimate retro comfort food dinner the whole family will love.

Fast fruit plate with sliced bananas, strawberries, kiwi, oranges, pineapple, and peaches under a sweetened cream cheese and whipped cream topping. Ready in 20 minutes, no cooking required.

A big beef rump roast braised low and slow with dried pinto beans, green peppers, and onions in a tangy tomato-vinegar sauce with brown sugar and thyme. Feeds 10 hungry folks.

Potato crust pizza baked in a pie plate with sliced potatoes instead of dough. Topped with tomatoes, mushrooms, green olives, and melted mozzarella for a gluten-free-friendly twist on pizza night.

Traditional Welsh plate cake cooked on a bakestone with dried fruit, nutmeg, and brown sugar. Teisin Lap is a rustic griddle cake with a golden crust and tender, fruited crumb, no oven required.

Cream cheese blended with marshmallow creme creates this sweet, fluffy fruit dip where vanilla adds warmth and the creamy texture clings perfectly to apple slices, strawberries, and grapes.

Hearty Dutch oven rump roast braised low and slow with pinto beans, tomato sauce, peppers, and onions. This cowboy-style one-pot beef and bean dinner feeds a hungry crowd.

First place chocolate chip cookies baked low and slow for thick, chewy centers with golden crisp edges. Dark brown sugar and extra vanilla make these rich and caramelly.

Award-winning ginger cookies built on a cooked sugar-and-spice syrup base. Roll, cut, paint, or hand-mold this stiff gingerbread dough into any shape, then bake into crisp golden spice cookies.

German-style apple cream cheese tart with a buttery pressed crust, raspberry jam layer, and cinnamon-spiced apples topped with sliced almonds. Baked in a springform for easy serving.

Rhubarb raspberry platz, a Mennonite fruit dessert with a shortcake base, tart fruit filling, and buttery streusel topping. Three layers baked golden in one pan.

New Orleans seafood gumbo loaded with shrimp, hard-shell crab, and shucked oysters in a roux-thickened broth with okra and the holy trinity. Served over rice, Cajun style.

Award-winning shortbread with just butter, sugar, flour, and salt pressed into thick cutouts: crisp edges, melt-in-your-mouth crumb, adorable sheep shapes with chocolate eyes optional.

Award-winning thumbprint cookies with buttery dough rolled in finely chopped nuts, pressed with your thumb, and filled with ruby raspberry jam: elegant holiday baking that won first place.

The 2nd place winner in the Chicago Tribune's 1996 Annual Holiday Cookie Contest, a simple brown-sugar shortbread from Sandra Petrille of Naperville, Illinois.