Snack
993 recipes found
Creamy Homemade Yogurt
Homemade yogurt is a snap to make. All you really need is good quality milk, a few spoonfuls of your favorite plain yogurt to use as a starter culture, and some time to let it sit. You can substitute low-fat milk here if you’d rather; 2 percent works a lot better than 1 percent. Skim milk will give you a thinner yogurt, though if you add some dry milk powder to the milk as it heats (about 1/2 cup), that will help thicken it. Creamline (non-homogenized milk) will give you a cream top on your yogurt. Homogenized milk is smooth throughout.
Loaded Vegan Nachos
This recipe certainly has more steps than the original nachos, but you’ll be rewarded with a festive tray that’s hearty and vegetable-packed enough for dinner. Queso is a great choice for nachos because, unlike melted grated cheese, it stays creamy and doesn’t congeal. This homemade, vegan take owes its bold flavor to nutritional yeast, chipotle, garlic powder and pickled jalapeños, and its glossy and smooth texture to the magical combination of starchy bean liquid and blended cauliflower. The key to great nachos is to make sure that each element is delicious on its own, so here, roasted cauliflower gets seasoned with cilantro and lime, and pinto beans with spicy adobo sauce.
Classic Tuna Salad Sandwich
Here is Craig Claiborne’s version of the classic lunchbox staple. Celery, red onion and red bell pepper add crunch; capers and lemon juice lend a little tang.
Vegan Zucchini Bread
This dairy- and egg-free spin on a cozy classic loaf cake comes together quickly in one bowl without much effort. Be sure to give the grated zucchini a good squeeze to release any excess liquid before you add it into the batter to avoid an overly dense, soggy cake. For a slightly more wholesome loaf, feel free to substitute 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour for 1/2 cup all-purpose flour. You can also add a handful of chopped chocolate or nuts, or both. Don’t skip the sugar on top; it gives the finished loaf a wonderful crunchy crust. A note on sugar: Some sugar is processed using animal products and is not considered vegan. If you want to use vegan sugar, look for a brand that is U.S.D.A-certified organic, which ensures animal products are not used.
Tea Eggs
In the 18th century, the Qing dynasty scholar Yuan Mei wrote about cooking eggs in a solution of tea leaves and salt in “The Way of Eating.” Now, tea eggs are prepared throughout China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and in diaspora communities the world over. Known for their marbled design and savory soy flavor, the eggs are boiled, then cracked and soaked in tea blended with spices. The liquid seeps beneath the cracks to form fine lines all over the eggs while seasoning them. You can also simply marinate them without their shells and end up with a more robust taste. Adjust the seasonings below to your taste, if you like, and then enjoy the eggs on their own with a cup of tea or any way you would enjoy boiled eggs — in rice bowls, noodles, salads and other vegetable dishes.
Air-Fryer Sweet Potato Fries
Like air-fryer French fries, air-fryer sweet potatoes achieve similar success, utilizing less oil and requiring less time than deep-fried versions. While sweet potato fries won’t crisp up as much as their potato counterparts, that’s part of the appeal, offering textural contrast of creamy centers and charred tips. Oomph from any of your favorite spices would work well here, along with the paprika. Sumac could add a punch of brightness or a dash of cayenne can impart some heat. If your air fryer basket is larger, try a bigger sweet potato for a higher serving — but don’t overfill it with sweet potatoes, or they’ll steam rather than crisping in spots.
Pressure Cooker Chocolate Pudding
Dense, creamy and fudgy, this pudding is meant to be made in a 6- to 8-quart electric pressure cooker like an Instant Pot. You can bake this recipe as one larger pudding or as individual servings. It can be made in a stovetop pressure cooker, by trimming a few minutes off the cooking time, or you can also bake the individual servings in a water bath in the oven. To do so, heat the oven to 300 degrees. Set the filled, uncovered custard cups in a large roasting pan positioned on the oven's center rack. Add hot tap water to the pan, halfway up the sides of cups. Cover the entire pan with foil, and use a fork to prick holes in foil. Bake until edges are lightly set (lifting the foil to check) but the centers are still jiggly – they will set as they cool – 30 to 35 minutes.
Japanese Soufflé Pancakes
Japanese soufflé pancakes start with the same ingredients as American varieties — namely, eggs, flour and milk — but they tower above traditional diner versions thanks to the addition of extra egg whites. A meringue mixture is beaten to stiff peaks, then folded into the batter, which cooks directly in metal pastry rings to help the pancakes attain their distinctive height. The key is to cook the batter at a very low temperature. If your stove has a small burner, or an especially low heat setting, use it here to create these custardy pancakes, worthy of breakfast, an afternoon snack or even dessert.
Air-Fryer Bacon
Bacon crisps up in the air fryer in a fraction of the time it would need on the stovetop or in the oven — and air-fryer bacon is ideal for a quick, solo breakfast, or when you need just a small batch. (If you’re cooking bacon for a crowd, we’ve still got you covered with our oven bacon recipe.) Cooking bacon in the air fryer results in extracrisp slices, since the excess bacon fat drains as the bacon cooks. The quantity of bacon here will depend on the size of your air fryer basket (or really, how hungry you are) and won’t affect the time or temperature called out below. To add to this recipe’s convenience, you can even start with frozen bacon without needing to adjust the cook time or temperature.
Mango Lassi
Mangoes tend to vary in texture and sweetness depending on where they are from; tart varieties can add sour notes to salad while milder mangoes go well with chile and lime. In Pakistan and across South Asia, there is a revered, intoxicating sweetness to most mangoes. Adding yogurt and milk to chopped bits balances that sweetness and makes this Punjabi mango lassi the perfect chilled drink for hot summer months, when the fruit is in season. This recipe adds honey to the mix, making allowances for the kind of mango that might be available — but you can skip it, if luck sources sweet mangoes. For added luxury, finish the drink off with powdered cardamom and crushed nuts.
Gruyère and Black Pepper Scones
A generous amount of Gruyère and toasty walnuts give these scones a savory richness, which is surprising and delicious. The little cubes of cheese melt into the dough as it bakes, but some sneak out the sides, creating irresistible bits of fricolike crispy cheese. To make the most of your time, you can toast the walnuts on a sheet pan in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes while it’s heating, just until they’re golden and fragrant. Chives freshen up the mix, but chopped fresh thyme or rosemary would work well, too. Eat the scones warm for maximum enjoyment.
Strawberry, Millet and Banana Smoothie
Whenever you find sweet, ripe strawberries buy twice what you need and hull and freeze half of them. I freeze them in small freezer bags, one smoothie portion per bag. You can also use commercial frozen strawberries for this nourishing mix of fruit, millet, cashews and kefir. I have gotten into the habit of soaking a small amount of cashews and almonds in water and keeping them in the refrigerator to use in smoothies. For a vegan version substitute almond milk for the kefir, and if you can’t find plain kefir, use yogurt or buttermilk.
Grain Frittata With Chile, Lime and Fresh Herbs
You may think of frittatas as leftovers’ idea of heaven, but is it yours? For a frittata to look forward to, throw in leftover grains: The result is something like a Spanish tortilla, pleasingly dense, but with more bounce. Add an acid, like lime, and umami, like fish sauce, which melts into an underlying savoriness when warmed. Whatever you do, don’t turn on the oven for this. Instead, stir the frittata on the stove and all but the top will set — nothing a few minutes covered can't fix (no precarious flip!). Finally, put a salad on top. The herby one here adds pep to the substantial frittata, as does a final squeeze of lime.
Pineapple and Millet Smoothie
I played around with this smoothie, toying with adding this ingredient (banana) or that (coconut); but in the end what I love about it is the pure flavor of pineapple, softened by the grain that also thickens and bulks up the drink.
Granola Bites
These chewy-crunchy, salty-sweet breakfast balls are great for eating on the go because they don’t crumble and leave a mess. They take minutes to blend and a few more to roll, but if you make them a friends-and-family cooking project, the process can go even faster. Feel free to experiment here. You can swap out the almonds for cashews, the cherries for other dried fruits, and the sunflower seeds for shelled pumpkin seeds. Just keep the dates and make sure they're Medjool, which are softer and more thin-skinned than other varieties. The dates are the glue that hold the other ingredients together.
Deep Purple Blueberry Smoothie With Black Quinoa
My idea for this week’s Recipes for Health was to match grains and fruit by color and make nourishing smoothies. For this one I could have also used any of the black or purple rices on the market, such as Alter Eco’s purple jasmine rice, Lotus Food’s Forbidden Rice or Lundberg Black Japonica. I happened to have a full bag of black quinoa in the pantry, so that’s what I went for and it worked beautifully. You can also use fresh blueberries for this, but when they are not in season, frozen will do fine and will eliminate the need for ice cubes.
Banana Granola With Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Walnuts
This banana bread-inspired granola uses real mashed banana, coconut oil, cinnamon, nutmeg and toasted nuts. Keeping it simple allows the subtle banana flavor to shine through, but you can tweak the recipe by adding dried coconut flakes, sesame or pumpkin seeds, more spices, or even chocolate chips or dried fruit. Breaking the granola into large clusters halfway through baking ensures the granola cooks evenly. Allow the granola to sit for at least one hour on the counter to harden completely. Double the recipe if you’d like to stock up your freezer. It will keep at least three months there, at the ready for snacking, or can be served for breakfast, in bowls with milk and freshly sliced banana.
Cowboy Caviar
Depending on where you’re from, this simple dip is known as cowboy caviar or Texas caviar, and it’s a favorite at tailgates and potlucks all over the South. Its creator, Helen Corbitt, a dietitian from New York, had never heard of black-eyed peas when she moved to Texas in 1931. The exact details are fuzzy, but at some point in her 40 years working in restaurants there, she combined black-eyed peas with a simple vinaigrette, and it was a big hit. The recipe has evolved over the years, and you can find a number of variations online. Some contain corn and black beans (as this one does), and others avocado. Some call for bottled Italian salad dressing, others homemade. No matter how you tweak it, it’s always good with a pile of tortilla chips.
Ham and Jam Sandwich
Nothing can compare to jambon-beurre, the iconic Parisian sandwich, which is really just a baguette with salted European butter and unsmoked ham. This rendition expands on that perfect trinity with a few additional pantry ingredients: Jam plays well with ham (like in a Monte Cristo), and Dijon and black pepper bring spice and spirit. Smoked ham adds yet another layer of savoriness, but any thinly sliced ham will work. The result is a hearty, complex but still delicate meal, appetizer or pick-me-up. While ham and jam sandwich doesn’t roll off the tongue quite like jambon-beurre, you have permission to call it a ham-jam-sam, if you like.
Crispy-Edged Quesadilla
This straightforward quesadilla has an unexpected twist: a border of salty, crispy cheese surrounding the tortilla. Achieving it couldn’t be easier; just press down on the folded tortilla as it heats up in the pan so the cheese spills out and turns golden. A nonstick pan is key here, otherwise the melted cheese will glue itself onto the cooking surface. Medium heat is just the right temperature for a quesadilla: It’s hot enough to crisp up the cheese but low enough to prevent the cheese from burning.
Chaat Party
The beauty of chaat — a category of tangy, sweet, fiery and crunchy Indian snacks — is that it’s built for customization. The only common denominator is that alchemy of flavor sensations, often driven by a combination of sweet-and-sour tamarind chutney, a bright herb chutney (like this cilantro-mint chutney or this green chile chutney) and cooling raita. Otherwise, base ingredients and toppings (and even those chutneys!) can all be interchanged. This spirit is the driving force behind Maneet Chauhan’s chaat party, from her cookbook, “Chaat” (Clarkson Potter, 2020), a choose-your-own-adventure spread that allows eaters to build a chaat suited to their tastes: More crunch! Less spicy! More sweet! More herbs! It’s entirely up to you. This is a great way to entertain, and also a quick, no-cook dinner. Use this list as a starting point for ingredients, but feel free to get creative. If you are able to get banana leaves, spread them out over the table before arranging everything else on top for a bright pop of color.
Tuna Salad With Hot and Sweet Peppers
Inspired by the oil-and-vinegar tuna salads of the Mediterranean, this version includes new-world peppers. Letting thin slices of hot and sweet peppers sit with vinegar and salt for a few minutes gives them a pickled taste without taking away their crispness. It also makes for a sharp dressing when mixed with the olive oil from oil-packed tuna. Celery and parsley bring freshness to this blend, which is wonderful on its own and versatile enough to be spooned over toast or tossed with lettuce or pasta.
Sardine Toasts With Tomato and Sweet Onion
A classic pantry meal, sardine toasts are just the thing to eat when you’re starving and there’s nothing in the house for dinner. If you don’t have tomatoes, just leave them out. With their saline flavor and buttery texture, all sardines need is some good bread and a little crunchy onion to set them off.
5-Minute Hummus
Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook of the Philadelphia restaurant Zahav found success with their hummus recipe, but in their second book, “Israeli Soul,” the two came up with this smart version, done in a fraction of the time of the original. It’s just as satisfying, and packed with tahini flavor, a given since it calls for a whole 16-ounce jar. The end result is nutty and smooth, and topped with roasted vegetables, a worthy weeknight meal.