Main Course
8665 recipes found
Sopa de Fideo y Frijoles con Chorizo (Fideo and Bean Soup With Chorizo)
This weeknight-fast soup — a common and comforting family meal in Mexico — is easy to prepare and uses ingredients typically stocked in the Mexican kitchen like beans, chorizo and fideo noodles. Puréeing the beans with chicken stock, tomatoes, oregano and spices gives the soup a rich and hearty finish, while bits of broken pasta and spicy chorizo add bite. Toasting the pasta adds a nutty depth to the flavor that, together with the fire-roasted tomatoes and stock, give the impression that this soup has simmered for hours, not 10 minutes.
Crab Bisque
The creamy base of this elegant and flavorful soup is accented with chunks of crab meat, so each bite has velvety bisque and sweet, satisfying crab. This recipe uses a Creole-centric method — a blonde roux imparts a subtle nutty flavor while also doing the work of thickening the soup. Make sure the roux does not darken too much, since you want the seafood flavor to shine and to not be overpowered by a dark, rich roux that’s more typical of gumbo. Using roux to thicken the bisque allows for a more streamlined preparation than the traditional version, since the blended soup does not need to be strained or filtered. A homemade seafood or fish stock is well worth the effort for this otherwise relatively simple soup, but you can replace homemade seafood stock with store bought in a pinch.
Braised Broccoli Pasta
By creating a sauce from just broccoli, onions, olive oil and starchy pasta water, this recipe feels Italian in spirit but embraces an unexpected technique. Pulverize onion, broccoli and garlic in a food processor, then cook it in hot oil, much like sofrito, extracting as much flavor as possible. Add stock, orecchiette and broccoli florets, then watch the mixture go from soup, to stew, to saucy pasta. For best results, stick to the ingredients, measurements and temperatures listed in the recipe: Use a different pasta shape, and it will likely overcook; increase the amount of orecchiette, and there won’t be enough liquid; increase the heat and the liquid will evaporate before the pasta cooks through. But with attention, this recipe will yield a glossy pasta that makes cheap, accessible ingredients taste positively lush.
Crispy Cheddar Chicken Tacos
These quick tacos use leftover or store-bought rotisserie chicken, and have a satisfying crispy Cheddar frico called a costra (crust) that is common both in taquerias in the northern half of Mexico and in the southwestern United States. In some taquerias, you can order a taco using only the costra as the shell without a tortilla. In this recipe, the tortilla and costra are layered together to wrap a simple but delicious shredded chicken and chipotle filling.
Gochujang Shrimp Pasta
Easy but exciting, this five-ingredient pasta dish is spiked with spicy gochujang, a Korean red chile paste that provides heat and complexity. Chopping the shrimp into bite-size pieces before cooking ensures that they will distribute more evenly in the finished dish, leaving you with perfect bite after perfect bite. Once that’s done, sear the chopped shrimp in olive oil, set them aside, then toss in scallions, halved cherry tomatoes, gochujang and a splash of pasta water for a supereasy pan sauce. Toss with your cooked pasta and shrimp until everything comes together and is slicked with vibrant sauce.
Brisket
For Jewish holidays, especially Passover, when there is a big crowd for dinner, I always make brisket. This recipe was carried down in my mother’s family, but updated a bit by me in my new cookbook “My Life in Recipes” (Alfred A. Knopf, 2024). The secrets to a good brisket are simple: Slowly braise it in ample liquid, and add lots of onions for flavor. The brisket can be eaten straight from the oven, as soon as it’s cooked, but is best prepared in advance to let the flavors blend together. Refrigerating overnight makes it easy to skim and discard the fat that accumulates on the surface of the gravy. You can strain the sauce if you like, but do keep the onions and carrots. Serve this with matzo farfel, egg noodles, potato latkes or kasha varnishkes.
Quick Shrimp and Asparagus Stir-Fry
Savory and a little sweet, this light dinner tastes like spring but can be made any time of year — and any night of the week if you keep a stash of shrimp in your freezer. By quickly thawing them under running water, then dry-brining them with salt for a minute, you end up with juicier, snappier shrimp that taste incredibly fresh. Asparagus spears also cook fast until they’re as crisp-tender as the shrimp. By slicing them at a sharp angle, you reduce any stringiness in the stalks. For a spicy stir-fry, use the chile and keep the seeds in. For a little less heat, remove the seeds after slicing. Stirring a final pat of butter into the sauce, which is sweetened with onion and salty with soy, binds together all of the ingredients with a touch of richness. Serve over rice to sop up that sauce or over tender, leafy greens for a warm salad.
Gulyásleves (Beef and Potato Soup With Paprika)
Soups and stews are the stalwart of Hungarian cuisine, and none is more famous than gulyásleves, or goulash, a shepherd's soup of beef, peppers, vegetables and loads of paprika. Long beloved by Hungarians, a once nomadic culture, because meat could be dried, transported, then rehydrated in soup over an open fire in a bogrács, or giant kettle. Unlike American goulash, traditional gulyásleves is more soup than stew with a deeply burnished orange broth that is its hallmark. Use the freshest paprika you can get your hands on, and blend both sweet and smoked paprika for depth and richness. (If you like heat, you can also add 1 teaspoon of hot paprika.) Caraway seed, while nearly undetectable in the finished dish, is also vital. Searing the beef chuck in larger pieces before cubing it is not traditional, but doing so, then finishing it in the oven, where temperatures remain constant while the meat and vegetables soften, yields deep flavor and particularly tender meat. Serve this classic with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of fresh dill.
Sheet-Pan Herby Roast Chicken With Peas and Carrots
By using a bag of frozen peas and carrots and a couple of dried herbs, this easy and affordable sheet-pan meal delivers springy flavors even when the tulips aren’t in bloom. The yogurt sauce, which is seasoned with dried mint, dried dill and garlic powder, is reminiscent of tzatziki and ranch, and it is used two ways: spread on the chicken before roasting to ensure crackly skin and juicy meat, and as a cooling sauce for the finished dish. (You can also marinate the chicken in the yogurt for up to 24 hours ahead.) Partway through the chicken roasting, add some frozen vegetables and a little butter to the sheet pan for a sweet, tender and easy-peasy side.
One-Pot Tortellini with Prosciutto and Peas
Luxurious in the end result but not in process, this quick, one-pot pasta features crisp shards of salty prosciutto, soft pillows of tortellini and bright pops of sweet peas in a silky lemon cream sauce. The dish is inspired by pasta alla papalina, a more delicate carbonara that uses prosciutto instead of guanciale and Parmesan instead of Pecorino. While pasta alla papalina often uses long noodles, this dish uses tortellini and cooks them right in the broth and heavy cream: No waiting for a pot of water to boil, and the starch from the pasta helps the half-and-half thicken into a sauce. Serve alongside an arugula salad or seared asparagus. You can use bacon instead of prosciutto, which will add some smokiness.
One-Pot Cabbage Roll Soup
Instead of tightly rolling and simmering dozens of cabbage rolls for hours, this recipe takes all the ingredients of a cabbage roll — meat, rice, cabbage and more — and turns them into a hearty weeknight meal. There are numerous ways to make cabbage rolls, therefore this recipe comes with multiple routes: The first method counts on sauerkraut (a tangy, fermented cabbage) for its main flavor source. The sauerkraut brings brightness and complexity to the final dish, but if sauerkraut is not a realistic option, fresh cabbage and a splash of vinegar offer a reliable alternative, with the vinegar replicating that pleasant sauerkraut brininess (see Tip). Taking the time to properly brown the meat, toast the rice, as well as properly seasoning the broth with salt will ensure maximal flavor in the final dish.
Csülkös Bableves (Creamy Ham and Bean Soup)
Of the many bean soups in Hungary, two prominent ones include this creamy ham-and-bean soup, thickened with a roux of fat, flour and paprika, and babgulyás, with a rich, paprika-hued broth akin to gulyás (known in America as goulash). Though every region’s recipes have their nuances, csülkös bableves is always satisfying. Its flavor relies on smoked pork, though the bulk of the soup is made with cost-friendly beans, onion, celery and carrots. Most versions call for dried pinto or cranberry beans, which turn creamy and rich when slow simmered, but any similar dried bean may be used. Hungary is a pork-producing country where lard would have once been the fat used for the roux, but this version can be made with olive oil and bacon for added smokiness. Using smoked paprika as the garnish on the finished soup also amps up the flavor.
Spicy Shrimp Patties
Sweet, delicate shrimp, roughly chopped, make the base for these patties, flavored with spices typical in Desi cooking: chile powder, cumin, garam masala, ginger and garlic. Bread crumbs soak up any excess moisture, and, along with egg, help bind the ingredients together. The result: a sturdy patty that freezes well (see Tip) and can be pan-fried or even grilled, excellent for summer barbecues. Serve with dollops of mint or mango chutney or both.
Cagaar (Spinach Stew)
Reflecting its main ingredient, cagaar (pronounced “ag-aar”) is both the Somali translation for the color green and a spinach stew. While spinach is the heart of this dish, other vegetables are often included such as okra, carrots, zucchini, or cabbage, depending on one’s preference. This dish almost always utilizes tomatoes as the base, weaving in warm xawaash spices and sparks of mild heat from the jalapeños. This flavorful vegan dish works well over soor (grits), white rice, or alongside suqaar and muufo (corn flatbread).
French Onion Sliders
Fill store-bought brioche buns with jammy, caramelized onions and melted Gruyère, for satisfying little sandwiches that make a perfect soup companion or a cozy, comforting meal. Caramelizing the onions takes some time but very little effort, and coaxing out the ingredient’s sweet side is well worth it. The butter used to caramelize the onions adds flavor, and the extra-virgin olive oil allows the onions to tolerate higher heat without burning. (However, if you find the onions are browning unevenly, turn the heat down to low.) Prepare a big batch of these balsamic caramelized onions ahead of time and lunch can be on your plate in 10 minutes.
Stovetop Mac and Cheese
This is a quick from-scratch mac and cheese ideal for kids — or anyone craving the simple, pure cheesiness of creamy mac and cheese. A standard white sauce comes together with the kitchen staples of butter, flour and milk and can take any blend of cheeses, which should include a large portion of sharp yellow Cheddar for its distinctive mac-and-cheese taste and texture. But this is a great way to use up any odds and ends of cheese in your fridge. A bit of American cheese makes the sauce stretchy and extra smooth, while Gruyère and Swiss add a nice nuttiness and Parmesan and pecorino some deep savory notes.
Creamy Garlic Pasta With Greens
In this 20-minute weeknight pasta, one of the tastiest, most versatile sauces, aioli (or garlic mayonnaise) is dolloped over a simple bowl of spaghetti tossed with wilted greens. With hardly any cooking and minimal knifework, this one-pot dish starts out by simply cooking the pasta. Meanwhile, a quick aioli is whipped up by stirring garlic, lemon and a little olive oil into store-bought mayonnaise. You’ll generously spoon that shortcut aioli over the pasta, coating each noodle with its rich and fresh garlicky bite. (Leftover aioli can be saved for later use throughout the week.) Serve this pasta with sausages and peppers or a rotisserie chicken.
Cheesy Shrimp Tacos
Featuring succulent sautéed shrimp, onion, poblano chile and melty cheese, these crispy, cheesy tacos — a take on tacos gobernador — veer toward quesadilla territory. Their roots can be traced back to Los Arcos, a revered Mazatlán seafood restaurant where tacos gobernador were created for a visit from the governor of Sinaloa in the early 1990s. The dish evolved over time, and today, variations abound: Ingredients can include herbs like oregano or cilantro; fresh tomato or paste; other chiles, like serrano or chipotle; flour or corn tortillas. The tacos may be grilled over an open flame or crisped in a skillet. In this version, garlic and Worcestershire sauce add zing. Pair with a favorite salsa, hot sauce and lime and adjust as you like; these tacos are customizable yet consistently tantalizing.
Spicy Skillet Ground Turkey and Snap Peas
Inspired by the bold and zesty flavors of a Thai larb, this easy skillet meal pairs nuggets of golden ground turkey with sugar snap peas and a mound of fresh herbs. The sauce, a combination of fish sauce, lime juice and red-pepper flakes, makes everything taste both bright and deep, while an optional sprinkling of chopped nuts adds richness and crunch. Serve over rice or rice noodles, or with flatbread.
Spring Chicken With Mushroom and Lemon
For a main course, chicken-noodle anything is always an attractive option, and here, boneless, skinless chicken thighs come together with button mushrooms and a sauce of chicken broth, white wine and crème fraîche for a bright, filling stew. To make it sparkle, it’s all finished with a generous handful of tender sweet herbs and lots — lots! — of lemon zest. Egg noodles, or fresh pasta, such as pappardelle, are a good choice.
Miso Broiled Tofu
For tofu with crisp edges and custardy middles, give it just 15 minutes under the broiler. The technique is inspired by Nobu Matsuhisa’s miso-broiled black cod, which combines miso and sugar to create a charred crust that also insulates the protein, preventing it from toughening. Tearing the tofu into jagged pieces — as opposed to sliced cubes or rectangles — creates more nooks and crannies for the broiler to singe, creating yet more texture. Eat any way you would enjoy baked tofu, perhaps with steamed rice and a green vegetable (broil green beans or asparagus for 5 to 8 minutes), or over salad greens (in which case you’ll want to make a double batch of the miso marinade to dress your lettuces).
Garlicky Crab and Brown Butter Pasta
The classic combination of crab, butter, garlic and lemon come together to form a rich, silky sauce in less than the time it takes to boil pasta. Browning the butter adds a complex caramel flavor that underscores the sweetness of the briny crab. This is delicious with regular butter and canned crab and becomes a luxurious special occasion dish with European-style butter and fresh crab meat. Serve alongside simply sautéed greens and a radicchio salad for a complete, relaxed meal.
Taverna Salad
This colorful, meal-of-a-salad from Lidey Heuck’s cookbook, “Cooking in Real Life” (S&S/Simon Element, 2024), is inspired by two dishes: classic Greek salad (also known as horiatiki) and fattoush, the Lebanese salad of vegetables and pieces of fried pita. The ingredient list may look long at first, but each ingredient contributes to the harmony of the salad: bell pepper and cucumbers for crunch; shallot, olives and capers for a bit of tang; chopped tomatoes for sweetness. Pan-fried halloumi adds richness and heft, but you can skip the searing process and instead opt for a 6-ounce block of feta, if desired. To save even more time, you can add a large handful of crumbled pita chips instead of making your own.
Shawarma-Spiced Grilled Chicken With Tahini-Yogurt Sauce
This beginner-friendly chicken recipe from Lidey Heuck’s cookbook, “Cooking in Real Life” (S&S/Simon Element, 2024), is inspired by spices often used in shawarma, and uses several easy tricks to ensure juicy meat with a nice char. The chicken breasts are pounded slightly, just until they are an even thickness throughout, so they cook quickly and uniformly. (You can skip this step if you’re using thighs.) The yogurt in the marinade does double duty: It tenderizes the chicken and adds a layer of protection between the chicken and the hot grill. The chicken is served with a sprinkle of fresh herbs, a squeeze of lemon juice and a quick, creamy tahini-yogurt sauce that pairs nicely with the warm spices. Should you have any leftover chicken, it would be delicious packed into a wrap with cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and extra tahini-yogurt sauce.