Weeknight-friendly mains that still taste like a treat.
Weeknight dinners and comfort food, built around clear timings and ingredients from a regular grocery store. Pasta lovers can start with creamy Tuscan pasta, one-pot creamy garlic pasta or lasagna with alfredo sauce. For chicken, there is naan bread with butter chicken, a chicken mushroom pot pie and a hot chicken sandwich. For cozy bowls, try potato soup with cream of mushroom, and if you like cooking from scratch, tomato sauce from tomato paste and a thin crust pizza base are useful building blocks. Every recipe includes storage and reheating notes.
Leftover lasagna gets a second life here: chilled squares get breaded and deep-fried until the outside turns crackling and golden while the inside stays molten and cheesy. It works as a starter, a party snack, or a way to make lasagna leftovers feel like a …
Seared chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, and wilted spinach come together in a garlic-parmesan cream sauce for this Tuscan pasta — the kind of dish that tastes like it took much longer than the 30 minutes it actually needs. Creamy Tuscan Pasta ★★★★★ Be the first to …
A real cheese sauce starts from a butter-and-flour roux here, finished under a layer of buttery panko for the crunchy top that separates baked macaroni and cheese from the stovetop version. Macaroni and Cheese with Bread Crumbs ★★★★★ Be the first to rate this recipe …
A rich, garlicky white sauce swaps in for the usual red tomato sauce here, layered with mozzarella, ricotta, and sautéed mushrooms and spinach. It’s a comforting, creamy take on lasagna that bakes up just as tall and satisfying as the classic version. Building the alfredo …
A rich, tomato-and-cream butter chicken meets soft, pillowy homemade naan here, built for scooping up every bit of sauce. Marinating the chicken in yogurt and spices overnight tenderizes it and builds flavor from the inside out, while the naan gets its char and bubble from …
Browned chicken, sautéed mushrooms, and a from-scratch creamy sauce layer together under a golden, flaky crust for this pot pie. Browning the chicken separately and building a quick roux for the filling are the two steps that take it from “fine” to genuinely good, and …
A can of condensed soup is the starting point, but sautéing onion, garlic, and fresh mushrooms first builds real flavor underneath the creamy base, and mashing part of the potatoes at the end gives this soup its classic thick, chunky texture. It comes together in …
Leftover bones — from a roasted chicken, or a bag of wings, backs, and necks from the butcher — turn into a rich, gelatinous broth in about two hours in the Instant Pot, instead of the better part of a day on the stove. Pressure …
Boneless chicken thighs fry here until deeply crisp, then get coated in a spicy honey-cayenne glaze inspired by Nashville hot chicken. Piled onto a soft bun with pickles and a swipe of mayo, it balances real heat with enough sweetness to keep it from being …
Out of canned tomatoes but still have a can of tomato paste in the pantry? This sauce is the fix for that exact night. Simmering the paste with garlic, water, and seasonings builds it into a rich, well-rounded pasta sauce in about 20 minutes. It’s …