Vegetarian

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.

Linzer cookies might look like another pretty sandwich cookie, but these sweet-tart cookies have a rich, tender crumb, thanks to a nearly invisible ingredient. Almonds turned into almond flour make an everyday sugar cookie dough a tender, melt-in-your-mouth treat, fragrant with the warm notes of toasted nuts. Two cookies serve as the bookends to the sweet and sticky jam of your choice to transform into a holiday cookie made for customization. Here’s how to make them.

It's such an easy way to please a crowd.

It cooks in just 30 minutes.

Look to the people who survive winters with only a few hours of sunlight each day for the coziest and most heart-warming holiday drinks. The answer, according to Germans, Swedes, Norwegians, Finns, and Danes? Mulled wine. Here is a basic recipe that will make glühwein like you would get at a German Christmas market. In fact, many commercial Christmas markets simply reheat a pre-sweetened and pre-spiced mix, so this will likely taste even better. It’s the perfect cozy drink for winter.

I’m an “instant gratification” kind of baker. Any baked good that’s deemed a “project” (with the exception of pumpkin cinnamon rolls, of course!) isn’t really my speed. Give me sweets that I can mix together quickly and easily, pop in the oven, and snack on in half an hour and I’m sold. Enter: 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies. Not only are these the absolute easiest, but they’re my favorite soft and chewy peanut butter cookies too.

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 am very worried, friends. Worried that the fear of pie crusts may be keeping a great many of you from making your own pies at home. Is this true? Does this sound like you? Do debates over butter vs. shortening or tender vs. flaky make you want to run and hide? Well, take a deep breath and grab your notebook — today we’re going to go over how to make a pie from start to finish, one step at a time. Here’s your first lesson: Homemade pies do not have to be perfect. Really.

A little olive oil, a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper, some alone time in the oven — this is all that’s between you and a cozy dish of roasted acorn squash this evening. Here is a step-by-step recipe and guide to help you cook perfect acorn squash every time. It’s the perfect fall side dish. This simple side dish pairs well with almost everything for dinner, from roast chicken and pot roast to creamy risotto. It’s great for meal prep.

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.

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

Dinner party plans stressing you out? Puff pastry cheese straws are here for you. These crispy, flaky, cheesy twists require just two ingredients and a few minutes of your time, and yet they deliver big — real big — out on the buffet table. Make puff pastry cheese straws for your next holiday party or serve them with cocktails for happy hour at home.These cheese straws are really an equal-opportunity appetizer. They go just as well with a glass of wine or a pint of beer.

So good I eat them straight from the pan.

It’s sweet and salty.

They're not the same as gratin.

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.

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.

Pumpkin cheesecake has become a fall and winter dessert classic for good reason. The lively, familiar spices of classic pumpkin pie are balanced by the cool and creamy goodness of a New York-style cheesecake. The combination makes each bite memorably delicious and worthy of any celebration — especially Thanksgiving. Even if you have never made a cheesecake or pumpkin pie before, this is a dessert that is within your reach.

It's the flexible soup of your dreams.

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

This easy vegan number won't wilt like more fragile salads.

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.

You don't even have to boil water.

Just wait until you see how easy it is.

Among the recipes that friends and family ask about most frequently – including how to make a proper pot of rice, how to boil eggs perfectly, or how to cook perfect chicken breast every time – how to make a decent pot of oatmeal is always up there on the list. It seems that every home cook is chasing that elusive ideal pot of oatmeal: thick but not mushy, and fluffy but not chewy.

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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).

Ah, pumpkin pie. It’s a recipe filled with nostalgia, a creamy combination of sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and custardy filling, baked in a homemade pie crust and topped with a dollop of whipped cream. Thanksgiving isn’t the same without it.

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.

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?

There's more to it than you think.

Bonus: It’s so easy.

Baked brie in puff pastry takes “rich and luxurious” to a whole new level. Add a few friends and some good tunes playing in the background, and you’ve got yourself a bonafide party situation. When I make this appetizer as part of a big holiday gathering or for a cocktail party with lots of other nibbles, I often like to bake it in a pie plate instead of on a baking sheet.

Apple crisp is the lazy baker’s best friend. It delivers all the flavor and satisfaction of apple pie, but in half the amount of time. Tender, lightly sweetened, warmly spiced apples get dressed up with a sprinkle of buttery old-fashioned oats that crack under the pressure of a spoon. It’s truly the only crisp recipe you need for fall. Apple crisp requires just a few basic ingredients, an abundance of apples, and a warm oven.

Just add garlic bread.

It's even great for beginners.

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.

Bonus: There’s only 5 minutes of prep.

Good bread is a must.

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.

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 simple side you’ll turn to again and again.

No other recipe compares.

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.

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.

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.

Yee-haw!

The secret ingredient comes from the freezer.

It tastes like childhood.

You don't even have to peel it!

Like the boxed stuff, but so much better.

Creamy, dreamy, fluffy hummus is 10 minutes away.

Mom knows best.

You'll want to sprinkle it over everything.

The secret’s in the sauce.