American Recipes
2884 recipes found
Broiled Salmon With Mustard and Lemon
In this simple salmon recipe, a quick stint under the broiler transforms smooth Dijon mustard into a savory, caramelized crust, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice adds just the right brightness and tang to the rich, sweet fish. Covering the baking pan with a protective layer of aluminum foil helps with the cleanup, meaning you can cook dinner and wash up in under 30 minutes.
Caramelized Lemon Chicken
Making a chicken shine with glaze typically requires combining a form of sugar (like honey or maple syrup) with something to balance that sweetness, like lemon juice. But there is an ingredient in your baking arsenal that does both of those things: lemon curd. The sugars in the curd help the skin caramelize to a deep mahogany, while the curd’s fat and moisture keep the meat juicy. Spread it on chicken and each bite gets perfumed with sunny lemon. While you can make this recipe using chicken just as you purchased it, the added step of removing the backbone (also known as spatchcocking or butterflying) ensures all parts get browned.
Crispy Baked Chicken
For pull-apart tender chicken with crisp, deeply spiced skin, rub it with a spicy-sweet mix and roast it low and slow while you’re doing something else. Because this chicken is cooked at a moderately low temperature, the spices will bloom but not burn, and the chicken fat will render slowly and completely (which means you don’t need any oil). The smoky rub in this recipe will turn the chicken skin into what tastes like a barbecue potato chip, but you can use other spice blends, too, like garam masala or Montreal steak seasoning. Just be sure your mix includes sugar for browning and salt for accentuating flavors. Whole chicken legs (with the thigh and drumstick attached) provide a more generous portion of juicy meat and skin that shatters, but a mix of drumsticks and bone-in thighs work, too.
Vegan Caesar Salad With Crisp Chickpeas
There are many ways to mimic the rich, creamy texture of emulsified, egg-based Caesar dressing: Tofu, vegan mayonnaise, aquafaba whipped with oil, the list goes on. Blended raw cashews prove themselves the best base in this version, which is fortified with garlic, mustard, miso paste and caper brine to achieve the tangy-salty-punchy balance found in the real deal. Crisp chickpeas and hand-torn croutons add a crunchiness that plays well with the velvety dressing.
Peach Poundcake
This recipe proves that the perfect summer pound cake takes no special equipment or skill to pull off. Once you’ve prepared the peaches, this is essentially a dump-and-whisk cake. Puréed peaches (plus an extra egg yolk) keep the cake from drying out. Diced peaches add bursts of fresh fruit, and a peach glaze lends another layer of flavor. Use sweet, ripe peaches for best results, but frozen work fine here, too. If you’re looking for a spin on classic peaches and cream, serve a slice with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Superiority Burger’s Crispy Fried Tofu Sandwich
Ranging from silken and creamy to firm and chewy, tofu comes in many forms and is prized around the world for its versatility. In this recipe, which is adapted from the “Superiority Burger Cookbook” (W.W. Norton & Company, 2018) by chef Brooks Headley, extra-firm tofu is pressed, marinated, breaded and fried, to make the “tofu-fried tofu” sandwich at Superiority Burger, his popular vegetarian restaurant in New York City. To achieve a dense tofu patty with plenty of flavor and bite, Mr. Headley starts with extra-firm tofu, presses out any excess liquid, then marinates it in a spicy pickle juice brine. It’s then double-battered and deep-fried until crisp. This sandwich is best enjoyed on a sunlit stoop in the East Village, just steps outside Superiority Burger, but it’s also achievable in any home kitchen.
Cheese Grits With Saucy Black Beans, Avocado and Radish
Cheesy grits are a filling, versatile vegetarian staple. They can be dressed up or down, and topped with heaps of your favorite things. If you have it, Manchego provides creaminess and rich, salt flavor, but a combination of Cheddar and Parmesan works equally well. If you’re using a vegan cheese, opt for one with the creamiest texture like a soy mozzarella, Cheddar or Cheddar Jack. To finish, let your favorite taco toppings guide you—avocados, radish and scallions are a surefire trifecta, but a spoonful of pico de gallo or salsa would be welcome here, too. You could also amp up the beans big time, adding chopped garlic, ground cumin or oodles more heat, but don’t go so crazy that you can’t pull this off on a weeknight with ease.
Carrot Tart With Ricotta and Feta
Carrots work beautifully in this simple tart, but onions, parsnips, beets, zucchini or pumpkin work just as well. The key is to cook the vegetables before putting them on the tart, since the moisture released by baking raw vegetables would make the puff pastry soggy and prevent it from rising. Once you remove the tart from the oven, let it cool for 10 minutes before cutting to allow the cheese to firm up slightly. The tart can be served warm, or cooled to room temperature, and would make a great addition to a picnic.
Crème Fraîche Pasta With Peas and Scallions
Here’s an easy weeknight pasta featuring crème fraîche, the richer, slightly less tangy cousin of sour cream. It’s combined with Parmesan, lemon zest and starchy pasta cooking water for a sauce that is creamy, velvety and bright. Whole bunches of scallions caramelize until their edges char, lending sweetness and a hint of smoke, while raw scallions add color as a garnish. To preserve the brightness of the peas, throw them in the pasta cooking water at the very end and drain along with the shells. Plan appropriately, and the sauce and scallions can be prepared in the time it takes the pasta to cook.
Spring Minestrone With Kale and Pasta
This one-pot springtime minestrone combines asparagus, peas and kale with a healthy dose of fresh ginger. The ginger is optional, but it energizes the broth. This recipe is fairly flexible overall: You can swap green vegetables according to taste, use vegetable or chicken stock and toss in any type of short pasta. The pesto and Parmesan swirled in at the end provide brightness and richness, but you could also finish the soup with tapenade, sour cream, ricotta or even a splash of your favorite hot sauce.
Charred Carrots With Orange and Balsamic
Ina Garten was one of the people who made roasted whole carrots fashionable for home cooks, back when “The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook” — her first — was published in 1999. Brightening up basic dishes with lemon, orange and vinegar became one of her signatures. She shared this recipe from her book “Modern Comfort Food” with The Times for Thanksgiving 2020.
Hawaii-Style Garlic Shrimp
Three decades ago, the first shrimp truck rolled out on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. It served jumbo shrimp, a dozen to a plate with two scoops of rice, crackly shelled and dark with paprika and a rubble of garlic and butter — so much butter that the sheen stayed on your fingers all day. Rivals soon appeared and today, at least a dozen trucks vie for customers, both locals and tourists who drive an hour from Honolulu. When Kathy YL Chan, the writer behind the Onolicious Hawai‘i blog, reverse-engineered the recipe, she dredged the shrimp in mochiko (sweet rice flour) for extra crispness, although all-purpose flour works, too. She calls for one head of garlic here but uses two heads herself; feel free to adjust according to your taste.
Salisbury Steak
In the United States today, most people might know Salisbury steak as a TV dinner. When made from scratch with just the right mix of Worcestershire sauce, ketchup and brown sugar, the tender beef patties smothered in gravy are a hearty, soul-warming staple. The original dish was named after Dr. James Henry Salisbury, who famously recommended eating it for health reasons. This version is all about how delicious the meal is and leans into its savory flavors, especially the umami-rich onion and mushrooms in the sauce. Serve these mini Salisbury steaks with green vegetables and steamed white rice, mac and cheese, gamja salad or mashed potatoes.
Sheet-Pan Paprika Chicken With Potatoes and Turnips
Think of this as the sheet-pan dinner version of a Hungarian chicken paprikash, ruddy with paprika and sweet tomato paste. Roasting the chicken at high heat instead of braising it lets it singe at the edges, and allows the potatoes and turnips to turn golden beneath their coating of duck fat (or olive oil). Feel free to double this; just use two large sheet pans instead of the smaller pans.
Roasted Cod and Potatoes
When one of my daughters, Emma, was young, there was a time when her main passion in life was potatoes, especially crispy ones. For one special occasion, I produced a classic French dish, potatoes Anna, in which potatoes are thin-sliced, drenched in butter, carefully layered and roasted until golden. This was an error, of course; potatoes Anna is a pain to make. Naturally, the demand was unrelenting thereafter. So, in an attempt to make the effort more rational, I cut down on the butter, cut short the preparation time by enlisting the aid of the broiler during the last few minutes of cooking, and decided to turn this one dish into something approaching an entire meal. In the last few minutes, before the potatoes were cooked through, I placed a thick fillet of fish on top of the potatoes. The result is a simple weeknight dish that I now make routinely, and one that even seems to impress the occasional guest.
Skillet Chicken With Tomatoes, Pancetta and Mozzarella
With a topping of tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella, it’s no wonder that I always think of this easy skillet dish as "pizza chicken." It’s a tangy, milky, gooey, lovable meal that’s somewhat reminiscent of chicken Parmesan, but with succulent bone-in chicken pieces instead of breaded and fried cutlets. Even better, it has pancetta and anchovies for complexity of flavor, and the whole thing comes together in under an hour.
Sheet-Pan Chicken With Potatoes, Scallions and Capers
This one-pan chicken dinner requires only five ingredients, making it perfect for busy weeknights. Meaty chicken thighs roast on top of scallions and potatoes until the chicken is golden and juicy and the scallions are tender and sweet. Despite the short ingredient list, this dish delivers deep flavor and varying textures: The potatoes on the bottom soak up the tasty pan juices while the ones on top turn crispy. Any extra pan drippings get mixed with capers and lemon juice for a quick, tangy sauce. You could also use some of the sauce to dress a simple side salad.
Homemade Hamburger Helper
Think of this as the most luxurious Hamburger Helper you’ve ever had. It’s how Mark Rosati, the culinary director of Shake Shack, turns leftover ground beef into a complete weeknight dinner. The entire dish — even the pasta — is made in one pot, and melds the indelible comfort of macaroni and cheese with the complexity of a good Bolognese. This definitely has a kick, so adjust the hot sauce according to taste.
Skillet Chicken With Couscous, Lemon and Halloumi
Salty bits of halloumi, toasted walnuts and shallots bathed in lemon will enliven this simple yet elegant roast chicken and couscous recipe. A dash of red-pepper flakes and a few sprigs of oregano make the dish as fragrant as it is flavorful. This recipe works as a lunch or dinner, and although it calls for chicken, the balance of acid and salt could work well with other proteins, such as fish, tofu, or sliced mushrooms, with adjustments to the cooking time, depending on your protein.
Hot Mustard and Honey Glazed Chicken
Asian hot mustard powder is a versatile pantry staple that can quickly transform into a spicy sauce, glaze or dressing. Here, the hot mustard is tamed with sweet honey and balanced by fragrant garlic for a savory glaze that caramelizes on chicken when roasted. Once cooked, the chicken receives a final basting for a fresh burst of spicy flavor. Make a double batch of the glaze, as it also tastes great on pork chops and grilled shrimp. Leftover chicken can quickly become a salad the next day; just chop and toss with spinach or romaine and a simple vinaigrette.
Maple Roasted Chicken
This sweet, well-seasoned dish is great for Sunday dinner. You only have to marinate for an hour, but you could do it up to overnight. Set it up the night before, then simply roast the chicken just before serving. The sticky glaze adds color, but its sweetness is not overpowering, getting some good balance from the vinegar and the smoky paprika. Pair the roasted chicken with sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts or bitter greens, like collard greens and kale, and use any leftovers in a salad or rice bowl the next day.
Pan-Seared Ranch Chicken
In this recipe, America’s favorite salad dressing serves double-duty: as a creamy, herbaceous sauce and as a marinade. But don’t reach for bottled ranch. Instead, make your own brighter, tangier version using Greek yogurt. Unlike lemon or vinegar-based marinades, which can toughen meat, yogurt tenderizes even the leanest of chicken breasts. When the chicken is seared in a hot pan, the yogurt-mayo coating forms a flavorful, caramelized crust. (It also makes an excellent marinade for fish, pork, shrimp or sturdy vegetables.)
Sheet-Pan Scallion Chicken With Bok Choy
This weeknight sheet-pan chicken dinner makes exciting use of refrigerator staples. A fun mash-up of mustard, miso, scallions, garlic and ginger creates a zesty coating for skinless chicken thighs. The flavors soak into the chicken as it roasts, and the thighs are left on the bone to keep the meat juicy. The chicken cooks atop a bed of fresh bok choy, which picks up the rich aromatics of the pan juices, but broccoli florets also work well here. Turn leftovers into chicken salad sandwiches for lunch the next day: Simply pick the meat off the bones, chop the bok choy and mix it with some olive oil, lemon juice and chopped celery or fresh herbs.
Shake and Bake Chicken Thighs With Parmesan Peas
Crushed shredded-wheat cereal perked up with spices creates a super-crunchy coating reminiscent of the "Shake 'n Bake" of countless childhoods. Here, it works so well on boneless, skinless chicken thighs that you won’t even miss the crispy skin. For a twist on the classic beloved side dish, buttered peas are showered with Parmesan cheese.