4,893 summer recipes

Traditional Jewish carrot tzimmes with sweet potatoes, prunes, brown sugar, and orange juice simmered low and slow until thick and tender. A sweet, comforting side for Rosh Hashanah or any holiday table.

Vegan Cuban-style black beans with two stages of green pepper, classic sofrito, and a finish of apple cider vinegar. Slow-simmered until the beans crack open. Plant-based comfort that holds its own.

Yummy chicken curry: tender curried chicken in a quick, creamy sour cream sauce with sweet golden raisins, ready in about 20 minutes. A fast, mild weeknight curry that skips the coconut milk and the long simmer.

Homemade Kahlua: a rich coffee liqueur from a slow-simmered coffee syrup, vanilla and vodka. Cheaper than store-bought, make-ahead, and a great gift for cocktails or pouring over ice cream.

Ground beef browns with onions, then simmers all day in the slow cooker with beans, tomatoes, and Italian seasonings before pasta stirs in during the last 30 minutes for hearty pasta fagioli.

Fresh cherry sauce simmered with white wine and lemon juice, pureed smooth, then studded with whole cherries. Nutmeg and cayenne add quiet warmth. A make-ahead sauce for pork, duck, or game.

Oil-free Cajun red beans and rice in the McDougall style, with the holy trinity of onion, pepper, and scallion simmered in a spiced tomato broth and spooned over brown rice. A fast, low-fat, plant-based dinner.

Vegan red beans and rice: two kinds of red beans simmered with chili, cumin, and tomato, folded into brown rice and served with fresh salsa. A high-fiber, gluten-free, meatless take on the Southern classic.

Cajun black bean soup simmers dried beans with smoky ham hock, paprika, cayenne, chili powder, and cumin into a thick, half-puréed pot. Serve with Monterey Jack, sour cream, chives, or chopped egg.

Spicy chicken tortilla soup where crushed tortilla chips simmer right into the broth, thickening it and lending a toasty corn flavor. Chipotle and cayenne bring the heat, lime and cilantro the bright finish.

Old-fashioned beef and barley vegetable soup built from meaty soup bones simmered low and slow with pearl barley, carrots, celery, tomatoes, and sweet green peas. The kind of soup that warms you from the inside out.

Southern-style no-bean chili with 4 lbs of beef, banana peppers, and a 3-hour simmer in beef stock with barbecue sauce, hot sauce, and a deep spice blend. Bold and beanless.

Crispy chickpea flour fritters simmered in a spiced potato curry with tomatoes, ginger, cumin, and turmeric. A vegetarian Indian side dish that cooks in 15 minutes once the prep is done. Warm, fragrant, and deeply satisfying.

Vegetable gumbo is a lighter, meatless take on the Cajun classic: the holy trinity simmered with okra, corn, tomatoes and paprika, thickened naturally by the okra. No roux, no meat, just hearty vegetable comfort.

White chicken chili simmers shredded chicken with white beans, jalapeños, oregano, cumin, and ground ginger in chicken broth and white wine, finished with melted Monterey Jack. A lighter alternative to red chili with brighter, creamier flavor.

Chicken breasts in wine sauce brown chicken in butter, then simmer in cream of chicken soup, white wine, carrots, and mushrooms. A weeknight one-skillet braise served over rice for an easy comfort meal.