One-Pot Meals

Who needs beef? When you combine chicken with shredded veggies and a tangy Greek yogurt sauce, you get a burger as thick and juicy as any other.

In this Thai-inspired stir-fry, a quick sear gives Spam a crispy yet melt-in-your-mouth texture, and a finishing drizzle of vinaigrette balances the salty rich ham with an herbaceous lift.

You can use ground turkey or chicken here, or swap in a vegetarian protein of your choice. 

The Instant Pot’s sauté function is key here: the chicken thighs get crispy and browned before they finish cooking in a briny, lemony, garlicky stock.

Using a vanilla bean makes this creamy pudding extra special and aromatic. But if you don’t have one on hand, just stir 1 tablespoon vanilla extract into the pudding along with the egg yolks. Although rice pudding is traditionally served cold, I also like this when it’s still warm and a little runny, poured over sliced strawberries and raspberries, which add both juiciness and acidity.

Based on a Middle Eastern mujaddara, a homey mix of spiced simmered lentils and rice, this easy, meatless dish is rich with allspice, cinnamon, and sweet browned leeks. The handful of baby spinach stirred in toward the end turns it into a one-pot meal, and adds a bit of welcome color, too. If you don’t have leeks, use an onion or two instead.

Start by serving this big pot of polenta as a soft, creamy side dish when it is freshly made, then divide the rest into baking dishes to use later in the week as polenta croutons and polenta crust.

This revamped tuna noodle casserole is homey, bright, and pantry-friendly. You’ll toast dry pasta in oil until golden brown before cooking it in the tomato sauce.

We took loose inspiration from Hainanese chicken rice to create this weeknight-friendly dish that retains the comforting and fragrant qualities of the beloved original.

All of the satisfaction of a hearty, rich, bean-based cassoulet without the painstaking hours of prepping and cooking.

This pickle brine–inspired dry rub turns potatoes and carrots crispy-creamy with pleasantly sharp vinegary tang. Toss them, still warm, with leftover shredded chicken and crunchy raw celery, onion, and yes, sliced pickles for a double-the-pickle, double-the-fun dinner salad.

Slowly rendering the pancetta, gently toasting the garlic, and concentrating the tomatoes puts three pots’ worth of flavor in just one.

It’s really satisfying to make chicken stock on the grill. The pot can sit in a corner of the grill as long as the grill is fired up, and the stock will only get better with each hour.

This rich, flavorful Nigerian dish brings together bold chile heat, the pleasant funk of fermented locust beans and dried shrimp, and a good dose of Old Bay.

This is a very simple way to make wonderful rice in under an hour. It is a technique favored around the Caspian, where rice is eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

A vegetarian version of khoresh, this braise inspired by the popular Persian dish is made with cremini mushrooms, which keep their shape and offer earthy flavor. Enjoy it over rice.

This soup coaxes big flavors from a short ingredient list. Patiently browning the onions and garlic is essential to adding flavor and depth to the finished dish.

Green curry with chicken and eggplant from Chef Hong Thaimee.