Dinner Ideas & Recipes

Everything I know about cornbread dressing — and Thanksgiving — I learned from my mother, which she in turn learned from her mother. It is a long line of resourceful Southern cooks, and I trust them with this important meal completely. The secret? It’s all about the butter! My very wise nanna once said, “Whatever the amount of butter called for in a dressing recipe, double it, triple it, heck, even quadruple it!

Pumpkin and butternut squash seem to get all the attention this time of year, but when it comes to orange-hued vegetables, I actually prefer the humble sweet potato. I’ll take sweet potatoes any which way, but at my Thanksgiving table I prefer mashed sweet potatoes. Some mashed sweet potato recipes call for baking the them in the oven first, then slipping them out of their skins and mashing them. Other recipes call for boiling the sweet potatoes in water.

And there’s bacon!

The secret to the best-ever (and way easier) bacon wrapped turkey? A simple herb butter to act as the glue.

On Thanksgiving, I don’t think any dish inspires quite as much love and jealousy as classic stuffing. Or, for that matter, technical debate over stuffing vs. dressing. Sure, if it’s baked inside the turkey it’s stuffing, and if it’s not, it’s dressing. But to me, it will always be stuffing — it sounds so much more satisfying than dressing, which brings to mind vinaigrette. And on my table, the stuffing is always some version of this classic sage and onion mix.

Lentil soup is comforting, simple, and easy to throw together. It’s my go-to meal when I want something hearty but healthy, or when I’m planning a vegetarian dinner with friends on a chilly fall day. This pared-down red lentil version is the one I make most often, and it never fails to please. Red lentils are perfect when you’re in a hurry to get a meal on the table.

A big bowl of classic mashed potatoes make any meal a little better. Sadly, I come from a long line of mashed potato forgetters. A familiar cry heard each Thanksgiving was, “The mashed potatoes!” This could mean one of three things: Someone forgot to start them, someone forgot they were cooking, or someone forgot them in the kitchen and they were cold by the time they hit the table. This always bummed me out. I mean, we’re talking mashed potatoes here.

It’s like the grown-up version of a chicken nugget.

It’s also one-pan!

The air fryer has become the latest indispensable appliance and is now a staple in many home kitchens. Besides making your favorite foods perfectly crisp without using much oil, air fryers are also incredibly handy for quickly roasting vegetables in a matter of minutes. It is a great tool for when the stovetop and oven are occupied with other dishes, or for those times when you just don’t want to heat up the kitchen. Plus, cleanup is a breeze!

I could eat it every night.

This sauce is everything.

It's cozy and creamy, with just the right amount of tang.

It gives it an incredible spicy flavor.

It's the perfect dinner for one.

Editor’s Note: If you’ve cooked this beloved recipe before, it might look a little different these days! We recently improved it to make it even easier to follow and more delicious.From here on out, creamy chicken soup from the slow cooker shall be known as change-your-life chicken soup. Try to imagine all the goodness of chicken soup — moist, tender chicken, bites of sweet carrot and peas — but wrapped in a creamy broth flecked with black pepper.

The marinade is everything.

The secret ingredient comes from the freezer.

It tastes like childhood.

It's key to the juiciest Thanksgiving bird.

Sweet and tangy.

Plus, there's little to no clean up.

Anytime you find yourself with leftover baked chicken breasts, shredded chicken from the slow cooker, poached chicken breasts, or whole roasted chicken, consider it a very good thing. You can certainly go for a second round of last night’s dinner, but the wonderful thing about chicken is that it’s so easy to repurpose it into an entirely different meal.

Like the boxed stuff, but so much better.

Did we mention the herb butter?

Mom knows best.

You only need three ingredients for the sauce.

Yes, you really only need one pot. And no, you don't need to drain the pasta!

Plus, two ingredients not normally found in chili.

There are so many ways to use it.

You don't even need any measuring cups for this recipe.

My secret to getting dinner on the table every weeknight is a new sous chef — the air fryer. When I put this countertop appliance to work, I’m free to attend to the main dish while it works, virtually unattended. All I have to do is wait for that delightful “ding,” telling me the food needs a flip or is ready to eat.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy skillet meal, add this weeknight-friendly recipe to your dinner rotation immediately. With crumbled Italian sausage and creamy potatoes at the helm, it’s rooted in hearty, wholesome comfort and balanced by a light, bright twist from a handful of fresh parsley and a generous squeeze of lemon. When it comes to serving this skillet up, know that it works just as well for breakfast as it does for dinner!

It's bright, fresh, and a breeze to whip together.

It uses 2 pounds of zucchini.

It’s even better than the original — seriously.

It’ll be your new family favorite.

It's a fraction of the cost of guanciale or pancetta.

It adds unreal crunchiness and punchiness.

So saucy, so creamy.

You barely need a recipe.

The most delicious leftover sandwich starts here.

Make sure to soak up every bit of the sauce.

And it’s actually way easier to make than it looks.

Pronounced poh-taazh, potage is a fancy term for a thick and comforting soup cooked in a pot. Typically, it also infers that the soup is made of vegetables and is puréed until smooth. Like many French dishes, it originates from peasants and farmers who were using the ingredients they had available — in this case, any mix of vegetables. Potage is often enriched at the end with some kind of dairy.

The refried beans are optional (except they’re really not).

Get ready to make these on repeat.

You'll never want to prep it any other way.

Save room for seconds.

Restaurants can’t compete with this.

And it cooks in just 20 minutes.

I've been making it for years.

Yes, you really can make baked ziti (well, “baked” ziti) in your slow cooker. And the result isn’t just good — it’s amazing. What it lacks in the crispy-edges department it gains in the ooey-gooey comfort-food department: tender noodles coated in marinara sauce and mixed with a double dose of melty cheese. Pasta in the slow cooker has a reputation for being overcooked and soggy — a result of too much liquid in the slow cooker or too long of a cook time.

You can prep it in under 10 minutes.

The struggles of feeding a toddler is definitely a challenge. Toddlers bounce from happy and inquisitive to tired and cranky easily without the capacity to tell us that they are hungry and headed for a meltdown. All of this is to say that after a day, or a week, or even hours of extraordinary emotional highs and lows and generally wrestling a wild, stubborn toddler, you are tired. And you all still need to eat, so having easy toddler food ideas and toddler-friendly dinners on hand is key.

Easy and foolproof.

It’s all about the marinade.