440 smart recipes

A big-batch chili built on chopped sirloin and sausage, simmered with dried pinto beans, mushrooms, olives, and green chilis. Four hours from start to bowl, this freezer-friendly recipe feeds a crowd.

Sybil Carter's homemade barbecue sauce starts with bacon drippings and builds layers of tangy tomato, brown sugar sweetness, mustard bite, and hot pepper heat. Doubles easily and keeps in the fridge for weeks.

Manhattan-style clam chowder with bacon, minced clams, diced potatoes, plum tomatoes, celery, and green pepper in a briny tomato broth. The red chowder that started a rivalry with New England's cream version.

Spanish clay pot chicken with ham, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, and tomatoes braised in wine. A rustic Mediterranean one-pot meal cooked from a cold oven start for tender, falling-off-the-bone results.

Quick raisin muffins skip the butter and oil entirely, using just milk and an egg to bind a lightly sweet, raisin-studded crumb. Ready in 40 minutes start to finish with pantry basics.

Red snapper baked en papillote with a creamy green peppercorn pan sauce. A bistro-style fish dinner with tender flaky fillets and a peppery wine cream that takes 30 minutes start to finish.

German chocolate cake mix topped with a melted Snickers and butter glaze and a sprinkle of flaked coconut. A four-ingredient potluck cake that comes together start to finish in under an hour.

Applesauce cinnamon bread for the bread machine, with buttermilk for tang and a full tablespoon of cinnamon for serious spice. An eight-ingredient yeast loaf that loads and starts in under 5 minutes.

Bread machine beer cheese bread with American cheese melted into beer and Monterey Jack cubes folded through. Push the start button and walk away. Beer-yeast bread with hidden pockets of melted cheese.

Rich West Indian Christmas cake soaked in rum and sherry with dried fruits, warm spices, and browning for deep color. Start the fruit a month ahead for a dense, boozy holiday cake worth the wait.

Bread machine Irish soda bread with a splash of whiskey and a cup of plump raisins. A no-knead, no-yeast quick bread you make by tossing everything in and pressing start. A St. Patrick's Day favorite.

Awesome cinnamon rolls built on a soft, sponge-started yeast dough, rolled tight with cinnamon sugar and baked over a brown-sugar-and-butter layer that turns into a sticky caramel bottom. A big-batch bakery classic, made from scratch.

Swiss cheese potato bread from the bread machine, with potato flakes for a soft, moist crumb and melted Swiss for nutty, savory flavor. Just add everything, press start, and bake a tender golden loaf.

Hearty multigrain bread machine loaf packed with whole wheat, rye flour, wheat germ, bran, and sunflower seeds. Dump it all in, press start, and let the machine bake a dense, nutty, fiber-rich loaf.

A three-layer blackberry cake bursting with fresh berries, flaked coconut, and chopped pecans, frosted in a buttercream loaded with more of the same. Starts with a cake mix but finishes like a showpiece.

This hearty Cajun chicken and andouille gumbo starts with a deep chestnut roux, the holy trinity, and smoky sausage simmered into a rich, soul-warming bowl. Serve over rice with a splash of sherry.