15 Secret Ingredient Recipes

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Secret ingredients can take a simple recipe from good to incredible! Each of these 15 recipes has a flavor-boosting ingredient that turns them into a showstopper and will have everyone asking “how’d you make this?”

Secret ingredients can turn any recipe from average into spectacular in no time! How do I know this? Because I’ve been added a little something unexpected to some of my most-loved recipes for years.

From the addition of sour cream to make meatballs extra tender, to a dash of cinnamon in my almost-famous fruit salad, I’ve amped up the flavor making my recipes extra special.

There’s nothing quite like serving your family and friends food that you know they’ll love and watching smiles turn up on their faces after taking just the first bite. By adding one or two unexpected ingredients to a recipe, complex flavors can be developed and flavors enhanced.

So, why not making cooking fun? That’s what this collection of 15 Secret Ingredient Recipes is all about.

Homemade Meatballs

SECRET INGREDIENT: Sour Cream

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Southern Pineapple Casserole

SECRET INGREDIENT: Cheddar Cheese

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Cranberry Pecan Slaw

SECRET INGREDIENT: Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing

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Brown Sugar Mustard Baked Ham

SECRET INGREDIENT: Cola Soda

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Buttermilk Pound Cake With Brown Butter Icing

SECRET INGREDIENT: Buttermilk

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Easy Blue Cheese Dressing

SECRET INGREDIENT: Worchestershire Sauce

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Meatloaf Muffins

SECRET INGREDIENT: Parmesan Cheese

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All Time Best Tuna Salad

SECRET INGREDIENT: Celery Seeds

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Grilled Pork Tenderloin

SECRET INGREDIENT: Honey

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Ambrosia Salad

SECRET INGREDIENT: Whipped Cream

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The Best Snickerdoodle Cookies

SECRET INGREDIENT: Cream Of Tarter

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Crock Pot Spinach Artichoke Dip

SECRET INGREDIENT: Fresh Spinach

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Bloody Mary Chili

SECRET INGREDIENT: Bloody Mary Mix

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Fruit Salad for A Crowd

SECRET INGREDIENT: Cinnamon

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Home Run Hot Dog Chili

SECRET INGREDIENT: Yellow Mustard

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Need Some Help In The Kitchen?

My favorite kitchen items come together in a collection to help any home cook be successful! These helpful kitchen tools are proven winners that make cooking easy and fun.

I’ve pulled together a list of 10 Things I Use In My Kitchen Every Week to help you enjoy cooking and get the most out of every recipe.

Here Are My Go-To Favorites:

1. Wooden Spoons – Good wooden spoons are a must in the kitchen. For stirring, mixing, and folding, these spoons are always at the ready in my kitchen.
2. Air Fryer – I love using the air fryer for this recipe since it is easy to use, requires no special instruction, and clean up is easy since the basket can go in the dishwasher.
3. Instant Read Thermometer – This thermometer is waterproof, has a backlight for easy reading, and has cooking times listed on the handle.
4. Food Processor – I use my food processor for so many things! It has low, medium, and pulse speed options that allow you to precisely and properly handle food and handles soft or hard ingredients with the touch of a button.
5. Box Grater – I use this simple tool several times a week and it never lets me down. 
6. Slow Cooker – The crock pot does the heavy lifting in the kitchen and turns inexpensive ingredients into super flavorful food that’s also easy to prepare.
7. Instant Pot – This is pressure cooking made easy! I’m a big fan of the instant pot and love how easy it is to use. It’s a multi-cooker that serves as a pressure cooker, slow cooker, and rice maker.
8. Cast Iron Skillet – They can take the heat for searing or grilling meat and are easy to clean with no soap needed.
9. Dutch Oven – a Dutch oven is a workhorse in my kitchen. It’s heavy-duty and can go from the stovetop to the oven.
10. Wire Whisks – Sturdy wire whisks are a must in any kitchen.