Jump To:

• 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.

---

meat-and-potatoes ² American  

[meet-n-puh-tey-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?

---

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]

---

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

That was a change from some earlier, infamous Tesla earnings calls when he lost his temper and even berated “boring, bonehead” questions about the meat and potatoes of that company’s business.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

"She got the diet just right for Middle England - meat and potatoes, all the greens in the right place. And sponge pudding to follow. It's comfortable and regular. Sometimes you'll even enjoy it."

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2025

How is writing for “Matlock,” a meat and potatoes procedural, the same or different as writing for “Jane the Virgin,” which leaned on magical surrealism?

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2024

In 2020, Taste of Home published a list of "39 recipes husbands can't get enough of," including some real "meat and potatoes" fare like beef chimichangas and burgers with grilled cheese sandwiches as buns.

From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2023

“I was raised on meat and potatoes, and I’ve made it to thirty-five.”

From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven

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

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

He’s accomplished this not with virtuosic musical innovation, genre-crossing celebrity collaborations or by hosting a television singing competition, but by cranking out one irrepressibly catchy, widely relatable meat-and-potatoes country anthem after another.

From New York Times ● Jun. 15, 2022

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

From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson