Weeknight
3490 recipes found
White Beans and Asparagus With Charred Lemon
These velvety, vegan beans get a lift from lemon, but they also hold a smoky secret. Aromatics are often sweated in fat to bring out their sweetness, but crank the heat and char them instead for, as Tejal Rao wrote, “serious, almost meatlike depth of flavor.” This is a common technique in pho, black-eyed peas and other long simmers, but it also develops flavor in quicker dishes. After searing lemon wedges, their blackened bits scatter throughout beans, asparagus and coconut milk, creating a creamy bowl that’s subtly smoky and comforting. When asparagus isn’t in season, replace it with a dark, leafy green like kale or chard. Serve solo, or with rice.
Roasted Potato Salad With Lemon and Feta
Roasting the potatoes rather than boiling them gives this potato salad great texture and deep caramelized flavor. Potatoes are a great canvas for all sorts of flavors; this salad pairs them with creamy feta, briny olives, punchy pepperoncini, juicy tomatoes and lots of herbs for a bright twist on a classic picnic side. Take care not to season the potatoes too heavily with salt, as the feta and olives will add lots on their own.
Salmon Teriyaki
Salmon teriyaki is a classic for many reasons, most notably because it is crisp and tender, sweet and savory all at once. This quick, single-skillet rendition cooks the salmon most of the way on its skin so that the flesh is tender and the skin is shattery-crisp. In the last few minutes, the fish is glossed in teriyaki sauce. (The “teri” in teriyaki means “gloss” or “luster.”) You could add a smidgen of chopped Thai chiles or grated garlic or ginger to the sauce if you like, or just embrace the allure of its sweet saltiness.
Sheet-Pan Roast Chicken With Tangy Greens
Chicken quarters are the unsung hero of weeknight dinners. In under an hour, they roast evenly, yielding consistently crisp skin with juicy insides. Curry powder and red-pepper flakes meld with the cooking juices, creating an effortless sauce directly in the pan, perfect for serving over the meat and tossing with greens for a fast, flavor-drenched side. The pickle brine from a jar of bread-and-butter pickles (or a splash of standard apple cider vinegar) lends a tangy finish to the greens. For this recipe, choose slightly larger and fattier chicken leg quarters to ensure enough pan drippings — and luscious schmaltz in every bite.
Sheet-Pan Garlicky Shrimp and White Beans
Everything — the shrimp, the beans and the garlic bread — cook together on one pan for an under 30-minute meal that requires very little cleanup. Canned cannellini beans get a little crispy in the high heat and their mellow creaminess serves to bring the other ingredients together, but you could also use any cooked bean you have on hand. The only real bit of work is making a pungent paste of garlic to spread on the bread, but if you are really pressed for time, just rub each piece of bread with the cut side of a garlic clove. (The flavor will be milder.) If you keep shrimp and bacon in the freezer, just thaw the shrimp in a bowl of warm water while you prep the garlic bread, and no need to defrost the bacon; just cut it up and use it frozen.
Dry-Brined Salmon
Dry-brining salmon — that is, salting it and letting it rest overnight — has a number of noticeable effects on the fish once cooked. Dry-brined salmon will have a firmer, juicier bite that doesn’t become chalky even if you accidentally overcook it. Because salt can break down some proteins in the meat, you’ll find that dry-brined salmon does not leak out white coagulated albumin as it cooks. It will make the salmon virtually nonstick (even in a bare metal pan), and the skin comes out as crisp as a kettle chip. Perhaps most important, because the salmon releases less moisture as it cooks, it greatly reduces the amount of hot oil that spatters out of the pan.
Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
This comfort food classic is streamlined for weeknight ease, giving you a complete one-pot meal in just a few steps. You’ll find all the cheesy, creamy notes of the childhood favorite without the long prep time, and there’s no need to make a roux. Here, the chicken stock, half-and-half and shredded cheese create an instant sauce without the need to stir a pot on the stove. For a quicker version, trim the chicken cutlets into bite-size pieces before stirring in, then reduce the second cooking time to 15 minutes. Serve with a side salad, if desired.
Snap Pea Salad With Walnuts and Parmesan
For an especially bright snap pea salad, skip the oil and coat blanched snap peas with punchy mustard and lemon juice. Toasted walnuts and shavings of Parmesan add richness and crunch, while a shower of fresh mint adds freshness. This salad is great right when you make it but can also be made ahead and eaten cold from the fridge. How’s that for bright and breezy cooking?
Stovetop BBQ Chicken
Nothing compares to live fire, but even if you don’t have a grill, you can make chicken that’s burnished and sticky with barbecue sauce. To achieve a similar smokiness on the stovetop, paint boneless, skinless chicken with some barbecue sauce and sear it so the sugars in the sauce caramelize and char. The sauce here leans tangy and spicy, but adjust it as you like. Once the chicken is cooked, let the sauce bubble until glossy enough to slather onto the chicken. Since that only took 30 minutes, consider your sides: perhaps a green goddess slaw, potato chips or pickles. (If you’d like to use bone-in chicken, try this oven method.)
Asparagus, Spinach and Leek Soup
This silky, verdant soup gets its color from a mix of green vegetables. Asparagus is the dominant flavor, with fennel and leeks adding sweetness, zucchini its plush texture, and spinach and herbs their earthy mineral character. The color is at its brightest right after puréeing and will darken as it sits, but this won’t affect its rich, complex flavor. If the soup thickens too much after cooling, add a little broth or water when you reheat it.
Asparagus Mushroom Grain Bowl
A savory, gingery mix of seared mushrooms and asparagus makes the main topping of this hearty grain bowl, which is rounded out by a jammy egg and a salad of shaved asparagus, scallion and sesame. Although shaving the asparagus for the topping does take a few minutes to do, it’s worth the extra effort for its crisp texture next to the soft sautéed vegetables. And the dish will still be ready in about half an hour. Use your favorite cooked grains here: Brown rice and farro are chewy and earthy, while quinoa and white rice are more tender and gentle in flavor.
Asparagus-Feta Pasta
A sauce of tangy feta and Greek yogurt (inspired by a recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi) anchors the components of this creamy, vegetable-filled pasta, and the combination of asparagus and peas makes it especially colorful and perfect for spring. Although the textures are at their most supple when served hot or warm, this dish also works well at room temperature, served as a pasta salad.
Chicken and Artichoke Francese
Inspired by chicken francese, a popular Italian American breaded chicken dish, this lemony breaded chicken-and-artichoke recipe creates a bright, one-skillet meal. This recipe embraces the traditional flavor profile — “Francese” means French in Italian, acknowledging the origins of the butter-and-lemon sauce — but otherwise veers from tradition: The chicken breasts are cut into bite-size pieces (rather than being thinly pounded) to mirror the size of the artichoke hearts. The breaded chicken and artichokes are all prepared in the same pan, then lacquered with the wine and lemon butter sauce. Fried lemon slices add visual flair and tart flavor. A smattering of parsley makes this meal feel like a restaurant-quality dish.
Fried Cheese and Chickpeas in Spicy Tomato Gravy
Fried cheese becomes a main meal in this pantry-reliant dish. Make it with your choice of ‘fry-able’ cheese, one with a high melting point that retains its shape after cooking. Halloumi and paneer are excellent choices, but queso blanco and queso de freir are often less expensive, but just as delicious. (Note: Halloumi is saltier than most frying cheeses so use less salt.) The trick to frying cheese without it sticking is to use a hot skillet, but if you’re not confident, opt for non-stick. This dish can easily be adapted for vegans by substituting the cheese with extra-firm tofu.
Sausage Tortellini Soup
This lighter take on hearty sausage soups is cozy with chicken sausage, delicate tortellini, fennel and whatever green vegetables are gracing your market. Fennel is a late winter-early spring crop that works triple time for us here: The bulb is sweet and soft, sliced stalks are crisp-tender and the fronds are chopped for an herb garnish. While fully cooked chicken sausage adds just enough richness, feel free to use any fresh or fully cooked chicken or pork sausage you have and like (just remove fresh sausage from its casings before browning).
Edamame Pesto Pasta
While edamame are most often served in their pods and consumed as a snack, the shelled beans found in the supermarket freezer are an excellent ingredient for weeknight cooking. Edamame are young soybeans harvested before they ripen or harden, and they are an excellent source of protein. Here, they are blitzed to make a nutty ‘pesto’ — buttery but mellow, with a hint of sweetness. This is also a great way to use up whatever soft herbs you have in the fridge like basil, parsley, mint, cilantro or dill or a combination. The nutritional yeast adds a savory punch, but if you aren’t vegan, you can substitute with a grated hard cheese like Parmesan or pecorino.
Saltfish Buljol (Salted Cod Salad)
Salted cod has a long and venerable history in the Caribbean islands. It is at once classic and current; a relic from the trans-Atlantic slave trade that has been repurposed into delicious relevance. In this dish, bright, spiky notes come from the addition of lime juice, habanero chiles, fresh tomatoes and a bevy of fresh, grassy aromatics. Salted cod comes packaged either boneless or bone-in. You can use either, but boneless salted cod is a tad easier to prepare than bone-in. When working with salted cod, it is imperative to desalinate the fish by either an overnight soak or by rinsing it prior to boiling. Depending on your preference, you may need to boil the cod twice and change the water in between each boil to rid the cod of excess salt.
Slow Cooker Harissa Bean and Couscous Stew
This weeknight-friendly stew is loosely inspired by North African tomato and bean dishes, like loubia. The stew has minimal prep, aside from soaking the beans, so it’s easy to throw into the slow cooker in the morning. Just before serving, it’s enriched with pearl couscous and a generous dose of zippy parsley. Harissa pastes differ in flavor and saltiness; taste yours before using it to make sure you like it, and adjust the amount of salt added at the end if necessary. You can always stir in more harissa before serving for extra spice. Orzo or ditalini can be used instead of couscous.
Kali Mirch Karahi (Black Pepper Chicken)
This chicken dish with deep fiery flavor is traditionally made with bone-in chicken pieces and, like chicken karahi, its more common counterpart, it’s served in restaurants and homes across South Asia. Unlike chicken karahi, though, this dish is particularly convenient to make if there aren’t fresh tomatoes laying around. This recipe, which uses boneless thighs, can be made with pantry staples and comes together in 30 minutes for a weeknight meal that layers heat and packs a punch. Malabar pepper, grown and commonly used in the south of India, has a delicate lingering heat. (You could use regular black pepper, but if the former is an option, try it.) Lemon juice, julienned ginger and Thai green chiles add freshness; Greek yogurt cools it all down.
Crisp Gnocchi With Sausage and Peas
This quick skillet dinner combines crisp gnocchi and brawny sausage with sweet pops of peas and herbs. It tastes like spring, but it can be prepared perennially — and without any chopping or waiting for water to boil. (That’s right, you don’t need to boil the gnocchi before searing.) Draped in a combination of mustard and melted Parmesan, the dish is creamy, with a salty bite like cacio e pepe. However, if plush Alfredo is what you’re craving, you could add a splash of heavy cream along with the browned gnocchi in Step 4.
Oyakodon (Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl)
Oyakodon is pure bliss, combining the ease of lightly poached chicken with the velvety richness of eggs and onions simmered in sauce. In Japanese, oya means parent, while ko translates to child. Consequently, chicken and egg come together in a blend of dashi, mirin and soy sauce. A perfect weekday meal, oyakodon cooks in just under 30 minutes and is delightful alongside pickles and a bowl of miso soup. The chicken and egg bowl is a dream of soulfulness ladled over rice. Leftovers, if you have any, will hold in the refrigerator for a day.
Chicken Galbi Noodle Salad
This weeknight noodle salad is inspired by Korean galbi, short ribs that are seasoned in a garlic-ginger soy sauce marinade sweetened with sugar, onion and grated Asian pear. Fast-cooking ground chicken simmers in a simplified galbi sauce with garlic, ginger, scallions and sesame oil, quickly soaking in all of the aromatics. Allow the chicken to cook for a minute or two after the sauce has been absorbed, which creates crispy, caramelized bits. Don’t skip out on the basil, which instantly brightens the dish. The salad can be made a few hours ahead and is tasty both warm and at room temperature.
Mushroom Piccata
A brilliant combination of fat (butter), acidity (lemon) and salt (capers), tangy piccata sauce makes an excellent dressing for meaty, earthy mushrooms. Piccata refers to the Italian American dish of thinly sliced meat (typically veal or chicken) that’s dredged in flour, browned and served in a sauce of lemon, butter and capers. Though this dish would be delicious with just one type of mushroom, selecting a mix provides a broader range of textures and flavors. Grill them for smoky notes, or simply roast them in the oven for ease on a weeknight. The bright, piquant piccata pan sauce comes together quickly while the mushrooms cook. Leftovers turn into a fantastic salad the next day; simply chop the mushrooms and toss with leafy greens and more olive oil.
Sheet-Pan Chile Crisp Salmon and Asparagus
A mixture of chile crisp, soy sauce and honey coats salmon bites that roast alongside scallions and asparagus for a quick and colorful weeknight dinner. While the salmon doesn’t need to be cubed, it’s an easy and enjoyable way to eat it; the bite-size pieces can be served over rice, cooked grains or big salads. Much like a grain bowl component, this recipe is versatile, and works as an add-on or base. Finish it as you’d like: Try some gently torn fresh cilantro, toasted sesame seeds, flaky sea salt, lime slices or an extra drizzle of chile crisp.