14 Simple, Delicious Recipes with Just 6 Ingredients (Plus Salt)

It’s Reader Request Week here at The Kitchn, which means that we are writing just what our readers have asked to read! And one thing that came up quite a few times was quick recipes, without too many ingredients.

Yes, we all can appreciate the convenience of a quick recipe, assembled from the things we already have in our pantry. Things like pasta tossed with pesto and edamame, or pizza made from a lump of storebought dough, spread with BBQ sauce and leftover chicken. Or quick grain salads with quinoa and lemon, or couscous and pecans. When we talk about quick cooking, we mean recipes like these, recipes that are so simple they show us how we can improvise and use what we have in fresh ways.

Here are 14 recipes from our Six Ingredients (and Salt) series. Each of these recipes has just six ingredients, plus salt, of course, and they span breakfast, dinner, side dishes, and dessert. Come find something quick and fresh to cook tonight.

DINNER RECIPES
• 1 Pesto Pasta with Lemon, Spinach, Edamame and Toasted Almonds – A simple pasta that relies on good pesto and toothsome little bites of edamame.
• 2 Sautéed Salmon with Cilantro Vinaigrette over Couscous – Simple salmon with vibrant flavors over fluffy couscous.
• 3 Sausage Pizza, Topped with Crispy Kale – A simple pizza with handfuls of greens on top.
• 4 BBQ Chicken Pizza with Caramelized Onions – Another pizza, and a great one for using up leftover chicken.
• 5 Oregon Summer Panino – A beautiful little sandwich, a fresh weeknight option.

BREAKFAST RECIPES
• 6 Shirred Eggs with Toast Soldiers – A simple, classic breakfast.
• 7 Artichoke, Kale & Ricotta Pie – A quick baked egg dish that works for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

SIDE DISH RECIPES
• 8 Sherry-Garlic Soup with Smoked Paprika – A quick, smoky soup, deeply flavorful.
• 9 Summer Corn Salad – A wonderful salad for summer.
• 10 Red Potato Salad with Scallions and Radishes – A fresher, lighter sort of potato salad.
• 11 Black Bean and Heirloom Tomato Quinoa with Lemon Dressing – A fresh, tangy grain salad.
• 12 Pearl Couscous with Mint and Pecans – Pearl couscous, pecans, herb — a lovely vegetarian side dish.

DESSERT RECIPES
• 13 Poached Rhubarb Royale – Got rhubarb? Here’s how to use it up!
• 14 Duck-Egg Sponge Cake with Whipped Cream and Strawberries – An incredibly simple sponge cake, made with just duck eggs, flour, and sugar.

What’s your favorite short, quick recipe?

It’s Reader Request Week at The Kitchn! This post was requested by buttons_whims, who asked for more short meal recipes. We have more coming this week too!

(Images: See linked recipes for full image credits)