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You are here: Home » Main Dishes

Main Dish Recipes

Main dishes are - for obvious reason - the main attraction of any meal.  But that doesn't mean they have to be intimidating, or overly complex.

Here are the usual links to some of the superstars of my favorite main dish recipes.

Main dish recipes can be vegetarian like:

  • Easy Red Lentils and Rice - my absolute favorite comfort food and so easy to make.
  • Tofu Coconut Green Curry - Serious yum power
  • 13 Bean Soup - Simple, Affordable, Nourishing

My favorite main dish recipes that center around chicken, beef, pork, lamb, and seafood:

  • Buttery Shrimp with Worcestershire - not the easiest but definitely not the hardest but oh so worth it!
  • BBQ Oven Baked Beef Short Ribs - Takes a long time to cook but so easy to make!
  • Chicken and Stewed Tomatoes - Comfort food delishness.
  • My Mama's Homemade Pork Green Chili - So good the next day!
4 cooked and stuffed chicken breast tied together on a bed of cooked sliced carrots with a green onion garnish. White plate. Vertical view.

Chicken Stuffed with Pistachio Parsley Pesto

Spaghetti in a white bowl with a cracked sunny side up egg and basil leaves.

Spaghetti, Fried Egg, Basil, Cheese....

Top down view of cooked scallops on a brown plate in a brown orange sauce.

Sticky Scallops with Orange Soy Sauce Glaze

Top down view of chunked kale on a white oval plate with chunks of orange mangos, cranberries, and pistachios on top.

Kale Salad with Cranberries, Pistachios, Goat Cheese

Close up. Meatloaf on a brown rectangle platter with a couple sliced pieces in front. Baby Baked Potatoes and cooked Green beans in background.

Simple and Easy Traditional Meatloaf

Chopped Kale & Red Cabbage w/ slices of raw red peppers, shaved carrot, sliced green onions w/ brown rice & cilantro in a white bowl with a side of brown peanut salad dressing

Kale and Red Cabbage Salad with Rice and Pecans

Three pieces of ribs with bone on a white and brown plate with remaining ribs in background on cutting board. Close up,

Easy Oven Baked Asian Style Sticky Ribs

New York Strip Steak golden brown on a wood cutting board with a lived edge. fork on the left. steak knife on the right. sharp yellow mustard beneath.

Stovetop to Oven Cast Iron New York Strip Steak

One piece of cooked salmon on a white plate. Salmon is topped with a lemon zest butter and fresh thyme. On a white plate with colorful napkin on the side. Close up.

Easy Baked Lemon Butter Salmon

Chicken thighs cooked in a red cast iron pot with a marinara sauce and basil leaf garnish. Serving spoon inside the pot. Top view.

Rustic Chicken Leg Cacciatore (Thighs / Drumsticks)

White plate with browned meat slices with colorful napkin in background.

Ethiopian Pork With Berbere Sauce

Top down view of a bowl of red soup with sour cream and chopped dill on top.

Easy Vegetarian Borscht (Beet Soup)

Turkey Meatloaf on a wood cutting board with 3 pieces sliced. Mashed Sweet potatoes in background and small plant in blue bowl.

Easy Parmesan Turkey Meatloaf

Two Bowls of Oat Groats with Strawberries & Blueberries & Pistachios in Bowls. Top view.

Oat Groats with Fruit and Nuts

Top down view of a white plate with chicken over egg noodles and peas. Forks and parmesan cheese on side.

Chicken Thighs with Mushrooms, Peas, & Egg Noodles

2 pieces of raw salmon fillets on an aluminum sheet pan with asparagus, sliced red peppers, and halved cherry tomatoes.

Simple Sheet Pan Mediterranean Salmon

Flattened and seared chicken breast topped with Arugula salad w/ cherry tomatoes & onions on a white plate. Side view.

Chicken Paillard ("Pie Yard") - Pounded Chicken Breast

Pan fried and browned cooked tofu in a different shapes (wedges, cubes, slices, triangles) in a dark teflon pan. Side view.

Easy Marinated Tamari Tofu (Soy Sauce)

One taco filled with chicken, cole slaw, cilantro, sliced jalapenos, and 3 sliced radishes. Ingredients in background.

Chicken Tacos with Enchilada Sauce

Two seared pieces of fish on a bed of ceviche salad (avocado, tomatoes, green onion, orange peppers. Top view with white plate

Seared Little Tunny (False Albacore) with Ceviche Salad

Top View Corn & Lima Bean Succotash with diced Zucchini In A brown Bowl with a Wood Spoon

Butter Bean (Lima Bean) and Corn Succotash

Egg Salad mixed with mayonnaise and topped with chopped parsley in a white bowl with a wood spoon with a white napkin underneath the bowl. Very Close up.

Simple Chunky Egg Salad

4 salmon fillets topped with sliced green olives, toasted sliced almonds, and parsley tapenade on a white rectangle plate with 4 lemon wedges.

Baked Salmon with Green Olive and Almond Tapenade

A piece of toast on a wood cutting board topped with pimento cheese, arugula, and sliced small tomatoes. 3 tomatoes in backdrop.

Pimento Cheese & Arugula Tartine

Grilled Chicken Thighs (with grill marks) on a bed of green salad w/ pineapple chunks on a white plate

Grilled Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Sliced Peaches, quartered figs, chunked pecans, and crumbled blue cheese on a deep plate with fork and napkin. Top view.

Peach, Fig, & Arugula Salad with Blue Cheese

Cooked shrimp in a deep plate with halved cherry tomatoes and basil pesto. Garnished with Pine nuts.

Shrimp with Basil Pesto and Cherry Tomatoes

Cooked Chicken Thigh and Leg with A Brown Dry Rub On A white plate with a green salad and red tomato salad.

Dry Rubbed Oven Baked Chicken Leg Quarters (Drumsticks and Thighs)

Brown Roasted Chicken legs in a cilantro sauce in a blue baking dish. Close up. Side view.

Baked Thai Chicken Drumsticks

Tomato Tart with different sizes and colors of tomatoes on golden puff pastry with basil leaves and sliced basil garnish.

Easy Tomato Tart with Puff Pastry

Sliced Pork Tenderloin browned with cilantro garnish on a white plate with roasted sweet potato coins with sour cream and chives, tomato salsa, and cucumber salad

Seared Pork Tenderloin with Cumin and Lime

Cauliflower rice with whole cashews, raisins, carrots with curry and garnished with mint. White bowl with spoon. Side view.

Curry Cauliflower Rice with Cashews

5 scallops on a white plate with 2 lemon wedges. One scallop is cut in half and has a fork sticking in it.

Easy Seared Scallops with Butter

Close up of wood bowl of cucumber soup with chunky cucumber and red onion garnish. White bowl of cucumber garnish on side.

Cold Cucumber Dill Soup

Top view of crispy browned bone in, skin on chicken thighs on a white plate on a white table.

Bone In Skin On Oven Roasted Chicken Thighs

3 Cooked Pan Fried Easy Crab Cakes Recipe On White Plates. Side View.

Perfect and Easy Crab Cakes

2 plates of browned chicken with brown sauce, chunked red peppers, whole green and black olives and a mixed green and purple salad with whole cherry tomatoes.

Moroccan Chicken Thighs with Preserved Lemon

1 piece of cooked salmon topped with 3 lemon slices and chopped dill on a bed of asparagus.

Easy Oven Baked Lemon Dill Salmon

One plate of browned strips of beef with cooked cabbage and a baked potato with sour cream. Bottle of red wine, 2 full glasses and a bottle of sriracha hot sauce.

Sriracha Skirt Steak And Cabbage Stir Fry

1 piece of salmon spiced with lime, paprika, and cumin on a bed of greens on a white plate

Salmon with Cumin, Paprika, and Lime

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Hey y'all!

I’m Beckie Hemmerling. I love food and I think of it on a basic level of providing strength & nourishment. Cooking has helped me *try* to figure out life, not just my own, but also other people's. I have cooked through many joys / sorrows and cooking has always been a meditative place through these highs & lows. More background info →

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