American Recipes
2884 recipes found
Vinegar Chicken With Crushed Olive Dressing
This tangy, turmeric-stained, sheet-pan chicken makes the most of the schmaltzy bits left behind on the pan, which is deglazed with fresh garlic, briny olives and a bit of water. Think pan sauce, but done on a sheet pan.
Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
This tangy, mildly spicy white-bean chili is as warming and comforting as a traditional chili, but in a lighter, brighter form. Plenty of green chiles — fresh and canned — provide kick while creamy white beans mellow it all out. To decrease the heat level, remove and discard the seeds from the jalapeño before you mince it. A large handful of chopped cilantro added at the end brings freshness, but if you don’t care for cilantro, pass it at the table along with the other toppings or omit it entirely. Continuing the spirit of customizing your chili, you can make this in the slow cooker or on the stovetop. Use 3 cups chicken stock in the slow cooker and 4 cups on the stovetop, where liquid is more likely to evaporate.
Eggplant and Zucchini Pasta With Feta and Dill
This simple yet hearty weeknight pasta is packed with two whole pounds of vegetables. Meaty eggplant makes this vegetarian meal satisfying, while zucchini adds texture and a touch of natural sweetness. Since eggplant tends to absorb oil like a sponge, the key here is to sauté it slowly in a nonstick skillet until it softens and caramelizes without adding too much oil. The feta does double duty, adding bright tang to the dish and creating a creamy sauce. Fragrant dill is a natural pairing for eggplant and zucchini, but fresh parsley or basil would also be great.
Blistered Broccoli Pasta With Walnuts, Pecorino and Mint
The trick to creating deeply browned, pan-seared broccoli involves two things: high heat and no touching. Allowing your florets and stems to sear in an even layer, undisturbed, gives them time to blister without cooking all the way through, so they retain some crunch. While many pasta sauces are finished with starchy pasta water, this one isn’t, since the hot water would strip the broccoli of that color and crunch you worked so hard to achieve. Instead, toss the cooked pasta in the skillet with the broccoli, walnuts and cheese. A drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon will provide any additional moisture you need.
Pasta With Garlicky Spinach and Buttered Pistachios
If you want to get the timing just right on this one — no wasted time! — start the sauce a few minutes after you’ve dropped the pasta into the boiling water. Your spinach should be wilted right around the time the pasta is al dente. If that feels too stressful, or the spinach wilts before the pasta is ready, simply turn the heat under the skillet all the way down to low and keep it warm while the pasta finishes. Don’t count this recipe out if you’re not fond of capers. They add a hint of salty brininess without being in-your-face caper-y. A pound of pasta is a lot to toss around, especially with 2 bunches of spinach in the mix, so save that extra quarter-box for your next pot of pasta e fagioli.
Pasta With Fresh Tomatoes and Goat Cheese
This pasta’s sauce comes together using the same trifecta found in lemon-ricotta pasta: a juicy fruit, a creamy cheese and a salty cheese. This recipe makes good use of those summer tomatoes with juices just barely contained by their thin skins. The creamy cheese is goat cheese, whose tang balances the sweetness of the tomatoes. Parmesan adds salty depth, while herbs and red-pepper flakes complete the dish. For a more filling pasta, feel free to add shrimp, corn or green beans to the boiling pasta in the last few minutes of cooking.
Kale and Quinoa Salad With Tofu and Miso
A hearty base of kale, quinoa and crisp tofu give this easy salad enough bite to serve as a meal. Curly kale provides heft and holds up nicely to the sweet, sour and spicy dressing. Use your hands to massage the vinaigrette into the kale, and let it marinate for at least 10 minutes to tenderize the sturdy greens. Finish the dish with a drizzle of sriracha and honey, but use a light touch: The point is to balance the heat and sweetness levels without overwhelming the delicate miso vinaigrette. If you like, double the dressing and refrigerate it for future use; it makes a fantastic dip for grilled chicken or pork, or a glaze to brush on salmon before broiling.
Baked Risotto With Greens and Peas
This easy baked risotto eliminates the constant stirring required in traditional risotto recipes. It’s laden with vegetables, namely kale and spinach, but other leafy greens like Swiss chard or collard greens would work equally well. If you happen to have some extra asparagus, sub it in for the peas. This risotto makes a great starter or side dish, but you can also turn it into a vegetarian main course by using vegetable or mushroom stock in place of the chicken broth, and topping it with sautéed mushrooms, a fried egg or crispy tofu slices. Leftovers can be refrigerated for two days and reheated with more broth, or repurposed into crunchy rice cakes or arancini. Simply form into patties or balls, coat in bread crumbs and shallow-fry until golden and crunchy.
Apricot Snack Cake
This simple and tender cake is prepared entirely in the food processor, with juicy apricots, fragrant vanilla and nutty almond flour, which accentuates the fruity flavor. The apricots add natural tartness to balance the rich, buttery cake, but the cake also works well with other stone fruits, like peaches, plums and nectarines. It’s an ideal recipe for using overripe fruits, if you’ve bought too many and can’t eat them fast enough. Perfect for breakfast with coffee or tea, this snacking cake is a great pick-me-up treat any time of day. For dessert, toast the slices and serve warm topped with whipped cream, ice cream or macerated fruit.
Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies
Much like its author, this recipe is a no-fuss classic. It calls for just 1/4 cup of flour, which yields an incredibly rich and gooey brownie, and it's super easy to make. So easy, in fact, that baking a batch of these might just become part of your weekend routine. (Watch the video of Vaughn Vreeland making Katharine Hepburn’s brownies here.)
Chocolate-Chip Banana Bread
This recipe uses four bananas, which is more than is typical for a single loaf. The natural sugars from the ripe, brown bananas keep the bread incredibly moist for up to one week, even sliced. The high moisture of the batter can make it tricky to determine doneness, so take care not to underbake the the loaf. It should have a dry, shiny, cracked surface, and a tester inserted into the thickest portion should come out with a few moist crumbs attached. Serve this banana bread for breakfast or brunch, or even as a simple dessert, topped with a scoop of coffee ice cream.
Simple Crusty Bread
We thought we’d landed upon the simplest yeast bread recipe in 2007, when Mark Bittman wrote about the no-knead approach of Jim Lahey, owner of Sullivan Street Bakery. It quickly became (and remains) one of our most popular recipes because it made bakery-quality bread a real possibility for home cooks. But then we heard about Jeff Hertzberg, a physician from Minneapolis, who devised a streamlined technique for a crusty loaf of bread. Mix flour, salt, yeast and water. Let it sit a bit, refrigerate it, take some out and let it rise, then bake it. The crusty, full-flavored loaf that results may be the world’s easiest yeast bread.
Made-in-the-Pan Chocolate Cake
This surprisingly tender vegan chocolate cake is made entirely in an 8-by-8-inch baking pan: Just toss in the ingredients, stir until you don’t see any flour streaks, then bake. For flourish, add a small handful of chocolate chips before baking or sprinkle the finished cake with a little confectioners’ sugar. Adapted from Mollie Katzen’s “Honest Pretzels: And 64 Other Amazing Recipes for Kids Who Love to Cook,” this recipe was developed for kids, but adults love it, too. It’s an ideal snacking cake, or you could gussy it up with a simple ganache frosting.
Pumpkin Bread With Brown Butter and Bourbon
This hearty pumpkin bread is a sophisticated twist on the traditional version with the addition of bourbon (teetotalers can substitute apple cider), browned butter and cardamom.
Cinnamon Apple Quick Bread With Apple Cider Glaze
Warm spices, applesauce and a shredded tart apple make this homespun loaf comforting, but the gooey apple-cider glaze makes it stand out. You might want to double the amount of glaze, and drizzle it over ice cream, pancakes or maybe even your morning oatmeal.
Creamed Spinach Pasta
This pasta nods to everyone’s favorite steakhouse side, and it comes together in no time, making for a fine weeknight meal. One full pound of fresh spinach is cooked down in garlicky butter before cream is added, then simmered until thickened. The cooked pasta is added directly to the sauce, then tossed with ricotta cheese for even more richness. Fettuccine or tagliatelle pasta work best, but the creamy sauce will cling to any long noodles. Top with pine nuts, walnuts or hazelnuts for crunch, or leave the nuts out entirely. Serve as a side to grilled steak, chicken or fish, or serve it on its own, paired simply with a glass of bubbles.
Turkey Chili
Rather than browning the meat first, which doesn’t do much for lean ground turkey and can actually make it tough, this recipe prioritizes cooking down the vegetables first. Onions and canned tomatoes fried in olive oil provide an umami-rich flavor base for turkey’s blank canvas, and the adobo sauce from canned chipotle peppers does a lot of this dish’s heavy lifting. Optional toppings like shredded cheese and sour cream help cool down the spice. One of the best ways to enjoy this simple but powerful chili is over French fries with melted cheese, or tossed with some cooked spaghetti. It’s so great on its own, as well.
Loaded Vegan Nachos
This recipe certainly has more steps than the original nachos, but you’ll be rewarded with a festive tray that’s hearty and vegetable-packed enough for dinner. Queso is a great choice for nachos because, unlike melted grated cheese, it stays creamy and doesn’t congeal. This homemade, vegan take owes its bold flavor to nutritional yeast, chipotle, garlic powder and pickled jalapeños, and its glossy and smooth texture to the magical combination of starchy bean liquid and blended cauliflower. The key to great nachos is to make sure that each element is delicious on its own, so here, roasted cauliflower gets seasoned with cilantro and lime, and pinto beans with spicy adobo sauce.
Classic Tuna Salad Sandwich
Here is Craig Claiborne’s version of the classic lunchbox staple. Celery, red onion and red bell pepper add crunch; capers and lemon juice lend a little tang.
Pressure Cooker Pot Roast
This is a classic, comforting pot roast, rich with red wine and onions. A pressure cooker works wonders on tough cuts of meat like the chuck roast called for here; the roast is braised to tenderness in a fraction of the time it would take in the oven. The trick to this perfectly cooked meal is timing: Pop the vegetables into the pressure cooker just for the last few minutes of cooking, so they are tender but not overly softened. The optional quick-pickled onions give the mellow beef and sweet vegetables an appealing tangy pop. If you’re short on time, you don’t need to thicken the cooking liquid to make a gravy; just drizzle some pan juice over the top and call it a day.
Pressure Cooker White Bean-Parmesan Soup
A pressure cooker renders dried beans buttery soft in a fraction of the time the stovetop would take. For this recipe, seek out whole wheat berries — not hulled or pearled — because they stand up to the long cook time, developing a pleasant chewiness while maintaining their shape. You can substitute whole farro or spelt, but make sure the farro is not pearled. The key to this soup’s flavor is the Parmesan rind, which infuses the soup with an earthy saltiness. Finally, don’t forget the finishing touches of lemon and parsley: They add brightness and bring other deeper flavors into sharper focus. You can also make this recipe in a slow cooker. Find that recipe here.
Pressure Cooker Classic Beef Chili
Chili in the electric pressure cooker is super fast and extremely convenient. This version is on the gently spiced side, so if you're looking for more heat, feel free to increase the chili powder or add a big pinch of cayenne – or throw a couple of extra jalapeños into the pot. Keep in mind that the leaner the beef, the less flavorful the chili. Eighty percent is a good bet here. You can also substitute ground pork or dark meat turkey. Leftover chili freezes like a dream.
Italian Subs With Sausage and Peppers
This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen. For these subs, you'll start with the onions, slicing two big sweet ones and setting them in a hot pan with a couple of gurgles of olive oil. Season with salt, black pepper and a shake of red-pepper flakes, then cook over medium heat, stirring and tossing occasionally so that they go golden and soft. This’ll take a while. Add a couple of sliced bell peppers to the pan, and continue cooking, still stirring and tossing, until they begin to wilt. Set the vegetables aside. About halfway through, set some sweet Italian sausages in another hot, oil-slicked pan, and cook them through until crisp and brown on the exterior, turning often. Split your sub rolls (I like the sesame-seeded variety here) and scrape out a little of the interior from each. Load one side of each roll with some of the onions and peppers, the other with a sausage. Top with mozzarella, put the open sandwiches on a sheet pan and slide them all into a hot oven for five minutes or so, until the cheese is melted and the bread is lightly toasted. Fold together and serve. Sam Sifton features a no-recipe recipe every Wednesday in his What to Cook newsletter. Sign up to receive it. You can find more no-recipe recipes here.
Mississippi Roast
An Internet darling of a pot roast recipe, a favorite of mom bloggers and Pinterest, Mississippi Roast is traditionally made by placing a chuck roast in a slow cooker and simmering it beneath a stick of butter, a package of ranch dressing mix, another of “au jus” gravy mix and a handful of pepperoncini. And you can certainly cook it that way. The raves are justified. But replacing the packaged mixes is no real chore, and it results in a luscious tangle of deliciously tangy beef that goes beautifully with mashed or roasted potatoes or egg noodles, or as a hot-sandwich filling. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of your roast and the effectiveness of your slow cooker. But six to eight hours generally does the trick. (If you're in the market for a slow-cooker, our colleagues at The Wirecutter have spent a great deal of time testing them. Check out their guide to the best on the market.)