The One Ingredient Mary McCartney Can't Live Without - Exclusive

Good cooking relies on interesting ingredients to elevate the dish. This is especially true for vegetarian cuisine, which showcases plant-based ingredients to create delicious and exciting dishes. Mary McCartney is one of the most prominent meat-free chefs of the day. McCartney grew up in a famously vegetarian household with her father, musician Paul McCartney, and her mother, photographer, cookbook author, and vegetarian meal creator Linda McCartney. 

Mary McCartney has continued the legacy of meat-free cooking through activism and cookbooks. Now, her show, "Mary McCartney Serves It Up!" which premiered its newest season on discovery+ in November 2022, brings McCartney's knowledge and expertise into the kitchens, teaching those at home and McCartney's celebrity guests how to create simple and effective vegetarian and vegan meals. 

We got the chance to speak with McCartney in an exclusive interview about her show and vegetarian cooking. We asked McCartney about the one ingredient she can't live without in the kitchen. The answer might surprise you.

When asked what ingredient she could not live without, McCartney smiled at the notion of having just a single ingredient before answering. "That's a super impossible question, but right now, I have to say lemon."

She goes on to explain that lemon can bring a dish to a whole other level. "One of the things that I love that is surprising is lemon, because you might sauté some veg or make the pad Thai noodle." McCartney then references the episode "20 minutes or Less" of her show where she and "Bridgerton" star Simone Ashley make a Smoked Tofu Pad Thai. 

McCartney told Mashed, "We like citrus, the lemon or lime ... With the pad Thai, you make it and it tastes delicious, but you get a little wedge and do a little squeeze of lemon or lime onto something, and it elevates it and brings it alive." The two paired the dish with a cocktail made by Ashley, which also features citrus, showing the value of citrus in both food and drink.

"Mary McCartney Serves it Up!" is now streaming on Discovery+.