Main Dish Recipes

Pot roast with sour cream gravy: chuck roast braised with vinegar and dill, paired with potatoes, carrots, and zucchini. The Eastern European-leaning Sunday dinner that finishes with a tangy sour cream sauce.

Flour-coated beef stew with carrots, celery, peas, tomatoes, and a touch of brown sugar and red wine. Cooks on high in the crock pot for 4 to 5 hours with a thick, glossy gravy.

Ground beef and cheese pie with cheddar, Swiss, green onions, and a mayonnaise-egg custard baked in a flaky pie shell. A savory one-dish dinner.

Chicken a la king with sauteed breast, mushrooms, roasted red and green peppers, scallions, and a sherry-cream pan sauce. A refined, from-scratch version of the retro classic.

Cajun-style fried hand pies stuffed with ground pork and beef, onions, green onions, parsley, and a kick of red pepper. Crimped pastry pockets fried golden and crisp.

Stuffed artichokes in olive oil: trimmed artichoke hearts filled with fava bean and dill rice, then slow-braised in lemony olive oil. Classic Turkish 'zeytinyagli' meze served cold.

Creamed scallops in wine sauce, a retro microwave-friendly coquilles St. Jacques with mushrooms, white wine, and cream. Broiled golden in shells or ramekins for an elegant starter.

Quiche Lorraine with bacon and asparagus layered into a flaky pie shell with sliced Swiss cheese, then bound by a milk-egg custard spiked with nutmeg and cayenne. Smoky, savory, brunch-ready.

Crispy Indian-spiced vegetable pakoras of eggplant, zucchini, cauliflower, and mushrooms in a curry-coriander batter, served with a spiced mango relish flecked with star anise and cinnamon.

Swiss steak braises tough, flour-dredged beef low and slow in a herby tomato gravy with onions, peppers, and mushrooms until fork-tender. A classic one-skillet comfort dinner made for mashed potatoes.

Simple chicken Marsala with just six ingredients. Flour-dusted cutlets seared golden, then finished in a Marsala wine and chicken stock pan sauce. Ready in 40 minutes.

Sam's pizza ABM uses your bread machine to mix and rise a whole-wheat-and-cornmeal pizza dough. Roll, top with sauce and mozzarella, and bake into a crispy 14-inch pie at 475F.

Chicken fried steak done Southern style: steaks dipped in buttermilk, dredged in seasoned flour and crumbs, pan-fried crispy, then smothered in a from-scratch milk gravy made right from the pan drippings.

Freezer-friendly sweet and sour pork with pineapple, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, and a tangy soy-vinegar sauce. Make-ahead Chinese-American takeout classic that reheats like new.

Old-fashioned creamed ground beef with gravy served over toast or biscuits. Budget-friendly, filling, and on the table in 40 minutes with pantry staples.

Easy pot roast slow-cooked with stewed tomatoes, beef stock, and horseradish for 4-5 hours in a crockpot or covered roaster. A dump-and-forget roast with homemade flour gravy.