(Image credit: Lauren Volo)

A layered lasagna is a true labor of love that requires slow cooking a sauce, boiling noodles, and layering the ingredients all before it even goes in the oven. While I appreciate a well-constructed lasagna, it’s not feasible for weeknight dinners.

Here’s how you can skip the oven entirely and still have a lasagna that’s loaded with a savory sausage and mushroom red sauce, tender noodles that are cooked right in the sauce, and, of course, three kinds of cheese to meld and hold everything together. Cooked in just one skillet on the stovetop, this is truly a weeknight lasagna that you can add to your dinner rotation.

READ MORE »

(Image credit: Erin Alvarez)

Welcome to Kitchn’s new series A Week of Dinners, where we show you how people put dinner on the table for their family, thanks to the five weeknight recipes they rely on.

Jessica Merchant lives with her husband, Ed, and 2 1/2-year-old son, Max, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she writes and develops recipes. “I’m madly, outrageously, inexplicably in love with food,” Merchant explains enthusiastically. She is the author of bestselling cookbook Seriously Delish and upcoming cookbook The Pretty Dish. Since 2009 she’s been the blogger behind How Sweet Eats, a wildly popular food blog with the most gorgeous photos. (Do yourself a favor and follow her on Instagram immediately. I’m serious.)

Today Jessica shares how she gets food on the table for her family (even when she’s 9 months pregnant right now!) and what weeknight dinners look like for them.

READ MORE »

My most prized possession in my kitchen is my Dutch oven. Ever since I began rifling through food magazines as a teenager, I’ve pined over the classic Le Creuset one and, knowing this, my aunt gifted my husband and I one as an engagement gift. It hasn’t budged from my stovetop since. That’s partially because we don’t have room to store it anywhere else in our tiny apartment, but we also use it incredibly often.

When fall hits, we use it almost daily to churn out soups, braised meat, and one-pot meals. Do you do the same? If not, let these 25 recipes convince you. Once you discover a Dutch oven’s endless possibilities, you’ll leave yours out on the stovetop too.

READ MORE »

(Image credit: Przemyslaw Ceynowa/Shutterstock)

It may be a cliché, but I’ll admit that my husband and I have had actual arguments over how to load the dishwasher. Turns out, we’ve both been wrong a few times, according to the dishwasher pros I’ve interviewed. Here are the 10 best things you can do when loading the dishwasher.

A bonus thing: Don’t fight with your significant other. After all, it’s just one load of dishes.

READ MORE »

(Image credit: Faith Durand)

I am a firm believer in the power of a roasted vegetable. Not only can virtually every vegetable be cooked in this way — no recipe required — but roasted vegetables are universally pleasurable to eat. Have a picky eater in the house? Want a break from your usual steamed veggie side dish? Try roasting your broccoli or green beans or cauliflower tonight. I think you’re in for a treat.

READ MORE »

(Image credit: Joe Lingeman/The Kitchn)

You’ve had roasted sweet potatoes before, so you’ve had them all, right? I used to think the exact same thing until I learned a technique for butter-roasting thick slices of sweet potato until they turned from hard tubers to almost butter themselves.

Popularized by the blog Dessert for Two, this technique for butter-roasted sweet potatoes — dubbed melting sweet potatoes by Christina over at Dessert for Two — roasts the potatoes until they are a dark amber on the outside, creating a layer of deeply caramelized sweet potato that just barely holds the soft, buttery insides together. She serves this with an incredible maple pecan sauce, but we think they are perfection all on their own with a fat pinch of salt to finish them off. This recipe won’t let you think of roasted sweet potatoes the same way ever again.

READ MORE »

After a steamy summer of living without soup (besides the occasional gazpacho), the cooler days of September immediately bring a serious craving for something brothy and warm. These 15 recipes fill the void and are particularly special since they all can be made in the slow cooker. That means a whole lot of reward without much effort. Pick one to make at the start of the week and then keep enjoying the leftovers for lunch or dinner all week long.

READ MORE »

On the last Friday of September — this year, the 29th — the town of Binissalem completely shuts down for a yearly feast known as “Sopar a la Fresca.” It means dine outside and that’s exactly what the residents of this tiny Mallorcan village do. They take to the streets, set up simple wooden or plastic tables, and sup on noodles and lamb.

READ MORE »

You could create an entire book club based around Real Housewives publications and never run out. Tinsley Mortimer has a novel. Bethenny Frankel has a children’s book about her dog. The Dubrows have an anti-aging book where they refer to themselves as “Dr. and Mrs. Guinea Pig.” There’s almost a dozen tell-all-but-not-quite-all memoirs. And in the midst of all this Bravo-fueled literature, there’s a steady stream of recipes and food advice from your favorite brawling reality TV stars.

READ MORE »

The slow cooker is my answer to everything from hands-off meals on busy nights to comforting desserts. There’s nothing it can’t do. And the best way to truly get the most out of it is knowing all the best tips, tricks, and hacks that will make it live up to its full potential.

READ MORE »