14 Comfort Food Recipes for Cosy Dinners, Sides and Pudding

These comfort food recipes are the dishes I reach for when the evenings draw in, the rain hits the window sideways and everyone wants something warm in a bowl. All fourteen come from my own kitchen, so every one has been cooked, photographed and happily eaten at our table more times than I can count.

In short, here are 14 cosy recipes: five classic dinners, four slow or creamy bowls, four sides and breads and one warm pudding. They range from about 25 minutes for cheesy garlic bread to 6 to 8 hours on Low for slow cooker beef stroganoff, and they serve 4 to 10.

I have sorted them the way I actually cook: proper dinners first, then the slow and creamy bowls, then the sides and breads that make a meal feel generous, and finally one warm pudding. After that you will find a time chart, a cosy week of dinners, my make-ahead and freezer notes and the questions readers ask me most.

Classic Comfort Food Recipes for Dinner

These five are the old favourites, the dinners that taste like someone who loves you made them. Most are oven bakes, so once they go in you can sit down for a minute.

1. Chicken Pot Pie With Biscuits

Chicken pot pie with biscuits is a creamy chicken, pea and carrot filling baked under flaky biscuits, ready in about an hour and serving 4. If I had to choose one dish to sum up this whole list, it would be this pot pie. The filling is silky with thyme, peas and plenty of shredded chicken, and instead of fiddly pastry I sit fat, flaky biscuits on top. They puff up golden while the sauce bubbles round the edges, which is honestly the best sound in my kitchen.

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2. Chicken and Dumplings Casserole

This chicken and dumplings casserole is the classic without the pot watching, an oven bake ready in about an hour that serves 4. Soft vegetables and shredded chicken go into a dish, a simple pancake style batter is poured over, and then the soup and broth go on top. In the oven the batter rises through the liquid and bakes into tender dumplings with a crisp, golden lid. My children call it the cuddle casserole.

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3. Baked Mac and Cheese

Baked mac and cheese is macaroni in a three cheese white sauce under a buttered crumb topping that crunches when the spoon goes in, ready in 45 minutes. Because I take the pan off the heat before the cheese goes in, the sauce stays glossy instead of grainy. It is the dish my teenagers request for birthday dinners, and I am more than happy to oblige.

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4. Easy Meatloaf

Easy meatloaf takes one bowl, one pound of beef and a sticky ketchup glaze, then bakes at 350°F for 55 to 60 minutes. The secret is grated onion and breadcrumbs soaked in milk, which keep the loaf tender rather than dense. I pull it at 155°F and let it rest, because ThermoWorks explains nicely in their guide to meatloaf temperatures that carryover heat takes it safely to 160°F without drying it out.

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5. Fried Chicken Drumsticks

Fried chicken drumsticks take 2 hr 28 min in total, most of it the milk marinade, and serve 6. Sunday fried chicken is a ritual in our house. The drumsticks soak in salted milk, which does most of what buttermilk does with something already in the fridge, then get a firm press into seasoned flour. Fried a few at a time, the coating turns craggy and deep gold while the meat stays juicy right to the bone.

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Slow, Creamy Bowls

When I want dinner to look after itself, I turn to these. Two cook low and slow, and two are quick stovetop bowls that still feel indulgent.

6. Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Slow cooker beef stroganoff needs 10 minutes of prep, then 6 to 8 hours on Low. Everything goes into the pot in the morning, and by teatime the chuck is soft enough to cut with a spoon. The sauce is rich with mushrooms and Worcestershire, and the soured cream goes in right at the end, warmed with a ladle of sauce first so it never splits. Spoon it over buttery egg noodles and the whole table goes quiet.

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7. Crockpot Lasagna

Crockpot lasagna is a meat sauce and ricotta lasagna that cooks on Low for 4 to 5 hours and feeds 8. I resisted slow cooker lasagna for years, and I was wrong. The uncooked sheets soften in the meat sauce, the ricotta layer turns creamy, and you never have to boil a single noodle. Better still, the oven stays free. I just break the sheets to fit my pot, which is completely normal and gives nice even layers.

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Both of these slow cooker dinners fit comfortably in a 6 quart slow cooker, which is the size I would point you towards if you are feeding six or more.

8. Chicken Risotto With Bacon and Peas

This chicken risotto with bacon and peas is a one pan stovetop dinner ready in about 50 minutes, serving 6. Stirring risotto is my favourite kind of therapy at the end of a long day. Smoky bacon and chicken thighs go in first, then the rice, then the hot stock a ladle at a time. Mascarpone, Parmesan and a squeeze of lemon at the end make it creamy without being heavy, and the peas add little bursts of sweetness.

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9. Creamy Tomato Soup

Creamy tomato soup is a 35 minute store cupboard soup that serves 4. This is what I make when the cupboard looks bare and everyone is tired. Two tins of chopped tomatoes, a soft onion and a little butter simmer into something far better than it has any right to be, then get blended silky smooth. Of course, it begs for a grilled cheese sandwich alongside, and I never argue.

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For the risotto and the tomato soup, I like a heavy pot such as an enamelled Dutch oven, because the thick base keeps everything from catching while it simmers.

Sides and Breads

Honestly, the sides are half the joy of comfort food recipes like these. These four go with nearly everything above.

10. Buttery Mashed Potatoes

Buttery mashed potatoes take 30 minutes from peeling to the table and serve 4. No meal on this list is complete without a mound of these. I steam the drained potatoes dry in the hot pot, mash them by hand, then add the butter before the warm cream. That order matters, because it coats the starch and keeps everything light. They go with the meatloaf, the stroganoff and frankly a spoon on its own.

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11. Cheesy Garlic Bread

Cheesy garlic bread is a halved loaf topped with garlic butter, a little olive oil, mozzarella and Parmesan, baked for 10 to 12 minutes at 350°F until the cheese bubbles. That is the whole recipe, and it disappears faster than anything else I make. I serve it with the lasagna and the tomato soup, and I always make more than I think we need.

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12. Skillet Cornbread

Skillet cornbread is ready in 32 minutes at 400°F and makes 8 slices. The batter hits a sizzling, buttered cast iron pan, and that is what gives you the crunchy edges everyone fights over. It is gently sweet, needs no buttermilk and comes together in one bowl while the oven heats. Next to a bowl of soup or a plate of fried chicken, it feels like a proper Sunday supper.

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13. Easy Homemade Biscuits

Easy homemade biscuits are soft yogurt biscuits baked for about 12 minutes at 425°F, serving 4. Rub cold butter into flour, add yogurt, pat, cut and bake. These soft, tender little biscuits are on the table in about half an hour, and they are lovely warm with butter and jam. In fact, I sometimes use them as a cheat topping for the pot pie when I am out of the shop bought ones.

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Something Warm for Pudding

14. Easy Peach Cobbler

Easy peach cobbler is the warm pudding here, baked at 350°F for 40 to 45 minutes and serving 6. Every cosy dinner deserves a warm pudding, and this is ours. Sliced peaches with cinnamon and vanilla go into the dish, a simple buttery batter is poured over, and the oven does the rest. The fruit turns jammy underneath while the top bakes golden. Serve it warm with ice cream melting into the cracks.

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All 14 Comfort Food Recipes at a Glance

Here are all fourteen recipes side by side, so you can plan a whole cosy meal from one table. Times and servings come from the recipe cards, and some of the longer times include slow cooking or marinating.

Comfort Food Recipes by the Clock

Comfort should not mean a whole afternoon at the stove, so here is how long each of these comfort food recipes really takes, start to finish. Some are quick and some are slow, so you can pick by the time you have, not just the mood you are in.

A Cosy Week of Dinners

If you want a plan rather than a list, this is a week of comfort food recipes I have genuinely cooked. Each night pairs a main with a side, and nothing clashes on the shopping list.

• Monday: creamy tomato soup with cheesy garlic bread.
• Tuesday: slow cooker beef stroganoff, started before work.
• Wednesday: easy meatloaf with buttery mashed potatoes.
• Thursday: chicken risotto with bacon and peas.
• Friday: baked mac and cheese, because it is Friday.
• Saturday: crockpot lasagna for friends, with peach cobbler afterwards.
• Sunday: fried chicken drumsticks with skillet cornbread, or chicken pot pie if it is raining.

Make Ahead and Freezer Guide

Several of these comfort food recipes are brilliant for batch cooking, and a few are not. So, straight from my recipe cards:

• Freeze happily: crockpot lasagna and meatloaf slices for up to 3 months, the stroganoff beef for up to two months, and the tomato soup in portions.
• Freeze before baking: the mac and cheese keeps its texture best frozen unbaked.
• Make ahead, do not freeze: the pot pie filling keeps 2 days in the fridge, and the cobbler fruit can be prepped a day ahead.
• Eat fresh: the risotto turns grainy after freezing, so enjoy leftovers from the fridge within 3 days.

Mississippi State University Extension has a helpful list of dos and don’ts for freezing food, including cooling dishes to fridge temperature first and freezing in flat containers. In addition, they note that crumb toppings do not freeze well, which is exactly why I add the mac and cheese crumbs on baking day.

Tips for Better Comfort Food Recipes

• Season at the end. Soups and sauces reduce as they cook, so I taste and add salt only once they are nearly done.
• Take creamy sauces off the heat. Cheese and soured cream split over direct heat, so stir them in off the flame or temper them first.
• Rest the big bakes. Lasagna, meatloaf and cobbler all set as they rest, so ten to twenty minutes on the side means neat slices.
• Use a thermometer. It takes the guesswork out of meatloaf and fried chicken, and it stops you overcooking anything out of worry.
• Double the freezer friendly ones. Comfort is even better when it is already made on a busy Tuesday.

Frequently Asked Questions