Main Courses
A main course gives a meal its center, whether that is a piece of meat, a seafood preparation, pasta, or a vegetable-based dish. Casseroles, sandwiches, rolled dishes, and filled tortillas bring different serving styles to this collection. Begin with an ingredient or dish type, then choose a preparation suited to the table you are planning.
Browse the posts below, or choose a subcategory when available.
Barbecue
Chicken thighs with white barbecue sauce, glazed thigh rolls, and a layered barbecue pie offer different expressions of barbecue flavor. Browse these dishes for the cooking method and serving style described in each recipe.
Beef
Beef carpaccio, stuffed cabbage rolls, steak preparations, and other dishes bring different cuts and cooking methods into this collection. Choose a beef main course by its texture, accompaniments, and preparation.
Burritos
Filled tortillas become a portable meal or a portion to slice in these burrito preparations. Breakfast wraps, Thai peanut chicken, and shrimp Alfredo variations offer different fillings within a rolled form.
Casseroles
A casserole brings several ingredients into a dish that can be portioned at the table. Poblano chicken, chiles rellenos, and barbecue pie offer different flavors and layers within the collection.
Egg Dishes & Entrées
Eggs can anchor a meal beyond breakfast through an omelette, a sandwich filling, or another savory preparation. These dishes offer ways to bring a familiar ingredient into an entrée.
Enchiladas
Sauced tortillas and baked layers are at the center of these enchilada recipes. Mother’s cheese enchiladas, chicken casseroles, and sausage-gravy breakfast variations offer different ways to bring a warm tortilla dish to the table.
Freezer-Friendly Meals
Croissant breakfast casseroles, meatball pasta bakes, and stuffed shells offer dishes to prepare with freezer storage in mind. Follow each recipe’s directions for freezing, thawing, and reheating the finished meal.
Lamb
A raspberry-balsamic and pecan-crusted rack of lamb represents this small collection. Fruit acidity and a nut coating offer contrasts around the lamb in this main-course preparation.
Pasta
Orzo, noodles, and other pasta forms carry sauces and accompanying ingredients in different ways. Browse pasta dishes from a shrimp preparation to chicken and noodle recipes with contrasting cooking styles.
Pork
Pork chops, stuffed cabbage, and tenderloin Wellington bring different cuts into the main-course collection. Browse by the cut, cooking approach, and accompaniments that suit the meal you want to prepare.
Poultry
Chicken, turkey, and pheasant provide several starting points for a poultry meal. Skillet dishes, smoked preparations, pies, and rolled servings give this collection a range of methods and textures.
Quesadillas
A crisp tortilla and a warm filling give quesadillas their appeal in this collection. Egg, crab rangoon, and cheese preparations offer different flavors within a folded or layered tortilla dish.
Roulades
A roulade gathers filling and an outer layer into a rolled serving. Turkey with ricotta and spinach, steak pinwheels, and porchetta offer different approaches to shaping and slicing the main course.
Sandwiches
Egg salad, chicken Parmesan, and other fillings turn bread into the center of a meal. Browse sandwiches for the combination of bread, filling, and sauce that suits the serving you want.
Seafood
Shrimp chowders, salmon preparations, and other fish and shellfish dishes bring seafood into the main course. Browse by ingredient and cooking method for a dish with the texture and accompaniments you want.
Tacos
Jerk shrimp, Kung Pao chicken, and chipotle shrimp offer different fillings for tacos. The collection includes adaptations and fusion dishes alongside other preparations built around a tortilla and its toppings.
Tamales
Vegetables, cheese, and green chiles provide fillings for these tamales. The collection includes calabacitas con queso and poblano preparations, with the method shaping each wrapped serving.
Vegetarian
Vegetable rollatini, butter beans, and pasta dishes offer main-course ideas with a vegetarian direction. Browse by the ingredients and method, checking the full recipe for the suitability you need.
In this collection
Sweet Tamales with Dulce de Leche
It still surprises me how many people don’t know how delicious sweet tamales can be. For many, the only tamal is the traditional savory version filled with chicken,…
Instant Pot Tamales
The purpose of this recipe is to create simple instructions specific to Instant Pot. I have glossed over most of the prep work, and focused here on the…
Chick-fil-A Mac & Cheese
Ingredients 8 ounces elbow macaroni 2 quarts quarts water 1 cup whole milk 5 slices American cheese, roughly chopped or torn 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1/2 teaspoon salt…
Cooking Pasta in an Instant Pot: Timing and Safety
Pressure-cooked pasta can be convenient, but no single liquid ratio and timing formula works for every shape, grain, batch size, or Instant Pot model. Start with a model-compatible…

Texas Chili
Ingredients 12 ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed 7 pasilla chiles, stems and seeds removed 2 1/2 tablespoons cumin seeds, toasted, then ground 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds,…
Olive Garden’s Alfredo Sauce
Olive Garden’s Alfredo Sauce recipe is made with Parmesan and Romano Cheeses, however you can also incorporate Mozzarella, Gruyere, Gouda, or Asiago. You can also just use Parmesan.…
Easy Cream Cheese Noodles
This pasta dish is so easy to put together and only calls for 3 ingredients if you don’t count, salt, pepper, and water. And who counts those, right?…

Instant Pot Polenta Cacio e Pepe
Ingredients 1 cup polenta (not quick-cooking) 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more Freshly ground black pepper 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 4 ounces Pecorino and/or Parmesan, finely grated, plus…
Texas State Fair Chili
The following recipe, which appeared in Texas Co-op Power’s 60 Years of Home Cooking, won Gay Dixson (then a member of Pedernales EC) the Texas State Fair El…

Blue Cheese Burger
This stovetop blue cheese burger recipe makes a single portion (which is very satisfying for someone who dines alone as often as I do). But because it’s exactly…
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