Dinner
8856 recipes found
Monte Cristo
This American diner classic — a battered and grilled ham, turkey and cheese sandwich dusted with confectioners’ sugar — may, in fact, be a descendant of the French croque-monsieur. The two are quite similar, the main difference being that the croque-monsieur has a layer of béchamel on top, while the Monte Cristo is dipped in beaten egg before it’s griddled. The Monte Cristo became popular when a restaurant at Disneyland began serving it in the 1960s, and now, it lives on as a fixture on menus around the country. It's a delicious way to use leftover baked ham, but regular deli meat works well, too. (Feel free to omit the turkey and use twice as much ham, if you prefer.) As with most grilled sandwiches, thinner slices of cheese will melt more easily.
Lemony Pearl Barley Soup
High in comfort, low in fuss, this pearl barley soup answers the question of what to cook when one doesn’t feel like cooking. Made with pantry staples, this simple soup beams with vibrancy. Lemon transforms this hearty soup into a dish that also feels light and restorative, while dill, used generously, reinforces the citrus flavor while bringing an assertive herbaceous edge. Other herbs could step in for dill; consider parsley, cilantro or chives. Spinach is added right at the end, after the heat is turned off, which ensures that the greens maintain a little bite and stay bright. The soup will thicken over time, so if you are making it ahead or have leftovers, simply loosen it up with more stock or water when reheating.
Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Soup
This three-ingredient vegan soup isn’t a trick: It’s as velvety and rich as its creamy, dairy-full counterparts, with a sweetness that lingers and warms. Coax deep, nutty flavors from cauliflower and a whole head of garlic by roasting them until caramelized; next you’ll simmer them until nearly falling apart, then blend the mixture until silky-smooth. Gentle and comforting on its own, the soup can also serve as the start to your own creation: You could roast sliced onions or leeks instead of the garlic; stir in Cheddar, Gruyère or Parmesan; or top with fried sage or capers. Accompany with grilled cheese or pumpernickel bread, or a hearty salad with grains or lentils.
Carne Asada Torta
Tender white rolls stuffed with smoky grilled meat, creamy avocado, juicy tomatoes, pickled jalapeños and red onion, the Mexican torta is a much-loved sandwich that likely originated in Puebla during the French occupation in the 1860s. Mexican bakers were inspired by baguettes, and created telera, a smaller, softer loaf with signature hash marks across the top. While the exact history is blurry, one thing remains true: like any good sandwich, good bread is key. Telera or bolillo rolls are traditional here, although according to Claudette Zepeda, a San Diego chef who specializes in regional Mexican cooking, ciabatta is an acceptable substitute. She also said that while pickled onions and chiles are a must, cheese is usually only found on a cold torta. All that to say, while it’s not strictly authentic, feel free to add refried beans or crumble on a little cotija cheese. For extra flavor, place the cut sides of the toasted bread over the carne asada while it’s resting to soak up some of the flavorful juices. This version of the popular sandwich calls for carne asada, but you could also use shredded pollo asado.
Macaroni and Peas
This recipe starts with a love of store-bought mac and cheese, amplified with frozen peas and diced ham. But then, it adds a few layers of flavor, increasing the peas, sautéing the cured pork and using a from-scratch garlicky Parmesan sauce inspired by classic pasta paglia e fieno (“straw and hay pasta,” so named because it’s typically made with a combination of plain and green fettuccine pastas that resembles fresh and dried grass). While pasta paglia e fieno typically uses reduced heavy cream as its sauce, this recipe keeps it a little lighter by decreasing the amount of cream and instead relying on eggs to give the sauce its clingy, glossy texture, like in a good carbonara. A finish of parsley and mint further lightens it.
Peanut Butter Noodles
This nutty midnight pasta is a dream to cook, as it requires just a handful of pantry staples and one pot. Peanut butter (the less fancy, the better) anchors a creamy sauce swathed in umami. Accentuated by a good, salty Parmesan, these noodles recall those cheesy peanut butter sandwich crackers. They make an ideal dinner for one, but the amounts can easily be doubled or quadrupled as needed. For an equally gripping vegan alternative, try swapping out the butter for olive oil and the cheese for nutritional yeast.
Miso-Mushroom Barley Soup
This hearty vegan dish uses miso and soy to add a tremendous amount of depth and flavor to a relatively quick, one-pot mushroom barley soup. Quartering the mushrooms allows them to retain bite, but you can thinly slice them if you’d prefer everything to be soft and tender. Resist the urge to salt heavily during the bulk of the cooking, as the miso and soy — both sodium-heavy ingredients — will be added at the end to bring the soup together. This is a soup that will thicken, so add more water or broth when reheating. It’s as accommodating as it is comforting: You can empty your pantry or fridge by swapping the barley for farro and spinach for chopped bok choy or other greens.
One-Pot Creamy Chicken and Noodles
Think of this warming dish as a relay race, each ingredient handing its flavor to the next. During the (almost!) hands-off cooking, a head of garlic and a whole chicken stuffed with a Parmesan rind roast, then give themselves to salted water, which in turn flavors the egg noodles that soften around the bird. Salt and water are your best tools here: Season the chicken, season the water and season both again. Don’t hesitate to add more water as the noodles are cooking to make sure they’re submerged. Every brand will absorb a slightly different amount of liquid, and you want a result that’s splashy enough to take on all the Parmesan you will grate at the table. Use your largest pot so everything fits. A 7- to 9-quart Dutch oven has ideal proportions with its wide base and chicken-height sides. You can substitute any short, quick-cooking pasta for egg noodles, and introduce sautéed mushrooms, spinach or herbs at the end, if that’s your mood.
Skillet Ginger Chicken With Apricots
A simple yet surprising cast of ingredients creates a deeply flavorful one-pot meal made primarily from chicken thighs, white wine, ginger, apricot and spices. It’s reminiscent of long-simmered, well-spiced stewed dishes but comes together quickly. The earthy, warm spices contrast the sweetness of the silky red onions and apricots, which soften and plump in white wine, leaving a pool of flavorful liquid at the bottom of the skillet. Dried figs or prunes would be easy substitutes for the apricots. To take advantage of the fragrant pan sauce, serve with bread, lightly oiled orzo or rice.
Spicy Caramelized Shrimp With Lemongrass
For those who love all things salty and sweet, Vietnamese tôm rim is an ideal dish, wedding fish sauce with caramel. Variations abound, but traditionally, tôm rim is made by marinating whole, unpeeled shrimp in fish sauce, palm sugar, pepper, garlic and shallot, then sautéing until the shrimp cooks through and the sauce becomes glossy and caramelized. This version, which is adapted from “Vietnamese Home Cooking” (Ten Speed Press, 2012) by chef Charles Phan, calls for weeknight-friendly peeled shrimp, and builds upon the dish’s classic flavor profile by introducing chile, lemongrass and ginger. Mr. Phan uses a homemade roasted chile paste that is heady with Sichuan peppercorns, ground bean paste and soy sauce, but he suggests store-bought roasted chile paste or chile-bean sauce for ease. You could swap in Sriracha, increase the garlic, apply these flavors to different proteins or even vegetables. Once you’ve understood the foundation of a dish, its potential is infinite.
Lasagna Soup
This simple, one-pot soup delivers all the comfort of a classic lasagna with very little of the work. A jar of marinara sauce is its secret to speedy flavor, along with a combination of ground beef and Italian sausage (though for ease, you can use one or the other), plus a pinch of ground nutmeg. Dried lasagna noodles are broken into small pieces and cooked directly in the soup, thickening the broth with their starches as they soften. Don’t skip the ricotta-Parmesan topping; it adds richness and the unmistakable essence of lasagna. This soup comes together quickly and is best served right away; the noodles will continue to absorb the broth as it sits.
Sautéed Mushrooms
To create perfectly browned and crisp mushrooms, a combination of steaming and searing is helpful. First, steam the sliced mushrooms in a covered pot to forcefully remove their water and prevent them from soaking up fat. (Soggy and greasy mushrooms, begone.) Then, add the butter and let the mushrooms sear, stirring only occasionally, until crusty, then pour in a little water or wine to pick up the flavorful browned bits in the pot. Serve wherever you’d like a hit of savoriness: alongside air-fryer steak or congee, or in omelets or quesadillas. Refrigerate for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 6 months. (There’s no need to thaw before warming.)
Crispy Chicken Thighs
For bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs with crackly skin and juicy meat, start them in a cold pan, skin-side down, then leave them mostly undisturbed. For more even browning, you could press them down and rotate the skillet, but either way, if you’re off doing something else, the gradual, moderate heat will slowly render the skin golden-crisp. Finish cooking the chicken on the second side, let the chicken rest, then consider how you’ll use all that flavorful fat that’s accumulated in the skillet: Sauté any vegetables, crisp beans, make toast or stir the liquid left in the skillet into a pan sauce.
Roasted Cauliflower and Arugula Salad
In this hearty, colorful salad, cauliflower florets, slivers of red onion and briny capers are coated with spices and roasted until the florets turn soft and sweet, and the onions and capers get browned and crisp. Everything is tossed with tangy-sweet raisins (or your favorite dried fruit), more red onion that’s been quick-pickled in lime juice, a green mound of arugula and parsley leaves. It’s a bright, satisfying salad that works as a substantial side dish or a light main course, either rounded out with crusty bread or served on top of a bed of rice, farro or other grains.
Pan-Seared Salmon
Searing salmon in a hot skillet is not only a speedy way to prepare it, but it also makes for a super-crisp crust and a tender, flaky center. A nonstick pan makes cleanup easy, but a heavy, cast-iron or stainless steel skillet works, too — just be sure to use a large one to avoid crowding the fish, and make sure to preheat the pan to avoid sticking. Make the recipe as written, or finish the salmon with a steakhouse-inspired butter-and-garlic baste (see Tip). Add a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of fresh herbs, such as parsley, dill or tarragon, if you have some on hand.
Chicken Kiev
The secret of chicken Kiev lies within the walls of its crispy exterior — once sliced, out pours a pool of warm, herby butter. Accounts vary on when and where chicken Kiev first appeared, some attributing it to a hotel in Kyiv and others claiming it’s a riff on a Parisian veal dish. Regardless of the dish’s origin, it became a fine-dining staple in the United States in the 1950s. In this traditional preparation, chicken breasts are pounded thin, wrapped around a stick of chilled garlicky butter speckled with chives and parsley, then rolled in breadcrumbs and fried. While the rolling and chilling is fairly labor-intensive, the recipe’s saving grace is that most of the work can be done in advance.
Citrus, Beet and Avocado Salad
This is winter’s caprese: shingled slices of the season’s peak produce dressed simply with olive oil, salt and pepper. The sweet citrus, creamy avocado and earthy beets are really all you need, but trio can serve as a base for salads all year long. Add protein (fresh or tinned seafood, grains, legumes), dairy (burrata, stracciatella, yogurt, feta), more vegetables or fruits (baby greens, chicories, radishes, cucumbers), and flavor boosters like toasted whole spices or nuts, crushed red pepper, herbs, shallots or olives. The beets can be steamed or roasted, or you can purchase them precooked. Any way you make it, this easy-to-assemble salad is a bright, beautiful spot in winter’s shorter, darker days.
Sweet and Sour Tofu With Barberries
Silky and comforting, this dish draws inspiration from a Persian barberry khoresh (stew). In this adaptation, traditional chicken gives way to tofu, creating a vegan dish while preserving the inherent sweet-sour balance emblematic of Persian cuisine. Caramelized onions, carrots and oranges add sweetness, while the distinctive tartness is achieved through the addition of barberries, small red berries prized equally for their high acidity and their jewel-like appearance. They deepen to a rich red when cooked. Barberries can be hard to find — you could check your favorite specialty shop, or order them online — or simply substitute cranberries plus the addition of an extra teaspoon of vinegar. Sweet, sour and saucy, this tofu dish is best enjoyed with a side of rice.
Shabu Shabu
Shabu shabu, which means “swish swish” in Japanese, is named for the sound the ingredients make when they’re cooking. This warm and festive style of Japanese hot pot is meant to be shared with family and friends, cooked and served tableside in a donabe over a portable gas stove. A beautiful variety of vegetables and beef or pork are sliced so they can quickly poach in the mild kombu, or dried kelp, broth. (Sometimes, the kombu is paired with a bonito dashi.) If you don’t have a donabe, a Dutch oven or similarly sized pot will do; the portable burner is a must, though. Use this recipe as a guide, and select the ingredients you like from each category. A trip to a Japanese or Asian market will take care of the shopping, but many of the ingredients here are available at standard grocery stores. Once everything has been prepped, all that is left is to gather around and cook together.
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Zesty Lemon Vinaigrette
Brighten your salads with this creamy, invigorating lemon vinaigrette, which gets bold, bracing flavor from both lemon juice and zest. Plus: It takes just about five minutes to whip together.
Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings)
Filled with seasoned pork and savory broth, these delicately pleated dumplings are a labor of love. The trick to getting the soup inside the dumpling is using aspic, a gelatin that forms when meat broth (traditionally made with pork skin and feet) cools and hardens into a jelly. Here, powdered gelatin is dissolved in chicken stock, chilled to set, then cut into small cubes and added to the filling. The pork and aspic are bundled up in the dough, sealed, then steamed, melting the aspic and filling the area around the pork with a heavenly, slurpable broth. Assembling the soup dumplings requires patience and practice, so solicit family and friends to join in on the work. Serve immediately with black vinegar and sliced ginger, and some chile crisp for a little kick.
Lobster Thermidor
In this classic, celebratory French dish, chunks of lobster meat are tossed in a creamy, brandy-laced sauce, then topped with Gruyère and baked in their shells. This elaborate presentation might seem intimidating, but the only part of the process that takes a little bit of patience is cutting the lobsters in half lengthwise; place a dish towel on your cutting board to catch any liquid, and use a large, sharp knife. The sauce comes together quickly and the lobsters can be assembled ahead of time and refrigerated for several hours before being broiled, making this recipe well-suited to festive occasions. (Just be sure to bring the lobsters to room temperature for 15 minutes before broiling.) Serve with a big green salad and a crisp white wine to balance the richness of the sauce.
Detroit-Style Pizza
With charred and cheesy edges, a thick and chewy crust, and a reverse order of toppings, Detroit-style pizza has earned its place in the seemingly endless world of pizza. This hearty pie first appeared on the menu at Buddy’s Rendezvous Pizzeria in the Motor City, in 1946. Owner Gus Guerra baked his mother-in-law’s recipe for Sicilian-style pizza in the deep pans typically used to hold auto parts; the dark, industrial steel better distributed heat than traditional baking pans. Using plenty of sharp, aged Wisconsin brick cheese (see Tip) cut into cubes, with some touching the sides of the pan, helps create the pizza’s coveted burnished edges. You can find a Detroit-style pan online, but a 9-by-13-inch metal baking pan will also work. (You’ll just have to settle for slightly less crispy edges.) Inspired by J. Kenji López-Alt’s Detroit-style dough recipe, this version calls for bread flour, which creates a delightfully light and chewy crumb.
Cajun-Style Shrimp Alfredo
Fettuccine Alfredo is an Italian classic. Its luscious sauce is traditionally created using only two primary ingredients: butter and Parmesan. When stirring a large quantity of cheese into pasta, the key to achieving a fully emulsified sauce — a creamy consistency — is making sure to save and utilize some of the pasta cooking water. This recipe gives the dish a Cajun spin by adding spiced shrimp, celery, bell pepper, onion, garlic and jalapeño, finishing it with a sharp hit of Creole mustard. If you can’t find Creole mustard, a mix of Dijon and whole-grain mustards works well.