Take the chill out of cold winter nights with our favorite comfort food dinners like Chicken Paprikas, Lasagna, Baked Mac and Cheese, and Minestrone Soup.
A warm, inviting kitchen and the familiar smells of a home-cooked meal are something we all look forward to on a cold winter night.
One of the reasons we turn to comfort foods when the weather turns chilly is because our bodies naturally crave more energy in the form of calories to keep us warm. That’s why many of the dishes we consider comfort foods are hearty and filling.
What Is Considered Comfort Food?
Our concept of comfort food is also often nostalgic, tied to pleasant memories of favorite foods from childhood (mom’s macaroni and cheese) or dishes that make us feel happy and satisfied (a rich bowl of stew or soup).
Even though our personal choices in comfort foods might be different, most share some similar traits, including common ingredients like noodles and potatoes, and cooking techniques like braising or slow cooking.
What we consider to be our favorite comfort foods are often traditional peasant dishes from around the world. Made from inexpensive cuts of meat and common vegetables like potatoes and carrots, these dishes are meant to be both nutritious and satisfying. Here are some examples:
- Beef Stew is a long-simmering combination of well-seasoned meat and root vegetables originating in Europe and adopted into American cuisine.
- Traditionally served over handmade dumplings called Nokedli, Chicken Paprikas is a stew from Hungary with a richly flavored paprika gravy.
- Often made with whatever vegetables one has on hand, Minestrone Soup is a classic peasant dish from Italy that commonly includes beans and tomatoes.
Now that you have a little background on what qualifies as comfort food, try one of our recipes and discover a new family favorite.
Comfort Food Dinners
Take the chill out of cold winter nights with our favorite comfort food dinners like Chicken Paprikas, Lasagna, Baked Mac and Cheese, and Minestrone Soup.
Slow-cooked in tomato sauce and red wine, our braciole recipe is made with thin-sliced top round rolled around a filling of Genoa salami, fresh breadcrumbs, parsley, basil, and cheese.
Made with a blend of ground beef and pork, flavored with a pinch of allspice and sautéed onions and finished in a creamy sauce, our classic Swedish meatballs are comfort food at its finest.
A rich, hearty minestrone soup, loaded with vegetables and flavored with pancetta, garlic, Italian sausage, and dry red wine makes a satisfying one-dish meal with plenty of leftovers for another day.
Bits of crispy bacon and caramelized onions combine with Gruyere and fontina cheeses to make an incredibly satisfying baked macaroni and cheese casserole.
This is our favorite beef stew recipe - a simple combination of ingredients cooked to flavorful perfection in a pressure cooker.
To make this easy version of the traditional Hungarian dish we roast boneless chicken thighs and serve them with a sour cream-paprika gravy made while the chicken cooks.
Richly flavored with pancetta and portobello mushrooms this lasagna is a great make-ahead dinner for a crowd.
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