Hands Down, These Are the Coziest Recipes to Cook This October

Make one basic dough, then create the toppings you and your family like best. These small focaccias are great for parties and make good sandwich breads too. You’ll need 4 (6-in.-wide, 3-in.-deep) cake pans to make this recipe. The pans’ high sides keep the focaccia from drying out while baking.

A touch of honey in the dressing brings out the roasted vegetables’ natural sweetness, and their meaty texture satisfies even the carnivores at the table. For an extra layer of flavor, serve the salad with shaved parmesan or asiago cheese.

Some butternut squash soups can be too sweet; here, almond butter, lime juice, and slightly spicy salad mix-ins keep the flavors lively. For a heartier dish, add a few cooked medium shrimp (warmed first in a little hot water) to each bowl.

Using sweet potato slices in place of toasted bread makes this crowd-pleasing appetizer gluten-free (and a little healthier!).

Although this posole tastes like it’s been simmering all day long, it takes less than an hour to cook. For shorter prep time, buy bagged cut squash and sub in coleslaw mix for the garnish.

Persimmons’ sweetness rounds out the slightly bitter greens, salty blue cheese, and citrusy dressing in this salad. Meyer lemon, diced peel and all, provides bursts of flavor; if you can’t find it, use regular lemon and a touch more honey.

If you usually serve spinach dip at friendly gatherings, switch it up by serving a warm dip made with roasted red peppers, walnuts, and a dash of lemon juice. Serve with toasted bread slices or even sliced veggies.

Dramatic-looking black rice—which has a mellow, sweet taste—comes from several places in the world, including Thailand and Indonesia. If you can’t find it, wild, brown, or red rice would also work.

We love the play between the delicate, slightly sweet purée of turnips and parsnips and the savory cheese- and herb-enhanced meatballs. Serve this soup as the first course for a fall dinner party.

These delightfully lemony chicken wings are perfect for tailgating, Super Bowl parties, and even a budget-friendly weeknight dinner.

This Chinese-inspired take on short ribs gets its freshness from Bosc pears cooked in the sauce, plus more pears on top in a raw relish. If you have time, cook the recipe a day ahead. The flavors will be deeper, and you can more easily lift the fat from the sauce.

A far cry from the storebought packages, real ramen starts with amazing broth. This simplified version can be made in a long afternoon—or started the day before.

Serve a delicious vegetarian chili recipe for your next low-key gathering.

Everyone loves chicken potpie, but it takes 2 hours to make. We’ve traded from-scratch pie dough for homemade croutons, creating a great potpie in half the time.

Using fresh sage is the key to giving this classic dish lots of flavor in very little time.

Gather your family to the dinner table and enjoy the bold flavors of this hearty meat lasagna. You can meal-prep this over the weekend and enjoy on a weeknight.

This dish delivers a lot of sophistication for not much time spent in the kitchen. The chicken rests on a bed of mild autumn vegetables, enriched with cream and wine. If the chicken you buy weighs more than 2 pounds, you may need to simmer it a few more minutes.

Cooking with store-bought cubed squash saves time on weeknights. You can sub in almonds or walnuts for the pistachios.

What’s more fall than a salsa made of apples? The apples are seared slightly alongside chopped shallots before being tossed in a dressing of lemon juice, dijon mustard, and fresh herbs. The texture plays nicely alongside the hazelnut crust on a soft white fish like halibut.

The meatiness of sweet potatoes makes them perfect for sandwiches; salty feta and salsa verde add savoriness.

Feel free to swap in other squash: Sugar pie pumpkins come out sweeter, and canned pumpkin is mellow-tasting, if less distinctive.

Harder cookies keep the most crunch (softer ones will dissolve).

Our favorite new way to serve Fuyu persimmons (the ones that look like tomatoes) is in this juicy, spicy pie, which accents their delicate fruitiness with cinnamon and lemon. For the best flavor, let the persimmons ripen at room temperature until they’re bright orange and have a slight give; this may take as long as a week.

These classic chocolate brownies can be stored airtight for up to two days.

Make these sweet little cakes throughout the fall. For Halloween, all you need are some edible eyeballs and a bit of black food coloring to turn them into charming pumpkin ghosts. You’ll need 2 (12-mold) madeleine pans to make this recipe.