A potboiler or pot-boiler is a novel, play, opera, film, or other creative work of dubious literary or artistic merit, whose main purpose was to pay for the creator's daily expenses—thus the imagery of "boil the pot", which means "to provide one's livelihood".

What is the term potboiler meaning?

: a usually inferior work (as of art or literature) produced chiefly for profit.

What is a potboiler food?

pot boiler (plural pot boilers) (mildly derogatory) A creative work of low quality (book, art, etc), produced merely to earn a living or for profit, as opposed to serious creative expression. As in to put food on the table, to boil a pot of food.