One-Pot Meals

Creole seasoning is the key to adding a spice cabinet’s worth of flavor in just a few shakes in this one-pot dinner.

Grate your tofu on a box-grater (it works!) and the rest of this satisfying lunch bowl is only minutes away.

Green curry paste adds heat and lots of complex flavor to this 30-minute lentil soup.

This cream of broccoli soup (without the cream) gives the classic a run for its money.

This spicy and sweet, slightly nutty, and creamy stew is worth all the tending (and time) it requires over the stove.

To get the best texture, evenly distribute the rice in your pan and gently press down to flatten it. Don’t touch until you hear it crackle!

Tinned sardines add briney flavor (and protein!)—leave them whole or break them up and fold them into the soup.

The beloved Korean stir-fried chicken dish dakgalbi is spicy, sweet, aromatic, and comforting—and it comes together in a few easy steps and one pan.

Cabbage has emerged as the hero of weeknight pantry cooking. Inexpensive and infinitely versatile, with an impressively long shelf life, one head of cabbage goes a long way. In this recipe, half of a cabbage is bathed in a turmeric-accented coconut milk until it’s meltingly tender and sweet. 

This is a “necessity is the mother of invention” kind of recipe, born from isolation, scant ingredients, an oversupply of kimchi, and sheer hunger. Yet this unconventional one-pot approach also happens to be one of the simplest ways to prepare mac and cheese. 

The ideal weeknight meal from Maneet Chauhan’s new cookbook Chaat. 

This sour-salty soup was made for using up sweet, late-season tomatoes.

“Something about this year makes me feel like: Screw it. I want to eat leftover turkey the way I want to,” says Mister Jiu’s chef Brandon Jew.

Hetty McKinnon’s showstopping tater tot casserole is directly inspired by, and strikingly reminiscent of, tortilla española.

Make this on a Monday and show Garfield what’s up.

Lara Lee’s vegetable nasi goreng combines the beloved Indonesian fried rice dish with sambal matah and a citrusy relish fragrant with lemongrass, ginger, and makrut lime leaf.

Crunchy chicharrones are ideal for soaking up bright tomatillo salsa, taking on an ultimate crispy-gone-soggy chewy texture. 

The combination of corn, soy, and butter is as delicious as it is classic. As Hiroko Shimbo writes in her book Hiroko’s American Kitchen, corn and butter are a common pair in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, where both are produced. Here, the three come together along with pan-fried tofu, scallions, mirin, and sesame oil to make an ultra-flavorful, just-rich-enough vegetarian main. Serve it over rice, a chewy grain like farro or wheat berries, or arugula dressed with rice vinegar and more sesame oil. A crispy fried egg would also be welcome.

Salvadoran chicken braised in fizzy and tangy pineapple chicha from Anthony Salguero of Popoca in Oakland.

My grandma used to make a version of this dish using pork and showers of Parmesan. I have updated it to include ground chicken and miso for a lighter, late-summer dish with equally deep flavor,  but feel free to use whatever ground meat you prefer. Gently poaching the meatballs is not only faster than roasting, but means none of their flavor is lost to a baking sheet.

The key to stress-free stir-frying is all in the prep work. Be sure to chop, slice, and grate everything before even thinking about turning on the stove. Top this dish with fried eggs to put it over the top, but it’s also great without them.

This one-skillet dinner gets deep oniony flavor from lots of leeks cooked down to jammy tenderness.

Cod and other whitefish shine brightest when nestled into a rich bed of aromatics and steamed to tender flakiness.

Adding ginger and soy sauce to caramelized onions gives a bit of zingy punch and intrigue, creating a multidimensional meal that comes together in just one skillet.