Braising

(No, it's not beef bourguignon.)

This pork shoulder ragù is so restorative that this is now the recipe I reach for time and time again when I need to come back to myself.

Here's how to guarantee you’ll end up with the type of braise that makes you the hero of your family.

Enjoy it with a thick slab of Irish soda bread slathered with butter, and a pint of Guinness.

Guaranteed to be the best thing you cook all week.

A whipped parsnip puree pairs perfectly with rich and meaty lamb shanks in this luxurious dinner for two.

This shortcut pot roast is almost entirely hands-off, and makes lots of leftovers for a hearty winter soup.

I've been making it for 14 years and have no intention of stopping.

I’ve even served this to devout Brussels sprout-haters and listened to them rave.

The vegetable kingdom offers so much more diversity than the animal kingdom — and once you get the technique down, there's no end to what you can create.

You'll turn to this technique all winter long.

This unforgiving year has robbed a lot of us of a lot of what makes us feel good. But to gather your people around a meal cooked in a single pot is a wintry pleasure that I will not be denied.

It always feels like a special treat.

In my life, I've enjoyed adobo many ways — and this is my current favorite.

This makes a simple and hearty one-pot meal. The meat becomes fork tender and the stock simmers down to a rich sauce.

We interviewed a chef and a grandmother to get a brisket walk-through.

And you only need one pan.

It's like a blanket in a bowl.

If the weather is unpleasant, stay inside and stock your fridge with beans, master homemade dumplings, or bake croissants from scratch.

Yes, you can (and should!) make lamb shanks at home.

If you’re a fan of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches then boy oh boy, are you in for a treat. This snack cake starts with a tender, moist cake full of peanut flavor, but the crowning touch is in the hypnotic swirl of jelly over the top. A creamy peanut butter mixture and dollops of grape jelly mix and mingle throughout the cake batter and bake up so that every single bite of this cake tastes as though a PB&J and yellow cake collided.

Mustard works its magic on braised chicken.

“Wow, what’s the special occasion?” my husband asked when I set this dinner on the table. It was just an average Wednesday night, but judging by the looks of the shallow bowls filled with tender cod fillets, vibrant veggies, fresh herbs, and a fragrant lemon and white wine broth, I can see how he thought I’d planned a fancy dinner. And that is the beauty of this weeknight recipe — it is so beautiful and nourishing, yet so surprisingly easy to pull together.

A classic dinner done right.

Sometimes dinner inspiration starts with a side rather than the main dish. Case in point? This braised purple cabbage. With only three ingredients, humble cabbage is transformed into an outrageously delicious side dish that just might steal the show come dinnertime. The best part about this dish is that it is almost entirely hands-off. All you have to do is cut the cabbage into wedges and arrange them in a baking dish.

With every bite of this skillet dinner, there’s something new to get excited about. Whether it’s the caramelized mushrooms, the sweet sun-dried tomatoes, the tender white beans, the juicy chicken, or whatever combination of those four you happen to scoop up with your fork, there’s nothing but good flavor happening here. Fresh rosemary and garlic sing over them all for an Italian-inspired dinner that quickly comes together on even the busiest of evenings.

With tender chickpeas swimming in an earthy oregano- and garlic-spiked tomato sauce and topped with plenty of melty feta cheese, you’ll want plenty of good, crusty bread on hand for this comforting meatless main — it’s one of those swipe-the-bowl-clean affairs. Need more convincing to make this tonight? The recipe is only a notch more involved than cracking open a can of beans from the back of the pantry and calling it dinner.

Green beans are a part of most every Southern family’s suppers. Their key distinction is that they are cooked down in liquid until quite soft, almost to the point of “mush.” In traditional Southern cooking, they are also cooked and flavored with ham hocks or pork knuckles. This take on the classic uses a smoked, bone-in ham steak for flavor, which can be found in almost every grocery store.

Stew and braising recipes took a big leap up in popularity this year, as more people embraced slow cookers as a great way to manage meals when life gets too busy. The low-and-slow braise needed to tenderize meat and meld flavors works perfectly in the slow cooker, although of course a Dutch oven and a low flame will do just as well. Whatever your cooking method, these 10 stews and braises are our most popular — and for good reason.

When it comes to hearty winter stews and braises, meat tends to be the main ingredient of this warming meal, but that doesn’t mean you should discount vegetables. Not only do they complement and balance the meatiness of stews and chilis, but it’s a wonderful way to pack more (and more!) vegetables into your comfort food. Whether the recipe calls for it or not, every stew can use another serving of veggies. Here are seven vegetables you should be adding to stews and braises right now.

This is one of the two stuffings I created with the mother of the Syrian refugee family we hosted for Canadian Thanksgiving. We found that bringing the foods of two traditions together is more than the delicious dish it creates. It’s a symbol of an intention for harmony and our willingness to find the parts and pieces in our own stories that make room for the parts and pieces in another.

You might be tired of heavy winter braises by now since spring is in full force, but that doesn’t mean you should retire the braising pot just yet. All the gorgeous spring vegetables still work beautifully in a quicker, lighter braise — one where you can still taste the unique flavors of each vegetable. Chicken is the perfect protein for a quick braise.

Braising is not just for carnivores. Although I do enjoy a good pot roast, I love braising vegetables, and feel this is often the best way to play up their flavors. The other advantage of vegetarian braises? They are much, much quicker than meat. For example, this cauliflower gets browned in olive oil and garlic, letting a thin golden crust form on its firm white stalks.

Winter weather calls for cooking a meal low and slow on the stove for a couple of hours. The spices mixed with the meat or veggies (and maybe even a splash of wine) are guaranteed to make your home smell wonderful for hours. Stews and braises are closely related, with a defining difference: the amount of liquid used. But the most important thing they have in common? How delicious they are when served up for dinner on a cold, snowy night.

Q: I see a lot of very good-looking, healthy recipes popping up on my Pinterest feed and also on The Kitchn, but a slow cooker is needed. I don’t own one and I’m not planning to buy one, due to lack of storage space, but I still would love to try some of the recipes. Is there any way to convert slow-cooker recipes to make them in the oven or on the stovetop? (Of course, I would be making them when I’m around and not leave my stove running while at work.

This hearty winter braise is inspired by two of the most beloved dishes my safta (grandmother in Hebrew) used to make: kubbe — miniature meat-filled semolina dumplings simmered in a vegetable or meat stew — and long-cooked green beans, variously known as loubia or fasoulia. Here, herb-flecked semolina dumplings capture the flavor and nubbly texture of my safta’s original recipe without all the work.

This time of year it’s all about the long and slow cooking. When it comes to cuts of meat that require a little extra coaxing, both stewing and braising can make tougher cuts — like shanks, brisket, chunk, and round — tender enough to slice with your fork. We always knew they had a soft side. Vegetables, never to be left out of the party, benefit from braising and stewing as well.

You’re making a stew, so you pick up a package marked “stew meat” at the store — makes sense, right? Not so fast. There are a few good reasons you might want to put down that stew meat and pick up another cut instead. Packages of pre-cut stew meat are often assembled by the butcher or meat department from the odds and ends from other different cuts. While this might sound like a good thing — viva varieté!

In my chat with beloved chef Jacques Pépin about home cooking, he mentioned this braise full of juicy dark-meat chicken and vegetables that his mother used to make. I loved the name, which really reflects the essence of this dish that pairs chicken with a full range of vegetables from the garden. Jacques says, “Jardinière means ‘gardener’ in French, and the vegetables change according to what is in season or in my garden.

Our piece aboutJamie Oliver’s chicken in milk got me thinking about other possibilities for cooking a whole chicken in milk — what could be easier than filling a pot with liquid and spices, turning on the heat, and walking away until what’s left is the most succulent fall-off-the-bone bird? So I decided to try the sweet and pungent flavors of coconut milk, lemongrass, and star anise.

Southerners love greens, but choosing a favorite? That we cannot do. Collard, mustard, turnip? Creasie, dandelion, kale, spinach? We love them all and why would we not? Deeply colored, sturdy-textured, and packed with nutritious goodness, greens are humanity’s friend. Unlike lettuce, most of the greens Southerners cherish benefit from heat and time. The tradition of boiling up a big potful of greens goes back centuries and across the Atlantic to West African cuisines.

When I think of cooking zucchini the summer I think of grilling and roasting, shredding and baking, slicing and frying. But do I think of braising? Not so much — and yet Deborah Madison makes a strong case for it in this double-green dish of zucchini and chard that puts zucchini squarely in the center of the table. This dish is for everyone who likes zucchini a little softer and well-cooked.

When we decided to devote a week to carrots during our month of Glorious Vegetables, I went hunting for just one pure and perfect carrot recipe. We’ve given you crazy salad and fermented pickles, and there are other fresh ways to eat carrots coming up. But, in the end, the freshest of baby carrots deserve to be eaten in the simplest of ways, and Diane Morgan’s easy recipe is the way to go.

Radishes are so pretty and irresistible, coming in all sorts of colors, shapes, and sizes. And while they’re usually eaten raw — dipped in good butter and flaky salt, or sliced thin onto salads — these jewel-toned vegetables can also be cooked like most other root vegetables. What happens when radishes get cooked? Their characteristic spicy bite mellows out, plus they turn nice and juicy. Here are five delicious ways to cook radishes — give them a try!

Back when I was working graveyard shifts as a hospital pharmacist, cooking dinner was the absolute last thing I wanted to do when I got home. Fortunately, I learned that I could quickly toss some ingredients into my slow cooker and pass out, confident that I’d wake up when things started smelling good — like these slow-cooked, Asian-spiced ribs.

Of all the delicious meals I have had the pleasure of eating in New Orleans, by far my favorite is a drippy, sloppy, saucy roast beef po’ boy. Perhaps lesser known than its fried seafood sibling, I much prefer the garlicky slow-cooked sandwich swimming in its own rich, roux-thickened gravy. The po’ boy (or poor boy, if you will) is the reigning king of New Orleans sandwiches.

At the Filipino restaurant Tito Rad’s Grill & Restaurant, I was taught how to make Kare Kare, a stew with oxtail braised in a peanut butter sauce. Sounds fairly delicious, right? Well, they also taught me a way to make it even better — at the last minute. During the last 10 minutes of the cooking process, a variety of vegetables like greens beans and halved baby bok choy are added to the mix and then steamed until tender, just about 10 minutes.

I have absolutely zero interest in football, basketball, or baseball — so for me, gatherings around game days are all about the food. The spread always includes a few of the grubby, nostalgic snacks we grew up with — cheesy queso dip, I’m looking at you — as well as some fresher, lighter snacks that often incorporate flavors from one of the many international cuisines that surround us here in Los Angeles.

Shredded meat — beef, pork, or chicken — is one of the most versatile dinner elements you can imagine! Cook up a few pounds to stash in the freezer, then dole it out for weeknight meals all month long. Or make a huge batch and feed a whole crowd of people in one go. Today, let’s talk chicken: Simple, inexpensive, and relatively quick, chicken has some advantages over the heavier beef and pork.

Boeuf bourguignon is so much more than just another beef stew.

Winter weather brings out what I call my Braising Instinct. I drift towards meals that call on the basic formula of all braised dishes: hot sear, slow simmer, a final dish that’s lusciously saucy. I’ve braised pork, lamb, short ribs, cabbage, eggplant, and so many others — but, in this recipe, chicken finally gets the star treatment. Chicken thighs make a quicker braise than most. Just an hour will give you a saucy dish of shredded chicken in a smoky bacon sauce.

This week I’m really feeling the briefness of the December daylight and the deepening of the cold temperatures. While I normally make a big effort to eat only small amounts of meat and to eat clean and light, especially at night, this dreary week I have braises and rich sauces on my mind. It seemed only right to pop out to the butcher, buy a whole oxtail, and cook it into slow submission.

A rich winter meal, too, easy and forgiving to cook under their sleek caps of fat, melting into tender chunks of pull-apart beef in the oven.

Meat usually gets all the attention when discussing braising since it undergoes such dramatic changes during the process. Vegetables are often used to boost flavor while braising meat, but they can do more than play sidekick! Braised vegetables can be just as satisfying as meat, and they usually cook in a fraction of the time. Here’s a list of great vegetables for braising to spark some creative ideas for your next vegetable braise!

Rogan josh is one of the better known Indian classics, and this fiery lamb or mutton dish from the Kashmir region of India is now popular all over the world. My version stays very close to an authentic Hindu-style recipe, but I have tweaked it to make a rich and spicy slow-cooked dish that is perfect for chilly winter days. There are several versions of rogan josh in existence, but the two most common are the Kashmiri Pandit (Hindu) version and the Muslim, or Mughal, version.

Today’s Topic: Braising The Goal: 20 lessons, 20 days to become a better cook at home Enter to win The Kitchn Cookbook: Simply share and tag photos of your Kitchn Cooking School progress on Instagram and Twitter with #kitchnschool to enter for a chance to win. We’re giving away one copy for every homework assignment during The Kitchn’s Cooking School. See rules and regulations.

Choosing the right cut can make or break the dish.

From Texas to Tel Aviv, just about everyone loves brisket — the flavorful cut of beef found on the breast or lower chest of the cow. And what’s not to like? The slowly-cooked meat is exceptionally tender and moist with caramelized edges perfect for nibbling straight from the pan. There are many different ways to prepare brisket, from Texas-style barbecued brisket, to Irish corned beef. But I grew up eating Jewish-style brisket, particularly during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

It seems like Boston butts and pork shoulders get all the slow-cooking love these days, but there’s another kid in town that gets dinner on the table in much less time, and still has all that budget-conscious, fall-off-the bone goodness. A pork shank begs for a braise, too, but unlike the larger cuts of pork we usually talk about, this one won’t take all day to cook and can be done in a smaller pot.

When was the last time you eagerly scooped up a heaping second serving of cooked vegetables? If you can’t recall, you might be in a side dish rut. Put the steamer basket down, return the baking sheet to the cabinet, and whip out your biggest, trustiest lidded sauté pan. These tips will help you braise vegetables that are lightly caramelized on the outside, fork tender all the way through, and napped in a luxurious glaze. Slice bulbs and brassicas for maximum brownability.