Recipes

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

Pork shoulder is such a forgiving cut of meat. No matter how you cook it — low and slow, hot and fast, on the grill or in a Dutch oven — it comes out tender, rich and brawny, and able to take on the other flavors in the pot. Here, boneless chunks are gently braised with tomato, cinnamon and olives for a deeply flavored stew that feeds a crowd and can be cooked entirely in advance. It makes a good amount of savory, gently spiced sauce, so be sure to serve it with something to catch every drop, like polenta, noodles or rice.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

Instead of being covered in pastry, this baked Brie recipe lets the runny, tangy cheese take center stage, happily oozing into a baking dish along with a caramelized onion topping, which gives the whole thing French onion soup vibes. You can make the onions a few days ahead of time. Then just spread them onto a round of Brie or Camembert and pop it into the oven before serving with crostini or crackers. Like all melty cheese dishes, this is best served warm while the cheese is at its softest and most delightfully gooey.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

With their scalloped edges trimmed in yellow and green, slices of delicata squash make a particularly beautiful topping for this simple roasted vegetable tart. Using store-bought puff pastry makes it easy to put together, and the combination of hot honey, pistachios and Parmesan with the sweet, velvety squash is both sophisticated and crowd-pleasing. If you can’t get delicata squash, butternut, acorn or another variety will also work well. Serve this hot, warm or at room temperature, preferably within four hours of baking so the pastry stays buttery and crisp.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

Fancier than a tuna salad but no harder to make, tuna rillettes are a perfect party nosh. To make it, good-quality canned tuna (preferably oil packed for the best flavor) is mashed into butter and crème fraîche, then seasoned with herbs, lemon and either capers or horseradish for a sharp bite. Serve it with bread or crackers for a pescatarian pâté that’s easy, elegant and full of verve.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

This moist and nubby cornbread has a caramelized, rich flavor from browning the butter, a slight sweetness from a touch of honey and a fiery punch from jalapeño — either fresh or pickled. Using fresh chiles adds a bright, almost herbal note, while pickled jalapeños are tangier and more robust. Serve the cornbread warm from the pan and slathered with butter, or toasted until the edges turn golden and crisp.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

A sweet, soft mix of cabbage and leeks forms the base of this homey one-pot dish. Using vegetable broth instead of water as the liquid in the pot deepens the flavor, which is rounded out with salty, nutty Gruyère cheese and sour cream, and finished with smoked paprika and dill (or another fresh herb). You can use any short pasta here, just keep an eye on it so it doesn’t overcook; it should be just tender without being mushy.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

Like its viral cousin, lasagna soup, pasta pesto soup is based on a crowd-pleasing Italian classic. Use either homemade or store-bought pesto to imbue the broth with the pungent flavors of garlic and basil. Ground turkey adds a satisfying meatiness, while baby spinach turns this into a one-pot meal. And although the ricotta is optional, a dollop or two stirred into the bowl adds a lovely creaminess that rounds everything out.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

Three bean salads are usually the stuff of picnics and potlucks. But that same combination of canned beans and fresh green beans turns soft and silky when simmered into broth, rounded out with tomato paste for body and sweetness, ground coriander for a warm note and a sprinkling of Parmesan for depth. And just as in a classic three bean salad, a garnish of lightly pickled red onions adds acidity and crunch.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

This rich soup was inspired by the creamy, garlicky comfort of hummus, blending chickpeas, cumin and tahini into an easy, nutty-tasting soup that’s thick and satisfying. It's a natural fit, given that hummus has long found its way into soup (the Turkish Cypriot humus çorbası comes to mind). Here, a topping of crisp fried chickpeas and garlic slivers is salty-sweet and impossible to stop eating. Sprinkle it on the soup just before serving to preserve the delightful crunch.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

This has the flavors of shrimp fried rice, but with a texture that varies between crunchy and soft. Roasting the oiled rice makes the edges especially crisp, while the center grains stay plump and moist. If you want to substitute long-grain rice, watch it carefully; it browns (and can dry out) more quickly than short-grain.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

The citrusy, sweet and sour sauce in this sheet-pan recipe gets caramelized by the oven’s high heat, coating chicken thighs and cubed sweet potatoes with a delightfully sticky glaze. You can use any kind of marmalade here — orange, lemon, grapefruit — or use a mixed-peel marmalade for the most complex flavor. The combination of fish sauce, soy sauce and garlic lends pungent, salty flavors that round out the sweetness of the marmalade, while crushed red pepper adds heat.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

Quickly stirred together in one bowl without an electric mixer, these oat-filled cookies are easy to bake anytime you’re craving a treat. The secret to their chewy texture is to pull them from the oven as soon as the edges turn golden but while the centers are still very soft. They will firm up as they cool. But don’t worry if you overbake them slightly — they are just as good when crunchy. For the best flavor, use a thick marmalade with plenty of peel, in any variety you like. These cookies keep well for at least a week stored airtight at room temperature.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

These tender muffins are like mini, not-too-sweet carrot cakes, with a dollop of marmalade tucked into the center of each one. They’re adaptable too. Play around with the spices, the marmalade flavors, even the carrot is negotiable — shredded butternut squash or apple will work just as well. They’re best served a day or two after baking, but leftover muffins freeze well for up to 6 months.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

Traditional matzo contains only flour and water. But Hillary Sterling, the chef of Ci Siamo in New York City and author of the book “Ammazza!” (Scribner 2026), based her recipe on a Sardinian flatbread called pane carasau, which traditionally includes olive oil for richness and salt for flavor. The result is an airy, tender matzo that’s not hard to make at home. The key to rolling out the dough very thinly is to do so on an unfloured surface; you want the dough to grip a little so it can stretch (the oil in the dough will keep it from sticking). Note that these matzos are not kosher for Passover.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

On her Seder plate, Hillary Sterling, the chef of Ci Siamo in New York City and author of “Ammazza!” (Scribner 2026), sometimes uses roasted beets dressed in a harissa vinaigrette as a vegetarian alternative to the traditional lamb shank. Here, roasted carrots stand in for the beets. Coated in an orange-flavored dressing spiked with harissa and red wine vinegar, they make a tangy-sweet side dish next to a Passover brisket, roast chicken or any other main dish.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

Using cauliflower in a savory kugel is a nice, slightly lighter change from the usual potatoes. Adding both red onions and scallions give this a sweet and fresh flavor, while smoked paprika lends smokiness and depth. While this is perfect to serve at a Seder, it’s also great as a meatless main all year long.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

Chewy soft pretzels are easy to make at home, especially if you use purchased pizza dough (though making your own from scratch only takes a few extra minutes to do). The secret to getting the best shape is to roll the dough into long, thin ropes before twisting them into pretzels, then adjusting them after boiling if need be (just use your hands to smush the dough into shape). Boiling them in water seasoned with baking soda and molasses gives them their characteristic flavor, as does a sprinkling of pretzel (or other coarse) salt on top. Serve them warm or at room temperature, alone or dunked in the spiciest mustard you can take.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

These thick and buttery shortbread rounds are a riff on the ones sold by Walker’s Shortbread in Scotland. The main point of difference between Highlander shortbread and other varieties is the sparkly Demerara sugar that coats the edges, adding a distinctive sweet crunch. Using a small percentage of rice flour or cornstarch in the dough gives these an especially crumbly-soft texture while using all wheat flour makes them slightly snappier. Use what you have, relish the results.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

Not to be confused with a Latin American tamale, tamale pie is a comforting retro casserole made from ground beef chili that is topped with cornbread batter and then baked. This vegetarian version relies on vegetables and beans instead of meat. Fresh green chiles and onions are broiled until charred to deepen their flavor, then puréed with tomatoes to make a complex sauce for the beans. The cornbread topping — crisp at the surface, tender underneath — gets an optional handful of Cheddar folded into the mix for added verve. Serve this one-pot meal on its own or with a creamy dollop of sour cream or yogurt on the side.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

I always keep sausages on hand in the freezer. Quick to defrost, preseasoned and ready for your pan, they are a boon for those crazy, busy nights. In this recipe, I roast them with cumin-scented chickpeas, then shift to broiling so everything gets a little crisp at the edges. I love to throw some spinach in during the last minute of cooking so it can wilt into silky ribbons. The extra veg eliminates the need for a salad, turning this into a one-pan meal. Use whatever kind of sausage you like best — pork, chicken, turkey; spicy or mild. This easy, speedy meal is both endlessly adaptable and consistently satisfying.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

Roasting a cut-up chicken with bunches of asparagus and scallions makes for an easy, savory meal that doesn’t stint on vegetables. The key here is to pile the asparagus into a mound, next to the chicken, so everything fits on the same pan. The stalks on top get brown at the edges, while the ones underneath soften but stay bright green. A lemon-mustard sauce spiked with coriander and garlic brings everything together. If you’d rather, you can substitute 3 ½ pounds of your favorite bone-in chicken parts here for the whole, cut-up bird.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

Roasting rhubarb is an excellent way to cook the cut stalks. The steady heat helps the pieces keep their shape, softening them without causing them to fall apart. You can add sugar to taste, but keep in mind that rhubarb’s sweetness level varies widely. Forced rhubarb, typically available in winter and spring, has a rosier color and milder flavor, often needing less sugar. Traditional rhubarb, harvested in late spring and early summer, is sharper and may need a bit more. Serve roasted rhubarb doused in cream or spooned over ice cream or pound cake. It freezes well, too.

Melissa Clark · NYT Cooking

This is a simple, streamlined version of the classic cold noodle dish. A combination of crunchy peanut butter and sesame oil gives the dressing an earthy nuttiness, which contrasts with the heat of chile crisp and tanginess of lime juice. But the real draw is a sprinkling of chopped crystallized ginger, which adds sweet-spicy chewiness amid the noodles and cucumbers. You can make this a few days in advance: It holds up very well in the fridge. Just toss well before serving since the dressing tends to pool at the bottom of the container.

Hetty Lui McKinnon · NYT Cooking

The tender crumb and slight chew of this brownie sets it apart from others. Mochiko, or sweet rice flour, is made from a short-grain rice also known as “sticky” or “glutinous” rice, and gives baked goods a unique bounce and lightness. It works particularly well in this brownie, giving a fudgy texture that is delicate yet intensely rich. This brownie comes together effortlessly, requiring just one bowl and five ingredients. Best of all, it’s also naturally gluten free.