Our Best Dinner Recipes & Ideas

Bon appétit!

Italian sausage is one of my favorite proteins. It packs a lot of flavor, and yet it still manages to pair well with just about anything. Whether you like yours sweet, spicy, or mild, there are plenty of things you can make at home with it. Of course there’s pasta, which is usually the first thing that comes to mind when people think about Italian sausage, but that’s really just the beginning. Soups, casseroles, and sheet pan dinners are all great ways to turn sausage into a meal.

It’s sweet, salty, sour, and gets a little kick from the pepper.

A quick skillet of fried rice is one of the easiest, most satisfying ways to transform leftover rice into a complete meal. Here, we’ve added crumbles of ground pork, a couple of eggs, and whatever vegetable you’ve got in the freezer to create a winning dinner the whole family will enjoy. Here’s how to make it. It only takes 15 minutes to make. From start to finish, this pork fried rice takes about 15 minutes to cook for a quick and delicious weeknight dinner.

Ready in less than 20 minutes!

During Valentine’s Day, there’s no better way to show appreciation for your loved one – whether that’s your spouse, significant other, best friend, or even (especially) yourself – than to spend quality time with them over a special at-home dinner. You don’t have to spend all day to cook a romantic dinner.

I am a huge fan of chicken thighs, especially boneless, skinless chicken thighs because they’re inexpensive, tasty, and easy to cook. In fact, I find it difficult to mess them up. They are just dark enough to stay tender, but not so dark as to put off people who prefer white meat. Everyone who eats regularly at my house has eaten chicken thighs.In the summer I grill them every week, especially when I have a big table of people to feed.

You only need six ingredients.

If you’re looking for a way to give your basic mashed potatoes a seriously impressive upgrade, there’s no better way to do it than by taking inspiration from a loaded baked potato with all the fixings. I’m talking tangy sour cream, smoky bacon, sharp cheddar, and fragrant fresh chives.From Thanksgiving dinner to game day when there’s a slow cooker of chili and you need a little something extra to round out the meal, loaded mashed potatoes are always the answer.

It’s packed full of flavor.

Get excited.

Pure comfort.

You need only six basic ingredients.

You’ll want to drizzle the sauce over everything.

So simple.

Whether we’re talking about date night at home or a quick weeknight meal, it doesn’t get much better than a giant bowl of steamed mussels. This dish has the kind of easy elegance and immediate gratification that I look for in both cases. Today, I’m sharing my favorite, most basic method for quickly steaming a batch of mussels. It’s simple — just mussels steamed with broth and white wine — but oh so very good!

I have ESP (extremely slurpable pasta).

They're perfectly light and airy.

My father in-law is not a big fan of turkey. So about five years ago, we started adding a bone-in-ham to the family Thanksgiving menu. But each year I am the host and cook, and so I would run into a problem: After making the turkey, how do I season and heat a full ham while all the side dishes are hogging the oven space? Fortunately I settled on a solution: Put the ham in a slow cooker!I admit, spiral-cut ham wasn’t something I always loved.

It might even be better than the Thanksgiving meal itself.

The glaze is everything.

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The best with naan.

Calling all seafood-lovers! This restaurant-quality crab-stuffed salmon can be made at home in under 40 minutes and tastes just like the real deal. The key to creating this luxurious dish at home is starting with great seafood. Thick salmon fillets and jumbo lump crab meat are the stars. This recipe adds just enough ingredients to elevate their flavors without overpowering the fresh seafood taste. Here’s how to make it. It’s fancy, but also easy to make.

There really isn’t a more versatile ingredient to always have on hand in the refrigerator than eggs. In fact, you can make eggs any time of the day, from breakfast and weekend brunch to a simple lunch and weeknight dinner.Eggs for breakfast help us start our days off right. They give our baked goods moisture and structure. They’re also inexpensive, full of protein, and a lifesaver at dinner when you need to throw a quick weeknight meal together.

A classic side takes center stage.

While I am big fan of traditional pan-fried crab cakes, it’s hard to beat the ease that comes with baking them. Skip standing over a hot stove and instead, bake the whole batch at once on a sheet pan.For these easy crab cakes, you’ll shape the crab mixture into patties and chill them for 10 minutes, which ensures they’ll firm up a bit so they won’t fall apart in the oven. The patties are then transferred to a 425°F oven and baked until just cooked through.

Nothing says “Christmas” like pernil.

A cookie tin must.

This plus mashed potatoes is actual heaven.

If creamy pasta makes you weak in the knees, white lasagna is going to be right up your alley. Unlike lasagnas made with marinara, you won’t find a drop of red sauce in sight. Here you get layers of hearty pasta, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, Italian sausage crumbles, and an entire pound of fresh spinach.But what makes white lasagna so special is the creamy white sauce that’s blanketed throughout the casserole.

Often, when I don’t feel like cooking, I’ll make a dinner salad, a plate of scrambled eggs and toast, or a quick beans-and-greens sauté and call it a night. But come winter I crave dinners that are way more comforting than that. When I’m looking for something to warm me from the inside out — something that is as hearty as they come — I turn to these recipes.

Eating fancy at home has never been so easy.

Who doesn’t love crispy cheese?

Roasted fingerling potatoes are an easy and versatile potato side dish, ready to be enjoyed with anything from roast chicken to grilled steak. To really make them shine, I use a mixture of olive oil and butter to give them a creamy, melt-in-your-mouth quality. I also add a generous amount of minced garlic to infuse them with savory flavor, and a final flourish of parsley brightens everything up. They’re crispy, tender, and buttery.

Yeehaw!

Mac and cheese is such a solid staple. You can make macaroni & cheese from scratch, find a favorite boxed variety, or go for pure nostalgia with the frozen kind that microwaves in minutes. While some might argue that mac and cheese is an entire meal, even on the most harried nights I still want a side dish to round out the table. So, what goes with mac and cheese? Side dishes for mac and cheese can be as easy as carrot sticks or a bagged salad.

Bonus: You also get a luscious sauce.

Zero to braised in under an hour.

I’ve never met a lasagna I didn’t love. Yes, there’s something about the way it’s assembled — with the rich sauce, melty cheese, and juicy bits of browned meat blanketing the noodles — but what really makes it stand out is how the ingredients come together for a warm, comforting meal. And that’s exactly what you can expect when you tuck into a bowl of this lasagna-inspired soup. The secret to the best (and easiest) lasagna soup is jarred marinara sauce.

It's truly restaurant-worthy.

The gravy is next-level.

Did we mention the herb butter?

It's unbelievably delicious.

It cooks in just 10 minutes — and there’s no chopping!

It cooks in just 30 minutes.

No matter how much thought goes into planning your Christmas dinner, the day can have a way of feeling hurried as you you take part in gift-giving, a brisk walk in the snow, and then getting into the kitchen to cook. One strategy that makes it feel easier and more manageable is sticking with options for a make-ahead Christmas dinner. Maybe it’s getting a head start with the main course or side dish, or perhaps you prefer to get the bulk of the meal done ahead of time.

The star on the table.

You only need five ingredients.

And it cooks in under 20 minutes.

Find *everything* you need to know to safely fry the crispiest, most delicious holiday turkey at home.

Beefy brisket is the king of Texas barbecue. Yes, Texas has smoked ribs and pulled pork, but tender, peppery brisket is what most people dream of when they think Texas barbecue. Swiped with mustard and packed with a salt and pepper coating before slow smoking produces a brisket that is ingenious in simplicity and mind-blowing in flavor. The best Texas-style brisket is tender without falling apart and has a thick layer of smoky-peppery bark that surrounds each slice.

Bechamel > ricotta, always.

It’s a catch.

The chicken dinner you’ll keep coming back to.

Ready in 30 minutes.

Is anyone else in disbelief that it’s almost Christmas already? I say let this be the year that you mix up the menu a bit with some new side dishes, or trade in your roast beef tenderloin and baked ham for something different, like white lasagna or French onion pot roast. I like the idea of this year’s meal having a festive start with Christmas appetizers (I’m looking at you, bacon-wrapped dates!) and finishing off with an indulgent Christmas dessert.

It's deceptively easy to make.

It cooks in just 30 minutes.

This is the recipe to make if you got sent home with turkey leftovers.

The sauce is perfection!

You can have the roast turkey. Set aside the glazed ham and prime rib. In my house, leg of lamb is the celebratory roast; I love its tenderness and flavor. Though roast leg of lamb sounds intimidating, the sweet little secret is that leg of lamb is actually one of the easiest, most foolproof cuts of meat to cook. Here’s our remarkably simple, fuss-free leg of lamb recipe. It will turn out perfectly every time. It’s surprisingly easy to make.

Prime rib roast’s promises cannot be understated. Standing tall on a serving platter ready to be carved, its dark, crisp exterior promises a tender, rosy interior full of intense beefy flavor. Partner this special-occasion cut of beef with good wine, a swipe of homemade horseradish cream, and a platter of golden roasted potatoes and you’re on your way to a classic holiday meal. Here, we use the easiest cooking method: oven-searing.

Of all the techniques for preparing chicken I learned in culinary school, spatchcocking is the one I return to the most. Sure, it’s great to know how to break down a whole chicken, but nothing compares to the satisfaction that spatchcocking provides. Luckily, you don’t need a culinary school degree to spatchcock. The process is simple — remove the chicken’s backbone and then flatten the bird — and immensely rewarding.

Tastes so good you’ll think you hit the jackpot.

Pommes Anna is a French side dish made of just three simple ingredients: potatoes, butter, and salt. It’s classic and elegant all at the same time; potato slices are arranged in overlapping concentric circles, creating layers upon layers into a round cake that resembles a flower. The outside is golden-brown and crispy — like the fanciest hash browns you’ll ever have — and makes a satisfying crunch when you slice it into wedges.

For me, the best part of Thanksgiving dinner are the leftovers. Day one is the day for turkey sandwiches and plates of reheated dinner. And this turkey noodle soup is the ideal next step for leftovers. It not only uses up the leftover turkey meat, but also any vegetables and herbs you may have left from the big day.  It’s the best way to use leftover turkey.

The sauce is perfect.

A little olive oil, a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper, some alone time in the oven — this is all that’s between you and a cozy dish of roasted acorn squash this evening. Here is a step-by-step recipe and guide to help you cook perfect acorn squash every time. It’s the perfect fall side dish. This simple side dish pairs well with almost everything for dinner, from roast chicken and pot roast to creamy risotto. It’s great for meal prep.