This dish of marinated, roasted paneer is inspired by the one served by the chef Chintan Pandya at Dhamaka in New York City, and is flavored intensely with ajwain, or carom seeds, and a paste of garlic and ginger. You could use the marinade on store-bought paneer, but fresh paneer is one of the simplest and most satisfying cheeses for a home cook to make, and doesn’t require any special ingredients. And unlike store-bought paneer, which is generally quite firm, a homemade version can be tender and delicate, and extremely creamy. Just be sure to stir the milk mixture very gently to keep the curds large and intact.

This recipe dresses up the humble acorn squash for a dinner that’s a hearty and comforting celebration of fall flavors. Feel free to tweak the recipe to use what you have on hand: Any leftover rice or cooked grains will work, along with spinach or other sturdy greens in place of the kale. Though this is not a recipe for rushed weeknights, the squash can be assembled completely in advance and finished in the oven just before serving. For best results, use medium squash, and remove the stem for easier cutting.

Know this about puff pastry: Letting it thaw overnight in the fridge is nonnegotiable. It’ll crack and become a huge mess if it’s still partially frozen. This slightest bit of planning is the key to flaky pot pie perfection. You can make the cooked chicken mixture up to three days ahead—transfer it to an airtight container and chill. When you’re ready to serve, assemble as instructed below, then slide the skillet into the oven to brown the crust and reheat the pot pie filling. We like to brush the top of the dough with cream for this recipe, not egg wash, for a golden brown crust with a rustic sheen (and because it saves us from using an extra ingredient). Cooking the pie on a tray makes it easier to slide into the oven and catches any drippings. If your oven runs hot and the crust starts to singe, very loosely cover it with foil for the last few minutes.

Today I’m here with another uber cozy meal that’s sure to have you scooping seconds onto your plate. From the loaded creamy filling to the flaky, buttermilk biscuits, this chicken pot pie is mouth-watering in every bite. Guests rave about it, kids look forward to it, and you are guaranteed to love this ultimate comfort food. One of the great parts about this dish is that it freezes well, so it’s awesome for enjoying half now and using the second half as a quick and easy meal down the road.

A Korean dish of marinated meat, colorful vegetables and runny eggs arranged over a bed of fluffy rice, bibimbap is an edible work of art. The banchan, or side dishes, that are piled on top can vary, but this version includes tender beef bulgogi, meaty shiitake mushrooms, crisp bean sprouts, tender spinach, crunchy carrots and cool cucumbers. A spicy-sweet gochujang sauce is drizzled over the top, then everything is mixed together (bibim means “to mix” and bap means “rice” in Korean), breaking open the egg yolk to lend a rich creaminess to the dish. Be sure to scrape up the crunchy grains from the bottom of the pan, and serve with a side of kimchi, if you’d like, for even more texture.

Your typical sheet-pan chicken recipe roasts everything together on a pan at once. This version pairs potatoes with the poultry, and tops everything off with fresh herbs and arugula, making it a true one-pan meal, salad included. A savory yogurt sauce adds a creamy touch, but it’s optional if you’re not a yogurt sauce fan. Feel free to double the recipe if you’re feeding a crowd, though make sure to use two sheet pans so that everything is spread out in one layer, which is critical for browning.

Unlike many restaurant preparations, this method doesn't overwhelm the chicken with sauce and cheese. The key to great non-soggy chicken Parmesan? Don't put any sauce under the chicken cutlets, just a little bit of sauce on top, so the breading stays relatively crisp. If you like a lot of sauce on your chicken Parmesan, that's fine, you can always serve extra sauce on the side. I also use some actual Parmesan cheese in this recipe! Curiously, most versions of chicken Parmesan only use mozzarella. Here, I'm going with a delicious mixture of fresh mozzarella, tangy Provolone and real Parmesan. Another little trick I employ here is to add some grated Parmesan to the breadcrumbs, which adds another layer of flavor. You'll fry the breadcrumb and Parmesan crusted chicken breasts just to golden brown before transferring them to a baking pan and adding sauce (but not too much!), cheese, and herbs.

This luxurious, fan favorite Red Lentil Curry will get you truly excited about lentils! It’s an ultra-creamy and gourmet Indian-inspired meal made in one pot with pantry staples. Whip it up on a weeknight in 45 minutes!

Chicken piccata is an Italian-American staple beloved for its piquant flavors cradled in a silky, butter-rich pan sauce. It also doesn’t hurt that it cooks up very quickly. This version is mostly traditional except that it uses lemon two ways, calling for lemon slices to be caramelized (to soften their tang) and for a hit of fresh juice at the end (to brighten the whole dish). This ensures a sauce that's neither too rich, nor too puckery. Serve with a starch — pasta, polenta, rice or white beans — for sopping up the sauce, and a green vegetable, such as a kale salad, broccoli or green beans.

A layer of crunchy, golden rice at the bottom of a pan is revered across many cultures, be it a Persian tahdig, Korean nurungji or Spanish socarrat, and you can get a similar result by baking oiled rice at high heat on a sheet pan. Here, bone-in chicken legs are coated in a mix of turmeric, ginger and garlic and nestled into a pan of scallion-flecked short-grain rice. As it all roasts, the spiced chicken fat seasons the rice, which turns especially crisp where it meets the edges and bottom of the pan while staying soft and chewy on top. Dabbed with more turmeric-ginger mixture at the end, it’s a richly flavored and textured chicken and rice dish all made in one pan.

For a brighter winter braise, we’ve turned to floral, sweet-tart oranges and zippy, tannic orange wine. The result: falling-off-the-bone tender chicken and a spoon-coating sauce that keeps you going back for bite after bite. The duo offers a just-right balance of acid and sugar and a hit of fermented complexity that mellows out in the sauce while giving it structure. Orange wine, simply put, is made from white grapes that have been fermented with their skins (like red wine). The result is a complex drink with deep flavor. It’s a broad category, and flavors can range drastically from bottle to bottle. For this recipe we recommend something dry to balance out the citrus. Taste before using: If your bottle skews sweet, you can still use it; just omit the sugar from the recipe.

Adding crème fraîche and fancy mushrooms to a pan full of wine-braised chicken makes it ultrarich and extra special. This recipe is perfect for a festive dinner when you’re looking for a chicken dish that’s a little more dressed up than your average weeknight meal, but it isn’t overly difficult. Make it a day or two in advance, and, like all braises, it gets even better with time.

Cheese buldak is a Korean dish that is incredibly easy to prepare: a marinade of red-pepper paste and red-pepper flakes that becomes a fiery sauce for braised chicken, which is then served beneath a cloak of broiler-melted mozzarella. A child could do it, or an adult who often acts like one. Mine is an adaptation of a recipe that owes its deepest debt to Emily Kim, the Korean web star known as Maangchi, whose video for cheese buldak has been viewed on YouTube more than seven million times. (Omit the rice cakes if you can’t find them easily!) Thanks to subtitling by her fans, the video can be read in 24 languages: www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9uI1-6Ac6A

This pantry-powered dish brings together the decadence of creamed spinach with the comfort of baked eggs. Big flavor with little effort, this recipe requires no chopping and just a handful of staple ingredients: Frozen spinach is combined with cream cheese and garlic powder to create a wonderfully aromatic and silky base for the eggs to nestle and steam within. Covering the eggs while they cook will give you irresistibly soft whites and gooey yolks. If you’d like a little spice, finish with some red-pepper flakes or chile oil.

Mexican Tortilla Casserole is a casserole dish that is incredibly easy to make, and delicious, too! Smart School House shares this simple recipe you can make with beef or chicken, enchilada sauce, spices, cheese, and crispy tortilla chips. Top it with sour cream and avocados for a meal idea the whole family will love. It’s so quick and easy to throw together that it is perfect for busy nights. You’ll want to make it over and over and again!

The addition of potatoes and carrots makes this corned beef and cabbage recipe not only great on St. Patrick’s Day but a satisfying meal any day. Cure beef brisket in a salty, spiced brine and it becomes savory, tangy and aromatic corned beef. Get a corned beef made from flat-cut brisket, if you can, as it will be easier to slice into neat, uniform slabs. (The point cut has more striations of fat and may fall apart when sliced.) Braise the meat until tender, and add the vegetables toward the end of the braising time so they’ll absorb the beef juices and soften until perfectly crisp-tender. Finish the beef with a simple honey-mustard glaze and a quick broil to caramelize, then serve it with more Dijon mustard and beer. (Here are slow cooker and pressure cooker versions of the recipe.)

Bibimbap, the Korean mixed rice dish, is a kaleidoscope of flavors and textures. The popular dish has multiple origin stories and, like banchan and kimchi, many variations. Cooks who ordinarily keep namul (seasoned vegetable) banchan in the fridge may add them to a bowl with leftover rice and seasonings like spicy-sweet gochujang and nutty sesame oil, for example. Or, if starting their bibimbap from scratch, some may prep each component separately. But here’s a fun way to accomplish everything at once: Roast a melange of bits and bobs on one sheet pan as rice heats and eggs oven-fry on another. The caramelized sweet potato and salty kale in this formula come highly recommended, but you can use any vegetables on hand, reducing cook times for delicate options such as spinach, scallions or asparagus.

Cookbook author and TV host of Girl Meets Farm, Molly Yeh always thought turkey burgers were terrible—until she developed a version for her cookbook Home Is Where the Eggs Are. Her solution: Add meatball-style ingredients to the mix, incorporating onion for extra moisture and breadcrumbs and egg for added structure that holds on to more juiciness. Falafel herbs and spices amp up the flavor. The patties are browned in a skillet for ease and turn supremely crispy.

The universal appeal of shrimp scampi, frankly, isn’t the shrimp but the pan sauce: garlicky butter lightened with white wine and bursts of lemon, parsley and red-pepper flakes. Scampi is often tossed with pasta or served with crusty bread, but this version instead uses quick-cooking orzo. It simmers directly in the pan sauce, imparting a starchy gloss — and soaking up the garlicky scampi flavors. Toss the shrimp with some garlic, lemon zest and red-pepper flakes to marinate while the pasta gets a head start on the stove, then simply toss the shrimp on top of the orzo to steam. It all comes together in a flash, and feels effortless. Pair this dish with Caesar salad, steamed broccoli or arugula, or bask in its simple comfort, straight from a spoon.

This chicken with moutarde, or Dijon mustard, is a fantastically easy and delicious dish made with onions, white wine, and heavy cream. Your family will feel like they've had a meal made by an impressive French-inspired chef. Serve with rice, pasta, or crunchy French baguettes.

"Part of what makes this cook so quickly is that our meat is nice and thin," says Nicole. If you're starting with whole breasts, simply slice the larger end into halves and keep the smaller portion uncut. Pounding the meat with a mallet helps to keep things even. Place plastic wrap over the chicken to avoid tearing and strike until all of the pieces are evenly thin. No mallet on hand? A small skillet or rolling pin works just as well. Test if your chicken is done by gently pressing down on the breast with your finger. "If it's firm, it's likely done,” according to Nicole.

This pasta captures the essence of basil, without pesto’s garlic, nuts and salty cheese tussling for attention. It smells like a sun-warmed basil plant, one of summer's greatest moments. To make it, simply blanch basil leaves to lock in their color, then blitz them with butter. As the bright-green basil butter melts onto hot pasta, it carries the sweet pepperiness (and the smell, too!) of the herb into every nook and cranny.

Sushi bake is essentially a California roll casserole in which the main ingredients of the popular sushi roll are layered, then baked for an easy comfort dish. This recipe uses imitation crab, but feel free to use real crab meat, or equal amounts cooked or canned tuna or salmon. Furikake, the Japanese seasoning mix, flavors the rice, while Kewpie mayo and cream cheese bind and add richness. (Both furikake and Kewpie mayo can be found at Asian supermarkets and online.) A final drizzle of sriracha mayo brings it all to life. Once baked, everyone can assemble their own atop seaweed squares with a variety of toppings. Don’t forget a side of tamagoyaki, and sweet and savory unagi, or eel, sauce for drizzling.

This vibrant eggplant dish relies heavily on simple pantry staples, but gets its complex flavor from the clever use of garlic: First, you make garlic chips, then you fry eggplant in the remaining garlic-infused oil. Since garlic chips can burn easily, the key here is to combine the garlic and oil in an unheated pan for even cooking. As the oil heats up, the garlic will sizzle rapidly as the moisture cooks off. When it slows down, the garlic slices should be crisp. Be sure to remove the chips just as they begin to turn golden, as they will continue to cook after being removed from the oil. The rest is easy: Sauté the eggplant, create a quick soy sauce glaze, sprinkle with herbs and garlic chips, and serve.

A mild white fish like cod practically begs to be dressed in big, bold flavors, which this lemon-chile sauce definitely delivers. Sizzling chickpeas, garlic, and whole lemon slices in olive oil with Aleppo-style pepper and smoked paprika creates a puckery, smoky, earthy base; adding a pat of butter and a slow stream of water builds it into an emulsified sauce. Start with about ⅓ cup water and keep adding as needed, stirring the mixture to combine, until you reach a drizzly consistency that will spill over the fish and pool on your plate.

This recipe transforms the sushi-restaurant specialty of spicy tuna crispy rice — raw spicy tuna balanced atop bricks of seared rice — into a straightforward, pantry-friendly, any-night meal. Instead of portioning and frying rice, you can cook seasoned rice in a skillet until it crisps, then scoop it onto plates. The tuna stays spicy and creamy, but this recipe calls for humble canned tuna instead of raw. Sliced cucumbers add freshness, but feel free to embellish further with sprouts, avocado, nori sheets or jalapeño slices.

In this simple weeknight recipe, chicken thighs and drumsticks are seasoned with garlic, herbs and red-pepper flakes, and roasted alongside tender chunks of zucchini that caramelize in the oven’s heat. Torn basil leaves and a squeeze of lemon give the dish sharp and tangy notes just before serving, while the optional coriander seeds tossed into the pan lend depth. This recipe comfortably serves two to three, but if you're feeding more people, feel free to double the ingredients. Divide the ingredients between two sheet-pans, and bear in mind that you might need to add a few minutes to the cooking time. Add some crusty bread or rice to soak up the savory juices, and you’ve got a summery meal that’s fresh, full of flavor and an absolute snap to make.

The chef Peter Serpico learned how to make hobak jeon, battered and fried slices of zucchini, by watching his mother-in-law cook. After her granddaughter was born, she would often trek from Queens, N.Y., armed with groceries and Korean recipes, to Mr. Serpico’s Philadelphia apartment. This recipe is inspired by her simple yet satisfying jeon and appears in “Learning Korean,” a cookbook chronicling Mr. Serpico’s journey with Korean food as an adoptee. There is one twist in his recipe: He adds a fish sauce to the batter, which gives the zucchini a salty depth.

Part stew, part braise, these chicken thighs become fall-apart tender in under an hour without the aid of any fancy appliances. Simmered in a tangy broth made from tomatillos and garlic, the sauce becomes delightfully thick and chicken-y, perfect for garnishing with lime, radishes and plenty of cilantro. It's terrific as is, served with tortillas for dipping, but a can of rinsed hominy, beans or cooked rice adds some nice heft.

Crispy, golden chicken on the outside → tender and succulent on the inside → lightly simmered in a creamy sauce with so much flavour. The combination of your dreams! Chicken breasts tend to have a bad reputation for being too dry, chalky or hard to swallow. However, this recipe yields perfectly juicy breasts lightly floured and pan fried.

This old fashioned skillet meatloaf is perfect for your 10″ cast iron skillet. It’s such a simple and classic meatloaf recipe. My whole family loves it when I make this for dinner. It’s such a warm and satisfying comfort food.