2,833 water recipes

Old-fashioned date and nut quick bread with just 8 ingredients. Dates soaked in boiling water create a naturally sweet, dense loaf that slices like a dream. No mixer needed.

Chinese-style lamb hot pot with paper-thin slices cooked tableside in boiling chicken broth, dipped in a soy, sesame, peanut butter, and bean curd sauce. Served with spinach, cabbage, and cellophane noodles.

Vodka infused with toasted almonds, warm cinnamon, and almond extract transforms into a smooth homemade amaretto perfect for spiking coffee or drizzling over ice cream.

Classic cocoa layer cake with a tender crumb from the creaming method, ready for your favorite frosting. Swap water for coffee to deepen the chocolate flavor. A reliable two-layer cake in under an hour.

A unique and wonderful salad that is perfect for the backyard barbecue.

Single-serving broccoli rice soup made with leftover rice, cooked broccoli, and a surprising hint of apple. Serve chunky or puree it smooth. Ready in about 10 minutes of active cooking.

Cold quinoa summer salad tossed with pecans, black olives, mushrooms, plumped raisins, and scallions in a lemon-soy-olive oil dressing. No cooking required.

Warm brownie pudding cake bakes its own fudgy chocolate sauce underneath a soft cake top. Pour boiling water over the batter, don't stir, bake, then spoon out cake and sauce in one go.

Sugar-free marinated cucumber salad with vinegar, garlic, and black pepper. Salt-brined thin slices release their water, then soak up a tangy dressing for a crisp, diabetic-friendly side dish.

Rum flan cake with caramelized sugar, a rum-orange custard layer, and a light chiffon cake baked together in a water bath. A magical two-in-one dessert that inverts into flan on top and cake below.

Crispy Chinese-style honey chicken with cornstarch batter, double-fried until golden, drizzled with ginger-garlic honey sauce. Restaurant takeout flavors at home with wok technique.

Barbara Bush's signature chocolate chip cookies with a quirky splash of hot water in the dough that yields a crisp-edged, soft-centered cookie. A small-batch White House classic.

Kokt Orrett, a traditional Norwegian poached trout in vinegar water, served with whipped parsley butter and lemon wedges. A gentle, minimal cooking method that lets fresh trout speak for itself.

Creamy chicken and macaroni casserole: cubed chicken breast and elbow pasta in a sour cream and cream of chicken sauce, topped with melted cheddar and Monterey Jack. A pantry weeknight dinner.

Poor man's shrimp transforms cubed salmon into shrimp-like bites by quick-poaching in heavily salted water. A vintage frugal cooking trick that yields firm, pink, shrimp-textured salmon for cocktails or salads.

Egg-free and dairy-free corn muffins made with cornmeal, flour, shortening, and vinegar. A simple, old-fashioned recipe that bakes up golden in 20 minutes with pantry staples and water instead of milk.