25 Vintage Recipes Just Like Grandma Used to Make
Go back in time with these vintage recipes featuring classics your grandma grew up with. Whether you're looking for an easy appetizer, main dish or dessert, we take a vintage recipe and put a fun, modern twist on it like stuffing chicken salad in avocados or making an everything bagel flavored cheese ball. Recipes like Macaroni Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing and Lemon Icebox Pie with Coconut Graham Cracker Crust are delicious, filling and the perfect nostalgic bite.
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Quick King Ranch Chicken Casserole
Usually made by layering creamy chicken and tortillas (lasagna-style), this classic Tex-Mex chicken casserole gets speedier for an easy weeknight dinner when we mix everything together in a skillet, then pop the whole pan under the broiler to make the cheese topping gooey.Â
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Pear-Pecan Cheese Ball
Sweet pear, salty Cheddar cheese and crunchy nuts make this healthy cheese ball recipe an alluring holiday treat. Serve with an array of crudités and crisp party crackers.Â
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Macaroni Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing
Give classic pasta salad a fresher, more flavorful spin. This fast pasta dish calls for avocado to replace some of the mayonnaise, which makes it extra creamy. Whole-wheat elbow macaroni and fresh vegetables lighten up this healthy pasta salad that you'll be making all summer long.Â
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Classic Zucchini Casserole
This comforting zucchini casserole with buttery crackers and cheese is the perfect recipe for your bumper crop of zucchini. Fresh thyme is lightly floral while fresh ground pepper adds kick to this creamy summer casserole.
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Classic Deviled Eggs
We love the taste of dill relish in the filling of this deviled egg recipe, but if you like a sweeter deviled egg' opt for sweet relish instead. Our secret to healthy, creamy deviled eggs with fewer calories is to swap out half the full-fat mayo for nonfat Greek yogurt.
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Slow-Cooker Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Onions
Thanks to fresh green beans, an easy homemade cream sauce and crispy onion topping, this green bean casserole recipe is healthier and more delicious than traditional recipes that use canned soup, beans and onions. Plus, the slow cooker saves you time cooking at the stove. Make sure to use fresh green beans, as frozen green beans will become mushy.
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Salisbury Steak with Sweet Paprika Sauce
In this easy steak recipe made with ground beef, Salisbury steaks are matched with a creamy paprika and roasted red pepper sauce. We like to serve the Salisbury steaks with whole-wheat egg noodles and a mixed green salad.
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Chocolate-Fudge Pudding Cake
When you have a craving for a comforting dessert, try this pudding cake, which forms its own rich-tasting sauce as it bakes. The coffee flavor is subtle, but it adds complex depth to the cake's flavor.Â
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Creamy Cheese Fondue
Green apples, broccoli florets and veggie sticks are the perfect dippers for this decadent cheese fondue.
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Old-Fashioned Meatloaf
Mushrooms, garlic and oats sneak some extra nutrients into this hearty and easy meatloaf. Serve with sweet potatoes and your favorite green vegetables for a super-satisfying comfort food dinner.
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Cucumber Cups with Deviled Ham Salad
Swap crostini for cucumber cups to hold ham salad in this easy appetizer recipe. Bring these healthy, crunchy bites to your next potluck or serve them at brunch and watch them disappear.
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Chicken Potpie with Biscuits
In this lightened-up recipe for chicken potpie, creamy chicken stew is topped with flaky biscuits for quintessential comfort food. Our recipe for chicken potpie takes advantage of convenient frozen mixed vegetables to keep it quick.Â
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Sloppy Joe Casserole
Like sloppy Joes? Then you'll love this sloppy Joe casserole recipe. This kid-friendly dinner has the classic sloppy Joe flavors kids love, while parents will like all the veggies that are packed in to make it a healthy meal.
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Upside-Down Cinnamon-Pecan Coffee Cake
Layering the ingredients in this coffee cake recipe right into the pan lets you skip the steps of making the batter and the nut topping separately. To make this healthy one-bowl dessert so it can be served like pull-apart rolls, dollop 16 equal portions of batter over the nuts. If you don't want to fuss with that, dollop the batter on top however you like.Â
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Classic Shrimp Cocktail Sauce
This easy-to-make shrimp sauce is the only recipe you need for a shrimp cocktail appetizer that will be devoured every time. Our tried-and-true sauce is the perfect balance of sweet and tangy.
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Chicken Salad-Stuffed Avocados
Looking for a clean, packable lunch for work? This healthy homemade chicken salad served inside an avocado instead of with bread is just the ticket. Plus, this recipe makes enough for ready-made lunches for the week! If you have leftover cooked chicken on hand, skip Step 1 and use about 2 1/2 cups shredded chicken in Step 2.Â
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Everything Bagel Cheese Ball
This is not your grandma's cheese ball. It has all the flavor of an everything bagel without all the carbs and with just 3 ingredients! Want to emphasize the bagel taste? Serve it with bagel chips and some raw veggies for dipping to keep things healthy.Â
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Spiced Apple Bread Pudding
This silky apple dessert recipe--a spiced apple bread pudding made with apple cider in place of the usual custard--gets a double hit of apple flavor from both the cider and plenty of sliced tart apples. Mace, the lacy red spice that coats the nutmeg fruit, adds a particularly lovely floral note, but you can substitute nutmeg if you don't have any mace on hand.Â
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Southern Macaroni Salad
Bring this quintessential Southern macaroni salad, made with whole-wheat macaroni, celery, peas and ham, to your next picnic or barbecue. It's the perfect salad to feed a crowd!Â
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Chicken & Broccoli Casserole
This one-pan chicken-and-broccoli recipe comes out of the oven all browned, cheesy and bubbling like a casserole, but is really prepared more like a skillet meal on the stovetop. Serve with a crunchy green salad.Â
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Spinach & Tuna Noodle Casserole
Homemade mushroom sauce kicks the can of soup out of the picture in this veggie-centric, healthy riff on a classic tuna-noodle casserole recipe. Serve with steamed green beans.Â
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Coffee-Streusel Bundt Cake
Can you really have too much of a good thing when it comes to the combination of coffee and cake? Here, we've created a lighter but still moist and rich Bundt cake, added a ribbon of hazelnut-coffee streusel inside and a drizzle of coffee glaze on top. To say it tastes great with a good cup of coffee is an understatement. Recipe by Joyce Hendley for EatingWell.Â
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Smoked Salmon Cheese Ball
Blanketed in chopped nuts and zesty chives, this cheese ball is festive enough for even the most discerning party guests. Serve with sturdy crackers or toasted baguette slices for easy spreading.
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Lemon Icebox Pie with Coconut-Graham Cracker Crust
Light and delicious, this easy old-fashioned lemon icebox pie takes dessert up a notch thanks to coconut in the crust, which boosts both flavor and texture. For the brightest hit of citrus use fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Look for graham crackers made with 100% whole-wheat flour to get the most fiber. Seeing graham flour on the label? Good news--that's coarsely ground whole-wheat.
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Chicken Tetrazzini
This retro dish will please kids and adults alike.