I Made A Ton Of Comfort Food Recipes This Year; Here Are My Absolute Favorites

When I was in high school, I used to pick up a quart of chicken tortellini soup from my favorite pizzeria pretty much every week. It is the definition of comfort food to me. And when restaurants had shut down, I decided to try to replicate my favorite soup at home. The only ingredients you really need are chicken, tortellini, chicken broth, carrots, onion, and celery. It's incredibly simple to make and it's one of the coziest, warmest recipes I know.

Recipe: Easy Chicken Tortellini Soup

Whether or not you're a vegetarian, this spaghetti "Bolognese" made with mushrooms and veggies in a red wine and tomato sauce is so satisfying. It's hearty and tender and meaty in texture, but there's no ground beef whatsoever. I'd recommend using a mix of different kinds of mushrooms for the best flavor and texture. (I love this recipe so much, I actually wrote a whole post about it!)

Recipe: Mushroom Bolognese

My husband is having a love affair with chicken wings. Seriously, he can't live without them. So he was very happy when we discovered the Airfryer is the ultimate appliance for making restaurant-quality wings at home. You don't need any fancy ingredients: just wings, baking powder, hot sauce, butter, salt, and pepper. You just air fry the wings for about 25 minutes, then them toss them in the hot sauce and chow down. With a little help from an Airfryer, anyone can make these at home.

Recipe: Air Fryer Chicken Wings

Whenever I go back to my hometown, my family always goes back to the same restaurant, a little BYOB Thai hole-in-the-wall in the town next door. The one dish that's always on our table is a mango chicken curry that now reminds me of home. When I'm away from home, I do the best I can to make a copycat version: this Thai mango curry made with red curry paste, coconut milk, mango purée, and chicken broth. It's the perfect mixture of sweet and savory and creamy. I alternate between making it with chicken and shrimp, and sometimes I just use tofu and lots of vegetables for a meatless version.

Recipe: Thai Coconut Mango Curry

I am a sweet potato person through and through, including when it comes to gnocchi. That being said, you could make this recipe with russet potatoes too. And you don't have to have any pasta-making experience to whip up this recipe from scratch. All you need are sweet potatoes (or regular potatoes!), ricotta, Parmesan, egg, and flour. Of course, if you want to go the easy route, just buy a bag of the frozen stuff. A simple sauce made with butter, sage, olive oil, and garlic lets the flavor of the gnocchi shine through.

Recipe: Brown Butter Sweet Potato Gnocchi

When I was younger and living at home with my siblings, my mom used to make this recipe all the time because it's easy (it comes together in one pot), it's hearty, and it's a crowd-pleaser. So during quarantine, when my family was once again living all together, it came back into our recipe rotation. It's basically orzo, diced tomatoes, garlic, onion, feta, and shrimp, plus some spices and herbs. You can cook it entirely on the stove-top, but I prefer to finish it in the oven.

Recipe: One-Pot Greek Orzo With Shrimp

If you're skeptical that lettuce wraps could constitute as a comfort food, let me change your mind. This recipe is all about the spicy, Korean-inspired filling, and lettuce wraps just provide a crunchy and fresh vessel for eating said filling. This recipe calls for beef tossed in a mixture of gochujang paste, soy sauce, maple syrup, and sesame oil. But you could really use any protein you like best. In fact, I once made this recipe with mushrooms and it was one of my favorite versions. Fill lettuce cups with the the spicy beef, top it with some veggies like cucumber, carrots, and scallions, and drizzle it with more sauce. After that, you'll definitely understand just how comforting it tastes.

Recipe: Korean Beef Lettuce Wraps

My mother makes the world's best lasagna, so I've adopted her recipe as the only one I'll follow. The meat sauce calls for a combination of Italian pork sausage and ground beef, and it gets layered in between no-boil lasagna noodles with homemade tomato sauce and a creamy ricotta cheese mixture. Finally, it's topped with mozzarella cheese and baked in the oven until just golden brown and melty all over. Best. Lasagna. Ever.

Recipe: World's Best Lasagna

I really, really love tacos. In fact, if there's a food I could eat on repeat without every getting sick of it, tacos would be my choice. That being said, I make tacos at least once per week filled with anything from carnitas or chicken tinga to shrimp or fish. But these smoky chipotle cauliflower tacos have become one of my all-time favorites. You might not expect a vegetarian taco to taste so satisfying, but the cauliflower gets crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and it's tossed in a sweet and spicy mix of adobo sauce, honey, lime, paprika, and cumin. Topped with some crunchy veggies and creamy garlic aioli, these tacos are a force to be reckoned with.

Recipe: Chipotle Cauliflower Tacos

This recipe is called best ever potato latkes, and as someone who has tried her fair share of potato pancakes, I can say these are truly the best I've ever had. They're delightfully greasy, perfectly crispy, and so flavorful. Now you might be inclined to think of latkes as a Hanukkah food, but the truth is that latkes are hugely underrated and should be eaten all year long, preferably with a dollop of crème fraîche and smoked salmon for good measure.

Recipe: Best-Ever Potato Latkes