My Recipe Critic: Easy Dinner, Dessert & Snack Recipes

Everyday Recipes for Dinners, Desserts, Snacks and Breakfasts

My Recipe Critic is a collection of home-style recipes sorted into four categories: main dishes, desserts and sweets, appetizers and snacks, and breakfast and brunch. The recipes are written for ordinary kitchens, with ingredients from a regular supermarket and steps that assume no special equipment. The sections below explain what is in each category and how to get reliable results from the recipes.

What You Can Find Here

Main Dishes

The largest category, Main Dishes, covers weeknight dinners, one-pan meals, grill and slow cooker recipes, soups and meal-prep lunches. Examples include a Southwest chicken bowl for meal prep, a hearty pub-style chili and a cheesy hashbrown casserole. If you cook on a tight schedule, the collections on easy chicken dinners, tortellini and ground beef meals are good places to start.

Desserts and Sweets

Desserts & Sweets leans toward cookies, bars, cakes and no-bake treats. You will find a soft, chewy snickerdoodle, rice crispy treats, hot chocolate cheesecake bars and a blueberry mug cake for when you want something sweet in two minutes. There are also seasonal collections, such as Valentine's Day desserts and gluten-free zucchini bread.

Appetizers and Snacks

The Appetizers & Snacks category is built around dips, finger foods and light bites for game days, parties and after-school hunger. Recipes such as crispy panko mozzarella sticks, street corn salad with lime crema and simple cherry tomato salads work as a starter, a side or a snack plate.

Breakfast and Brunch

Breakfast & Brunch includes quick weekday options and slower weekend dishes: silky scrambled eggs, a spinach and mushroom frittata, pancake sausage bites and a cheesy breakfast casserole that can be assembled ahead.

How Recipes Are Prepared

Each recipe is developed and edited so that the steps are clear, the times and temperatures are realistic, and the ingredient list is easy to shop for. Where it makes sense, recipes include notes on ingredient substitutions and food-safety points such as safe internal temperatures and how long leftovers keep.

The recipes are written by four author profiles, each with a focus area: Avery Malone on fast, crispy weeknight food, Diego Hart on one-pan meals and meal prep, Lila Beaumont on baking, and Carter Nguyen on grilling, barbecue and the slow cooker.

Using the Recipes: Practical Tips

• Read the whole recipe first. Check the ingredient list, equipment and any resting, chilling or marinating time before you start, so nothing surprises you halfway through.
• Treat times as a guide. Ovens, pans and stovetops vary. Use the listed time to plan, then judge doneness by color, texture and, for meat, a thermometer.
• Use a food thermometer. Poultry is safe at 165°F, ground meats at 160°F, and whole cuts of beef at 145°F, followed by a short rest. Color alone is not a reliable guide.
• Check allergens yourself. Labels change between brands, so read the packaging on every ingredient if you cook for someone with an allergy or intolerance.
• Substitute with care. Swapping herbs, vegetables or a similar cheese is usually safe. In baking, changes to flour, sugar, fat or leavening can change the texture, so make one change at a time.

Storage and Make-Ahead Basics

Cool cooked food promptly and refrigerate it within two hours; in hot weather, aim for one hour. Most cooked dishes keep three to four days in sealed containers in the refrigerator. Soups, chilis, casseroles and many baked goods freeze well, so portion them before freezing and label the containers with the date. Reheat leftovers until steaming hot throughout.

Cookies and bars usually keep best in an airtight container at room temperature, while anything with cream cheese, custard or fresh fruit topping belongs in the refrigerator.

Find Something to Cook

If you already know what you want, browse a category above. If you are working from what is in the fridge, try the themed collections, such as cherry tomato recipes, school lunch ideas, flatbread pizzas or easy fall chicken dinners. Questions about a recipe or a correction to suggest? Use the contact page, and read the About page for more on the site.