Meat

Stromboli might actually be the most perfect weeknight meal. You roll up your family’s favorite fillings — meat, cheeses, or veggies — in pizza dough (store-bought, obviously) and bake the whole thing to golden-brown perfection. Then you slice the stromboli into portable, easy-to-dip pieces that you can serve with marinara sauce for dipping or wrapped in a napkin on the way to soccer practice.

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.

Lumpia Shanghai is a popular Filipino spring roll that’s traditionally filled with ground pork, onions, garlic and/or vegetables and shallow-fried in a skillet, giving it a light, crisp exterior.It’s the first thing the kids line up for, patiently waiting for the aunties to be done frying so they can cram a piping-hot lumpia into their mouths. I’m guilty of piling my plate up with lumpia only and eating as much as I can, not really caring about who doesn’t get any.

Pure comfort.

A perfectly cooked beef tenderloin is truly a sight to behold. The delectable cut often made special-occasion appearances when I was growing up, but Easter Sunday and its rosy-hued tenderloin tea sandwiches was always a holiday favorite.After early church and egg hunts in our finest spring whites, my family would race home to enjoy my mother’s fabulous Southern spread.

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.

Bonus: You can assemble it ahead of time.

The glaze is everything.

Nothing says “Christmas” like pernil.

Yeehaw!

They taste like childhood.

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.

It cooks in just 30 minutes.

Unwrapping one is the perfect treat.

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.

Mashed potatoes are a must.

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.

At every I-10 or I-49 gas station in Louisiana, you’ll find boudin laid out on roller grills and in display cases. They’re as easily accessible as Slim Jims, and for good reason: Boudin is Louisiana’s version of a snacking sausage that stuffs an entire meal into a single casing. There’s tender boiled pork, chicken liver, fluffy rice, diced veggies, and Cajun aromatics.

It doesn’t get any cozier than this.

No muss or fuss.

Y’all are gonna love these.

Once you try this version of adobo, you’ll be a believer.

The broth is liquid gold.

Hot dogs and french fries are the perfect match.

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

Paprika is the star.

The best sheet pan dinner ever.

If you struggle to get your guests out of the kitchen while you’re focusing on the roast turkey and Thanksgiving stuffing and are desperate for no distractions, I suggest you casually place a platter of these deviled eggs in the room you’d like your family and friends to gather in. I guarantee they’ll be like bees to honey, fleeing your workspace and helping you to not freak out in the eleventh hour.

Wait for the praise.

All the fall feels.

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.

Just wait until you taste that jus.

If you’re buying a big bone-in ham for the holidays this year, consider this your friendly reminder that you’ll be left with a tasty ingredient after all the meat’s been picked off: The ham bone. So, whatever you do, don’t toss it in the compost bin or trash. Ham bones are packed with so much rich, smoky flavor. Don’t have time to put the ham bone to use right away? No problem, just freeze the bone, as you would any other meat bones and food scraps.

One is never enough.

A new way to enjoy hot dogs.

Always one of the first to disappear.

Pickles make it perfect.

Stuffing isn’t just for the holidays.

All the same flavors with less of the fuss.

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Any time there’s an occasion for appetizers, be it game day, New Year’s Eve, a backyard cookout, or a fancy cocktail party, my husband’s go-to is pigs in a blanket. And last year, after years of simply buying a box from the freezer aisle, I decided to try my hand at making them myself. So, I grabbed a can of crescent roll dough (hello, buttery, flaky goodness!) and a package of mini cocktail sausages and got to work. And you know what I learned?

Everyone needs a back-pocket dinner like this.

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.

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.