• Eat Your Books

  See Serious Eats review of this cookbook with sample recipes for Barbecue jalapeño poppers and Simple perfect chili. This book was listed in their Best Cookbooks of 2009.

  See Recipe Girl's review of this book and her take on Beans and cornbread with the recipe.

• rhondarae on March 21, 2011

  Try the prune cake! It's so moist and it keeps for days.

• Jwoods626 on May 26, 2010

  check website for recipes

• AngelNewsi on February 04, 2010

  My boyfriend and I made the chili the other night. It was fantastic! I can't wait to use this cookbook again.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Hot artichoke dip

  • Cheri on November 07, 2010

    Kinda blah. Used the cayenne, but the canned artichokes were a bitter. This is ok, but I'll try other versions adding crab and/or spinich

• Macaroni and cheese

  • Cheri on January 01, 2010

    Add diced ham, carmelized sauted onions and red pepper. Use cheese combo like fontina, gruyere, cheddar (small amt - doesn't melt real well) other white melting cheeses. Used combo of whole cream and whole milk. Yum.

  • lacyann84 on January 10, 2018

    Go-to mac & cheese recipe for me! Simple and basic, but is a staple recipe at my house.

• Chicken-fried steak

  • LizWiz on February 19, 2010

    This dish was a bit heavy on the breading and oil. Meat was tasty, but was it healthy???

• Chicken spaghetti

  • LizWiz on February 19, 2010

    Loved this dish! Loved it, loved it, loved it! My family loved it too!

  • mdagl on February 25, 2022

    This has become a family standard; we make it all the time. We usually leave out the onions. Absolutely love it.

• French breakfast puffs

  • BethNH on January 12, 2011

    Yummy!

  • lhudson on September 18, 2017

    Yes, Grandkids loved these.

• Marlboro Man's favorite sandwich

  • milgwimper on November 17, 2015

    This is a favorite recipe, and beloved my the males that have had the pleasure to eat the sandwich. I would make these again.

  • FJT on July 30, 2011

    My husband adores this ... if I ask him what he wants to eat this comes very high on his priority list!! The bonus is it's easy and quick to make.

  • lhudson on September 18, 2017

    I have to admit I have never cooked cube steak before but this sandwich will make me rethink this cut of meat. The family loved this sandwich!

• Chocolate sheet cake

  • Kfaber on October 05, 2013

    Yum. Very moist and rich and of course chocolaty. Kids loved it

  • sqhall on February 21, 2019

    Easy to make, simple cake that is moist and delicious. Love the nuts in the frosting.

• Linguine with clam sauce

  • redjanet on December 27, 2012

    This was simple and straightforward to make and overall I quite liked it. I'd never eaten clams before so I thought I'd give it a go, even if they were only from a tin. The sauce was nice and creamy and the texture of the clams with the freshness of the parsley went very well with the linguine. It was a nice Saturday night meal with a glass of wine. My only complaint was that the clams didn't have a very strong flavour, so aside from the texture they gave the sauce, which I liked, they didn't add very much to the dish. Maybe a stronger, bolder seafood in here would be better. Still, not too bad at all.

• Meatloaf

  • redjanet on December 27, 2012

    I was really excited about getting the Pioneer Woman book and this was the first (and so far, only) recipe I tried. Unfortunately I found this to be very disappointing. Good meatloaf is one of my favourite comfort foods, but this version uses bread and milk as binders for the loaf and when I made it, it came out way too soggy and wet for my liking. I've concluded that I much prefer using dried breadcrumbs and eggs. I also don't think baking it on a grill as suggested is the best idea as it makes it incredibly hard to slice and serve.

• Egg-in-the-hole

  • redjanet on December 27, 2012

    This couldn't be simpler. I love fried bread and I love eggs, so this is a perfect quick cooked breakfast for me.

• BBQ jalapeno poppers

  • FJT on October 07, 2011

    Really easy to make in advance and a real winner in our household. I can never make enough.

  • hibeez on February 04, 2024

    These are delicious, and easy. The hardest part is getting the seeds and membrane out of the peppers. I've used a mix of cheeses (cheddar, Monterey, cream), swapped chives for scallions, and used marmalade for the bbq sauce in a pinch. (BBQ sauce really makes these shine) I skip the toothpicks, and wrap half a slice of bacon around the pepper, tucking both ends under and they don't unravel - don't tug or wrap too tight. My homegrown jalapeños are smaller than some store-bought varieties, so I will cut the bacon to suit. I also have upped the oven temp 25-50 degrees, so the bacon cooks up a bit better.

• Lasagna

  • josephinetomato on May 15, 2014

    This is now my go to lasagna recipe - it held its shape when cut, tasted delicious and froze nicely.

  • lhudson on August 21, 2020

    I also replace the cottage cheese with ricotta. Its a nice basic lasagne recipe. The whole family enjoyed it even the 3 year old.

  • lacyann84 on January 10, 2018

    Go-to lasagna dish for me! Only differences is that I use a combo of ground beef & Italian sausage (usually 1# of each) & replace the cottage cheese with ricotta cheese. I also use the non-boil lasagna noodles. Turns out great, I freeze this one too & it turns out great.

• Pizza crust

  • ereibel on January 01, 2012

    This pizza crust is great, the texture is a little more chewy then usual, but I like it. The recipe always works for me, which is very important.

  • lacyann84 on January 10, 2018

    I double this & freeze one for future use. Easy & consistent pizza dough recipe.

• Potato leek pizza

  • ereibel on January 01, 2012

    One of my favorite recipes from the book.

• Iny's prune cake with buttermilk icing

  • alliebaybay on December 28, 2014

    link to recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/inys-prune-cake-with-buttermilk-icing-recipe.html

• Penne alla Betsey

  • alliebaybay on December 28, 2014

    link to recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/penne-alla-betsy-recipe.html

• Spicy pulled pork

  • goodfruit on September 14, 2014

    I've made this several times and this is Thee One according to DH. Its everything you want pulled pork to be...moist, flavorful, delicious porky goodness that is equally good hot or cold. DH loves it cold on a sammie at lunchtime. Often I make Frieda Loves Bread French Bread Buns to serve with this pulled pork sammie, brings it to the next level :) http://www.friedalovesbread.com/2011/05/another-favorite-hamburger-bun.html

• Pico de gallo

  • lhudson on August 16, 2017

    My family loves this and so easy to make.

• Creamy rosemary potatoes

  • lhudson on September 19, 2017

    This is a great way to make cheesy potatoes without the expense of pricey cheese. The family loved this one.

• Migas

  • Skamper on March 28, 2020

    I didn't have bell peppers so didn't add and used a half batch of everything else, which made for 2 very generous servings. Next time, I'd let the eggs cook a bit before adding the tortillas so they stay a bit crispier.

• Simple, perfect chili

  • Skamper on January 21, 2020

    A good base upon which to improvise. I usually make with ground Turkey and add a chopped onion, tomatoes with chiles, beans, corn, and a few extra spices like ground hatch Chile's and ground chipotle pepper

  • HollyLF on November 02, 2018

    Good chili recipe, this recipe has become my base chili recipe and I am constantly changing and tweaking it, but it is a great starting place. I have also replaced the ground beef for other ground meats like turkey or chicken on occasion, it is still just as delicious.

• Cinnamon rolls

  • HollyLF on November 02, 2018

    Family favorite, this recipe makes a ton of cinnamon rolls! Great for freezing. I freeze before the last rise. When defrosting, I let it defrost overnight in the fridge, then will let it come to room temp and let it rise while the oven is heating up. Then you can bake for hot fresh cinnamon rolls whenever you like!

• Patsy's blackberry cobbler

  • Shewi128 on August 17, 2023

    Easy to make, and it turned out exactly like the pictures. Great way to use up self-rising flour and fresh summer blackberries.

• Simple, perfect enchiladas

  • RCFoodie on December 16, 2020

    Super easy and tasty- pumps up a canned sauce with extra flavor

• Twice-baked potatoes

  • mdagl on April 10, 2023

    Found these to be a lot more time consuming than expected and very heavy.

• Fine Cooking

  I urge you to buy this book... Then I dare you to resist cooking something from it.

  Full review