20 unique takes on classic recipes

This meal has the flavors of apple pie and the consistency of a fruit smoothie, but you eat it in a bowl topped with apples, almonds, syrup, and nutmeg. Weight Loss Resources has all the details.

Here’s a cool way to switch up dull old deviled eggs: add avocado. In addition to getting the benefits of that certified superfood, you can top the finished product with turkey bacon and jalapenos, like in this version from All Recipes.

Potato salad would be less unhealthy if you could replace the mayonnaise. Well, it turns out you can, and the trick is the same as the deviled eggs. In addition to including avocado, this recipe from Gimme Some Oven also swaps the mayo for Greek yogurt.

Chai isn’t a spice, but a type of tea infused with numerous flavorful spices. This banana bread from Once Upon a Chef includes cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and allspice—and a half-cup of sour cream, too.

Ground beef, cheddar cheese, bacon, pickles, and potatoes go into this cheeseburger soup recipe from Salt & Lavender. As the name suggests, it’s basically a cheeseburger in soup form, and as the photo suggests, you can eat it with a side of bun.

Chicken & waffles are already a twist on a traditional waffle breakfast, but adding another waffle on top to make the whole thing a sandwich? That’s next level. Delish adds bacon as well as bourbon maple syrup, which is a level we can’t even comprehend but must immediately ascend to.

Adding peppers or chili powder to chocolate is popular in other countries, but basically unheard of in the U.S. Making your own chocolate is already surprisingly easy, so try turning up the heat with this chili chocolate bark recipe from The Spice House.

A ham & cheesy scrambled eggs breakfast takes the shape of a muffin in this recipe for egg cups from Simple Joy. Not only is this oven-baked breakfast a unique (and easier) way to cook for the family, but if you’re an individual who enjoys eggs every morning, you can make a batch or two ahead of time and just heat up however many you want throughout the week.

If you’re like us, you continue eating ice cream after the warm weather ends, and you continue eating gingerbread after the holiday season ends. Combine both of these brilliant decisions into one delicious dessert with this spin on ordinary homemade ice cream: gingerbread-flavored ice cream from Mashed.

If you love lasagna but think a huge block of pasta is a bit too heavy, try this lasagna soup from Cooking Classy. It’s made of the same ingredients—tomatoes, pasta, and three types of cheese—but the lasagna noodles are broken into bite-sized pieces and chicken broth is combined with diced tomatoes to make a soup instead of a sauce.

You’ve probably seen deep-fried mac & cheese balls on pub menus, but now you can experience them in your own kitchen. And with this recipe from My Forking Life, you can even make them in your air fryer!

Meatballs subs are superb, but they’re hard to handle, all the sauce can make the bread soggy, and sometimes a renegade meatball will make an escape out the back of the sandwich. Instead, shrink your sub down to a more manageable slider size, like in this from-scratch recipe from Food Network.

We’re not all fancy enough or wealthy enough to dine on Beef Wellington on the regular, but “Meatloaf Wellington”? Well, that sounds right up our alley. It’s basically just wrapping a meatloaf in crescent dough and baking it, but Taste of Home can help you with the details.

A slice of cheesecake is a classic dessert, but it’s not the only form this tasty treat can take. Try making mini cheesecakes in muffin tins, like this recipe from Live Well Bake Often. Not only is it easier to make (no water bath needed!), simpler to serve, and better for portion control, but you can also customize the toppings—strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, chocolate, Oreos, etc.—for each mini cheesecake.

No, not Taco Bell’s seasoned fries that get dipped in nacho cheese. We’re talking about all your favorite nacho toppings—like ground beef, guacamole, tomatoes, onions, shredded cheese, sour cream, and more—atop crispy fries instead of crunchy tortilla chips. Use this recipe from Sweet Cs Design as an explainer, but customize the toppings to your liking!

Peanut butter & jelly is obviously a sandwich staple, but it’s about time for a snackable upgrade. These peanut butter & jelly bars from I Am Baker blend both chunky and smooth PB, strawberry jelly, and a bunch of things you probably already have in your kitchen—so you can basically make them right now.

You’ve probably breaded chicken with breadcrumbs, Italian breadcrumbs, panko, flour, and maybe even cornflakes…but have you tried pecans? If a crushed pecan coating is not enough of a twist for you, Well Plated by Erin kicks it up a notch by suggesting you warm a round of goat cheese on top, too!

No campfire? No problem. Instead of fire-roasted s’mores, you can take the marshmallow and graham cracker elements and swap the chocolate for a layer of gooey chocolate brownie. It’s easier than it sounds—you can even use a boxed brownie mix to save time—and Confessions of a Baking Queen can show you how.

It’s weird to see the words together, but sweet potato cinnamon rolls really are a thing—a soft, flaky, delicious thing. And this recipe from Jo Cooks doesn’t just sneak in a little bit of sweet potato…it uses a full pound!

There are actually two types of zucchini pancakes: 1) Smaller patties that are like latkes made with zucchini instead of potatoes, like these from All Recipes, and 2) Traditional pancakes—the kind you eat with butter and syrup—with zucchini mixed into the batter, like these from Two Peas & Their Pod. Both are highly recommended!