Keep It Simple, Y'all: Easy Dinners from Your Barefoot Neighbor: A Cookbook

By Matthew Bounds

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 60 quick and tasty recipes for hassle-free meals from the viral creator of Your Barefoot Neighbor, featuring comforting slow cooker, sheet pan, and one-pot dinners

Social media creator Matthew Bounds is beloved for his simple and satisfying recipes that help you get dinner on the table with minimal fuss. Whether you’re new to cooking or simply looking for efficient and delicious meals, Keep It Simple, Y’all is packed with recipes that will fit seamlessly into your busy lifestyle. With easy-to-follow instructions and budget-friendly ingredients, Matthew’s laid-back approach to cooking takes the intimidation out of making delicious, home-cooked meals.

In Keep It Simple, Y'all, you’ll find sixty dishes that come together effortlessly but deliver undeniably delicious results. Imagine coming home to a savory, slow-cooked meal like Beef and Mushroom Stroganoff or Chicken Tortilla Soup that’s been simmering all day, throwing together flavorful sheet pan dinners with minimal cleanup like Shrimp and Veggie Stir Fry or Cajun Ranch Chicken Breasts, or using rotisserie chicken to whip up a Goat Cheese Pesto Pasta or French Onion Chicken Casserole. The recipes here are flexible and beginner-friendly, relying mostly on pantry ingredients, and Matthew includes tips that encourage you to make the recipes your own—leave out the ingredients you don’t like and swap in what you have on hand. With Your Barefoot Neighbor to the rescue, you’ll find yourself creating wholesome, homemade meals the whole family will enjoy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter
• Release date: Nov 19, 2024
• ISBN: 9798217034161

Book preview

Introduction

Even the best home cooks fall into a rut sometimes and need a bit of inspiration for something new. I hope you find that here. Many of us are busy and don’t have time to scroll endlessly online looking for dinner ideas. I aim to take some of the pressure off with the recipes in this book. Plenty of folks, like me, never learned to cook growing up, and we deserve a hot, delicious meal, too. For that reason, I tried my best to write out all the instructions in simple, easy-to-follow terms. And then, there are my friends who can cook dinner but don’t enjoy it. That’s okay, I gotcha covered. Throw it in the slow cooker and go on about your day. It’ll be ready in 6 to 8 hours.

As you work your way through this book, you’ll notice patterns emerge. You’ll begin to pick up on the rhythm of one-pot meals, the basics of a slow cooker, and the fundamentals of a sheet pan dinner. Once you understand the principles, the ingredients don’t matter so much, and you’re free to go wild and experiment with flavors you enjoy. If you follow me on social media, then you know that I treat recipes as suggestions, and I want you to do the same with this book. Nothing makes me happier than when people show me a recipe of mine that they cooked with their own tweaks and modifications. Go ham, y’all!

My wish is that this book is a helpful tool, and that together we can make dinnertime just a little bit easier.

Low ’n Slow

This entire collection of recipes can be placed directly in the slow cooker, with no stovetop action required! If you have the time and choose to, you can certainly put a little sear on the meat beforehand, but it’s not necessary.

Feel free to swap out the protein and vegetables in these dishes. My recipe calls for pork loin, but you’ve got a pack of chicken that needs to be used up? Change it out! Don’t like carrots? Leave them out or use another vegetable instead. There are no rules here.

I tried to refrain from using as much cream cheese and cream of something soups that slow cooker recipes trend toward, but if you think one of these dishes could be improved by adding cream of chicken or a block of cheese, go for it!

Remember, this is your kitchen and your dinner. Cook food you enjoy.

Chicken and Wild Rice

This is the perfect recipe to curl up with on a cold, gloomy day. It’s rich, creamy, and oh so comforting!

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 3 to 4 hrs high / 6 to 8 hrs low

6 to 8 Servings

2 to 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup wild rice

1 onion, diced

2 large carrots, peeled and diced (or 1 pound baby carrots)

2 celery ribs, sliced

Minced garlic, to taste

4 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon each, dried thyme and rosemary

½ teaspoon dried sage

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 cup heavy cream

Place the chicken in the slow cooker, and add the rice, onion, carrots, celery, and garlic on top.

Pour over the broth and seasonings, and gently stir to combine.

Cover and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours, or on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Once cooked, shred the chicken (remove to do this if you prefer, and add back to the slow cooker).

Add the cream, and taste for seasoning. Cover and cook for another half hour on low.

Quick Tip:

If you don’t care for shredded chicken, or simply don’t want to bother with doing it, cut the chicken up into bite-size pieces before cooking.

Creamy Mushroom Chicken

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 3 to 4 hrs high / 6 to 8 hrs low

4 to 6 Servings

2 to 3 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

8 ounces sliced mushrooms

1 diced onion

Minced garlic, to taste

Italian seasoning, to taste

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 can (10.5 ounces) cream of mushroom soup

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup sour cream

1 pound cooked short pasta of your choice

Stir together the chicken, mushrooms, onions, and seasonings in the slow cooker.

In a separate bowl, mix together the soup and chicken stock. Pour this over everything in the slow cooker and stir to combine.

Cover and cook on high for 3 hours, or low for 6 to 8 hours.

During the last half hour of cooking, stir in the sour cream.

Serve over the pasta, or add the cooked pasta to the slow cooker and mix together before serving.

Honey Garlic Chicken

This chicken is sticky, tangy, and tender!

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 3 to 4 hrs high / 6 to 8 hrs low

4 to 6 Servings

2 to 3 boneless