‘The Great 5-Ingredient Cookbook’ book review: A treasure trove of easy recipes

If I had to pick one cookbook from my little shelf dedicated to cookbooks, I’d definitely choose Reader’s Digest’s ‘The Great 5-Ingredient Cookbook’. It has 250 simple, healthy recipes that can be made in less than 30 minutes. And there is something for everybody. My husband and I have polar opposite food preferences but we both love many of the recipes from this book.

You can whip something savory and satisfying with ingredients that you already have at home. The recipes require minimal preparation and take less than 30 minutes to make. There are recipes for starters, light meals, snacks, salads, and desserts among others.

What I especially like about the book is that it has a lot of time-saving cooking tips and recipe variations. There is even a section that provides quick recipes for handy sauces and spice mixes that you can use to elevate the taste of simple dishes. The magic microwave tricks section that provides readers with nifty ideas to cook rice, pappadums, popcorn, and the quickest ever jacket potatoes is such a lifesaver. You will wish you had known about them sooner.

The photographs by Ian Hofstetter are gorgeous. There are full page photos of drool worthy dishes and desserts that make you want to try your hands in replicating them. I made Butter Chicken, Penne with Tuna, and Spiced Rice Pulao and they looked exactly like they did in the photos and tasted absolutely marvelous. They have now become my go-to recipes for when I’m not in the mood to cook an elaborate meal but want to enjoy something hearty.

A word of caution though: There are plenty of recipes where you might not be familiar with the ingredients. But I recommend you give them a try if you want to serve/eat something that might not be what you regularly have at home. If some of the recipes are too outlandish, you can easily substitute one or two of the main ingredients with something of your choice. I made a chicken, green bean, and orange salad by following the recipe for the lamb, green bean, and orange salad.

I also liked the layout of the book. It’s very user-friendly, especially for someone like me who gets overwhelmed by the mere thought of cooking a new dish. Each recipe is accompanied by a full-page photo of the dish. It makes the cookbook feel a lot less like an intimidating cookbook and more like a coffee table book that you would pursue at leisure.

The Great 5-Ingredient Cookbook

By Editors of Reader’s Digest

Published by the Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.

Pages: 319, Hardcover