Our Best Dinner Recipes & Ideas

It’s so crispy!

Two ingredients and less than half an hour is all you need.

Friday nights will never be the same.

It comes together so quickly.

And you only need six ingredients.

It's bursting with corn flavor.

Where once I’d pounce on a chef-made bowl of al dente pasta and crisp-tender spring vegetables, now it’s a dish I prefer to make at home. Using what’s fresh and new at the market, I slice and dice carrots, bell peppers, peas, spring onions, and baby Broccolini before tossing them into a pot to quickly cook with penne pasta. Finished with bright and citrusy lemon butter and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, this warm-weather supper is perfection. And the best part?

We’re here for the feta.

I’ll be making it again and again.

It’s time to ditch the big pot.

For all your potluck and BBQ needs.

Here’s my dinnertime strategy: Bring on the vegetable recipes. I try to make vegetables the star of the show most of the time when I am thinking about what to make for dinner (in addition to keeping mealtime easy, of course!). By making my plate more about the vegetables, I find I automatically eat a more wholesome diet without radically changing much. Some nights that means eating a big dinner salad, while other nights I’ll make a hearty veggie sandwich or one-bowl meal.

This is our favorite method.

Ah summertime: it’s when temperatures soar and we all head outdoors to soak up every bit of the season. Who wants to spend time indoors cooking this time of year? Since we can’t subsist on refreshing watermelon and icy popsicles alone, I’ve armed myself with a roster of quick and easy dinners I know I can pull off — even on the hottest of nights.

Just 5 ingredients!

The spice blend is everything.

They are zesty, tangy, a little bit spicy, and absolutely irresistible.

Sticky-sweet BBQ chicken is the quintessential summer dinner that shouldn’t be limited to the lucky folks with backyard grills. I love BBQ chicken from the grill as much as anyone, but if we’re being really honest here, it is kind of time-consuming to do well. You’ve got to cook the chicken pretty perfectly without the sauce, and once the sauce is added you have to spend a lot of time flipping and basting to get that burnished-but-not-burned coating we all crave.

Given the opportunity, my 6-year-old would eat hot dogs every single day. And I can’t blame him. These snappy, savory sausages packed into squishy buns are satisfying and delicious. There are so many ways to cook hot dogs, too. While he and his neighborhood crew would settle for a boiled dog, I miss the sizzle of a skillet-seared, air-fried, or grilled hot dog. Now, when I’m feeding a crowd of hungry kids (and kids at heart!), I skip the simmer and click on the oven instead.

Homemade noodles take it to the next level.

Is there a more quintessential warm-weather side dish than cold pasta salad? This cool salad keeps well, and it’s the perfect make-ahead lunch that you can pack throughout the week. Just about everyone in your family, from your kids to your mother-in-law, will eat it! This recipe is truly as simple as boiling water and tossing in a few key pasta salad ingredients.

It’s juicy, tender, and so savory.

It's my forever recipe.

The cream sauce is wildly delicious.

They’re that good.

Lately, I have been all about flank steak. This cut isn’t quite as fancy — or typically as expensive — as premium steaks, like ribeye and filet mignon, but it cooks just as quickly and delivers big on flavor. I love it for more casual weeknight meals, like easy steak fajitas or alongside some roasted veggies. Plus, the leftovers make tasty steak sandwiches for lunch the next day.

Unparalleled crunch.

Banish all thoughts of stringy, tough, sad chicken from your mind. For our chicken salad sandwiches and quick chicken weeknight meals, we want nothing but the best. And for that, poached chicken is definitely the way to go. This poached chicken method is easy, fast, and foolproof. Totally tender chicken breasts that are as good for dinner as they are for lunch the next day? Not a problem.

It's the easiest dinner you'll ever make.

It cooks in less than 10 minutes.

Just toss and eat.

The homemade teriyaki sauce only has five pantry ingredients.

It’s ridiculously flavorful.

A double hit of lemon balances out the creaminess.

They're ready in 30 minutes or less.

The sauce is everything.

The technique is a game-changer.

You'll want every last drop of the sauce.

The buttery cracker topping is everything.

It's ready in 20 minutes.

Say goodbye to the canned version forever.

It will be love at first crunch.

“It’s the best I’ve ever had,” says everyone who's tried it.

You'll immediately notice the difference.

Who says chicken breasts have gotta be boring?

We've got the secret to fluffy and dense matzo balls.

And it's ready in 30 minutes!

Low and slow is the only way to go.

Everything's probably already in your fridge.

It’s all about the sticky honey-garlic sauce.

Meet your new favorite side.

I make them every week.

Sliced cucumbers can't be boring when they're made to be bright and tangy.

Years ago, when I was just beginning to cook for myself, I felt intimidated by shrimp. Like other crustaceans from the deep, they seemed mysterious, expensive, and exotic. But then I learned that shrimp are incredibly easy to cook.One of my favorite walk-in-the-door meals is shrimp, roasted until hot and juicy, tossed over a bowl of pasta, on top of creamy polenta, or in a hearty kale salad .

It's amazing on fish tacos.

Southern biscuits are the perfect fictional device for telling the narratives of Southern families. One cook makes his biscuits with White Lily flour only because that’s how his Maw Mae did it. Another swears by lard, as her family never had the funds for high-dollar butter or shortening. Most Southern cooks bake biscuits at least once a week — a ritual and rite of passage as the recipe is handed down through the generations. My biscuit recipe is much the same.

In a sea of Passover briskets, make braised lamb.

Plus, it’s endlessly customizable.

It's so good I ate it straight from the pot.

It's the most comforting thing you'll make all week.

Mom always knows best.

The foolproof recipe is inspired by two greats: Ina Garten and Julia Child.

Despite being beautiful, delicious, and good for you, artichokes don’t get much play in the kitchen because — let’s face it — they’re a little intimidating. But with just a tiny bit of prep work, artichokes are surprisingly easy to pick, cook, and eat. The next time you’re at the farmers market or grocery store, pick up a few and give it a go. I’ll walk you through everything you need to know.

It cooks in less than 15 minutes.

As much as I love a classic quiche, broccoli is my all-time favorite add-in for quiche. The crisp-tender veggie lends a pop of color — and a dose of nutrients — to each and every slice of the creamy, cheesy egg bake. But not all broccoli quiches are created equal. Read on for my secret to the best-ever broccoli and cheese version — the one you’ll want to serve for any and all occasions, be it a holiday brunch, morning breakfast, or weeknight dinner.

Brisket is a hearty cut of beef that requires time and technique to tenderize, making it one of the best cuts for braising and slow cooking. While you’ll see beef brisket served as corned beef in the spring and smoked down in Texas, the classic holiday beef brisket is typically braised in a sweet and tangy gravy. (To learn more about brisket and get tips for buying it, check out our brisket for beginners guide.

Behold the single food that has revolutionized my weekly meal plan – shredded chicken! The very best thing about cooking up a batch of shredded chicken are all the possibilities it brings to mealtime. It can mean a week’s worth of dinners — everything from chicken tacos and chicken burritos to chicken salad are made more satisfying with shredded chicken. It’s an easy solution for make-ahead lunches and weeknight dinners the whole family will love.