My bookshelves are filled with cookbooks, and I’m inundated with new recipes every day, but as much as I love trying new recipes, there are some classics out there that have been around as long as I have, and for good reason: they’re delicious.
Much of my early cooking came from my mom’s collection of cut-out back-of-the-box recipes. She would stuff dozens of cut-out recipes (from boxes, magazines, and newspapers) into her 1962 Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.
The recipe book was from the 1960s, but my mom’s additions created a time capsule of ‘70s and ‘80s food manufacturers’ recipes meant to entice you to buy their products. Part of that time capsule came from the back of a Bisquick box and is one of the first recipes I ever made on my own: Impossible Cheeseburger Pie.
More than just a promotional tool or a way to encourage consumers to try cooking something new, these back-of-the-box recipes epitomize some of the most popular and well-known ways to use the ingredient. Some are relatively new, others date back decades, but the one thing they all have in common is that they are delicious.
Packaged foods became popular at the turn of the 20th century, and in the U.S., the rise of advertising grew in tandem with the rise of industrialized food. The back-of-the-box recipe, its own kind of advertisement, likely dates to the early 1900s.
The idea, from the standpoint of General Mills and others, was to use back-of-the-box recipes to promote packaged foods, so that consumers would have reason to continue using these products. And it worked.
Brands developed recipes to find ways to get consumers to try their product and then to keep buying it. A lot of these recipes are found in the most convenient of places: right on the back of the box or package. No need to copy the recipe down or try to remember where you saw it, just pick up the package and start cooking.
Back of the box cooking has changed with the internet and the ability to Google recipes. Our culinary world is different than the 1950s, 60s, and 70s when packaged convenience foods and shortcut dinners really took off. We have fresher and access to an incredible profusion of ingredients. Modern cooking methods are designed to cook food quickly and easily.
I asked my coworkers which back of the box recipes they use. Here are some of our favorite back-of-the-box recipes we hope never disappear from the packaging.
The best oatmeal cookie recipe is the one on the back of the Quaker Oats container. Use butterscotch chips instead of raisins or substitute dried cherries and chocolate chips. Libby’s pumpkin has the pie recipe on the outside of the can, but if you take the label off, the pumpkin roll recipe on the inside is the best thing ever. Hellmann’s Parmesan-Crusted Chicken, Chex party mix, and Rice Krispie Treats were mentioned. Back of the Frank’s Red Hot bottle has the buffalo chicken dip. Indoor S’mores from the back of the Golden Grahams box. The Coffee Cake recipe on the Bisquick box. The pecan pie recipe on the back of the Karo light corn syrup bottle is a favorite.
If you do an internet search for “back of the box recipes” you will see there are thousands of recommendations. If anyone asks where you got the recipe, just say “I got it from BOB.”
Sweet Hawaiian Crockpot Chicken
4-6 (2.2 lbs) Chicken breast cut into chunks
1 cup Pineapple juice (DOLE)
½ cup Brown sugar
1/3 cup Soy sauce
Instructions
Add chicken to the crockpot. Mix pineapple juice, brown sugar and soy sauce together and pour over the top. Cook on LOW 6–8 hours. Serve over rice. The pineapple juice breaks the chicken down while it cooks and the brown sugar and soy sauce reduce into a sticky glaze that coats every piece.
Chocolate Banana Refrigerator Cake (Honey Maid Graham Crackers)
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) vanilla instant pudding mix
3 cups cold milk, divided
2 cups thawed frozen whipped topping, divided
1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) chocolate instant pudding mix
18 HONEY MAID Honey Grahams, broken into squares
1 banana, cut into 24 slices
Instructions
Line 13×9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides. Beat vanilla pudding mix and 1-1/2 cups milk in medium bowl with whisk 2 min. Stir in 1 cup whipped topping. Repeat in separate bowl with chocolate pudding mix, remaining milk and remaining whipped topping. Break 1 graham square in half; coarsely crush 7 of the remaining graham squares. Arrange 14 graham squares and 1 graham rectangle on bottom of prepared pan; cover with vanilla pudding, remaining graham pieces and chocolate pudding. Refrigerate 4 hours. When ready to serve, use foil handles to lift dessert from pan; top with bananas and crushed grahams.
15 Minute Chicken and Rice Dinner (Campbell’s)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 boneless chicken breast halves
1 can Campbell’s Cream of Chicken
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups Minute White Rice; see * Note, uncooked
2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli florets
* Note: For creamier dish, use only 1 1/2 cups rice.
Instructions
Heat oil in skillet. Add chicken and cook until browned. Remove chicken. Add soup, water, paprika and pepper; stir. Heat to a boil. Stir in rice and broccoli. Top with chicken. Season chicken with additional paprika and pepper. Cover and cook over low heat 5 minutes or until done.
A-1® Meatloaf
1 can tomato sauce – (8 oz); divided
2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion; chopped
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/3 cup A-1 Steak Sauce
2 eggs; beaten
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Reserve 1/2 can tomato sauce.
Instructions
Mix remaining 1/2 can tomato sauce, beef, onion, bread crumbs, steak sauce, eggs and pepper; mix well. Press mixture into 9×5-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes; pour off fat. Top with reserved tomato sauce; bake 10 minutes more. This recipe yields 8 servings.
