Easy Recipes

Traditional scallion pancakes are incredible, but they require making dough, rolling layers, and a lot of patience. These rice paper scallion pancakes give you all of that crispy, flaky satisfaction in a fraction of the time — and they’re naturally gluten-free. The trick is stacking moistened rice paper wrappers with scallions and sesame oil between … Read more

Pizza is one of those foods everyone misses in prison, so naturally, inmates found a way to make it with commissary items. The base is made from crushed crackers or tortillas, the sauce comes from ketchup packets mixed with Italian seasoning, and the toppings are whatever meat and cheese you can get. It doesn’t look … Read more

Nutella and bananas are one of those combinations that should be illegal because of how good it is. This milkshake takes two of the best flavors on the planet and blends them into a thick, creamy, chocolatey-hazelnut dream that tastes like a dessert from a Parisian creperie. The frozen banana is the key here — … Read more

These homemade chocolate Easter treats are the kind of thing that makes people say “you MADE these?!” — and they’re honestly so much easier than they look. The filling is a sweet, salty peanut butter mixture that you shape by hand, and then you dip them in melted chocolate and let them set. They taste … Read more

These BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches are the ultimate set-it-and-forget-it meal. You put chicken breasts in the slow cooker with barbecue sauce in the morning, and by dinner, you have tender, shreddable chicken that’s soaked in smoky, sweet BBQ flavor. Pile it on a toasted bun with coleslaw, and you’ve got a sandwich that rivals any … Read more

A proper New York cheesecake is tall, dense, incredibly creamy, and has that signature tangy richness that no other dessert can match. This is not a light and fluffy cheesecake — this is the real deal. The kind you’d get at a deli in Manhattan, served in a thick, unapologetic slice that requires a fork … Read more

Let me save you $12 and a trip to Applebee’s. Homemade mozzarella sticks in the air fryer are crispier, cheesier, and about a hundred times more satisfying than anything you’ll get at a chain restaurant. And they take less time to make than it would take to drive there. The formula is simple but the … Read more

This spread is all about the cheese. If you’ve ever crushed up a bag of Cheetos and thought “this could be a meal,” you already understand the concept. In prison, pepper jack cheese squeezers and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are two of the most popular commissary items, and when you combine them with ramen noodles, the … Read more

Sweet meets salty in the most addictive way possible. This milkshake combines thick caramel ice cream with crunchy pretzel pieces and a drizzle of salted caramel sauce that hits every single taste bud at once. It’s the kind of drink that makes you close your eyes and go “mmm” with the first sip. I stumbled … Read more

Real tamales take hours and require masa, a steamer, and corn husks. In prison, you don’t have any of that — but inmates figured out how to make tamales using crushed corn chips as the masa substitute. It’s genius. The corn chips get mixed with hot water into a thick dough, wrapped around a spicy … Read more