Our Best Dinner Recipes & Ideas

Pommes aligot is more than just a cheesy twist on mashed potatoes. This incredibly magical blend of creamy potatoes and cheese was born in the French region of Midi-Pyrénées, and it is a celebration of regional cheese, served on special occasions alongside sausage or roasted meat.

It’s often assumed that roast turkey will be sitting front and center as the main course on Thanksgiving. Sure, it’s traditional, and the homemade turkey stock that follows cannot be beat, but it’s just one of so many great holiday options. If you’re forgoing the large celebration in favor of something smaller this year, a big turkey might be far too much food. Or maybe it feels like more work than you can muster, or you’re ready for a new tradition.

These creamy, caramelized coins are almost too good to be true.

Dutch ovens are the workhorses of pots. They go from stovetop to oven with ease, making them ideal for braises, soups, stews, and more. Even better, Dutch ovens can be covered to keep foods warm or to transport a hot dish over to a sick friend. Whether you choose a classic cast iron Dutch oven or the ever-popular enameled version, Dutch ovens are easy to clean and can last decades with proper care. I like to think of the day I brought home a Dutch oven as the day my kitchen changed forever.

Yes, you can skip the whole bird.

So good I eat them straight from the pan.

They're not the same as gratin.

This pasta has everything (and sausage, too!).

Paprika is the star.

They’re so cheesy.

It’s so flavorful!

The sauce is everything.

The best sheet pan dinner ever.

I knew absolutely nothing about the glories of a good baked potato until the day I ordered one at a local restaurant in my town that was known for them. Before that, my primary “baked” potato experience involved a microwave. What I tasted was so revelatory I still remember it: ridiculously crisp on the outside and oh so fluffy inside. I realized what we’d been doing at home was very, very wrong.

Brown butter and sage are a classic couple that will never steer you wrong. Whether you use the sauce to dress a bowl of pasta or add another dimension to a simple risotto, it’s instant success with very little effort!The process of browning butter consists of gently heating it in a skillet until the water evaporates and the milk solids begin to brown, at which point it acquires a wonderful flavor complexity and a pleasant toasty note that makes it a real treat.

Wait for the praise.

All the fall feels.

It’s unbelievably tasty.

Better the next day is an understatement.

When it comes to comforting soups, I can easily say I have a hands-down favorite: Italian wedding soup. My experience of it is neither particularly Italian, nor is it matrimonial, rather it was one of the first real meals my mother fed me when I was a baby. The legend is that I’d slurp it loudly, humming, and the broth would dribble down my neck, soaking the neck of my shirt.

Is there nothing more comforting and delicious than mashed potatoes? This warm, creamy, dairy-laden starch might be more of an indulgence than everyday fare these days, but even if you only have them once a year (Thanksgiving!), I say go all out and do it right. Read on for our method for classic mashed potatoes, with recommendations for potato type, dairy additions, and mashing methods. Potatoes: The best potatoes for mashed potatoes are Russets and Yukon Golds.

Just wait until you taste that jus.

A new way to enjoy hot dogs.

Of all the winter squashes that have made their way to the market, there’s none I’m more excited about than spaghetti squash. I love that you can microwave it, put it in the oven, or even just throw it in an Instant Pot. No matter how you decide to prepare it, these thin, durable strands can be used just about any way you’d traditionally use noodles or spaghetti.

A creamy, dreamy mac & cheese that you can prep days ahead of time and just pop in the oven.

Say bye-bye to the blue box.

Tender sautéed greens are an easy go-to vegetable side everyone should know how to make. They pair with everything from quick pastas to weeknight chicken dinners, and come together in minutes. While mustard greens might not be as trendy as kale or as omnipresent as spinach, they’re well worth getting to know. They’re the leafy green of the mustard plant and are related to collards, cabbage, and, in fact, kale, and are common in Indian, Chinese, Japanese, African, and Southern U.

Cooking Thanksgiving dinner is no small feat. There is a way to make it easier, though, and it comes in the form of your slow cooker. When you’re vying for precious space in the oven, wishing you had another burner on the stovetop (or another pair of hands), or you just want to keep food warm, this trusty appliance is your best bet.

You don't even have to boil water.

They’re so comforting.

And yes, the beans belong here.

We’re in prime cold and flu season, and with it comes the need to keep plenty of cozy soups in your recipe arsenal. Sometimes a bowl or two is all you need to start feeling yourself again. These 20 easy soup recipes are comforting meals to make when you, your significant other, or your kids are sick and feeling under the weather.

Always one of the first to disappear.

Sweet potato casserole is one of the most popular Thanksgiving side dishes for a reason: It serves up the vegetable in a creamy, sweet, and decadent way, and as we pile it onto our plates, it makes us feel like a kid again. Unfortunately, it’s often overthought and over-complicated, riddled with too many unnecessary steps and ingredients (I’m guilty of it, too, although this classic, meringue-topped version is delish).

We’re testing popular Thanksgiving recipes on Kitchn all month long, and between its five-star rating and Ina Garten’s reputation for perfection, Ina’s roast turkey is, arguably, the most popular bird on the internet.

Baked potatoes are incredibly easy to make – you can walk in the door, throw a few potatoes in the oven, and carry on with your after-work routine until they’re ready to eat. Cracked open and still steaming, baked potatoes are ready to receive anything from a pat of butter, a sprinkle of cheese, or last night’s beef chili. Baking a potato in the oven does require a little more time than zapping it in the microwave, though.

Make sure to soak up every bit of the sauce.

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.Anyone else grow up heating bread and cheese in the microwave on unsupervised afternoons at home?

Pickles make it perfect.

There's more to it than you think.

Stuffing isn’t just for the holidays.

Bonus: It’s so easy.

All the same flavors with less of the fuss.

With so many beautiful and unusual squashes showing up in markets right now, I can’t seem to come home without at least one knobby, colorful, speckled squash in my bag. Happily, stuffed squash is a dish that will work for just about any winter squash I happen to pick up. You don’t really need a recipe — just a few basic steps and dinner practically makes itself. I consider stuffed squash to be one of the most perfect autumn weekend meals imaginable.

One-pot, no fuss.

The sweet and tangy glaze is everything.

Everyone needs a back-pocket dinner like this.

This chicken is fall-off-the-bone tender.

Bonus: There’s only 5 minutes of prep.

So cozy.

Bonus: It’s ready in 30 minutes!

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.If you like pork tenderloin, it’s time you try boneless pork loin. Consider it tenderloin’s larger, equally mild cousin.

If you need dinner on the table with zero delays, then a microwaved baked potato is pretty much an ideal solution. A single potato is ready in under 10 minutes, and cooking a few more alongside hardly takes any longer. Topped with leftover chili, pulled pork, or cheesy broccoli, this dinner staple couldn’t be quicker or easier. Good ol’ russet potatoes will do the trick here. Any size will do, although larger potatoes might need an extra minute.

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.

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.