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Five recipes, kid-friendly, and a grocery list. Every Sunday.
The first week of the year calls for meals that feel like a fresh start without pretending January isn't cold and dark. This lineup leans into winter comfort—stir-fries, soups, sheet-pan dinners, and bowls that steam up the kitchen in the best way. A couple are genuinely quick, but others ask for a bit more attention, so plan accordingly.
This Week's Recipes
- Black Pepper Beef and Cabbage Stir-Fry
- Steph's Chickpea Curry with Spinach and Rice
- Crispy Gnocchi With Sausage and Broccoli
- Sticky Miso Salmon Bowl
- Thai-Inspired Chicken Meatball Soup
1. Black Pepper Beef and Cabbage Stir-Fry
Twenty minutes, one pan, and a head of cabbage that gets charred and silky in a screaming-hot skillet. This stir-fry rides on brown sugar sweetness and an aggressive amount of cracked black pepper—bold, simple cooking that makes a weeknight feel effortless. The cabbage wilts down into the beef juices and picks up all that caramelized flavor.
At step 1, before you add the crushed peppercorns to the beef, set aside half the sliced meat. Rub the kid portion with just the garlic, brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt—all the savory-sweet flavor, none of the heat. Stir-fry their portion separately and serve it over rice with a mild drizzle of low-sodium soy sauce to keep the sodium in check for smaller bodies.
Your half gets the full tablespoon of crushed peppercorns worked into the rub, then a finish of soy sauce and vinegar that makes the whole thing sharp and alive. It's a 20-minute dinner that punches way above its weight.
The Split: Adults get bold cracked-pepper beef with soy and vinegar; kids get a mild garlic-brown-sugar version over rice.
Serves: 2-4 servings | Time: 20m | NYT Cooking →
2. Steph's Chickpea Curry with Spinach and Rice
This is one of those recipes that feels like it shouldn't work as well as it does—canned chickpeas, a can of coconut milk, some curry paste, and a bag of spinach. But the coconut sauce gets rich and creamy, the chickpeas soak it all up, and the whole thing comes together in 25 minutes with almost no knife work. It's the winter pantry meal you'll come back to repeatedly.
At step 4, once the chickpeas and spinach are simmered into the sauce, set up a bowl bar. Scoop rice, ladle on the creamy chickpeas, and let kids choose their own toppings: plain yogurt, diced cucumber, shredded cheese, or pieces of soft naan for dipping. For little ones under 4, tear the naan into small pieces rather than letting them bite off chunks.
Your bowl gets the full treatment—chili crisp, a pickled cucumber salad if you're feeling ambitious, a hard squeeze of lime, and a handful of fresh cilantro. The contrast between the cool, crunchy toppings and the warm, rich curry is what makes this sing.
The Split: Adults get chili crisp and pickled cucumber over curry; kids get a build-your-own bowl bar with mild toppings.
Serves: 4 servings | Time: 25m | Pinch of Yum →
3. Crispy Gnocchi With Sausage and Broccoli
Sheet-pan gnocchi is one of those tricks that feels like cheating. Store-bought gnocchi goes onto a hot pan with sausage and broccoli, and the oven does all the work—the gnocchi puffs up and turns golden and crunchy on the outside while staying pillowy inside. It's the kind of dinner where everyone picks the crispy bits off the pan before you've even plated it.
At step 2, before you squeeze the lemon over the finished pan, pull the kid portions onto their plates. The crispy gnocchi and Parmesan are already doing all the heavy lifting—no tartness needed. One important note: don't serve the sausage in rounds. Cut each piece lengthwise first, then into small half-inch pieces so there's no choking risk. Make sure the broccoli is soft and in small florets, not big chunks. For children under 4, shred or finely chop the sausage into very small pieces.
Once the kids are served, hit the rest of the pan with a generous squeeze of lemon juice, more Parmesan, and a scatter of crushed red pepper. The acid cuts through the richness of the sausage fat and wakes the whole dish up.
The Split: Adults get lemon juice and red pepper flake over everything; kids get golden crispy gnocchi with Parmesan and sausage.
Serves: 4 servings | Time: 45m | NYT Cooking →
4. Sticky Miso Salmon Bowl
Let's be honest: salmon with miso, grapefruit, and ginger is a harder sell for most kids. The flavors are complex and funky in ways adults love and children side-eye. But this is worth including because the transformative split turns the same piece of fish into two genuinely different dinners, and salmon is one of those proteins worth the occasional stretch.
At step 3, before you mix the miso-honey-grapefruit-ginger marinade, set aside a portion of the salmon. Brush the kid fillets with just honey and a small splash of soy sauce—sweet, simple, familiar. Broil them alongside the adult portions. Serve over the buttered rice (skip the scallions if your crew objects), with cucumber slices cut small and some edamame on the side. Before anything goes on a kid's plate, check the salmon carefully for pin bones—run your fingers along the fillet and pull any you find with tweezers. For kids under 3, pop the edamame out of their pods and cut each bean in half.
The adult bowls are a different story entirely. The full miso-honey-grapefruit-ginger marinade caramelizes under the broiler into a sticky, lacquered glaze. Pile it over the buttered scallion rice with pickled ginger and a shower of sesame seeds. It's restaurant-quality for the price of a few pantry staples.
The Split: Adults get sticky miso-grapefruit-ginger glazed salmon; kids get a simple honey-soy broiled fillet.
Serves: 4 servings | Time: 35m | NYT Cooking →
5. Thai-Inspired Chicken Meatball Soup
Chicken meatballs bobbing in a fragrant coconut broth with wilted spinach and a squeeze of lime—this is the soup that makes you feel like January might actually be okay. The meatballs are mixed with cilantro and garlic, so they're flavorful on their own before the broth even enters the picture. It all comes together in 30 minutes, and the coconut milk makes it feel richer and more substantial than your average chicken soup.
At step 3, before adding the fish sauce and jalapeño, ladle out a portion of the coconut broth with meatballs and spinach for the kids. Their version stays creamy and mild—just coconut milk, a pinch of salt, and a gentle squeeze of lime. Serve the meatballs and spinach over rice in a shallow bowl. For young children under 4, cut each meatball into quarters before serving—whole meatballs are a choking hazard. Make sure the broth has cooled enough that it won't burn little mouths.
The adult bowls get the full aromatic hit—all the fish sauce, the ginger-jalapeño combination, a big squeeze of lime, and fresh cilantro torn over the top. The funk of the fish sauce against the richness of the coconut is what makes this soup special, and you'll want to drink the broth straight from the bowl.
The Split: Adults get funky fish sauce and jalapeño coconut broth; kids get mild creamy coconut soup with herb meatballs.
Serves: 4-6 servings | Time: 30m | NYT Cooking →
If you only cook one thing this week, make it the crispy gnocchi. It's the kind of sheet-pan dinner that converts skeptics, and the golden crunchy bits practically sell themselves.