Recipes

86 Unique Dinner Ideas to Cook Tonight

When you need an interesting dinner idea and you need it fast, we’ve got you.
Image may contain Food Sesame Seasoning Pasta and Spaghetti
Linda Xiao

These are our most popular, best-loved, and most interesting dinner recipes of all time—and we're coming up with even more as we speak.

  • Image may contain Food Egg and Roast
    Christina Holmes
    1/86

    Wedding Chicken

    “When I was getting married, I couldn’t think of a caterer I wanted to use,” says chef Naomi Pomeroy, Expatriate, Portland, OR, “and I didn’t want to ask my staff.” Her solution? Cook for her guests herself. She went with super-simple chicken, powered by a throw-together marinade.

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  • Image may contain Food Dish Meal Platter and Plant
    Alex Lau
    2/86

    Olive Oil–Confit Chicken With Cipolline Onions

    What happens when you cook with a lot of oil? Magic. Because oil conducts heat much more efficiently than air, foods that are confited in it, like these chicken thighs, come out incredibly moist and infused with the oil’s flavor.

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  • This image may contain Food Dish Meal and Pasta
    Alex Lau
    5/86

    Rigatoni with Sausage, Beans, and Greens

    Our favorite and best method of making pasta—the same one the pros use in restaurants—is one in which the pasta finishes cooking in a glossy sauce made by emulsifying cheese into the pasta cooking liquid. It’s so easy and good it might change your life (or if not your entire life, then definitely your weeknight pasta game).

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  • Image may contain Food Dish Meal Cutlery Fork Bowl Pasta Plant and Noodle
    Alex Lau
    6/86

    Orecchiette with Mushrooms, Leeks, and Almonds

    The almond oil in this recipe is so easy to make and also perfect for salad dressings.

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  • Image may contain Food Animal Seafood Sea Life and Lobster
    Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott
    7/86

    Broiled Salmon With Scallions and Sesame

    If you don’t want to invest in a sizzle platter, you can also make this recipe using a rimmed baking sheet.

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  • Image may contain Food and Burger
    Christopher Testani
    8/86

    The BA Patty Melt

    You may ask yourself, Does this sandwich really need mayonnaise? The answer is yes. A swipe of mayo, not butter, on the bread encourages that gorgeous exterior. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.

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  • Image may contain Plant Cutlery Spoon Food Produce Dish Meal and Vegetable
    Christopher Testani
    21/86

    Grilled Cobb Salad

    For a simple summer salad, grill vegetables of your choice and serve with a hearty grain, such as quinoa or farro. This version, created by editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport, goes great with a vinaigrette created by his wife, Simone Shubuck. Get the recipe here.

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  • Image may contain Dish Food Meal Animal Seafood Sea Life Lobster Stew and Plant
    Hirsheimer & Hamilton
    22/86

    Caramel Chicken

    Don’t be put off by the sugar in this recipe—it’s balanced by the vinegar and soy sauce.

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  • Image may contain Food Meal Roast Dish Flame Bonfire and Fire
    Nicole Franzen
    27/86

    Seared Mushrooms With Garlic and Thyme

    Our idea of magic mushrooms is crisp, golden (legal) substances with the power to lend a bass note of flavor to grain salads, turn a piece of ricotta toast into a meal, or stand alone as a savory side. 

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  • Image may contain Food Dish Meal Lunch and Platter
    Photo by Chelsie Craig, food styling by Anna Billingskog
    28/86

    Crispy Peppercorn Chicken Wings

    These super-flavorful, no-fry chicken wings turn out best when they’re seasoned ahead of time. You can do this as little as 1 hour in advance, but letting them hang out with salt and those spices overnight is a complete game changer.

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  • Image may contain Plant Food Produce Vegetable Lentil Bean Meal and Dish
    Hirsheimer & Hamilton
    33/86

    Pan-Roasted Chicken with Harissa Chickpeas

    Harissa is a great shortcut ingredient to flavor, but no two jars (or tubes) are the same. Taste first—if it seems very spicy, use a bit less. You can always stir more into the chickpeas when the dish is finished. Learn how to make this recipe and more in our online cooking class with Sur la Table.

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  • Image may contain Plant Food Vase Pottery and Jar
    Nicole Franzen
    34/86

    Bucatini with Walnut-Parsley Pesto

    That parsley in your fridge is lonely! Let it hang with chiles and walnuts for your next weeknight pasta. 

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  • Image may contain Food Dish Meal Platter Pottery Jar and Vase
    Hirshemier & Hamilton
    45/86

    Ginger-Garlic Tofu

    Chef Rene Ortiz of Sway in Austin, cooks a lot of tofu for his young vegetarian son. “He loves it,” says Ortiz, “and in order for all of us to eat it, it has to taste like something.” Ortiz’s solution: Let the porous tofu soak up the flavors of malty Chinese black vinegar and soy sauce.

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  • This image may contain Food Dish Meal Platter Plant and Lunch
    46/86

    Pounded Flank Steak with Zucchini Salsa

    A little meat-mallet action transforms this tough cut of beef into a quick-grilling all-star.

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  • Image may contain Food Dessert and Bowl
    Lennart Weibull
    47/86

    Wild Rice–Crusted Halibut

    Puffed and pulverized wild rice is the new breadcrumb, coating any meaty white fish you like in a nutty, crispy exterior.

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  • A pile of shrimp scampi on a platter with torn bread on the side for sopping.
    Laura Murray
    48/86

    Shrimp Scampi

    This shrimp scampi recipe gets an extra punch of garlicky flavor from a short marinade before cooking. Serve it with bread to sop up the rich pan sauce.

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  • Image may contain Animal Seafood Food Sea Life Lobster Dish Meal and Burger
    Alex Lau
    63/86

    Savory Dutch Baby

    Is there any time of day when a pancake isn’t welcome at the table? What about a Savory Dutch Baby that mixes up in seconds? Didn’t think so.

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  • Image may contain Cutlery Spoon Plant Food Produce Vegetable Bean Lentil and Burger
    Peden + Munk
    64/86

    Slow-Cooked Salmon, Chickpeas, and Greens

    Bobby Flay often uses terra-cotta dishes called for this recipe. These lightweight vessels, ubiquitous in Spain, can go from oven to table, and come in a full range of sizes.

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  • Image may contain Food and Pizza
    Laura Murray
    65/86

    White Skillet Pizza with Spring Greens and an Egg

    This recipe makes two white pizzas, but it can be easily halved.

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  • BA's Best Linguine and Clams recipe
    Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Kat Boystova
    66/86

    BA's Best Linguine and Clams

    Clams vary in brininess and the amount of liquid they’ll release during cooking, so you’ll need to adjust the salt and add pasta water accordingly. To prevent the sauce from getting too salty, we recommend a measured amount of salt for the pasta water. If possible, look for an artisanal dried pasta for this recipe—the rougher surface texture will catch the slippery sauce better.

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  • Image may contain Plant Food and Vegetable
    Christina Holmes
    77/86

    Crispy Salt-and-Vinegar Potatoes

    Cooking the potatoes in vinegar seasons them from within, and a final drizzle boosts the flavor.

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  • Image may contain Spaghetti Food Pasta Meal Noodle Dish Cutlery and Spoon
    Alex Lau
    78/86

    Pantry Pasta

    If you've got a can of tomatoes, a jar of spicy peperoncini, and a hunk of Parm in your fridge, you're halfway to a satisfying pasta dinner.

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  • Image may contain Plant Food Dish Meal Produce and Seasoning
    Photo by Alex Lau, Styling by Sue Li
    79/86

    Lamb Chops with Tomato Salad

    You want that lamb fat to render out gently; it’ll eventually become part of the sauce that will tie the whole dish together.

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  • Salmon Teriyaki recipe
    Photo by Chelsie Craig, food styling by Anna Billingskog
    80/86

    Salmon Teriyaki

    Stuck in a salmon rut? We got you. You'll never believe how easy it is to make your own sweet-salty teriyaki sauce at home, and there's no better application for it than this beyond-simple weeknight favorite.

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  • Image may contain Plant Food Dish Meal Produce Platter and Vegetable
    Alex Lau
    83/86

    Kabocha Squash and Pork Stir-Fry

    To cut up the kabocha squash for this recipe, slice ¼" off the stem end and base. Stand it on a cut end and halve from top to bottom. Scoop out seeds, peel, and you're home free.

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  • Image may contain Plant Bowl Food Vegetable and Produce
    Yossy Arefi
    84/86

    Oven Risotto with Kale Pesto

    This rice is so self-sufficient it doesn't need your constant attention, and it's happy to share the spotlight with a nutty green sauce.

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