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101 easy recipes to cook for dinner tonight

The answer to 'what should I cook for dinner tonight?' is 'many, many fabulous things.'

Oven-baked chicken thighs with olive, tomato and lemon Source: Adam Liaw

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What a rush The Cook Up with Adam Liaw
has been. Almost as big a rush as a family trying to put dinner on the table every night.

Thanks to Adam and his entertaining guests, things are now much calmer in kitchens across Australia. What's for dinner tonight? A quick skim through The Cook Up recipes and that question is finally solved. Not just what to serve for the main meal, but how to win favours by dishing up dessert, too.

Here are 101 meals that are sure to please your gang. Night after night after night.

Nail the main

1. Umami bolognese

Stop it: it's vegan. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

This is fusion-cooking done so right it's practically nuclear. Its Japanese and Italian flavours are given a Vegemite bomb to make

your family's new favourite dinner

2. Oven-baked chicken thighs

A simple, tasty dish of chicken with olives, cherry tomatoes and lemon. Source: Adam Liaw

Every home cook needs a decent one-pan, oven-baked dish they can pull together fast and then just whack into the oven while life goes on.

This is that magical dish

3. Beef and snow peas

There's something about snow peas that are irresistible. Kids who run a mile from any other vegetable will happily dive into a bowlful of

this beef and snow pea stir-fry

4. Schnitzel with kale slaw and oven chips

Adding kale makes it a health food, right? Source: Adam Liaw

Go the schnitty

Quick crumb schnitzel and hot bean salad

Barramundi schnitzel with cucumber salad

7. Udon with miso and Asian vegetables

The day feels much better just looking at this dish. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

Nourishing, nutritious, full of goodness. An

udon bowl is exactly what you need

at the end of a long day.

8. Atkilt alicha

This vegan stew is delicately spiced with everything nice. Source: Adam Liaw

For a fresh take on an age-old family dinner, give

this super-tasty Ethiopian vego stew

a whirl one night.

9. Whole-spiced roasted pumpkin

Do pumpkin differently with a roasted version dressed with spices and served with a homemade buttermilk curd. Source: Adam Liaw

Slow-roasted pumpkin

makes such a delightful dinner

. Colin Fassnidge packs in the spices and tops the whole thing off with a tangy buttermilk curd.

Thai pumpkin soup

Caramelised onion and pumpkin tart

12. Pan-seared white fish with sautéed kale

'Fish and green veg are a bit of a staple in my house,' says Hayden Quinn. Source: Adam Liaw

'Fish and vege' make the

ideal weeknight dinner

. Fast to make and fresh to eat.

13. Corn pakoras with chaat masala

Basically an extra-super-fancy corn fritter. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

Chaat is India’s favourite genre of snacking street food for a reason.

This version

has a long ingredients list, but is as quick to make as you'd expect from a street favourite.

14. Jacket potato party

Keep your potato size generous and your topping selections even bigger. Source: Adam Liaw

Put the

fun back into dinner

15. Mee goreng with spicy eggs

Source: Danielle Abou Karam

For maximum enjoyment, dinner should be a 'street food favourite'. They're the kind of dishes that are so tasty they

make every meal an exclamation

Enqulal firfir (Ethiopian scrambled eggs)

Egg and bacon salad

18. Quinoa poke bowl

Particularly welcome if you have kids obsessed with sushi. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

Bowl food is

basically our favourite way to eat

. Even when it's this healthy.

19. All-veg tomato sauce pasta

More is more when it comes to veggies. Source: Adam Liaw

This tomato sauce

that contains onion, carrots, capsicum, celery, zucchinis, garlic, basil and, of course, tomatoes. Colin Fassnidge has kids. He gets it.

Picnic pasta with tuna and capers

Rigatoni boscaiola

22. Sausage and brown rice minestrone

Everything that's good is in this bowl. Source: Adam Liaw

Adam turns the already comforting minestrone into

something yet more hearty

with minced Italian sausage and rice.

23. KL hokkein mee

The answer to 'should we have

noodles for dinner

?' is always, 'yes please!'.

Duck noodles with red cabbage

Easy Singapore noodles

26. Chicken pot pie

There's little more comforting, or satisfying, than sinking into a fresh, hot chicken pie. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

The other correct answer to 'what should we have for dinner?'

is 'pie'

27. TV spaghetti

Even the TV won't distract you from the gloriousness of this dish. Source: Adam Liaw

Naming this dish 'TV spaghetti' does not do it justice. It's actually a

one-pot wonder that melts together

anchovies, parsley and chilli to conquer the summit of your pasta mountain.

Spaghetti bottarga

Spaghetti carbonara

30. Ten-minute cheeseburgers

Another zippy favourite, zhushed by Adam to be

more than the sum of its parts

. Is it the brioche burger bun? The Japanese mayo? Or the carefully placed dill pickle? All of the above.

Chicken katsu burger

Korean cheeseburgers

33. Easy butter chicken

Jessica Rowe does not muck around when it comes to easy dinners. Source: Adam Liaw

'Easy butter chicken

' sounds less like a recipe title and more like a chorus of family dinner bells echoing across the suburbs.

34. 'Shepherd's pie' with sweet potato mash

Healthy food and delicious meals should be mutually exclusive things. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

When it works this well, there's nothing quite like the

re-invention of an old favourite

35. Vegetable confit risotto

With a slow-cooked vegetable confit and tender arborio rice cooked in stock and white wine, this is a deluxe vegetarian risotto. Source: Adam Liaw

Meatless Monday

never looked so good

Risotto with herbs and agrodolce

Mushroom and bacon risotto

38. Stuffed baby eggplants

Creamy baked eggplant stuffed with lamb and pine nuts, topped with herbs and served with Greek yoghurt. Source: Adam Liaw

Sheikh el mehshi

brings Middle Eastern comfort food to your weeknight menu.

39. Lizzy Hoo's silken tofu dinner

How can just five ingredients taste so good? Source: Adam Liaw

This was 'the favourite'

in Lizzy's share house back in the day. They'd eat it three or four times a week, but cooking it tonight for dinner would be a great start.

40. Easy parmesan chicken with herb salad

Another 'crumbed-delight', but

with a cheesy twist

. One for the low-carb schnitty lovers.

41. Hokkaido salmon chanchan

This is one of the easiest and fastest dinners you could imagine. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

The combination of buttery vegetables, tender salmon and savoury miso is

perfect for any dinner

Roasted battata harra with salmon

Salmon foil-yaki

44. Steak Diane

With deep, rich flavours you know and love, it's time to bring back this classic. Source: Adam Liaw

Throw it back to the sixties with

this retro steak Diane dinner

. Follow it up with a bomb Alaska dessert is you truly want to set the nostalgia on fire.

45. Pork belly one-tray roast

Pork belly one tray roast and roast potatoes

PS - this dish is worth making for the crunchy roast potatoes alone. Source: SBS

Dishwashing fact: any dish with the world 'one-tray' in it's title is instantly 50 per cent

better than any other dish

Lemongrass pork belly on rice

Roast pork belly with apple, soy and ginger

48. Chase's sukiyaki

Sukiyaki is traditionally cooked at the table, making it both meal and entertainment in one. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

Chase Kojima served up this

hearty Japanese hot pot

and we all dived in, mouth-first.

49. Roast tomato soup with rosemary cheesy flatbreads

Roast rosemary tomato soup with rosemary cheese flatbreads

And it's all cooked in the oven. Source: Adam Liaw

Homemade soup

meets homemade bread. #wholesome

Čorba

Chicken and vegetable soup with parsley pesto

52. Hainanese pork chops with onion gravy

Emphatically

not your run-of-the-mill pork chop dinner

thanks to an 'enchanting' Chinese-inspired gravy.

53. Red wine and rosemary teriyaki roast lamb

Roast lamb travels well. Source: Adam Liaw

A simple roast lamb

takes a spin through Japan

, turning red wine and rosemary into a rich teriyaki glaze.

Cumin lamb and zucchini foldovers

White curry lamb (safed maas)

56. Kid-friendly dhal

This is a great base recipe that isn’t confronting for kids at all. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

Because feeding your kids a bowl of lentils for dinner is the

pinnacle of smug parent achievement

57. Fried tofu with spring onion

Fried tofu with spring onion and red chilli

Tuck into tofu for an easy, satisfying dinner option. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

An easy one-pan (there's that magical phrase again!)

vegetarian dinner

that will take 15 minutes to get on the table.

58. Whole baby snapper with chorizo

Whole baby snapper with chorizo, tomato and peppers

Another sterling dish that politely cooks itself in the oven. Source: Adam Liaw

massive amount of flavour

from chorizo, tomato and capsicum somehow manages to balance the delicate fish, not overpower it.

Turmeric barbecued fish with tomato sambal

Double chilli flounder

61. Lemon chicken

Adam's version of the Chinese takeaway classic includes a rice wine and ginger sauce instead of the usual gluey marinade associated with the dish. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

The restaurant family

favourite comes home

62. Lamb mince ali nazik

You simply can't go wrong with one of the

63. Avocado green goddess

The green goddess dressing is a must in any fridge. Drizzled over this salad, slathered on jacket potatoes, or dipped onto vegetables, it's good. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

Bring on the

salads for dinner

. Throw everything you've got in there for maximum flavour and nutrition.

Chargrilled baby corn and wagyu salad

Sukiyaki salad

66. Baked heirloom tomatoes

Take a trip to Southern France one evening soon. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

When tomatoes are in season, there is

simply no finer dinner

67. Trofie al pesto

The Ligurian city of Genova is the home of true pesto Genovese made with basil, salt, oil, garlic and pine nuts. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

Pesto pasta has long been the

go-to last-minute dinner

of many a family. Now it's time to ditch the jar.

68. Beef and broccolini with oyster sauce

Drawing on the 'holy trinity' of Chinese cooking, Adam shares his simple steak stir-fry with ginger, onions and garlic. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

This looks exactly like a dinner most families

would devour in seconds

. Fortunately, it's prepared in much the same amount of time.

Broccoli and sausage pizza

Salt and pepper broccolini with green chilli vinegar

71. Peanut butter curry

Step aside butter chicken, there's a

new kid favourite in town

72. Foul mudammas

Fava beans and chickpeas seasoned with tahini, lemon and garlic make for a light and fresh vegan meal. Source: Adam Liaw

Perhaps some of the appeal of this

Middle Eastern favourite

is lost in translation, but don't let the name stop you. It's a tasty-as vegan classic that's healthy to boot.

73. Frying pan kabab khashkhash

This Syrian kabab is made from lamb mince and served on roasted tomatoes. Source: Adam Liaw

Skip the barbecue and fry your kabab in the pan on the stove. Those

moreish Middle Eastern flavours are all there

and some.

74. Chicken and mushroom doria

Think of a gratin of béchamel over rice. Source: Adam Liaw

Doria is an Italian-inspired dish that originated in France, but now only seems to exist in Japan

where it is phenomenally popular

75. American hot wings with ranch dressing

Dipping wings into sauce is such a fun way to eat. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

Chicken wings may be cheap and cheerful, but when they're

spiced just right

they're also spectacular.

Fried chicken wings

Slow-roasted chicken wings

Dish these desserts

78. Tofu doughnuts

Deep-fry your sweet tofu batter then dust with cinnamon, icing sugar or sweetened kinako powder. Done. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

Dessert-inject some protein with Adam's

crunchy tofu doughnuts

. They take a tiny 15 minutes from whoa to go.

79. Four-ingredient flan

Adam nails a

dessert that's both crowd and cook pleaser

. Five minutes of prep for an evening of 'you're the best cook ever's.

80. Crispy banana split

As if a banana split wasn't already amazing, now there's a deep-fried version. Source: Adam Liaw

A banana split is always a good idea, particularly when the

banana is deep-fried to crispy perfection

. Do try this one at home.

81. Hot chocolate tart

A shortcut way to a knockout tart using everyone’s favourite ingredients. Source: Adam Liaw

A silky tart

filled with a blend of chocolate, Tim Tams and mini marshmallows is always going to make the list.

Danielle Alvarez's shaker lemon tart

Tarte tatin

84. Cherry clafoutis

This extremely simple dish from southern France is no more difficult than cherries set in a sweet base. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

It's French, so it has to be complicated and fiddly, right? Wrong! But it does have to be luxurious and special and

a cherry clafoutis is all that and more

85. Vietnamese coffee tiramisu

bow

86. Super vanilla ice-cream

This ice-cream is a labour of love, and very much worth the wait. Source: Adam Liaw

Sometimes it just

isn't about convenience

87. Sticky banana and white chocolate puddings

Sticky banana and white chocolate puddings with butterscotch sauce

The rich butterscotch sauce is a giveaway that this is a take on the perennially popular sticky toffee pudding. Source: Adam Liaw

A good pudding is

everything we love about dessert

. Sweet, comforting and endlessly satisfying.

Pouding chomeur (unemployment pudding)

Panettone bread and butter pudding

90. Emergency apple crumble

This dish is beyond easy to make and super-easy to cook. Store the leftover raw crumble in the freezer for later pressing pudding emergencies. Source: Adam Liaw

If you've never

needed an emergency pudding

, you're doing everything right. Make this one anyway.

91. Whipped ricotta with charred peaches

Sweet peaches, creamy ricotta and tangy pickled shallot come together for a beautiful (and different) dessert. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

A fruity dessert ends the meal just right. In this one, Adam adds a pickled shallot

twist to keep us on our toes

Roasted apricots with mascarpone and pistachio

Coconut water and lychee jellies

94. Toasted marshmallows

If you've never tried a homemade marshmallow, you've never tried a marshmallow. Source: Adam Liaw

This is the kind of sweet that would really

keep the jacket potato party going

(see above).

95. Vegan black sesame and coconut ice-cream

Vegan black sesame and coocnut ice-cream

All you need is a blender. Source: Adam Liaw

A quick

four-step, no-churn ice-coconut cream

that will be on high-rotation in no time at all.

96. Vegan snickers

This recipe is the healthy version of a Snickers bar, without the lack of flavour that comes with some 'tastes like' desserts. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

This is exactly how you

want to finish dinner

, right?

97. Strawberry, white chocolate and crème fraiche galette

Strawberry and white chocolate and crème fraiche galette

Make your own pastry to really send this dessert into the taste stratosphere. It's a texture thing, too. Source: Danielle Abou Karam

The French love a good pastry dessert, and dishes like

Phoebe Wood's strawberry galette are why

Strawberry shortcake

Roasted strawberries with ice-cream and almonds

100. Loukoumades with honey and cinnamon

Loukoumades are equal-parts savoury and sweet. Much like many yiayias. Source: Adam Liaw

Once you get the hang of them, delicious

loukoumades are a breeze to make

. Just ask any yiayia.

101. Biscotti

Biscotti or lady fingers are wildly popular in Italy and pretty much the entire world. Source: Adam Liaw

We'll let biscotti

have the last word here

. Because biscuits really are the best way to end both meals and mammoth favourites lists.

Can never get enough

Eggplant omelette (tortang talong)

Gobi manchurian

All-in chicken

Golden syrup spiced banana bread

Korean sticky lamb ribs with pa muchim

Grandma pizza

Chilli honey baked chicken

Gnocchi with cavolo nero pesto

Periyaki chicken

Bully beef with steamed rice

Steak frites with merne ntange butter

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7 min read

Published 8 February 2023 10:03am

Updated 17 February 2023 11:32am

By Bron Maxabella