“Weeknight” has become a (maybe even the) central pillar of recipe content online. It is that vast category of solutions for people who are cooking because they have to, in the all-too-imperfect circumstances that most of us find ourselves in from Monday through Friday. Namely, the lack of time, ingredients, knowledge, and will.
The proof is in the data: At Bon Appétit our weeknight recipes reliably outperform other categories, like projects, baking, and drinks. But the question of what exactly constitutes a weeknight recipe has always been up for review. It’s a highly subjective designation, and the qualifications have shifted during my time here.
Internally, we rely on a set of “rules” for weeknight recipes. The ingredients list shouldn’t be a mile long, ideally a dozen or under. You shouldn’t have to go to multiple grocery stores. Active time should be well under an hour. But all this it’s a moving target at best. So this week, I gathered four of my colleagues—deputy food editor Hana Asbrink, senior commerce editor Noah Kaufman, associate cooking editor Nina Moskowitz, and senior service editor Kelsey Youngman—to see if we could come up with a better definition.
Chris: Are we ready to talk about WT actual F is a weeknight recipe? Does anyone have an off the cuff definition?
Kelsey: I don't think this counts as a definition, but I have a…firm boundary? Which is no sub-recipes allowed
Chris: Oh Kelsey I like that- it is something easy to overlook. Say more!
Kelsey: I am really happy to spend more than 20, or 30 or 45 minutes on dinner but I will not be making three separate components that then need to be assembled and cooked again.
Nina: Okay but sauces don't count as a sub recipe right?
Kelsey: If they are uncooked, they're in! I will whisk a sauce or dressing. I will chop a salsa or side salad.
Chris: Yeah interesting- Kelsey- if we separated a sauce as its own standalone element, lets say in a dilly chimichurri for salmon, would you be annoyed? Is it a recipe formatting thing?
Kelsey: partially recipe formatting for sure. I see line breaks and subheads and I assume there will be more work. I’m more interested in optimizing great store-bought helpers and not wanting to feel like I've embarked on a project instead of feeding myself
Chris: And while we are here, what about other definitions of weeknight cooking? Like is it 10 ingredients or less? With freebies for cooking fat, salt and pepper?I feel like we make rules in media, then break them, then make new rules.
Hana: My personal benchmark for a weeknight recipe: If it can be prepared in the amount of time my Zojirushi cooks rice on the quick setting (approx. 30-45 mins), it's a 👍
Nina: Ooh i like that Hana.
Kelsey: Same!
Chris: Hana tell me more about what you actually cook on a weeknight because I think I actually have no idea?
Hana: That is a great Q - usually I set the rice cooker and figure it out as I go... a lot of salmon (that I can cut into fillets and quick-sear or keep whole on a sheet-pan)... a lot of ground beef seasoned with soy or other hard-working Asian ingredients... and then a stir-fry or blanch/seasoning of whatever is in the drawer. It's more of a formula ("journey"), less of a prescriptive end result ("destination").
Chris: Hana do you cook from recipes or just wing it? Does your family have strong opinions or do they know by now just to say thank you for whatever you make?
Hana: Listen, I bring home leftovers from our tastings and my family is happy (I think).
Noah: They'd never tell you if they weren't.
Hana: They eat what I give 'em! And no, I hardly ever cook from recipes. Those are for leisurely weekend meals. Weeknights are go-go-go!
Chris: Ok we will conference them in a moment Hana. And Kelsey there is a rumor you go to yoga. Every. Single. Day. After. Work. How do you accomplish this and feed yourself?
Kelsey: The rumors are true! And the answer is twofold: I make almost but not everything ahead. By which I mean 70% of my dinner is partially prepped and in the fridge, and 30% I make right before I eat so the food feels fresh. Chris, I make your loaded sweet potatoes a lot by roasting them at the beginning of the week, but preparing the lentils and citrus the night of, so my dinner is hot.
I want most of the work to be done but not all of it. Oh and the second part: I avoid "serve with" recipes like the plague and make tons of sheet pan or one pot meals that include everything like carbs, veggies, protein, so I don't have to pair or think about anything else (yes to tempeh larb cabbage wraps, no to just a protein marinade recipe).
Chris: Ah yeah- the difference between a "complete" meal vs. just an element that you need to find something to make it feel like dinner.
Hana: Oh Kelsey I love "serve with" recipes b/c I'll always have rice on hand! Basil chicken stir-fry and spicy salmon bowls are two things I can make while the rice cooks.
Chris: Kelsey, that is so- pragmatic! When I was cooking for myself I just made pasta every single night I think.
Kelsey: I...gasp....don't think I like pasta enough to eat it every night.
Chris: Doesn't...like....pasta...enough.
Kelsey: But also, it is important to me to keep my dinner interesting enough that I want to cook and eat it and not order take out or subsist on rice and beans topped with salsa. I think part of my motivation for getting dinner on the table is that I am interested in and inspired by what I am making.
Chris: Kelsey just tried Coke for the first time. Like, the soda. It was thrilling to be a part of the experience!
Noah: This is a whole other chat. I need to know where you lived that didn't provide you with Coke opportunities.
Chris: Noah I have a pin-board in the kitchen that diagrams what we think happened.
Chris: Noah what about you? What is the weeknight strategy- do you have any examples of recipes that work for your whole family?
Noah: I think Hana's zojirushi name-check here is the secret to a "serve with" situation.
So I know I am not the only person with kids in the chat here, and I wonder how other people handle the...needs that sometimes arise during cooking time. Like for me, the mark of a real weeknight friendly recipe has to be something I don't need to stand over for more than 10 minutes without being able to walk away.
Nina: I love a hands-off recipe, Noah!
Chris: Ah yes Noah- the question of "active" vs "inactive" time. Like is it better to be heads down in a skillet for 30 minutes straight, or throw something you prepped in 10 minutes into the oven and then walk away for an hour.
Noah: Ideally it's the latter, but that's a consequence of having a 4 and 7 year old who fight with each other more than sometimes. A good walkaway recipe I've used a lot is this orange tofu and broccoli one .
Chris: What about you Nina? What is the key that unlocks a Tuesday night for you?
Nina: Okay for me, I low-key host my friends a lot throughout the week. which may seem wild buttttt i have an open door policy. So when thinking about a weeknight recipe that works for me, I like to make one pot dishes.
Chris: Ok practical! Weeknight hosting but make it easy.
Nina: Make it as easy as possible!
Kelsey: Nina this is why we love you. an open door! the dream!
Chris: Tell me about what you make Nina! That is so ‘60s of you.
Nina: The other night I made Jesse's one pan salmon with burst tomatoes, you basically just dump everything in a cold pan, turn the heat on, walk away for 12 minutes and poof, dinner is served! Hands-off, and quick? A miracle.
Kelsey: You also love a Zojirushi rice cooker moment, right Nina?
Nina: Oh yes, I serve everything with rice. And yes that's technically another dish butttttt you can store your leftovers right in the rice cooker bowl with a lid.
Chris: I love Jesse’s butter-braised dumplings with tomatoes too! Part of what defines weeknight for me is, I need to have a high probability of having the ingredients on hand. Or they need to be ingredients that can last from the weekend when I shop, to a Weds/Thurs when I might use them. It makes fish really tough to serve, even though I love it.
Even shrimp are annoying since one kid won't eat them but I keep them in the freezer and they need to defrost. So I do a lot with ground chicken, vegetarian stuff, since it just holds better in the fridge until I am ready to cook it.
Noah: Chris, I do love when I'm making my grocery list for the week and I discover that the only thing I need to buy for a recipe is like, a single jalapeno or something. It makes me feel very well stocked.
Chris: Yeah exactly- I shopped when I got home this past Tuesday night after a day in NYC and we were eating at 8 and I was so annoyed I was basically non-verbal.
Hana: +1 if I can get to Wed/Thurs without a grocery stop, I've won for the week and we're ordering sushi next Also, Chris, non-verbal??
Chris: Hard to believe right but NON VERBAL. Just a rancid stinking mood.
Nina: Do y’all ever get a rotisserie chicken to help out?
Noah: It feels like such a cheat to me Nina. I just can't make myself do it
Chris: I would buy more rotisserie chicken if Whole Foods would make it better. Sorry I am sounding like a jerk but where is the frigging salt.
Nina: I do have a fancy Union Market near me that has a solid bird.
Chris: Maybe it is just my local Whole Foods. When we used to get them from Union Market in Bklyn they were a delight.
Nina: Yes!!!
Chris: Ha! yes! that soy garlic lacquer.
Kelsey: I will say a favorite weeknight indulgence of mine is grocery shopping. I love stopping into the store on my walk home from class and picking up one or two things. makes me more excited to cook. Alas, I have no kids at home wondering where dinner is!
Hana: You guys should also hit the H-Mart hot bar, it is fantastic, especially for end-of-week Thurs/Fri chicken.
Chris: Everyone's situation is so different and there are some parameters here that go way beyond # of ingredients and inform the choices we are all making.
Kelsey: My takeaway here is that everyone needs a rice cooker
Chris: Truly.
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