Family Dinner Recipes

From sheet-pan dinners with roasted squash and sausages to stovetop dishes like chicken and sweet potato stew, these weeknight meals are just right for autumn.

Invented in 1950s Taiwan by chef Peng Chang-Kuei, this crowd-pleasing fried chicken dish was adapted for American palates with a chile-spiked sweet-and-sour sauce and has since become a Chinese takeout classic.

Rely on rotisserie chicken, smoked spicy sausage, and frozen okra from the store to stack up flavors in our quick rendition of a classic Cajun stew.

In this quick and easy weeknight dinner, the famously punchy puttanesca sauce is poured over tender slices of precooked polenta and thin chicken cutlets. Topped with creamy mozzarella, the result is a hearty dinner with plenty of zippy sauce to keep every bite interesting.

Delicious and convenient, this baked-pasta dish is an irresistible all-in-one dinner.

This 20-minute shrimp pasta recipe is sure to become a favorite. All you need for the sauce is a flavorful and fragrant combination of butter, garlic, white wine, and lemon juice.

When barley is prepared risotto-style, it comes out just as creamy as the original but with lots more filling fiber. Here, we add handfuls of sliced Swiss chard and shiitake mushrooms for an extra boost of nutrients. And because healthy food can be delicious too, a little cheese for creaminess and diced tomatoes for brightness make this a well-rounded meal for fall and winter.

Less is more in this quick and easy weeknight dinner. It calls for just five main ingredients (penne, broccoli, garlic, lemon, and Parmesan) and requires minimal cleanup.

This cozy casserole is a super easy solution to the question of what's for dinner. The savory mixture of sautéed onions, ground beef, and mushrooms get some added bulk with a bag of frozen mixed vegetables and cheddar cheese. The hash brown topping is crisped up with help from the broiler. 

There's no raw fish in these easy sushi rolls—just succulent, perfectly cooked salmon and plenty of fresh vegetables. For our food editor's tips on how to roll like a pro, see How to Make Sushi at Home.

Not familiar with fricassee? It's a cross between a saute and a stew with a creamy pan sauce. Here, juicy pork tenderloin is teamed with mushrooms and canned artichokes, and everything is cooked in one pan.

Browning the ground turkey and aromatics on the "sauté" setting of the Instant Pot before simmering is essential for depth of flavor in this one-hour chili.

Flavorful bacon end strips are the secret weapon in this rich weeknight pasta.

Moo shu is a sweet and savory stir-fry typically made with pork and thinly sliced cabbage and vegetables. At the table, the mixture is then tucked into thin and chewy pancake wrappers. To make this at home (and make it weeknight-friendly), use storebought flour tortillas and pre-shredded coleslaw mix to save on time and prep work.

No cream here! A butter-and-flour roux is the secret to this lush, velvety tomato soup. Gild with fresh basil, cracked black pepper, and a drizzle of your best olive oil. Serve alongside our Test Kitchen's Favorite Grilled Cheese for the ultimate comforting meal.

A favorite side dish, caramelized brussels with bacon, becomes a hearty weeknight main.

A fragrant mixture of ginger and garlic does double duty in this anti-inflammatory dinner -- it amps up the lime dressing and flavors the roasted chicken breasts.

For a streamlined, stress-free meal, slide this shrimp scampi supper into the oven. Preheating the baking sheet gives the sliced potatoes a headstart to crispness, and the broiler steps in at the last minute to cook the garlicky shrimp. 

Our ultimate mac and cheese relies on three different kinds of cheese -- American, cheddar, and Parmesan. For easier grating, put the block of cheese in the freezer for five minutes first.

Many Italian-American families have their own riff on this homey chicken-and-sausage dish: Some add sweet peppers, others white wine. Flour dusted on the chicken thighs helps them brown; it forms a nice crust and also thickens the sauce at the end. Braised in a broth that is infused with rosemary, shallots, and pickled peppers (plus a splash of pickling brine for zip), the meats get super-tender—and the aroma is sublime.

The pan juices that are released from baking the scallops mix with creme fraiche and white wine to create a delicious garlicky sauce. Serve this gratin with crusty bread for dipping, or for a heartier dish, serve over thin spaghetti tossed in olive oil.

In this easy sheet-pan supper, sweet Italian sausages are teamed with wedges of cabbage and kabocha squash, then the whole thing is drizzled with a mustardy apple-cider vinaigrette. Because cabbage releases moisture when cooked, start with a preheated baking sheet for extra browning power.

This easy lasagna "bianca" is tomato-free, and full of zucchini—adding a welcome dose of vegetables to this updated take on the classic. 

This super-quick riff on an Italian comfort food takes the favorite familiar flavors of the soup pasta e fagioli and turns them into a cheesy pasta with escarole and chickpeas.