Root Vegetables

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.

You only need five ingredients.

There are many ways to cook carrots, but roasting them is hands-down my favorite method. It’s one of the best vegetable side dishes that pairs well with anything for dinner. Roasted carrots might seem simple, but when done right, they can rival just about any other vegetable side, be it Brussels sprouts or sweet potatoes. When it comes to glazed carrots, some recipes call for cooking them on the stovetop, but I opt for the oven so that the carrots can do their business while I do mine.

It wins the award for coziest side dish.

The chicken dinner you’ll keep coming back to.

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

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.

I like to think sweet potatoes eagerly await Thanksgiving every year, knowing it’s their time to shine. Whether it’s a tradition to bake them into a pie for dessert or turn them into a casserole with marshmallows as a side dish, sweet potatoes are a holiday classic. However, there are so many more ways to serve them than these fan-favorite dishes.

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.

Crispy outside + ultra-creamy inside = your new signature sweet potato.

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

So good I eat them straight from the pan.

Hot dogs and french fries are the perfect match.

They're not the same as gratin.

One bite and you’ll say “Yee-haw!”

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.

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.

You don't even have to boil water.

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).

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.

There's more to it than you think.

I could eat potatoes every day for the rest of my life. At their core these spuds are so humble, but with a little finesse, they suddenly blossom into a comforting side which turns out to the best thing on the plate (no offense to the main dish!) Mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, baked potatoes — sign me up as interested for all of the above.

A potato salad that isn’t “potato salad.”

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.

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.

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.

The sweet potato is arguably the most versatile veggie in the produce department. It can easily be the star of any meal, from pancakes for breakfast to the main event of dinner and can even do dessert. While baking sweet potatoes in the oven can take up to an hour, microwaving a sweet potato takes a mere five minutes. Here’s the very best way to do it, so that you can dig into your tender, steaming sweet potato ASAP. It’s lightning fast.

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.From here on out, creamy chicken soup from the slow cooker shall be known as change-your-life chicken soup. Try to imagine all the goodness of chicken soup — moist, tender chicken, bites of sweet carrot and peas — but wrapped in a creamy broth flecked with black pepper.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy skillet meal, add this weeknight-friendly recipe to your dinner rotation immediately. With crumbled Italian sausage and creamy potatoes at the helm, it’s rooted in hearty, wholesome comfort and balanced by a light, bright twist from a handful of fresh parsley and a generous squeeze of lemon. When it comes to serving this skillet up, know that it works just as well for breakfast as it does for dinner!

Of all the things I make in my Instant Pot, there’s nothing more convenient (or versatile!) than a batch of sweet potatoes. Topped with a pat of butter and flaky salt, Instant Pot sweet potatoes are a quick side dish to partner with whatever I’m cooking. They’re also incredibly versatile. Loaded with beans and greens, they make a wholesome vegetarian dinner. Filled with Greek yogurt or nut butter, and fruit, I have a nutritious breakfast.

Pronounced poh-taazh, potage is a fancy term for a thick and comforting soup cooked in a pot. Typically, it also infers that the soup is made of vegetables and is puréed until smooth. Like many French dishes, it originates from peasants and farmers who were using the ingredients they had available — in this case, any mix of vegetables. Potage is often enriched at the end with some kind of dairy.

So crunchy you can’t hear your own thoughts.

Save room for seconds.

It's probably in your pantry.

Fresh corn on the cob is one of my favorite summer vegetables. Fresh corn has a naturally sweet flavor that makes it a breeze to cook, and the irresistible sound of kernels popping when they’re cut off the cob is music to my ears. Southern-style fried corn is a deliciously simply recipe that excels in maintaining those kernels’ natural sweetness. Despite what it sounds like, fried corn is not deep-fried corn on the cob.

For years I skipped over radishes; they felt more like a garnish in green salads than a necessary component. Then I joined a CSA and was bombarded with radishes. I suddenly had to figure out what to do with them all, only to realize radishes have a whole lot of love to give. They’re crispy, peppery, and not only a colorful addition to so many dishes, but can also stand out all on their own.

When the sun is shining and you’re contemplating grilling outside, don’t forget that easy grilled sweet potatoes can be a delicious addition to the summer dinner plate. All you have to do is toss thick slices with some oil and salt, and after just 10 minutes on the grill they’ll be sweet and tender with a hint of smokiness from the flames. To up the ante, toss the still-warm grilled sweet potatoes in a sweet-and-spicy dressing. Heat the grill.

It’s shockingly simple.

You’ll never guess these aren’t fried.

They’re so versatile!

It's bursting with corn flavor.

They’re flavored from the inside out.

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.

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

You've never seen carrot cake like this before.

People can't stop raving about them.

We're not kidding when we say they taste like potato mac and cheese.

Everyone will ask you for the recipe.

This umami-packed, buttery glaze will make you love roasted tender carrots.

The perfect make-ahead meal.

If you’re a Thousand Island fan, it’s likely you’ll love this Russian dressing just as much, if not more. Both sauces have similar origins and start with that delicious combination of mayonnaise and ketchup or tomato-based chili sauce (such as Heinz Chili Sauce). It’s super easy to make and won’t take more than five minutes to prepare, but it’ll substantially increase the tastiness of whatever you’re slathering it on.

If you love creamy mashed potatoes, you’ll love colcannon, a traditional Irish dish. Keeping with tradition, we didn’t mess with the potatoes or cabbage, but swapped the plain melted butter that is typically served in a pool on top for fragrant browned butter. We just couldn’t help ourselves! The nutty browned butter is a wonderful warm contrast to the sharp green onions that get scattered before serving, giving this dish an easy, elegant twist.

There are a lot of ways to cook up a hearty, comforting pot of beef stew, but if you ask me, absolutely nothing compares to Guinness beef stew. It also happens to be my favorite dinner to cook for St. Patrick’s Day. In this version, thick chunks of chuck roast are seared and then simmered low and slow in a Guinness-spiked sauce on the stovetop.