Western

Western Recipes

721 recipes. Page 12 of 31

Pasta, steak, and other Western recipes

Mediterranean White Bean Salad

White beans are soft with a slightly floury bite, and here they carry the fullness of the salad between crisp cucumber and juicy tomato. There is no salt in the ingredient list; briny black olives and the lemon dressing do that job. Red onion is sliced very thin so its heat stays in the background. Cutting the cucumber and tomato to about bean size means each spoonful gets a bit of everything.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes 🥗 Lighter Meals

Prep 15min 0 2 servings

Western Medium

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Pounded chicken breast rolled around ham and Emmental, breaded and pan-fried in butter and oil, shows a ring of melted cheese in every slice. Tucking in any exposed cheese keeps it from leaking into the pan.

Prep 25min Cook 20min 2 servings

Baking Medium

German Butter Cake (Yeasted Sheet Cake with Almond Topping)

Soft yeasted dough is pressed into a sheet pan, dimpled with fingertips, and each dimple gets a nub of butter before a scattering of sliced almonds. In the oven the butter melts into little pools that caramelize at the edges, and the almonds toast to a crisp gold. The cake underneath stays soft like brioche without feeling heavy, the kind of slice served with afternoon coffee in northern Germany.

Prep 25min Cook 25min 4 servings

Pasta Medium

Gochujang Shrimp Cream Pasta

Gochujang stirred into cream and milk, with no tomato involved, makes an orange sauce where the heat arrives slowly behind the cream. Brands of gochujang differ in saltiness, so start small and taste before adding more.

Prep 15min Cook 20min 2 servings

Salads Easy

Millet Herb Salad

Boiled millet fluffed with a fork separates into tiny, loose grains. Plenty of chopped parsley and mint go in, enough that the herbs, not the grain, lead the flavor. Because millet soaks up liquid fast, the lemon and olive oil dressing goes on just before serving to stop it from clumping. It holds up at room temperature, which makes it easy to pack for lunch.

🥗 Lighter Meals 🍱 Lunchbox

Prep 20min Cook 18min 2 servings

Western Medium

Chicken Fajitas

Chicken thigh strips soaked briefly in lime and paprika hit a smoking-hot pan and pick up charred edges within minutes. If the pan is not hot enough, the chicken releases liquid and steams instead, so it should sizzle the moment it lands.

Prep 20min Cook 15min 4 servings

Baking Easy

Flaky Oven Biscuits

Cold butter cubes turn to steam in a very hot oven and push the dough apart, so the sides split into visible flaky layers. In the United States they are split while fresh for butter and jam, or served the Southern way alongside fried chicken and gravy.

Prep 20min Cook 15min 4 servings

Pasta Medium

Gochujang Vongole Linguine

Clams open in white wine, and the briny liquid they release becomes the sauce base for a spoonful of gochujang, the Korean fermented chili paste. The result tastes like vongole with an extra layer of savory heat rather than a red chili sauce. A small knob of butter at the end rounds off the spice and gives the sauce its gloss. Because that clam liquor goes straight into the sauce, the clams soak for 30 minutes first to purge any sand.

Prep 20min Cook 15min 2 servings

Salads Easy

Mushroom Spinach Warm Salad

Spread across a hot pan and left alone for 1 to 2 minutes, the button mushrooms brown on the underside instead of turning watery. Garlic cooked first in the olive oil scents the pan, and the mushrooms and spinach pick up that aroma as they follow. Spinach goes into the same pan only long enough to wilt, so the leaves stay bright green and the mushrooms keep their bounce. Balsamic vinegar, added off the heat, brings sweetness and acidity, and grated Parmesan adds a salty finish. It comes together quickly, making it an easy side for dinner or a snack with wine.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes 🍺 Bar Snacks

Prep 10min Cook 10min 2 servings

Western Medium

Chicken Francese (Egg-Battered Chicken in Lemon Butter Sauce)

Instead of breadcrumbs, these cutlets wear a soft coat of flour and beaten egg, and that coating soaks up the lemon butter sauce like a sponge. Italian-American in origin, the dish uses butterflied chicken breast cooked quickly so it stays moist. The coating should come out golden rather than dark brown before it goes back into the sauce to turn glossy.

Prep 15min Cook 18min 2 servings

Baking Medium

Calzone

Unlike a flat pizza, the tomato sauce stays outside here, served on the side for dipping. Inside the folded half-moon, soft ricotta, stretchy mozzarella, ham, and basil melt together into one hot filling. Brushing the top with olive oil before baking gives the crust a glossy, golden finish.

Prep 20min Cook 20min 2 servings

Pasta Medium

Gorgonzola Pear Walnut Gnocchi

Pear slices warmed in butter meet sharp, salty Gorgonzola melted into cream, with sweet and salty trading places from bite to bite. The pear gets just 1 minute over medium-low heat, enough to turn its edges slightly translucent while the center stays crisp. Boiling would split the cheese sauce, so the Gorgonzola melts slowly over low heat. Walnuts toasted in a dry pan add crunch against soft potato gnocchi, and a little lemon juice and black pepper cut the weight of the blue cheese. The gnocchi come out as soon as they float, before they turn soft, and start to finish the dish takes about 15 minutes.

Prep 15min Cook 15min 2 servings

Salads Medium

Pollock Roe Potato Crisp Salad

Thin pan-crisped potato, salty pollock-roe dressing, and the sea flavor of crumbled laver all land on one plate. Myeongran, salted pollock roe, is scraped from its membrane and loosened with Greek yogurt and mayonnaise, which tame its saltiness into a creamy dressing.

🍺 Bar Snacks 🥗 Lighter Meals

Prep 18min Cook 20min 2 servings

Western Medium

Chicken Fricassee (French White Wine Cream Braised Chicken)

The chicken thighs get only a light golden sear, which keeps this cream sauce pale and mild rather than turning it into a brown stew. Onion, garlic and mushrooms softened in butter give the sauce its sweetness, and the cream is reduced just until it coats a spoon thinly. Baguette or boiled potatoes soak up whatever sauce is left.

Prep 15min Cook 45min 4 servings

Baking Hard

Canelé (Bordeaux Caramelized Rum Vanilla Custard Cake)

A thin, deep caramel-colored crust crackles when bitten, giving way to a soft custard center scented with vanilla and dark rum. This is a bake to plan ahead: batter for these small Bordeaux cakes needs at least a full day of resting in the fridge.

Prep 20min Cook 60min 10 servings

Pasta Easy

Hearty Minestrone Soup

Onion, carrot, celery and zucchini are all cut to about 1 cm so a single spoonful catches vegetables, kidney beans and small pasta together. Size matters more than it looks: an oversized carrot stays firm while smaller zucchini pieces collapse in the same simmer.

Prep 20min Cook 30min 4 servings

Salads Easy

Panzanella Salad (Italian Ciabatta Bread Salad)

Tuscan cooks made this salad in summer to use up stale bread, and the recipe still starts with dried ciabatta. The juice that tomatoes release after salting is not discarded; whisked into the red wine vinegar dressing, it seeps into the oven-toasted bread and gives it a sweet-sour flavor.

🥗 Lighter Meals

Prep 15min Cook 10min 2 servings

Western Medium

Chicken-Fried Steak

Despite the name, no chicken goes into it: thin, tenderized beef cube steak gets a flour, egg and flour coating and is fried in a deep pan. Without breadcrumbs, the crust forms craggy little ridges, and a peppery milk gravy goes alongside. Thick grilling steaks stay tough while the crust finishes, so the cut matters as much as the frying. Milk gravy stiffens as it stands, and when judged warm it should spread across the plate rather than sit in a mound.

Prep 20min Cook 25min 2 servings

Baking Medium

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Made with vegetable oil rather than butter, this cake stays soft even straight out of the fridge. Finely grated carrot gives off moisture as it bakes and keeps the crumb moist, alongside cinnamon, nutmeg and coarsely chopped walnuts. A tangy cream cheese frosting goes on top.

Prep 25min Cook 40min 10 servings

Pasta Easy

Herbed Orzo Salad

Rice-shaped orzo, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, parsley and mint come together in a cold lemon and olive oil salad that holds up well when made ahead for lunch. Orzo keeps softening as it soaks up the dressing, so it comes out of the water 1 minute early to stay pleasantly firm. Feta is crumbled in large pieces by hand, leaving salty pockets rather than an even coating.

🍱 Lunchbox

Prep 12min Cook 10min 2 servings

Salads Easy

Quinoa Salad

Cooked quinoa shows a tiny ring around each grain, and its light pop contrasts with juicy cucumber and tomato. Rubbing the grains while rinsing removes their bitter coating, which lets the lemon dressing taste clean. Chopped parsley and thin red onion give the mild grain aroma and bite. Dressed only with olive oil and lemon juice, it goes to the table right after tossing.

🥗 Lighter Meals

Prep 15min Cook 15min 2 servings

Western Hard

Chicken Kyiv

Slice into the breaded chicken and melted garlic-parsley butter runs out from the center. The butter is frozen into a firm cylinder before it is wrapped, so it survives the cooking. The pan only browns the crust, and the oven at 190°C finishes the inside.

Prep 25min Cook 20min 2 servings

Baking Hard

Cassata Siciliana (Sicilian Ricotta Marzipan Layer Cake)

Ricotta sweetened and studded with dark chocolate chips and candied fruit fills a liqueur-soaked sponge shell in this Sicilian celebration cake. Traditional cassata is wrapped in marzipan and a sugar glaze, while this version keeps things simpler with a thin coat of stiffly whipped cream. It is made the day before: an overnight rest in the fridge lets the sponge soak up moisture from the filling so the layers hold together, and thin, cold slices show flecks of fruit through the white cream.

Prep 40min Cook 25min 8 servings

Pasta Easy

Kimchi Bacon Mac and Cheese

A roux-and-milk cheddar sauce made on the stovetop, with the macaroni stirred straight in, keeps this loose and creamy rather than baked and set. Well-fermented kimchi brings sourness and heat, crisped bacon adds salt, and together they cut through the weight of the cheese. The kimchi is fried with the bacon first so its moisture cooks off before it meets the sauce.

Prep 10min Cook 20min 2 servings