Features of cooking dinner, depending on its format. TOP-8 of the best dishes for an evening meal - delicious, hearty and quick. Video recipes.
Dinner is not just another meal, because, as a rule, the whole family gathers at the table to discuss all the events of the day. That is why it is important to give the evening meal a special atmosphere and to approach the cooking process with a soul. There are many options for food, but when choosing recipes, it is worth considering the format of the upcoming evening.
Features of cooking dinner
An evening meal is a very important meal for maintaining a relationship, whether it's a romantic dinner or a family gathering. Ideally, choose delicious and hearty dishes, which can be prepared, if not in haste, then rather quickly, since modern housewives, as a rule, have limited time.
When choosing recipes for dinner, it is imperative to take into account the seasonality of some products - vegetables and fruits, despite their availability in supermarkets even in winter, if you want your meal to be not only tasty, but also healthy. Better yet, think about it in advance and freeze the vegetable mixes in season.
Of course, a hearty and delicious dinner at home involves the use of good meat, ideally take chicken or minced meat if you want to cook something affordable and quick. But pork also does not bake very long. More than once, various meat casseroles will help out as an evening meal, you can also make pasta in the Italian style.
And, of course, when choosing what you can cook for dinner, it is important to take into account the format of the upcoming evening:
- For a relaxing family meal, classic recipes based on the use of vegetables, meat, fish are better suited. In any case, the dishes should be complete. For example, you can make lasagna, bake chicken in the original sauce, and make a salad with lots of greens.
- A festive dinner is quite another matter. For such an occasion, simple and quick recipes alone are indispensable. Dishes for a festive table should not be trivial, choose extraordinary options. An individual approach is important, and imagination is practically unlimited. The basis, say, may well be stuffed poultry or fish baked in the oven with sour cream sauce, but you can choose any salads to your taste, but with the participation of hearty ingredients.
- The main requirement for a romantic dinner: it should be light, give preference to low-fat dishes. And best of all, memorable seafood recipes are suitable for such a meal, as they contain aphrodisiacs, salads with caviar, tiramisu or strudel for dessert.
- If you are wondering how to arrange a dietary dinner, be sure to keep in mind that the evening meal menu should not consist of one apple or a glass of kefir. Not the best way out is to go to bed hungry, because in this case you cannot count on proper sleep and rest. It is worth giving preference to light vegetable dishes in a slow cooker, steamed fish or poultry, salads for dinner, containing the whole complex of vitamins and minerals. For dessert, low-calorie fruits are served.
TOP-8 recipes for delicious dishes for dinner
All housewives, without exception, have to decide every day what delicious to cook for dinner, but so that the whole process does not take much time, because after a hard day there is not so much energy left for cooking. Therefore, we have compiled a selection of the best recipes for an evening meal - hearty and quick dishes that will delight the whole family with their taste characteristics.
Home-style potato and pork roast
An evening meal classic for a large family is stewed potatoes with gravy. To cook a homemade dinner, any meat will do, of course, but the roast is most delicious with pork. This dish is almost universal, as it can be made in a frying pan, in a cauldron, and in an oven.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 100, 8 kcal.
- Servings - 4
- Cooking time - 1 hour
Ingredients:
- Potatoes - 1 kg
- Pork (neck) - 800 g
- Onions - 2 pcs.
- Carrots - 1 pc.
- Garlic - 2-3 cloves
- Bay leaf - 1 pc.
- Peppercorns (mix)
- Ground paprika - 1 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Fresh dill
- Tomato juice or tomato paste
Step-by-step cooking of roast potatoes and pork at home:
- First of all, you should wash the meat and pat dry using paper towels. Cut into small pieces and send them to the pan, where the oil should be preheated.
- Fry the pork for dinner, making the heat high, until golden. Do not forget to stir, otherwise it will burn.
- We wash and peel the onion, cut into small cubes.
- Remove the peel from the carrots and cut into semicircles.
- Add the vegetables to the meat, reduce the heat to medium and cook with a lid until the onions are translucent.
- Peel the potatoes and cut into cubes, salt and sprinkle.
- After adding potatoes to the meat, reduce the heat to low and fill with water, adding a little salt to it. When cooking a roast with tomato paste, dilute it with sugar (1 tablespoon) in salted broth.
- We simmer a delicious potato and pork dish for dinner for 20-25 minutes, covering with a lid.
- Meanwhile, peel the garlic, pass it through a press and add to the roast. Cook the stew for another 5 minutes, keeping the heat on medium.
- Sprinkle chopped herbs on top of the dish before serving homemade dinner.
Spaghetti nests with minced meat, tomatoes and cheese
A very original dish that can add a real zest to the dinner menu. It is baked in the oven, making it incredibly appetizing. Minced meat for cooking spaghetti nests with tomatoes and cheese, you can use chicken or pork.
Ingredients:
- Spaghetti - 400 g
- Minced meat - 250 g
- Tomatoes - 100 g
- Hard cheese - 50 g
- Onions - 50 g
- Vegetable oil - 1 tablespoon
- Ketchup - 2 tablespoons
- Mayonnaise - 2 tablespoons
- Fresh parsley (for serving) - to taste
- Water - 50-70 g
- Salt to taste
- Ground black pepper - to taste
Step by step preparation of spaghetti nests with minced meat, tomatoes and cheese:
- First of all, prepare the sauce by mixing ketchup and mayonnaise.
- Peel the onions and, finely chop, add to the minced meat, salt and pepper it.
- Boil spaghetti, pouring them into salted water, until al dente. They shouldn't be boiled over. Drain the water from the pasta, leaving 50-70 ml, it will be useful for further preparation of a delicious homemade dinner.
- After greasing a baking dish with oil, place the spaghetti in the form of nests in it. It is convenient to do this by screwing them onto a fork. After placing on a baking sheet, make a depression in the middle.
- Grease the blanks with a sauce made from ketchup and mayonnaise.
- Place the minced meat and onions in the grooves made inside the nests.
- Cut the tomato into slices, which should be placed on each nest.
- Spread the chopped cheese over the tomatoes.
- Pour the water left over from the spaghetti into the form with the minced meat dish for dinner to make it juicy.
- We preheat the oven and send the form there. We bake the spaghetti for half an hour at 180 ° C. When using minced pork, the cooking time should be increased to 35 minutes.
- Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley before serving a tasty meal for dinner.
Kabardian chicken gedlibzhe in sour cream
A delicious recipe for dinner - Kabardian gedlibzhe. The original name hides a chicken stewed in a thick sour cream sauce to which garlic and onions are added. Serve with any side dish - potatoes, rice, pasta, and a great meal for the whole family is ready.
Ingredients:
- Chicken - 1 pc.
- Sunflower oil - 2 tablespoons
- Sour cream - 4 tablespoons
- Garlic - 1-2 cloves
- Bulb onions - 1-2 pcs.
- Water or chicken broth - 200 ml
- Wheat flour - 0.5 tbsp.
- Ground paprika - 1 tsp
- Dried basil - 1 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Ground black pepper - to taste
- Greens (dill or parsley) - to taste
Step-by-step preparation of Kabardian chicken gedlibzhe in sour cream:
- We disassemble the washed chicken into pieces and put it skin down on hot vegetable oil. When using poultry, you do not need to add oil, as its skin will give enough fat.
- Fry the chicken until golden brown on both sides.
- Remove the husk from the onion and cut into small pieces.
- Add the onion to the chicken and sauté for a couple of minutes.
- Remove the husks from the garlic, pass through a press and add to the contents of the pan.
- While the chicken dinner is being prepared, make the sauce by dissolving the sour cream in the chicken broth and adding flour in portions. Stir well to avoid clumping.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken and wait for everything to boil.
- Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with dried basil and paprika.
- After mixing thoroughly and covering with a lid, simmer dinner in a pan until tender - about 20 minutes. But if you use poultry, it will take longer.
- Sprinkle with chopped herbs before serving.
Jambalaya from rice and tomatoes
The famous American dish is another option for a light, delicious dinner. There are many recipes for jambalaya, and due to its democratic nature, some ingredients can be replaced with others, but rice and tomatoes are unchanged.
Ingredients:
- Sausages (smoked or smoked) - 400 g
- Rice - 350 g
- Bulb onions - 1 pc.
- Bulgarian pepper - 200 g
- Tomatoes - 300 g
- Garlic - 2 cloves
- Tomato paste - 1 tablespoon
- Vegetable oil - 60 ml
- Fresh parsley - 1 bunch
- Salt to taste
- Ground black pepper - to taste
Step by step cooking rice and tomato jambalaya:
- First of all, you should prepare the tomatoes by making cuts on them. Fill them with boiling water and set them aside for a while.
- Before preparing a delicious dinner quickly and easily, remove the husk from the onion and cut it into cubes.
- Peel the garlic and then chop it with a knife.
- Cut the bell pepper into pieces.
- Now you can go back to the tomatoes, skin them and cut them into cubes.
- Remove the packaging film from the sausages, cut them into slices and fry in preheated vegetable oil.
- In a saucepan, also heat the oil and fry the onion until it becomes transparent.
- During the preparation of dinner, quickly and tasty add bell peppers to the contents of the stewpan and fry.
- Behind him we send peeled and chopped tomatoes and chopped garlic.
- Fill the ingredients with tomato paste, add sausages and rice.
- After mixing everything thoroughly, add hot water so that it is 2 cm higher than the contents.
- Reduce heat and simmer family dinner, lid closed, until rice is cooked.
- Sprinkle with parsley before serving a delicious meal.
Udon noodles with vegetables in teriyaki sauce
One of the most famous dishes of Japanese cuisine, having made it at home, you can expect that dinner for two will be like in the best restaurant. Moreover, the preparation time does not take more than half an hour.
Ingredients:
- Chicken breast - 400 g
- Udon noodles - 200 g
- Sweet pepper - 120 g
- Carrots - 70 g
- Onions - 70 g
- Garlic - 10 g
- Ginger root - 20 g
- Red chili pepper - to taste
- Green onions - 15 g
- Vegetable oil - 3 tablespoons
- Teriyaki sauce - 120 g
- Soy sauce - 50 g
- Salt to taste
- Ground black pepper - 1 tsp
- Fried sesame seeds - 1 tsp
Step-by-step cooking of udon noodles with vegetables in teriyaki sauce:
- First of all, cut the breast into strips.
- Peel the ginger root and, finely chop, fry for a couple of minutes, making the heat medium.
- Then we send the chicken to the pan and fry until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remember to stir.
- At the next stage of preparing a delicious dinner, chop the peeled onions, add to the pan and fry for 2 minutes.
- Peel the carrots, cut into strips and add to the chicken. Fry for a couple of minutes.
- Boil udon noodles, pouring them into salted heated water. We focus on the instructions on the package.
- Further, according to the recipe for a homemade dinner, peel the bell peppers from seeds, remove the stalks and cut into strips. Pour into the contents of the pan and fry for a minute.
- Peel the garlic, chop and add to the rest of the ingredients.
- Having cut the chili into rings, we send it there.
- Mix thoroughly, add soy sauce and teriyaki, a little water, salt and pepper.
- Covering, simmer chicken for dinner with vegetables for 1 minute.
- Rinse the udon noodles, transfer them to the pan, stir and cook for a couple of minutes over low heat.
- In the meantime, chop the green onions and add them to the finished dish after turning off the stove.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Meat casserole with tomatoes and cheese
A hearty dinner option, which in a classic version is prepared on the basis of ground pork and beef, but if there is no time at all, you can whip up the dish, replacing it with sausages. It will, of course, be easier, but no less tasty.
Ingredients:
- Minced pork and beef - 300 g
- Medium potatoes - 3 pcs.
- Tomato - 1 pc.
- Bulb onions - 1 pc.
- Hard cheese - 150 g
- Egg - 1 pc.
- Mayonnaise or sour cream - 100 g
- Salt to taste
- Spices to taste
- Vegetable oil - for lubricating the mold
Step by step cooking of meat casserole with tomatoes and cheese:
- Break the egg into minced meat, salt, pepper and mix everything thoroughly.
- Before preparing a delicious dinner for the family, cut the potatoes into slices.
- Lubricate the mold with oil and lay out the potatoes in the first layer. Do not forget to add salt.
- Next, prepare the sauce by dissolving mayonnaise or sour cream in boiled water, adding spices and salt. If you like hot spices, add mustard to taste.
- Pour the prepared sauce over the potatoes.
- Then peel the onion, cut into half rings and place on top of the vegetable blank.
- The next layer of a delicious potato dinner is minced meat with an egg.
- Place the tomatoes cut into circles on top, and then draw a mesh with mayonnaise.
- Grind the cheese and sprinkle on the dish, and then send the mold to the oven, which should be preheated to a temperature of 200C.
- Bake until the potatoes are tender. Readiness can be checked after half an hour.
Note! To prevent the cheese from browning too much, cover the dish with foil when cooking a casserole for dinner in the oven.
Uzbek pilaf with lamb
Not every housewife loves to make pilaf, because it often turns out to be porridge. However, we suggest you use our recipe and make sure it is as easy as shelling pears to prepare. A delicious dinner for the whole family is guaranteed.
Ingredients:
- Lamb - 1 kg
- Rice (long grain parboiled or other) - 1 kg
- Carrots - 1 kg
- Bulb onions - 4 pcs.
- Garlic - 2 heads
- Fresh hot pepper - 2 pods
- Zira or other spices - to taste
- Salt to taste
- Vegetable oil - 250-300 ml
Step-by-step cooking of Uzbek pilaf with lamb:
- First of all, you should cut the meat.
- Peel the onion and chop it into cubes.
- Cut the peeled carrots into large cubes.
- We heat vegetable oil in a cauldron and fry the onion.
- Pour lamb into them and fry until tender.
- Add carrots, salt, sprinkle with spices and cook for some time.
- Put the washed rice into a cauldron and pour boiling water over it. The water should cover it by about a couple of centimeters. It is important that there is not much of it, otherwise there is a risk that the rice will boil over.
- Bring the cereals to a boil without covering the cauldron, and then salt if necessary.
- After boiling, send whole heads of garlic to the rice, but previously peeled from the top husk.
- Add chili pods next.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover the cauldron with a lid and cook the pilaf for 20 minutes.
- After the indicated time, check it for readiness, add hot water if necessary and leave it for a while. Make sure that the rice does not become too soft.
- After turning off the heat, set the pilaf aside to infuse for 20 minutes. And you can serve it to the table.
Lazy meat pies
If you don't know what to cook for dinner, check out this recipe. Lazy pies are prepared very quickly, as they use ready-made puff pastry from the store, and due to the addition of minced meat and eggs, they turn out to be very tasty and satisfying.
Ingredients:
- Puff pastry (store) - 500 g
- Minced pork - 500 g
- Eggs - 3 pcs.
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Cooking lazy meat pies step by step:
- At the first stage, heat the vegetable oil in a pan and fry the minced meat. Salt, pepper and stir.
- In the meantime, boil the eggs. After they have cooled, cut them into small pieces and mix with the minced meat.
- We roll out the finished puff pastry in the store, which needs to be cut into squares - blanks for future pies. You should have 15 pieces.
- Put the minced meat in the center of each square of dough using a spoon.
- Next, you should connect their edges, leaving the center unbuttoned, that is, open.
- Greasing a baking sheet with vegetable oil, spread the pies with minced meat at some distance from each other.
- We preheat the oven and send the baking sheet there.
- We bake the pies for 20 minutes at 200 ° C.
