24 Dinners That Can Be Made in a Dutch Oven
Grab your Dutch oven and make one of these healthy dinner recipes. Whether you're simmering a soup or roasting a chicken, a Dutch oven is the perfect vessel for cooking. Recipes like Baked Rice with Roasted Corn, Peppers & Onions and Spicy Tofu Hotpot are filling and flavorful.
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White Turkey Chili
This healthy white turkey chili recipe is gorgeous, with flecks of green from zucchini, oregano and green chiles. To keep the saturated fat low, we use one pound of ground turkey and add whole-grain bulgur to boost the volume and fiber in this chili recipe. After all the ingredients are added to the pot, we like to slowly simmer our chili for close to an hour to develop the best flavor, but if you're in a hurry, reduce the liquid by half and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.
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Basic Whole Roast Chicken
This roasted chicken recipe may be the most useful recipe you'll ever find. It's a meal on its own or the start of any recipe that calls for cooked chicken--perfect for meal-prepping lunches or dinners to have throughout the week.
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Sweet & Sour Cabbage Rolls
Lean ground turkey and brown rice seasoned with fresh dill and caraway seeds makes a moist filling for these stuffed cabbage rolls. They're baked in a combination of tomato sauce, lemon juice and honey for the familiar sweet-and-sour flavor typical of the dish.
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Springtime Cacio e Pepe
"Cacio e pepe" means "cheese and pepper" in Italian. This spaghetti dish, with fresh asparagus and baby arugula, is flavored with "cacio e pepe" and a little lemon zest. It's simple to prepare and on the table in just 25 minutes.
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Spicy Tofu Hotpot
Warm up a chilly evening with this light but satisfying one-pot meal. The tofu absorbs the flavors of this fragrant, spicy broth, making it anything but bland. Look for fresh Chinese-style noodles in the refrigerated case of your supermarket alongside wonton wrappers.
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Chicken Chili Verde
Prepared salsa verde adds tang to this fast weeknight chili recipe and pairs beautifully with the rich caramelized chicken and creamy beans. Don't shy away from the poblano peppers. They offer a mild heat but deliver a depth of flavor you can't find in regular green bell peppers.
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Chicken Tagine
This quick version of a traditional recipe can be made in about 30 minutes using a beloved kitchen hack: shredded rotisserie chicken! The shredded meat simmers briefly in a flavor-packed base that is rich with garlic and spices, sweetened with dates, and tangy from olives and preserved lemons. The addition of lentils and garbanzo beans makes this a hearty one-pot supper, though you can serve it with rice, couscous, or pita bread.
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Baked Rice with Roasted Corn, Peppers & Onions
This filling rice casserole, loosely based on paella, features seared corn, roasted peppers, garlic and red onions. If you like, include diced zucchini or chopped green beans as well. A flavorful roasted garlic mayonnaise makes a luxurious topping.
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Thai Chicken Soup
The only pot you'll need for this quick and delicious Thai-inspired chicken soup is a Dutch oven. Everything is cooked in the same pot, which means after 30 minutes you'll be enjoying your soup and not worrying about a messy cleanup to follow!
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Seafood Chowder Casserole
New England seafood chowder inspired the flavors here, but we've enhanced them further with Gruyère cheese and a crispy crumb topping. We like the combination of shrimp, cod and crab, but feel free to experiment with other types of seafood--scallops, clams and mahi-mahi would also work well.
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Hamburger Buddy
Very finely chopping onion, mushrooms and carrots in the food processor is not only fast--it makes the vegetables hard to detect for picky eaters. They also form the base for the sauce of this ground beef skillet supper. Make it a meal: Serve with a green salad.
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Hearty Beef and Vegetable Stew
This warming beef stew simmers in a Dutch oven and gets classic flavor from red wine.
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Bow Tie Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli
Light mayonnaise makes an easy sauce for the chicken and pasta. It also helps keep the fat and calories down in this recipe.
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Coq au Vin
This flavorful French chicken stew is all about the wine, so use a bottle that's so good you can enjoy a glass while you cook.
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Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta
This zesty Cajun-style pasta is full of lean chicken, peppers and onions. Serve with sautéed green beans.
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Kale-Powered Pasta
Add kale to multigrain pasta for a nutrient-packed dish to power you through the day.
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Italian Mussels & Pasta
This combination of mussels with plenty of garlic, parsley, saffron and white wine was inspired by the Venetian soup zuppa de peoci, which is usually ladled over sliced crusty bread. Here we serve it over pasta. For a more elegant presentation you can remove the mussels from their shells before serving…but then again, who wants to be elegant? Enjoy!
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Easy Miso-Chicken Ramen
Warm up a chilly evening with this healthy chicken-and-vegetable ramen noodle bowl recipe. For a little spice, top with hot sauce, such as Sriracha. Look for dried curly Chinese-style noodles near other Asian ingredients in most well-stocked supermarkets. For a substitute, try whole-wheat angel hair pasta and cook for a few minutes longer.
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Grilled Salmon with Kale Sauté
In this healthy dinner recipe, salmon fillets are seasoned with a zesty dry rub, grilled and served with a simple side--lemon-seasoned sautéed kale and shallots. Sometimes simple is best!
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Buffalo Chicken Casserole
We took the classic flavors of Buffalo wings--hot sauce, blue cheese, carrots and celery--and created a finger-licking-good casserole. Serve this dish during football season to a hungry crowd and it's sure to be a hit. We don't typically recommend ingredients by brand name, but in this case we make an exception for Frank's RedHot Sauce. It has the perfect balance of spice and tang for this casserole. Texas Pete and Crystal hot sauces are suitable alternatives if you can't find Frank's.
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Puerto Rican Fish Stew (Bacalao)
Bacalao, salted dried codfish, is the defining ingredient in traditional Puerto Rican fish stew, but salt cod requires overnight soaking and several rinses in cool water before it can be used, so we opt for fresh fish in this quick version. Serve with crusty rolls to soak up the juices.
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Chicken Alfredo
Satisfy your cravings with this rich and creamy chicken Alfredo recipe. Top with Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley for an unforgettable meal.
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Squash & Leek Lasagna
Grated butternut squash, pine nuts and sautéed leeks in a creamy white sauce are layered with sheets of whole-wheat pasta for this wintery variation on a vegetable lasagna. Any Parmesan cheese can be used in this casserole, but we recommend Parmigiano-Reggiano for its superior flavor.
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Arroz con Pollo
Arroz con pollo, or chicken cooked with rice, is a common dish in Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean. We use quick-cooking brown rice here to help you get this on the table in just 40 minutes. Serve with a mixed green salad tossed with cilantro-lime vinaigrette.