40 Romantic Recipes to Make for Someone You Love (Including Yourself)

by Kristin Appenbrink

updated Jan 27, 2022

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London Broil (a beef dish made by broiling marinated beef, then cutting it across the grain into thin strips) sliced on a wooden cutting board with melted butter and herbs on top. — Credit: Laura Rege
London Broil with Garlicky Herb Butter

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and this year it’s all about cozying up with an extra-special dinner at home, whether it’s with your spouse, significant other, best friend, or just yourself. Cooking a romantic dinner doesn’t have to be an all day affair. We like to keep it simple and uncomplicated, but opt for something that feels a little more indulgent and luxurious than usual. Steak is a classic, but you also can’t go wrong with a bowl of creamy risotto, tender braised lamb shanks, roast chicken, or even a home-cooked pizza. Whatever you choose, just don’t forget dessert. Here are 40 romantic dinner ideas to inspire your Valentine’s Day menu.

Romantic Vegetarian Dinner Ideas

1 / 10

French Onion Galette

This rustic savory pie features an easy homemade crust and is filled to the brim with deeply caramelized onions and melty Gruyère cheese.

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2 / 10

Harissa Olive Oil-Braised Chickpeas and Fennel

This simple recipe transforms a couple of cans of chickpeas into a warm, saucy, and flavor-packed dinner.

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3 / 10

Garlicky Mushroom Bolognese

It’s everything you love about a classic, slow-cooked Bolognese — without the meat (and in a little less time, too).

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4 / 10

Stuffed Eggplant Parm

Everything you love about classic eggplant Parm, stuffed into a hollowed-out eggplant shell and topped with melted mozzarella.

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5 / 10

Tuscan Bread & Tomato Soup (Ribollita Soup)

If cozy comfort food is the way to your heart, consider this hearty meal a must.

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6 / 10

Onion and Mushroom Tart

This vegetarian tart has vinegar-roasted onions, mushrooms, and ricotta cheese, making it a great appetizer for a group, or a dinner for two when served with a side salad.

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7 / 10

Vegetable Pesto Puff Pastry Tart

Buttery, flaky puff pastry, herby pesto, and vegetables. There's a whole lot to love here.

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8 / 10

Truffled Potato & Goat Cheese Flatbread

The potato, goat cheese, and truffle oil topping is the perfect way to turn a simple flatbread into an elegant meal.

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9 / 10

Herbed Couscous & Goat Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes

The tomatoes in this dish release their tangy juices into the couscous salad. The olives provide a salty, umami hit, and the light sprinkle of panko crumbs over top adds texture to this dish.

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10 / 10

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

If you don't have sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers make a nice swap here.

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Romantic Chicken Dinner Ideas

1 / 9

Chicken Vesuvio

Braised chicken and bursting-with-flavor potatoes are the stars of this impossibly easy and delicious recipe.

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2 / 9

Tuscan Chicken Pasta

Bursting with flavor, this oh-so-creamy pasta dish is an easy weeknight meal.

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3 / 9

Zuni Roast Chicken

There may be a million ways to roast a chicken, but there is one in particular that truly stands head and shoulders above the rest: the Zuni chicken.

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4 / 9

Gnocchi Skillet with Chicken Sausage & Tomatoes

Gnocchi, blistered cherry tomatoes, chicken sausage, and a handful of basil — look, we’ve told you the whole ingredient list already.

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5 / 9

Weeknight Coq au Vin

This version of Coq au Vin takes a whole lot of the legwork out of the equation and transforms it into a weeknight dinner that couldn’t be easier to pull off

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6 / 9

Chicken Tagine with Apricots, Almonds & Chickpeas

The dish has so much going on—the fragrant and heavily-spiced sauce, the jammy apricots, the crunchy almonds—and yet it totally works. There’s good reason why this Moroccan dish is a classic.

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7 / 9

Roasted Lemon-Rosemary Chicken and Winter Green Stems

Throw your kale or collard green stems on a baking sheet or roasting pan, then top with bone-in chicken pieces that have been tossed with olive oil, rosemary, garlic, and lemon zest.

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8 / 9

Skillet Creamy French Mustard Chicken

A mix of shallots, white wine, and two kinds of mustard turn basic chicken thighs into a French-inspired dinner that's easy enough to pull off any night of the week and feels fancy.

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9 / 9

Creamy Chicken with Potatoes, Chorizo, and Leeks

We love the classic combination of chorizo and potatoes. But when paired with cream, wine, leeks, and chicken — now that's taking things to a whole new level.

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Romantic Seafood Dinner Ideas

1 / 9

Garlicky White Wine Spaghetti with Mussels and Clams

This dish boasts garlicky, buttery spaghetti and easy-to-cook clams and mussels, and though it looks and tastes luxurious, absolutely anyone can pull it off.

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2 / 9

Skillet Cod with Lemon and Capers

This recipe delivers on ease and flavor, serving up golden-brown fillets of cod with a buttery, briney pan sauce.

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3 / 9

Parmesan Risotto with Roasted Shrimp

Stirred meditatively, cooked slowly, with a glass of wine in one hand and the music turned up, this risotto is as enjoyable to make as it is to eat.

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4 / 9

Smoked Salmon Potato Cakes with Herb Crème Fraîche

In this recipe, smoked salmon slices flavor a soft potato cake that is dredged in panko and cooked until crisp, then drizzled with an herbed crème fraîche. Bacon who?

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5 / 9

Classic Steamed Mussels

Whether we're talking about a dinner party or a quick weeknight meal, it doesn't get much better than a giant bowl of steamed mussels.

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6 / 9

Grilled Oysters at Home

A quick shuck, a little dab of chili-butter, and a brief spell in the sauna of the grill. Smoky, tender, and a little spicy: they’re perfect every time.

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7 / 9

Shrimp Pasta with White Wine Sauce

Succulent shrimp and linguini are tossed with a super-quick tomato cream sauce — one that’s fragrant with aromatic garlic, shallots, and white wine.

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8 / 9

Artichoke Risotto with Seared Scallops

This recipe is the perfect blueprint for switching up the ingredients. Try swapping the artichokes with peas or the scallops with seared shrimp.

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9 / 9

Nobu's Miso-Marinated Black Cod

This cod recipe makes a very light yet filling meal that is elegant and looks like it took a lot of work, but it really doesn’t. The miso marinade adds a sweetness to the silky and buttery black cod.

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Other Easy Romantic Dinner Ideas

1 / 12

Steak au Poivre

Steak au poivre has become a bistro mainstay for good reason. Lean, mild-flavored filet mignon might appear to be center stage, but make no mistake: This dish is all about the peppercorns and Cognac cream pan sauce.

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2 / 12

London Broil

This steak dish is prepared by marinating and then broiling flank or top round.

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3 / 12

Sausage Ragù over Creamy Polenta

This ultra-comforting weeknight dinner skips the pasta in favor of a cheesy, creamy bowl of polenta as the base for a blanket of hearty sausage ragù.

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4 / 12

Slow-Cooked Boeuf Bourguignon

Boeuf bourguignon is so much more than just another beef stew. This classic French dish, made so popular by a certain Ms. Julia Child, is the kind of stew that moves you from one level of home cooking to the next

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5 / 12

Duck Breast with Pomegranate Citrus Glaze

Crispy duck breast brushed with a mix of intensely tangy pomegranate molasses, fresh citrus, and spices.

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6 / 12

Pork Chops in Port Wine Sauce

Warning: You’re going to want to drink this sauce. Instead, serve the pork over rice or quick-cooking polenta to soak up every last drop of the sauce.

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7 / 12

Veal Meatballs in Red Wine Sauce

A recipe for tender, velvety meatballs that are guaranteed to make whoever you cook them for feel extra special, yourself included.

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8 / 12

Prosciutto and Arugula Pizza

Topped with a layer of chewy, crisp-edged prosciutto and finished with a couple of handfuls of fresh, peppery arugula, this pizza comes together in a flash — no chopping or precooking necessary.

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9 / 12

Steak with Drunken Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions & Roasted Blue Cheese Potatoes

The lure of steak is simply irresistible. Add in beer-soaked mushrooms, caramelized onions, and some fingerling potatoes roasted with blue cheese, and you've got a real winner.

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10 / 12

Balsamic and Citrus-Braised Lamb Shanks with Whipped Parsnip Purée

The nutty-sweet aroma of the parsnips pairs perfectly with rich and meaty lamb shanks in this luxurious dinner for two.

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11 / 12

Caramelized Figs and Ravioli with Rosemary Brown Butter & Crispy Prosciutto

Caramelize some figs in brown butter, crisp up some prosciutto, and toss the pasta in the whole delicious mix and you’ve got something seriously fancy and impressive.

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12 / 12

Orecchiette with Caramelized Fennel and Spicy Sausage

The caramelized fennel lends a not-too-sweet complexity that balances the richness of sausage. These flavors pool in the wells of the orecchiette, so you get a tangle of all these in every bite.

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