Recipes

Chex mix is the ultimate DIY snack. It’s crunchy, just the right amount of salty, and stays good for several weeks, making it the perfect thing to keep on the counter for midday or pre-dinner nibbling. Plus, our version can be made with whatever cereal, toasted nuts, and crunchy snacks you’ve stocked up on.Many Chex mix recipes (including the original) have you simply melt some butter and pour it over the ingredients.

And it cooks in less than 15 minutes.

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.

I am a huge fan of chicken thighs, especially boneless, skinless chicken thighs because they’re inexpensive, tasty, and easy to cook. In fact, I find it difficult to mess them up. They are just dark enough to stay tender, but not so dark as to put off people who prefer white meat. Everyone who eats regularly at my house has eaten chicken thighs.In the summer I grill them every week, especially when I have a big table of people to feed.

My first attempt at making flan was a few months after becoming a newlywed. My husband was stationed at Fort Hood, we had recently moved away from family and friends, and I was hosting my first dinner party. Thinking back now I giggle at myself for thinking I could pull off the menu I had planned. Two appetizers, a specialty cocktail, a main course with salad, and flan. Let us just say my guests went home hungry and I was left devastated.

There’s really no arguing that it’s ugly. And kind of alien-looking. And yeah, even downright gross. But dang it, scobys make some delicious kombucha! If you want to save a few bucks on your ‘booch habit, there’s just no getting around it. You’re going to need a scoby.You can beg a scoby from a kombucha-brewing friend, or you can order a fresh one online. But there’s one more option: you can grow your own. Here’s how to do it.

Whether we’re talking about date night at home or a quick weeknight meal, it doesn’t get much better than a giant bowl of steamed mussels. This dish has the kind of easy elegance and immediate gratification that I look for in both cases. Today, I’m sharing my favorite, most basic method for quickly steaming a batch of mussels. It’s simple — just mussels steamed with broth and white wine — but oh so very good!

It's virtually foolproof.

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.

Oh, eggnog — you devilish seasonal treat, you. We love you in our morning lattes and we love you spiked with bourbon before going to bed. You make the most delicious French toast ever, and even our favorite cake is sending you love notes. Is there anything you can’t do? Truly? This holiday season, I say let’s skip the store-bought cartons and additive-laden jugs, and have our eggnog the old-fashioned way: with real eggs.

Plus it cooks all in one pot.

It’s not authentic, but it is delicious.

Irresistibly tender every time.

Tuna melts are overrated.

It’s filled with tons of veggies and fruits.

Use any noodles you have on hand.

One-pot pastas are an absolute magic trick. Cook pasta start to finish in just one pot? No straining? And oh, wait — all the other ingredients for a delicious, well-rounded weeknight dinner cook right in the pot with the pasta? Amazing!The family-friendly pasta technique deserves a spot in your meal plan. Here are 30 one-pot pasta recipes to keep you happy and well-fed.

Orange bags of Hawaiian rolls are the first thing that greet me at my local grocer, so it’s no surprise that sliders are one of my favorite dinner ideas. This week I’m serving a classic: ham and cheese sliders. These sliders have it all: sweet slices of ham, irresistibly gooey Swiss cheese, squishy Hawaiian rolls, and a savory butter drizzled over top. Here’s how to make them. They’re perfect for every occasion.

Good enough to eat by itself.

Skip the takeout!

Show me a platter of baked wings slathered in spicy Buffalo sauce and I can take ’em or leave ’em. But show me a platter of chicken wings blanketed with a double-dose of punchy garlic, plenty of salty Parmesan cheese, and some melted butter, and I’ll be first in line to pile them on my plate.Here’s how to make the best garlic Parmesan wings for your next game day.

And the sauce is super flavorful.

Those crispy bacon bits!

Bok choy is a favorite in my house — it’s one of the easiest ways to get a green veggie on the table quickly. If you’re not familiar with the vegetable, it can feel a little intimidating to cook, but it’s fairly straightforward once you tackle it once or twice.Bok choy can be cooked many ways, like other greens — steamed, simmered in soup, or sautéed. Here, it’s stir-fried for an easy side that goes well with any weeknight dinner.

Every year the impending arrival of the Super Bowl incites a parallel culinary sport: churning out new recipes for chicken wings, different versions of creamy dips, and other easy appetizers. February calls for seven-layer dip, nachos, and hot wings. It’s the one Sunday I dispense with the hummus and bask in the glory of bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers. (Or bacon-wrapped anything.

I make it every week.

Game-changing two-minute pita chip hack? I’m seated.

From Polish pierogi and Italian ravioli to Japanese gyoza and Korean mandu, dumplings are universal comfort food. Even though there are as many variations as there are eaters, the classic Chinese dumpling is filled with a ground pork and garlic chive base to which cabbage, scallions, and black mushrooms can be added.

It’s ready in 30 minutes.

Packed with flavor.

Lo mein is a popular Chinese-American dish for good reason — it’s got savory noodles, crisp veggies, and your choice of protein all packed into one weeknight-friendly dish. But with the help of a sauce that also doubles as a marinade for the chicken breast, you can make and dig into a big pile of noodle stir-fry in less than 30 minutes. That’s quicker than it takes for delivery to arrive! This recipe is also easily adaptable depending on your mood and what’s available.

Along with chicken thighs, a pack of ground turkey is one of the staples you will always find in my freezer. It’s more lean and mild than ground beef, but can be used in all the same ways for easy weeknight meals. From bolognese and burgers to meatloaf and one-skillet meals, here are 25 easy ground turkey recipes for the week ahead.

This should be in heavy rotation.

Spoiler: You don’t need a single packet.