Best Crafts and Recipes

A recipe box for the way you actually cook.

Weeknight dinners, slow cooker suppers, air fryer shortcuts and the desserts everybody asks you to bring. Ordinary ingredients, equipment you already own, and instructions written in the order you do them.

2,000+Recipes

17Categories

583Reader favourites

480Dinner ideas

Slow Cooker Mississippi Pot Roast

Pecan Praline Pumpkin Cake

Crispy Air Fryer Coconut Chicken

Better Than Starbucks Banana Bread

Start here

Six recipes worth cooking this week

Pick one and dinner, or dessert, is settled.

Crockpot

Slow Cooker Mississippi Pot Roast

Chuck roast, ranch seasoning, butter and pepperoncini. No liquid added, 8 to 9 hours on low.

Dinner

Easy Tater Tot Casserole

Ground beef, mushroom soup, mixed veg and cheddar under a crisp tot layer. Bakes at 375°F.

Bread

Homemade Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

The coffee-shop roll, made at home, with cream cheese frosting on top while still warm.

Desserts

Root Beer Float Cupcakes

Starts with a box of white cake mix and makes about 24. Soda-shop flavour, beginner-level work.

Crockpot

Crockpot Slow Cooker Chili

Browned beef, beans, tomatoes and chili spices. Serves 6 to 8 and reheats better than it started.

Soft and Chewy Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Chewy rather than cakey, which is the hard part with pumpkin. Ten to twelve minutes per batch.

The recipe box

Every divider tab, and what sits behind it

Seventeen categories. Open the one that matches what you have time for tonight.

480 recipes

Dinner tonight

Skillet suppers, casseroles and pot roasts. The tab people open at 5pm on a Tuesday.

All dinner recipes

25 to 30 minutes

Juicy Skillet Boneless Pork Chops

Seared, then finished with butter, garlic and thyme to 145°F.

Serves 6

Creamy Taco Pasta Bake

Beef, taco seasoning, tomatoes with green chiles and plenty of cheese.

30 to 40 minutes

Lemon Garlic Chicken

Floured, pan-seared, then finished in a bright broth-and-butter sauce.

Short on time

Thirty minutes or fewer

Pulled from every category. Each of these states its time in the recipe itself.

103 recipes

Set it in the morning

Slow cooker and crockpot suppers that cook themselves while you are out.

All crockpot recipes

6 to 8 hours low

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Sour cream goes in at the end so the sauce stays smooth.

4 to 6 hours low

Slow Cooker Chicken Cordon Bleu

Chicken, deli ham, Swiss and a buttery stuffing layer on top.

Budget cut

Slow Cooker Cube Steak

Onions, cream soups and onion soup mix turn into gravy on their own.

74 recipes

Everything in the basket

Crisp results without heating the whole oven. Snacks, sides, mains and a few desserts.

All air fryer recipes

25 to 30 minutes

Crispy Air Fryer Coconut Chicken

Coconut and panko coating, air-fried at 400°F to 165°F inside.

20 to 25 minutes

Cheesy French Onion Pork Chops

A packet of French onion soup mix does all the seasoning work.

8 to 12 minutes

Air Fryer Pumpkin Hand Pies

Refrigerated pie crust, spiced pumpkin, an egg wash and that is it.

387 recipes

Cakes, pies and things to bring

Potluck desserts, birthday cakes and the no-bake ones for when the oven is busy.

All dessert recipes

Serves 12 to 16

Pecan Praline Pumpkin Cake

A 9×13 scratch cake under a buttery brown sugar pecan glaze.

Plate-Licking 4-Layer Chocolate Dessert Recipe

Make ahead

Four Layer Chocolate Dessert

Pecan shortbread base, cream cheese, pudding, whipped topping. Chills 3 to 4 hours.

No machine

No-Churn Peach Ice Cream

About a litre and a half, no cooking, freezes overnight.

170 recipes

Cookies, bars and brownies

Drop cookies, cake mix shortcuts and pan bars that cut into twenty four squares.

All cookie recipes

Makes 30 to 36

Soft Batch Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Thick and chewy. The dough chills 30 minutes before baking.

One 9×13 pan

Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars

Twenty four cookies from one pan, no rolling or cutting.

Serves 10 to 12

Cookie Dough Trifle

Layered in a bowl, no baking, assembles in about 25 minutes.

In season now

Pumpkin, apple and everything that goes with a cold morning

The recipes that get pulled out the week the weather turns. Worth bookmarking before the holidays start.

Pecan Praline Pumpkin Cake

Homemade Pumpkin Fudge

Glazed Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Caramel Pumpkin Mini Pies

Butternut Squash Pie

Apple Fritter Waffles

Caramel Apple Lush Bars

Apple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Roll-Ups

Cranberry Brie Bites

Halloween Chili Con Queso Dip

Layered Jello Candy Corn Cups

The Best Thanksgiving Dressing

149 recipes

Bread, rolls and quick loaves

Dinner rolls for the holiday table, plus quick breads that skip the long rise.

All bread recipes

One 9×5 loaf

Better Than Starbucks Banana Bread

Sour cream in the batter is what keeps the crumb tender.

Makes 12

Skillet Dinner Rolls

Baked in a 10-inch cast iron pan so the sides stay soft.

Pull apart

Oreo Monkey Bread

Biscuit dough wrapped around whole Oreos in a Bundt pan.

110 recipes

Breakfast worth getting up for

Muffins by the dozen, oven pancakes for a crowd, and cakes that count as breakfast.

All breakfast recipes

Serves 4 to 6

Easy German Pancake

Six eggs, one 9×13 dish, 20 to 25 minutes at 425°F. Puffs up on its own.

Makes 10 to 12

Frosted Pecan Pie Muffins

Brown sugar and pecans, finished with cream cheese frosting.

Serves 8

Raspberry Ricotta Breakfast Cake

Ricotta keeps it moist for days, which makes it a good brunch bake.

68 recipes

Fish and seafood on a weeknight

Shrimp that cooks in four minutes, salmon that needs one pan, and casseroles from the freezer aisle.

All fish recipes

25 minutes

Chili Lime Salmon

Lime, chili powder, paprika and cumin. Baked at 400°F for 12 to 15 minutes.

30 to 35 minutes

Creamy Shrimp Alfredo Linguine

One skillet, four servings, real Parmesan grated at the end.

No cleanup

Honey Garlic Salmon in Foil

Sealed packet, 400°F, 15 to 20 minutes. Nothing to scrub afterwards.

25 recipes

Takeout, made at home

Sesame chicken, chow mein and rice bowls using ingredients from a regular grocery run.

All Asian recipes

No frying

Crispy Asian Chicken Wings

Baking powder and a wire rack do what a deep fryer would.

35 minutes

Easy Korean Rice Bowls

Ground beef, spinach, sesame and gochujang. No long marinade.

20 minutes

Classic Chinese Chow Mein

Cantonese-style noodles with cabbage, bean sprouts and a soy-oyster sauce.

46 recipes

Party food and starters

For game day, the holidays, and the potluck where you signed up to bring an appetizer.

All appetizers

Makes 24 to 30

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites

Smoky brown sugar seasoning, baked at 375°F to 165°F inside.

Makes 12

The Best Roast Beef Sliders

Hawaiian rolls, provolone and a Worcestershire-Dijon butter on top.

Mini muffin pan

Cranberry Brie Bites

One sheet of puff pastry makes twenty four. Holiday standby.

55 recipes

Something to dip into

Hot cheese dips, fresh salsas, and the dessert dips that disappear first.

All dip recipes

35 to 40 minutes

Cheesy Bacon Spinach Dip

Squeeze the spinach properly dry or the dip goes watery.

Pantry staples

Corn and Black Bean Dip

Ten minutes of prep, all from cans and a block of cream cheese.

5 minutes

Five Minute Cannoli Dip

All the cannoli flavour, none of the shell frying. Makes about three cups.

119 recipes

The dish that rounds out the plate

Pasta salads, bean salads, and the sweet gelatin salads that count as dessert in some houses.

All salad recipes

Make ahead

Bowtie Feta Pasta Salad

Greek-style with kalamatas and a homemade vinaigrette. Chills 30 minutes.

Serves 8

Southwest Pasta Salad

Rotini, black beans, corn and peppers in a chili-lime dressing.

No cook

Watermelon Salad with Feta and Mint

Fifteen minutes, six cups of watermelon, a lime and olive oil dressing.

66 recipes

Fudge, bars and homemade candy

Most of these need a saucepan or a microwave and a few hours in the fridge.

All candy recipes

Microwave

Easy Turtle Fudge

Chocolate, condensed milk, caramel and toasted pecans in an 8-inch pan.

Makes 36

Homemade Pumpkin Fudge

Real pumpkin puree, white chocolate and marshmallow creme.

3 ingredients

Candy Cane Fudge

White chocolate chips, condensed milk and crushed candy canes.

32 recipes

Outside on the grill

Kabobs, chops, corn and the sauces to go over them.

All grill recipes

6 to 8 minutes

Juicy Grilled Lamb Chops

Garlic, rosemary and lemon marinade, then high heat and not much of it.

Makes 4 to 6

Grilled Chicken Gyros

Oregano and paprika thighs with cucumber tzatziki in warm pita.

Eight kabobs

BBQ Chicken Sausage Kabobs

Fully cooked sausage, so it is really just about the char.

Drinks & dressings

Two small tabs worth opening

Smoothies, cocktails and hot chocolate on one side. Vinaigrettes and homemade ranch on the other.

Drinks · 5 minutes

Cranberry Moscow Mule

Vodka, cranberry, lime and ginger beer. Single serve, measured out.

Drinks · Keeps

DIY Hot Chocolate Mix

Make the jar once, scoop it all winter. Also a decent gift.

Dressings · 30 seconds

Authentic Caesar Dressing

Egg yolk, anchovies, garlic and lemon. Creamy without any cream.

Comfort food

Soups, chilis and a pot of something warm

The recipes that make the house smell right on a cold evening.

Browse the best of

Just added

Newest in the box

Recently published. Worth a look before they get buried under the next hundred.

Weight Watchers Sausage Stuffing

Turkey sausage, apple and herbs.

Homemade Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

The mall-food-court roll, at home.

No-Churn Peach Ice Cream

No machine, freezes overnight.

Old-Fashioned Soft Cookies

Sour cream sugar cookies, five dozen.

About this site

Cooking for a real kitchen, not a photo shoot

Best Crafts and Recipes is a home cooking archive. Most of what is here is the kind of food that has to work on a Wednesday when nobody has energy left: casseroles, sheet pan dinners, slow cooker suppers and sheet cakes.

There is no chasing of trends. If a recipe calls for something you have to order online, it probably is not here. Every recipe states its yield, its oven temperature and how long it actually takes at the top, so you can decide before you start rather than halfway through.

Everything is sorted into seventeen categories so you can start from what you have time for rather than scrolling until something looks good.

Ordinary ingredientsGrocery store shelves, not specialty suppliers.
Equipment you ownSkillet, sheet pan, slow cooker, air fryer. That is the range.
Times and yields up frontPrep, cook and servings stated before the first step.
Sorted, not shuffledSeventeen categories, so the search starts narrow.

Questions

Before you start cooking

Where should I start if I just need dinner tonight?

Open Dinner and look for anything marked one pot or sheet pan. Those run roughly thirty to forty minutes start to finish. If you have longer but want to walk away from it, Crockpot is the tab to open in the morning instead.

Can I make an oven recipe in the air fryer?

Often yes. As a rule of thumb, drop the oven temperature by about 25°F and start checking at roughly two thirds of the stated time, since an air fryer circulates heat much harder in a smaller space. Batter-heavy items and anything with a loose liquid topping do not transfer well. The Air Fryer category holds seventy four recipes already written for the basket.

What is actually in the “Best” category?

It is the largest section on the site at 583 recipes, and it collects the ones readers keep coming back to. A recipe can sit in Best and in its own category at the same time, so a pot roast may appear under both Dinner and Best.

Are there low carb, keto or Weight Watchers options?

Yes, spread across the categories rather than kept in one place. Search the site for “low carb”, “keto” or “Weight Watchers” and you will find cauliflower rice swaps, sugar free candy, lighter casseroles and point-friendly cookies.

Can I halve or double a recipe?

Halving works cleanly for stews, soups, skillet meals and most casseroles, though a smaller dish keeps the depth right. Baking is less forgiving, since leavening, pan size and bake time all shift together. When doubling a cake or a bread, use two pans of the original size rather than one large one, and start checking at the original time.

How do I find a recipe I saw here before?

Use the search box at the top of this page with one distinctive word from the title, such as the main protein or the dessert name. A single term returns better results than a full recipe title.

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