Weeknight Meals

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. 

This dish of saucy, seared paneer channels the flavors traditionally found in matar paneer—coriander, cumin, chile, and ginger—into a quick-cooking cherry tomato sauce that's packed with bright spring-y sugar snap peas. If you can’t find paneer, give this a try with another sturdy non-melty cheese like Halloumi or queso fresco. Or think of it as a simple sauce you can serve over any protein, like a crispy-skinned salmon fillet, seared shell-on shrimp, sliced feta, or even just a bed of salted yogurt. 

In this 30-minute dish, which is inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe in his 2011 book Plenty, black pepper is the star, not the sidekick: When bloomed in oil, the coarsely ground peppercorns become piquant and fragrant enough to flavor the entire sauce, no red pepper flakes, dried chiles, or hot sauce needed. Take care not to burn the peppercorns as you toast them or the flavor could swing from spicy to bitter.

This vegetarian Thai curry comes together in about 30 minutes—and you don't need store-bought curry paste to make it. Our streamlined version is fresh-tasting and easy to throw together—just blitz cilantro stems (the most flavorful part of the herb!), ginger, garlic, shallots, and green chiles in a food processor or blender.

Swapping traditional ingredients like guanciale and pancetta for vegetable-based umami bombs (hello, garlic and smoked paprika) isn’t the only thing to consider when making a vegetarian carbonara. Many hard cheeses (including Parmigiano-Reggiano) use animal rennet, so if you want to seek an alternative, ask your cheesemonger.

This one-skillet recipe is fast and furious—ideal for those nights when you have 10 minutes to stand at the stove, tops. The cooking technique is in the tradition of Chinese stir-fry, in which proteins and vegetables are chopped small so that they cook quickly over high heat, then bound together with a cornstarch-thickened sauce.

This style of chopped salad is a staple of Hmong potlucks. This recipe, from chef Yia Vang, is packed with crunchy vegetables and tossed with a creamy-umami dressing.

The fun and flavor of Cuban-style slow-cooked pork in zippy mojo sauce transformed into quick, weeknight-able meatballs. 

Hot-and-sour soup inspired this highly nontraditional springtime version. Miso gives just enough body so that you won't need cornstarch to thicken it, and you can use silken tofu or thinly sliced yuba instead of egg for that same silky effect.

Sardines are in their full glory in this umami-packed twist on Caesar.

This salad puts all the best textures on a spoon: crisp, raw broccoli; chewy, sticky dates; and crunchy toasted pistachios. The ras-el-hanout, a Moroccan spice blend featuring aromatic and warm spices, adds a smoky depth to the bright citrusy dressing, which soaks into the broccoli as it sits. Don’t have ras-el-hanout? Garam masala, baharat, or curry powder will also work. And if you’re a meal prepper, this is a great make-ahead salad—it only gets better with a little time.

It’s okay to use frozen peas! We’ll never tell. We love ‘em.

The name says it all. Shrimp with a garlicky, pungent, buttery sauce.

Blistered yet snappy asparagus and crispy pork in a robust sauce.

We took loose inspiration from Hainanese chicken rice to create this weeknight-friendly dish.

A weeknight pasta that utilizes simple pantry ingredients in a luxurious way. 

Pan-seared cod gets plenty of texture and flavor from ginger, caramelized scallions, and lots of freshly ground black pepper.

This winter salad with peak season bitter greens, salami, and crispy chickpeas is hearty enough on its own, but not so over-the-top that you can’t also pair it with pasta for dinner.

Red split lentils cook even more quickly than other types, making them ideal for weeknight dinners. Turn them into a meal by pairing with savory spiced greens.

This kale pesto inspired us to keep spreading the word that there is still no better or more delicious way to eat your greens.

Olives and superfast pickled onions balance out creamy-crispy potatoes and roast cod.

Crispy, creamy, chewy, bright, and about a dozen other wonderful (see?) adjectives apply to this easy dinner.

Even when roasted at a high temperature, cauliflower takes time to get properly charred and crispy around the edges. Don’t worry if it shrinks a lot—the flavor will be that much more concentrated.

Gluten-free meatballs are as easy as adding cooled cooked rice instead of bread to ground meat.