A new take on Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking

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Linda McCartney’s book “Home Cooking” was the very first cookbook I ever bought ‒ back in 1992. Twenty-seven years later, I have re-discovered this book in my bookshelf. But while most of the recipes are still great today, the pictures in the book and the layout do not do them justice any more. So I decided to cook and photograph as many recipes as possible from this book, and to include gluten-free and vegan versions wherever possible. Read more about my idea to start cooking Linda’s recipes. Have fun browsing Linda’s recipes below, search by tag or have a look at some of my own recipes. You can also browse my photos.

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Linda's recipes

Corn Bread Mexican Style

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 63

A gluten-free recipe for corn bread with cheese, sour cream and sweetcorn.

A delicious bread when fresh- serve when still a little warm. Great with Chilli Non Carne or a big salad.

By the way: This is the 100th recipe from “Home Cooking” I hace tried!!

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Linda's recipes

Egg and Mushroom Cheese Sauce

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 145

A very creamy and satisfying sauce. Great with potatoes and steamed cauliflower! Serves 3-4.

Variations: I think that 6 eggs is quite a lot and I would use only 3-4.

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Linda's recipes

Spanish Burgers

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 123

Hi, this is a guest blog from Sebastian. As my wife had to go to the doctor’s due to an accident in the swimming pool (don’t ask), I had to take over cooking duties unexpectedly.

Pan with simmering spanish burgers
Spanish Burgers. Photo by Sebastian Späth CC AT-NC license

I used olive oil instead of butter, worked just as well. I also replaced the veg. burgers with larger TVP chunks that had to be soaked/cooked before use. This is probably one of those, check your fridge and adapt recipe accordingly recipes.

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Syrup Steamed Pudding

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 166

A lovely old-fashioned steamed pudding with golden syrup that is easy to make and will make an impression on any dinner guest 🙂
In comparison with other recipes for steamed pudding, this recipe is lower in both sugar and fat but still tastes great. I even reduced both even more with good results (see below).

After spending the weekend with a friend and finding a 2 pint pudding basin in a shop, there was no way around this recipe. I did try a gluten-free version, which tasted great but was a little delicate and crumbly. I also reduced the golden syrup in the pudding basin’s bottom to just 1 tbsp and used only 40g of caster sugar.
I also replaced the vegetable suet with 90g melted coconut oil, giving the pudding a delicious hint of coconut flavour.

My son, who is a very picky eater, and my daughter, who usually does not like sweet dishes too much, both loved this pudding, as did my husband.

Gluten-Free: I used 80g rice flour, 20g potato flour, 20g corn flour, 1 tsp baking powder and 2 tsp potato fiber instead of the self-raising flour.

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Linda's recipes

Potato Salad Vinaigrette

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 77

A nice and easy warm potato salad with a vinaigrette dressing.

Even though Linda recommends serving this salad warm, I think it is just as good when cooled to room temperature. As potatoes tend to soak up some or the flavour from the dressing, make sure you try the salad again before serving and adjusting the seasoning to taste.
I have used less olive oil (2 tbsp in total) to make this salad lighter.

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Linda's recipes

Spinach and Sour Cream Omelette

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 124

A recipe for a spinach & sour cream-filled omelette.

This is a variation of the basic Omelette recipe (p. 65), adding some creamy spinach. A quickish and healthy lunch and inviting more variations. I used just about 1tbsp sour cream and added some chopped red pepper for taste and colour.

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Linda's recipes

Mince and Aubergine Casserole

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 109

A lovely and warming aubergine casserole with a veggie-mince and tomato sauce.

This recipe is much lighter than the Aubergine Parmigiano (p. 83) as the aubergine is boiled and not fried (but the frying adds a lot more flavour). The TVP mince makes this dish a little more filling. Perfect for a family dinner.

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Linda's recipes

Broccoli Cream Soup

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 52

A smooth cold soup made from mainly broccoli, onion, celery and carrots, with added maccaroni and cream.

When making this soup I was surprised that none of the ingredients is browned before cooking. Instead, all veg is simmered together with the maccaroni until soft.
To me, the soup tasted quite plain and I did not like the well-cooked broccoli and the rather heavy taste. I would suggest browning the onion, celery, and carrot at the start and simmering with the maccaroni. The broccoli should be added only 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time so it can retain its bright green colour and freshness much better. I would also recommend making this soup less thick by adding more vegetable stock (at least 500ml in total).

Gluten-Free: Use gluten-free pasta, preferably pasta made from corn flour.

Vegan: Use plant-based cream and serve with a little plant-based yoghurt on top.

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Linda's recipes

Four Seasons Salad

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 75

A great combination of different ingredients usually to be found in the fridge to make a crispy and colourful salad.

Linda served this salad with a mayonnaise dressing; for a lighter vegan version I tried a dressing made of:
1 tsp. vegan mayonnaise, 1 tbsp. plain plant-based yoghurt, 1tsp. mild mustard, 1 tbsp. vinegar, 1 tsp. agave syrup and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. When blending the dressing with a stick blender, add 1-2 tbsp. of water and blend until all ingredients are combined and creamy.

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Linda's recipes

Mexican Omelette

From: Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking, p. 108

A great variation of the “plain” omelette on p. 65, using chopped chillies in brine in the batter. A great recipe for a quick and light lunch. Serve with a salad or steamed vegetables and some tomato or salsa sauce.

After the success with his first omelette, my husband bought a whole box of eggs and was determined to make more omelette as soon as possible. He did like the idea of adding chillies to the batter, but found that 2 or 3 chillies would be enough.