meat and potatoes

/M IY1 T AH0 N D P AH0 T EY0 T OW0 Z/
noun
  1. 1

    The essential part or parts of something.

adjective
  1. 1

    Normal, average, typical, unexceptional, or nondescript.

    โ€œRick is very experimental and open-minded about trying new things, but Ted is a meat and potatoes kind of guy.โ€

Source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meat%20and%20potatoes