Cold weather comfort food recipes

I’m sniffling. You’re sniffling. We’re all sniffling! Find solace in these cozy comfort food recipes for cold days. We rounded up 50 of our favorite roasts, casseroles, braised meats, and more for a satisfying recipe roundup.

Recipe: Pan-seared skirt steak with mushrooms

An intensely flavorful cut, skirt steak is not known for tenderness, but it can be wonderful right from the skillet, served with a simple mushroom sauce. Select a mixture of exotic and white button mushrooms, browning them well for the most robust flavor, and spoon the sauce over seared meat. The dish takes minutes.

Recipe: Chickpea and vegetable curry

A quick curry of chickpeas and cauliflower is seasoned with garam masala instead of the prevalent yellow curry powder, which can add a monotonous taste.

Recipe: Potato, ham, and spinach lasagna

You don’t need pasta to make lasagna. Thinly sliced vegetables such as eggplant, zucchini, and potatoes can be used for layering. Potatoes, in particular, are perfect this time of year, and when layered with spinach, onion, and ham result in a hearty, warming casserole.

Recipe: Spaghetti with tomato, rosemary, and mushroom sauce

For cold weather sauces, replace sweet basil with a handful of hardy rosemary. Cultivated mushrooms are not as intense as their wild kin, but at the market they are inexpensive, and when cooked with butter, garlic, and crushed red pepper, their subtle meatiness comes out and adds interest to a simple sauce.

Recipe: Eggplant-mozzarella stacks

For this casserole, eggplant rounds are cooked under the broiler, then stacked, rather than layered, in a baking dish with cheese and sauce.

Recipe: Braised short ribs and potato-parsnip mash

Short ribs make a hearty meal with very little effort. Brown the meat, still on the bone, and simmer it with root vegetables, red wine, and beef stock. Let your oven fill the house with warm, savory aromas that will draw everyone into the kitchen. Short ribs also work well in a slow cooker on low (add a little less liquid). Serve the short ribs over potato-parsnip mash, a lovely departure from standard mashed potatoes.

Recipe: Layered cabbage and rice casserole

Veda Ferlazzo Clark of Scituate sent The Recipe Box Project this cabbage, rice, and tomato casserole. “When I was in junior high and high school (40 years ago!), I often had dinner at my best friend, Ann Evans’s home. Her mom, Jean, invented this recipe and served it as the main course with salad. I made it before I sent it to you, and it was as good as I remembered.’’

Recipe: Baked ham with orange glaze

What you’ll typically find at our markets is a fully cooked, half ham, cured with a brine, weighing 7 to 10 pounds. Heat it for maximum flavor and brush with a sweet glaze that caramelizes in the oven. If you buy a precut (“spiral cut’’) ham, wrap it in foil to prevent it from drying out.

Recipe: Lamb shanks braised in red wine (Dishing)

American lamb shanks are giant things; three are plenty for four guests. New Zealand are smaller (more like large drumsticks), so you need one per person. Make this a day in advance for the flavors to mellow and the fat to solidify on top of the sauce.

Recipe: Tuna Provencale

Sear tuna steaks on both sides, creating a browned crust, then finish in the oven over a bed of sauteed onions, peppers, and tomatoes. Tangy capers and olives balance the sweetness of the vegetables, fresh herbs add brightness. Don’t skip the anchovies; the pieces will melt into the dish and supply the savory fifth taste of umami.

Recipe: Coq a la moutarde

Traditional coq au vin, simmered with white wine, is more intense when you rub chicken with Dijon mustard before browning. You need 1 1/2 cups of white wine; use whatever you have.

Recipe: Honeymoon roast with parslied red potatoes and onion gravy

The “honeymoon roast,’’ a small, flat piece of beef, is also called the sirloin cap, and the ideal centerpiece for a romantic dinner. It’s a specialty of Grill 23 & Bar’s executive chef Jay Murray, who makes it at home. “It can be sliced into small steaks and it’s great cut for two,’’ says Murray, who browns the steaks on one side, turns them, and finishes them in a 325 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Recipe: Turkey tenderloins on potatoes and apples (Dishing)

A reader wrote in about making turkey tenderloins — the boneless nuggets of breast meat that are sold in pairs — and how much she liked them.You can also bone the turkey breast yourself, which gives you a wonderful meaty bone for soup (less expensive too). We bought them already boned and roasted them on a bed of potatoes, onions, and apples. The dish is a little like turkey with stuffing — only quicker.

Recipe: Sausages and beans

When the nights get chilly, I want something stewy, beany, and hot. It’s my New England heritage, I guess. This dish is made with turkey sausages, which are browned first, then simmered briefly with canned beans and canned plum tomatoes. It’s a 30-minute meal and just right for — tonight!—Sheryl Julian

Recipe: Baked shrimp with feta and orzo

Tangy feta cheese creates a melted blanket of flavor over shrimp in tomato sauce and orzo (rice-shaped pasta). It makes a hearty supper.

Recipe: Fish roasted on a bed of tomatoes and potatoes

One-pot meals are low maintenance, easy to clean up, and offer lots of great flavors in one vessel. You can make something stewy on top of the stove, or layer everything in a handsome baking dish and use the oven. Here, haddock or cod is roasted with tomatoes, onions, and potatoes tossed with olive oil, oregano, and herbs.

Recipe: Vegetarian minestrone soup

These healthy, veggie-packed bowls come together in no time for a warming weeknight meal. Use a piece of Parmesan rind to add a savory flavor to the pot (also a great tip for tomato sauces). Like most soups, this one is even better the following day. If you are cooking in advance, boil the pasta separately and add it just before serving.

Recipe: Roast leg of lamb with farro and vegetable salad

Roast leg of lamb makes an incredibly savory company meal, particularly if you have weekend guests (succulent lamb sandwiches can follow the next day). Roast the meat simply, with lots of garlic, and add a salad of nutty farro mixed with roast butternut squash, celeriac, onions, Parmesan, and parsley. Use a bone-in leg, which ensures more evenly cooked, flavorful meat. The bone also speeds up the roasting process as it helps cook the meat from the inside out.

Recipe: Pizza with butternut squash, caramelized onion, and spinach

Pick up a pound of pizza dough at the grocery store or your local pizza shop (many shops will sell you their dough without toppings) and top it with mozzarella, roasted squash, spinach, onions, and sprinkle of Parmesan for a tasty vegetarian meal.

Recipe: Pork chops with cabbage and beans

Brown bone-in pork chops in the same pan in which you render bacon (you get both fresh and smoked flavors in this dish), and simmer a pot of white beans with tomatoes. Dried beans soaked overnight are superior to canned, but use what time allows. Saute cabbage in some of the bacon fat, and layer your feast of meat, beans, and greens on the plates.

Recipe: Mirepoix meat loaf with Worcestershire-ketchup glaze

Mirepoix is a mixture of onions, carrot, and celery that is sauteed and used as the base of many soups and stews. Here, it’s mixed with lean ground beef to create a moist, low-fat meat loaf, which is glazed near the end of cooking with Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and brown sugar.

Recipe: Turkey meatballs and spaghetti

Once these lean turkey balls have simmered in tomato sauce, no one will notice your heart-healthy meat. What’s important is the type of turkey you use. Extra lean ground white meat, from the turkey breast, turns dry and the meatballs can be tough. Use ground turkey that includes some dark meat (sometimes labeled “93/7’’) for tastier, more tender meatballs.

Recipe: Turkey chili with roasted poblano peppers

Char poblano peppers directly over a gas flame, or broil them, until the skin is blackened and blistered. They will peel easily and add a nice smoky element to the chili. In fact, a double batch of roasted peppers isn’t much more work and they freeze well for another day. Make the chili a day ahead, using whatever beer you plan to serve (or substitute chicken broth). The flavors mellow when the dish sits overnight.

Recipe: Calzones

Crumble cooked ground beef and add it to a chunky mushroom-pepper-tomato sauce to fill calzones. To make the assembly easy for these fold-over pies, buy fresh pizza dough from your neighborhood pizzeria or supermarket. If the weather obliges, repeat this duo next week.

Recipe: Barbecued drumsticks with corn bread

Buy a larger package of drumsticks and get the kids involved in dinner. Corn bread is so easy that they can make it with little guidance. Whisk the dry, stir in the wet, and add frozen corn kernels for extra nutrition. For the drumsticks, you need to make a subtly spiced rub, which young taste buds will like, and a sweet and sticky barbecue sauce. Slice the corn bread and dinner is served.

Recipe: Pork chops with mushroom saute and noodles

Boneless pork chops cook in a flash. What you want is meat that is juicy and flavorful, with a savory brown crust. Top the chops with a simple saute of shiitake, oyster, and chanterelle mushrooms. Or add whatever varieties you can find to the mix. Shallots and thyme make a woodsy topping for the pork. Set it on a bed of egg noodles tossed with a little butter and fresh chives.

Recipe: Fish roasted on caramelized onions

Caramelizing, which takes more than an hour, is a purposeful process in which the cut-up onions cook in olive oil or butter until sharp, pungent rings into sweet, tender, golden mouthfuls. You can use large Spanish or white onions or sweet varieties, such as Vidalia or Walla Walla, but for a slightly less cloying, jammy mass, opt for regular yellow onions. Once they’re caramelized, use them as a bed for roasting fish fillets.

Recipe: Turkey meat loaf with sweet-and-sour sauce

Meat loaf and all similar ground dishes are budget stretchers because you have to incorporate bread crumbs and eggs into the ground meat mixture. Here, a more contemporary, and leaner, version features ground dark-meat turkey, with ground beef added for fat and flavor. The mixture is shaped into two loaves, then baked in a sweet-and-sour tomato sauce.

Recipe: Swordfish with tomatoes, capers, and golden raisins

Swordfish baked with tomato sauce showcases classic sunny Sicilian flavors, badly needed this time of year. Saute a mixture of onion, capers, raisins, canned tomatoes, and wine and simmer it just long enough for the flavors to meld. Add crushed red pepper and a squeeze of orange juice and pour over thick swordfish steaks. Send them into the oven for 20 minutes while you make pasta. For an evening, pretend you are on a warm Mediterranean island.

Recipe: Chicken saute with red wine vinegar

Marinate chicken in red wine vinegar, olive oil, and oregano, then saute it until golden. Simmer with more vinegar, creating a dish that is moist with exceptional flavor.

Recipe: Seared sea scallops with parsnip and celery-root puree

Sea scallops are best with sweet caramelized edges and barely cooked centers. Pair them with a creamy parsnip and celery-root puree and serve with wilted greens.

Recipe: Pan-roasted pork chops with butternut squash, onions, and apples

Was it changing the clocks or the early darkness combined with dampness that makes us long for some comfort? Pork chops can do just that, particularly when paired with butternut squash, local apples, and onions. Prepare a simple brine and let the meat absorb the salty-sweet flavors while you cut up vegetables. This simple step guarantees flavorful, juicy meat.

Recipe: Turkey pot pie

This traditional recipe calls for buttery pastry made from scratch. The flaky crust envelopes the meat, vegetables, and a rich, creamy sauce.

Recipe: Swedish meatballs

Use torn bread cubes in place of bread crumbs to make a delicate meatball which absorbs more sauce.

Recipe: Vegetable sandwich with hummus

Grill or roast eggplant, zucchini, and bell peppers and tuck them into a sandwich with hummus and spinach. On the grill, eggplant and zucchini take 8 to 12 minutes, bell peppers 20 to 25 minutes. If roasting, cook all the vegetables for about 30 minutes. Choose a firm, crusty loaf, such as focaccia, ciabatta, sourdough, or hearty white boule, either round or square.

Recipe: Chicken cacciatore

For this dish, choose leg quarters, which means the legs and thighs are attached. Simmer them in a quick cacciatore, and while the dish is bubbling away in the oven, put on a pot of rice. Ladle the sauce over the rice, and top each portion with a leg.

Recipe: Hake wrapped in proscuitto

All of the popular New England white fish — cod, halibut, haddock, pollock, and hake — are splendid when sauteed, simmered in liquid, even deep-fat fried. Send them into a hot oven, however, and they dry out. To prevent that, wrap pieces of the fish, in this case hake, in prosciutto and roast them on thinly sliced golden potatoes. Give the potatoes a half-hour head start so they’re tender before the fish is placed on top.

Recipe: Eggplant involtini (Eggplant roll-ups with angel hair and marinara)

For involtini, you wrap thin slices of roasted eggplant around bundles of angel hair, then top them with a quick homemade marinara and Parmesan.

Recipe: Mini-meatball subs

If you’re inclined to make something hearty that won’t kill the household you cook for, we suggest a lighter version of meatball subs, the Italian-American classic. Tender turkey balls stuffed into a soft roll and covered with a lightly cooked marinara sauce make the sub shop staple a homemade treat. To make them, mix dark ground turkey, lots of Parmesan and parsley, and bread cubes soaked in milk.

Recipe: Winter vegetable soup (Dishing)

This pot of winter vegetables goes onto the stove weekly and changes with the day. For instance, after this soup was made — and the clear broth looked almost pristine — it received a post-Thanksgiving injection of chopped Brussels sprouts, rutabagas, roasted red onions, and turkey. Other days, it might be simmered with cooked cauliflower florets, stir-fried bok choy, potatoes, green beans, even the leftover salad (you’d be surprised how delicious it tastes in soup.)

Recipe: Roast leg of lamb with figs

With shared Mediterranean origins, lamb and figs are a natural match. Add couscous, a North African staple, and you have an appealing plate. Rub the meat with a smoky, sweet combination of paprika and rosemary. Halfway through roasting, surround the lamb with chopped fresh mission figs so their juices meld with the drippings.

Recipe: Braised beef short ribs with gremolata

Beef short ribs need about two hours in the oven. These are braised in beer (Guinness is a good choice, but add something milder, if you like). A mixture of parsley, lemon rind, and garlic, called gremolata – traditionally used in the Italian dish osso bucco – is sprinkled on top.

Recipe: Roast ducks with plum glaze

The secret to roasting a whole duck is to pierce or score the skin well, allowing much of the fat to drain during a long, slow oven roast. Stir together a sweet and salty Chinese-style glaze with oranges, plum preserves, soy sauce, rice wine.

Recipe: Brisket-potato casserole

Turn traditional braised brisket into a hearty casserole akin to shepherd’s pie. Instead of a blanket of mashed potatoes, cover the filling of brisket, vegetables, and sauce with chunks of steamed potatoes. After baking, slide the casserole under the broiler to brown the top.

Recipe: Honeymoon roast with parslied red potatoes and onion gravy

The “honeymoon roast,’’ a small, flat piece of beef, is also called the sirloin cap, and the ideal centerpiece for a romantic dinner. It’s a specialty of Grill 23 & Bar’s executive chef Jay Murray, who makes it at home. “It can be sliced into small steaks and it’s great cut for two,’’ says Murray, who browns the steaks on one side, turns them, and finishes them in a 325 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Recipe: Milky fish chowder

A milky chowder should not be a mush and it should not be overly rich. While many people enjoy chowders that you can stand a spoon in, the thinner broths are far more appealing.

Recipe: Italian sausages and peppers

Brown the sausages and remove them from the pan, then cook the onions and peppers in the meaty bits. Simmer them together in beer. Stir a potful of golden polenta while they cook. Slowly stream polenta flour into boiling water and keep stirring until it thickens. Season with butter and cheese.

Recipe: Chicken tagine

For this recipe, choose affordable chicken thighs. You do not need to brown them because the liquid evaporates, during cooking, and the exposed skin crisps nicely. Add olives, ginger, carrots, honey, and the essential spice mixture known as ras el hanout.

Recipe: Chipotle-glazed turkey breast

Start a new tradition and spice up a boned, rolled turkey breast. Whir homemade salsa in a blender with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and canned tomatoes. Saute onions to serve as a base for the turkey while it roasts. Meanwhile, stir a sweet and zippy glaze with more chipotle peppers. After the initial roasting, glaze the turkey every 10 minutes until it is done. Use the prepared salsa to make a fiery gravy.

Recipe: Boneless rolled turkey breast with spinach, pecans, apricots, and cranberries

It’s easy to butterfly the breast once you remove the webbing that is usually wrapped around it. After filling, rolling, and roasting, you get beautiful pinwheel slices.