Italian Recipes & Food Ideas

It’s unbelievably tasty.

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.

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

Bonus: It’s ready in 30 minutes!

The silky texture of traditional fettuccini Alfredo is created by a balanced emulsion of grated Parmesan cheese, butter, and starchy pasta water. But if mealtime calls for serving the garlicky Parmesan cream sauce without pasta (or its cooking liquid!), you need a new approach. Don’t tell my Italian in-laws, but a dose of dairy is the secret to my five-ingredient, everyday Alfredo sauce. It’s a weeknight staple.

Better than the OG.

Mom knows best.

The secret’s in the sauce.

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

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

Lasagna is perhaps the quintessential feed-a-crowd casserole. There are many ways to make lasagna, but here is my own method for making it. I was so intimidated by lasagna before I first tried it. It looked like a process that would eat up my whole day. While that it is not true, it is definitely more time-consuming than spaghetti with meat sauce — but it’s oh-so-worth-it. This recipe is a hybrid of a full-on, totally from-scratch lasagna recipe and one that uses pre-made components.

Restaurants can’t compete with this.

And it cooks in just 20 minutes.

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.

There’s nothing quite like sun-dried tomatoes — they lift up the flavor of anything they touch, from simple pastas and hearty salads to chicken (hello Tuscan chicken!). So what do sun-dried tomatoes taste like? The slow drying process concentrates the flavor of the tomatoes, locks in their summer sweetness, and leaves you with an intensely savory bite.

You can prep it in under 10 minutes.

It's caprese's hearty cousin.

Better than anything you'll buy at the store.

The Italian dessert might make you forget all about gelato.

Gotta love salad on a stick!

Gremolata is one of those things where the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Sprinkled over any number of dishes, it will make every mouthful pop with its bright, fresh flavors. Along with classic basil pesto and chimichurri sauce, it’s one of the essential condiments made with fresh herbs that you can add to practically anything grilled or roasted. Plus it’s a great way to use up a bunch of parsley!

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

Friday nights will never be the same.

Just 7 ingredients come together for big 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?

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

It’s light, but still berry decadent.

You'll immediately notice the difference.

You can prep it in just 10 minutes.

Hello, gorgeous.

lasagna's lazier cousin.

You'll love it.

Bonus: It's super easy.

Bonus: It's ready in 30 minutes.

You won’t be able to resist.

What can’t cabbage do?

They bake in half the time as the classic.

The key to a really good pizza is, of course, the crust. I make pizza at home at least once a week, so you can be sure this recipe comes to you after years of very meticulous kitchen testing! (Totally new to making pizza? Check out our absolute beginner’s guide to pizza making, too!)Also, the fact that this dough comes together in just a few minutes and doesn’t need time to rise means that you can have pizza for dinner any night of the week.

This is the ultimate pasta dish.

It all starts with store-bought gnocchi.

Bonus: It's super easy.

You might adore Olive Garden for the unlimited salad and garlic breadsticks (our copycat recipe is seriously legit!) or the ultra-comforting creamy pastas, but for me, it’s all about the luxuriously creamy chicken gnocchi soup. Just thinking about it, I can smell the herb and black pepper-flecked broth and feel the warm, satisfying comfort it brings to my belly.

It’s our classic for a reason.

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.

A faster way to make the classic.

Grab your sheet pan.

The sauce is everything.

It's unreal.

Bonus: It's ready in 30 minutes.

These are simple classics to memorize.

A big casserole dish filled with baked pasta is the easiest (and tastiest) way to feed all of your family and friends.

I think we can all agree — there are few things more wonderful in this life than a giant bowl of pasta for dinner.

No knead, no problem.

Classic comfort food at its very best.

It tastes like a big hug.

It's basically grown-up mac and cheese and we're good with that.

Spoiler: The noodle hack is a total game-changer.

It's the fastest, fanciest dinner around.