A short ingredient list is not the same as an easy recipe, but it usually means a shorter shopping list and less that can go wrong. The counts below are exact, taken from the recipes as written, and they include salt and pepper. Nothing is hidden in a vague instruction to season to taste.

Twenty-five savory recipes, ordered from three ingredients up. Basics first, then five and six-ingredient mains, chicken, vegetable sides, and three doughs. Every entry lists the exact ingredient count, the real total time and the servings. Desserts with short lists have their own collection, linked at the end.

Three and Four Ingredients

Four recipes with almost nothing in them. Two are techniques worth knowing rather than dishes.

Poached Shredded Chicken

Three ingredients: two pounds of chicken breast, four cups of water or broth and half a teaspoon of salt. Twenty-five minutes, and it gives you the shredded chicken that a dozen other recipes call for. View the full recipe — 25 minutes · 4 servings · 3 ingredients

Homemade Potato Fries (Double Fried)

Flavorful golden Potato fries served in a bowl with ketchup on the side.

Three ingredients: two pounds of russets, two quarts of oil and kosher salt. The sixty-five minutes includes soaking and the double fry, which is the whole difference between these and soggy ones. View the full recipe — 1 hour 5 minutes · 4 servings · 3 ingredients

Orange Marmalade Chicken Nuggets

Four ingredients: a pound of frozen chicken nuggets tossed in a sauce of a cup of orange marmalade, soy sauce and sesame oil. Twenty-five minutes, and nobody needs to know. View the full recipe — 25 minutes · 4 servings · 4 ingredients

Oven Roasted Eggplant Cubes

Four ingredients: a pound and a half of eggplant with three tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper. Nothing else, and it is the base for half a dozen other dishes. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 4 servings · 4 ingredients

Five-Ingredient Mains

Five dinners, each with exactly five ingredients. Two lean on a bottled dressing or seasoning packet, which is how they get there.

Crescent Pigs in a Blanket

Twenty-four mini smoked sausages in crescent dough with butter, seeds and a slice of cheddar. Thirty minutes, serves six. View the full recipe — 30 minutes · 6 servings · 5 ingredients

Keto Chicken Bacon Ranch Taquitos

Two cups of shredded chicken with four slices of bacon, a cup of mozzarella, half a cup of ranch and green onions, with the cheese itself forming the shell. Thirty-five minutes. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 3 servings · 5 ingredients

Pan Seared Sirloin Steak

Five ingredients: sixteen ounces of sirloin, salt, pepper, a tablespoon of oil and a tablespoon of butter. The forty minutes is tempering and resting; the cooking is six minutes. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 2 servings · 5 ingredients

Caesar Dressing Chicken Breasts

A pound and a half of chicken breast baked in a full cup of Caesar dressing with parmesan, pepper and parsley. The dressing is marinade, sauce and seasoning in one bottle. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 4 servings · 5 ingredients

Spicy Mississippi Pot Roast

Five ingredients: three pounds of chuck roast with a packet of au jus mix, a packet of ranch mix, four ounces of butter and a cup and a half of pickled jalapenos. Six hours fifteen in the slow cooker. View the full recipe — 6 hours 15 minutes · 6 servings · 5 ingredients

Six-Ingredient Mains

Five more dinners at exactly six. Three of the five are twenty-seven minutes or less.

Skillet Sausage Tortellini

Eleven ounces of Italian sausage with twelve ounces of cheese tortellini cooked in two cups of broth with half a cup of cream and two cups of spinach. One pan, twenty-five minutes. View the full recipe — 25 minutes · 4 servings · 6 ingredients

Air Fryer Cod Fillets

Four cod fillets with olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, lemon juice and salt. Twenty-seven minutes. View the full recipe — 27 minutes · 4 servings · 6 ingredients

Air Fryer Honey Garlic Steak Pepper Bites

A pound of flank steak and a cup of mini sweet peppers in a sauce of a quarter cup each of honey and soy sauce with two tablespoons of garlic. Twenty-seven minutes. View the full recipe — 27 minutes · 4 servings · 6 ingredients

Oven Baked Pork Tenderloin

A pound of pork tenderloin with salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika and olive oil. Six ingredients, forty minutes, and tenderloin is the cut that makes this work. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 4 servings · 6 ingredients

Butter Rubbed Roasted Turkey Breast

A bone-in turkey breast under half a cup of butter mashed with garlic, rosemary and thyme. Six ingredients, two hours five, and it feeds six without roasting a whole bird. View the full recipe — 2 hours 5 minutes · 6 servings · 6 ingredients

Chicken With Six or Fewer

Three chicken dinners, three different cuts and three different appliances.

Oven Baked Boneless Chicken Thighs

Four boneless thighs with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Thirty-five minutes, and the same five seasonings work on almost any cut. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 4 servings · 6 ingredients

Mayo Baked Chicken Drumsticks

Four pounds of drumsticks coated in a third of a cup of mayonnaise with hot sauce, seasoning blend and garlic powder. The mayonnaise is oil and egg, which is exactly what a crisp coating needs. View the full recipe — 55 minutes · 4 servings · 6 ingredients

Slow Cooker Creamy Italian Chicken with Cream Cheese

A pound of chicken breast with half a cup of Italian dressing, eight ounces of cream cheese, parmesan and eight ounces of pasta stirred in at the end. Five hours fifteen. View the full recipe — 5 hours 15 minutes · 4 servings · 6 ingredients

Vegetable Sides

Five sides, five or six ingredients each, all under forty minutes.

Lemon Pepper Skillet Green Beans

Five ingredients: a pound of green beans with three tablespoons of garlic butter, three cloves of garlic, salt and lemon pepper seasoning. Fifteen minutes. View the full recipe — 15 minutes · 4 servings · 5 ingredients

Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots

A pound of carrots with butter, a tablespoon of brown sugar, a quarter cup of water and a pinch of cinnamon. Six ingredients, twenty-five minutes. View the full recipe — 25 minutes · 4 servings · 6 ingredients

Parmesan Baked Zucchini

A pound and a quarter of zucchini with olive oil, two tablespoons of breadcrumbs and two of parmesan. Six ingredients, twenty-seven minutes. View the full recipe — 27 minutes · 4 servings · 6 ingredients

Paprika Garlic Turnip Fries

Two turnips cut into fries with olive oil, garlic powder, paprika and seasoned salt. Six ingredients, thirty minutes, and turnips crisp better than you expect. View the full recipe — 30 minutes · 4 servings · 6 ingredients

Oven Roasted Cabbage Ribbons

A whole green cabbage sliced into ribbons with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and smoked paprika. Six ingredients and the cheapest side on this page. View the full recipe — 35 minutes · 4 servings · 6 ingredients

Bread and Dough

Three. The biscuits need two ingredients plus the butter for the pan.

Two Ingredient Heavy Cream Biscuits

Two cups of self rising flour and a cup of heavy whipping cream, plus a tablespoon of butter for the pan. Twenty-two minutes and eight biscuits. View the full recipe — 22 minutes · 8 servings · 3 ingredients

No Yeast White Bread Loaf

Six ingredients: two cups of flour, a tablespoon of baking powder, sugar, salt, a cup of milk and two tablespoons of butter. A real loaf in thirty minutes with no proofing. View the full recipe — 30 minutes · 8 servings · 6 ingredients

Homemade Pizza Dough with Bread Flour

Six ingredients: yeast, warm water, sugar, two cups of bread flour, fine salt and olive oil. The bread flour is what gives the chew. View the full recipe — 1 hour 52 minutes · 8 servings · 6 ingredients

Questions About Short Ingredient Lists

Do these counts include salt and pepper?

Yes. Every count on this page is taken from the recipe exactly as written, including salt, pepper and oil. A recipe that lists six things has six lines in its ingredient list, not six plus a pantry you are assumed to have.

How do five-ingredient recipes get enough flavor?

Usually by letting one ingredient do several jobs. The Caesar chicken uses a bottled dressing as marinade, sauce and seasoning. The Mississippi pot roast uses two seasoning packets that each contain a dozen things. The marmalade nuggets use jam as both sweetener and glaze. That is the trade: fewer lines on the list, more reliance on a prepared ingredient.

Which of these are complete meals?

The ten mains plus the three chicken dinners, so thirteen of twenty-five. The sides, the doughs, the poached chicken and the roasted eggplant are components rather than dinners, though several of them are the most useful things here.

What is the fastest recipe on this page?

Lemon Pepper Skillet Green Beans at fifteen minutes, then the biscuits at twenty-two and three dishes at twenty-five: poached chicken, marmalade nuggets and the sausage tortellini.

Why does poached chicken deserve its own recipe?

Because it is the building block for a lot of other dishes. Two pounds of breast poached in broth gives you four to five cups of shredded chicken, which is what the taquitos, most casseroles and nearly every chicken salad on this site assume you already have.

Can I add to these recipes?

Of course, and the sides take additions best. But the mains are balanced around the few things in them, so adding a wet ingredient to the pork tenderloin or the baked thighs will stop them browning. Add after cooking rather than before.

Which has the fewest ingredients of all?

Four recipes have three: poached shredded chicken, homemade potato fries, the heavy cream biscuits, and the marmalade nuggets at four. None of them has more than three lines before the salt.