Stovetop
661 recipes found
Brown Butter Bucatini With Charred Cabbage
Charred cabbage brings a complex combination of flavors, from savory to bitter to sweet, to this simple but satisfying weeknight pasta. As it cooks, the cabbage also turns silky, clinging to the bucatini like the most delicious of frills. The pecans play off the natural nutty notes of the charred cabbage and brown butter. Like cacio e pepe or other pastas that fuse melted cheese with pasta water, this dish tightens up quickly, so make sure to have plenty of pasta water on hand to loosen it as needed.
Shrimp and Corn Chowder
Creamy and a little sweet with a hint of salty smoke from bacon, this classic chowder makes use of canned corn for its tenderness and ease, but you could go all in with fresh corn. If you have the time, buy shell-on shrimp and save the shells to enhance boxed stock. Even a quick simmer of five minutes will give the finished chowder more flavor. Using medium or large shrimp instead of jumbo cuts down on cooking time—plus there will be more to enjoy, especially for leftovers.
Merguez and Kale Pasta
To replicate the fragrant and earthy flavors of merguez, a traditional North African sausage, this recipe calls for browning ground beef with plenty of fennel, cumin and coriander seeds, paprika and dried mint. Stirring in a jar of marinara results in a hearty, satisfying sauce much like classic Bolognese but with an added layer of warm, aromatic spices. If using store-bought merguez (which is often made with lamb and can be spicy depending on your tolerance), remember to remove the casing. Ribbon-like pasta shapes like linguine, spaghetti or tagliatelle work best with the sauce, but feel free to use what’s on hand.
Aloo Chicken
This version of a traditional Punjabi chicken and potato stew uses some shortcuts — boneless chicken and chicken stock instead of whole chicken thighs, and cashew butter in place of ground cashews — to produce a quick, one-pot meal with complex flavors. The quality of the stock heavily influences the end result, so reach for the best. Onion, ginger, garlic, chile powder and garam masala layer on sweetness and heat while cashew butter adds a rich nuttiness. Serve with lemon wedges for a final hit of brightness.
Quick Chicken Paprikas
If you’re curious about cooking Hungarian food at home, chicken paprikas, or paprikás csirke, is a great place to start, delivering the bold flavor you expect from the country’s cuisine. An old-world classic with deep paprika flavor and a creamy finish, it has been a staple in Hungarian-American families for generations. Traditionally made with whole chicken legs, boneless chicken breasts are used in this easy version, making a classic comfort food dish doable any day of the week. Sour cream, used by Hungarians the way the French use heavy cream, gives the sauce a tangy richness that’s hard to beat. When sweating the onions, ghee (though not traditional) is used for its rich flavor and high smoke point, but if you don’t keep ghee at home, use equal parts canola or vegetable oil and butter.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Turnip Greens
Braised until soft and yielding, with a mild sweetness stemming from long cooking and a hit of balsamic vinegar, these turnip greens — more tender than collards with a slight pepperiness, similar to mustard greens — become flavorful and savory. Many recipes for turnip greens use smoked meats or ham, but here they get a wonderful smokiness from smoked paprika. Though you can certainly find them attached to their root, turnips, these tasty greens are so popular that they are also sold on their own.
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.
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).
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.
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.
Littleneck Clams With Cherry Tomatoes and Pearl Couscous
In this one-pot dish from Lidey Heuck’s cookbook, “Cooking in Real Life” (S&S/Simon Element, 2024), fresh clams cook together with garlic, white wine, shallots and tomatoes to form a deliciously fragrant sauce that’s perfect for mopping up with a piece of bread. As the clams open, they release their briny liquor, which gives the broth a salty, savory complexity. While this dish is particularly well-suited to a summer evening, you can make it any time of year; the tomatoes will sweeten and burst as they cook. The fregola or couscous gives this recipe enough heft to be a main course, but it can easily be stretched to serve 6 as a part of a larger spread.
Hilib Suqaar (Beef and Vegetable Sauté)
A staple in Somali cuisine, this hearty beef and vegetable dish is found in restaurants and homes alike. Suqaar comes in several variations, all involving little pieces of meat. This recipe uses boneless beef stew meat, but there is also camel, lamb and chicken suqaar. While everyone has their own spin on suqaar, substituting in their favorite vegetables or additional spices of choice, the foundational ingredients are typically small cuts of meat, aromatic xawaash spice and vibrantly colored peppers. The peppers are the last ingredient added to the suqaar, so cook to your desired level of doneness. Hilib suqaar pairs well with a flatbread like muufo, or spooned over plain white rice or Somali-style spiced rice. If you’d like some heat, make a little basbaas cagaar, a fiery green hot sauce that can be served on the side.
Kaddu With Greens and Shrimp
The base for this stew is a simply spiced, South Asian–style preparation of kaddu, or squash, seasoned with ginger, garlic, cumin, chile powder and garam masala. In this recipe, the addition of coconut milk, kale and shrimp leads to a complex, flavorful and hefty meal. The sweetness of the coconut milk provides a counterbalance to the heavily spiced squash, while greens add a touch of bitterness. To save on prep time, you can use 6 cups of store-bought precut squash instead of peeling and chopping your own. For a vegetarian version of this dish, you can simply skip the shrimp.
Everyday Dal
The warming, soothing and downright healing effects of dal are well known throughout South Asia and its diaspora. This is an everyday dish for a good reason: It’s simple to make but tastes complex, and the flavor only deepens over time. There are countless ways to make dal; this version requires just 10 minutes and five ingredients (not including salt), all serving important purposes: The lentils cook quickly, the turmeric lends an earthy wholesomeness and the rich chhonk, or tempering, made by sizzling spices with ghee, brings instant depth. To gussy it up, try adding a packet of frozen spinach, or stirring minced garlic into the chhonk. If you’re tempted to use ground cumin instead of cumin seeds, resist! The seeds have a distinctly smokier flavor and add a pleasant texture to the dal.
Maraq Digaag (Spiced Chicken Soup)
This aromatic and revitalizing soup is the lesser known sibling of maraq ari, a traditional Somali goat soup beloved for both its nutritious and healing properties. Maraq digaag is a comforting soup to turn to in times of sickness. This soup is thick and filling, thanks to the addition of potatoes, and has small hints of heat due to the jalapeño, plus the layered flavors of the xawaash spice blend. Eat it as it is, with bread, or with the noodles of your choice mixed in. The fresh chile invigorates this comforting soup, but the heat level is entirely up to you; you can remove the jalapeño early for a milder soup or keep it throughout, spicing up the broth for as long as you’d like.