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• meat and potatoes
  meat and potatoes

  noun

  the essential or basic part.
• meat-and-potatoes
  meat-and-potatoes

  adjective

  fundamental; down-to-earth; basic.

meat and potatoes

¹ American  

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

1. the essential or basic part.

   Community service is the meat and potatoes of this program.

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meat-and-potatoes ² American  

[meet-n-puh-tay-tohz, -tuhz] / ˈmit n pəˈteɪ toʊz, -təz /

Or meat-and-potato

adjective

Informal.

1. fundamental; down-to-earth; basic.

   What are the meat-and-potatoes issues of the election?

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meat and potatoes Idioms  

1. The fundamental part or parts of something, as in This paragraph is the meat and potatoes of the contract. This metaphoric term transfers what some regard as basic fare to the basics of an issue. [Mid-1900s]

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Etymology

Origin of meat and potatoes¹

Probably earlier than 1950–55

Origin of meat-and-potatoes²

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

meat and potatoes meat-and-potatoes

To make the economics work for all you can eat meat and potatoes, executives with the Golden Corral buffet chain watch not only what their customers consume, but what they throw away.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

"Staples like bread, meat and potatoes all cost more than they did even a month ago," says Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at investment platform AJ Bell.

From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2025

There’s the satisfying meat and potatoes of exploration at Castle Ensis, with vertiginous balustrades and winding ramparts that cross over and under themselves in impossible architectural configurations.

From New York Times ● Jun. 18, 2024

He would ask the hard questions and just get into the real meat and potatoes of what a person is.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2023

She brings Enrique a bowl of hot broth, filled with bits of meat and potatoes.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

Nor has she spent much time editing reporters who do that kind of meat-and-potatoes journalism.

From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026

After the meat-and-potatoes structure and extreme length of “Iceman,” the comparatively brief and more musically vivid “Maid of Honour,” 45 minutes to the other’s 68, is a relief.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

“Although he’s a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy, he adapted to my vegetarian diet and learned to cook food from my mother — Indian food,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2024

His background - a teacher, a football coach, an Army National Guard enlisted soldier - broadcasts "meat-and-potatoes middle America", as does perhaps his balding, rotund, slightly dishevelled appearance.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2024

“I’m a meat-and-potatoes man, myself,” he explained to Theodora.

From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson