Meal Prep

Béchamel, a cream sauce bound by a roux of flour and butter, holds up well in the freezer, maintaining the same gooey, melty texture that the freezer too often destroys in other dairy. It’s pivotal for casseroles, such as lasagna (page 126) or the green bean dish (page 125) that falls on so many Thanksgiving menus. It’s the halfway point to sausage gravy (page 122) or cheese sauce. Long story short, béchamel helps bridge the gap when thinking about foods that freeze well. Just like duct tape, you should never be without it.

With this shelf-stable homemade pancake mix ready to go in your pantry, you’re always minutes away from an exceptional pancake breakfast.

Peanut butter tames the heat in this mild puréed salsa with serrano chiles and onions. Spoon it over mushroom tacos or use it as a dip for chips.

Super fresh soy milk is easy to make at home and, frankly, tastes leagues better than the stuff sold in boxes.

Precooked, compact, and way more flavorful than store-bought frozen spinach, these portioned greens are ready to be thrown into soups and stews straight from the freezer or thawed in the fridge and tossed into omelets and pastas. Even simple side dishes of garlicky greens become infinitely faster when virtually all the prep work is done ahead of time.

My classic salted caramel, enriched with butter and a touch of cream for a thick, smooth sauce, is perfect as a pie topping, or served alongside à la mode slices.

Paneer is a fresh farmhouse-style cheese that has a slightly tangy, subtly salty flavor with a texture similar to tofu. It’s a breeze to make at home using only three ingredients: milk, lemon juice, and salt. 

It takes the better part of an hour to coax an onion's sugars from blonde to nutty brown. Make a big batch of caramelized onions once and save them to pull out when you want all that complex flavor without having spent all that time.

Creole cream cheese is Louisiana's answer to ricotta or burrata cheese. Traditionally, it’s eaten with cream, sugar, and fruit spooned over the top or used as a substitute for yogurt.

Quick pickled vegetables are welcomed any time of the year. Use fresh produce like cauliflower, carrots, radish, radish pods, or raw turmeric for this preparation.

This mango achaar is of our favorite ways to eat tart mangoes in the summer. This sweet-spicy preparation traditionally pairs with seasoned or stuffed rotis and parathas.

This all-purpose condiment is an ideal finisher for anything you might care to grill. Make it ahead and have it ready to spoon over grilled meats, fish, and vegetables.

Start by serving this big pot of polenta as a soft, creamy side dish when it is freshly made, then divide the rest into baking dishes to use later in the week as polenta croutons and polenta crust.

Stirring a simple vinaigrette into warm just-cooked lentils helps them drink up flavor so they taste anything but plain. Use French green or black beluga lentils as they will hold their shape best. You can keep a batch of these dressed lentils in the fridge and add to salads, pastas, soups, and more all week long.

The power of a tangy, vinegary brine, but in powdered form. This spice rub brightens and invigorates roasted chicken, seared fish and shines when sprinkled over vegetables before roasting. The cornstarch in the vinegar powder helps form an extra-crispy, extra-tart crust on anything you put it on.

This chile oil combines tons of texture from toasted whole spices and seeds with a just-spicy-enough heat level. Drizzle it over any, literally any, savory food you can think of.

This is a very simple way to make wonderful rice in under an hour. It is a technique favored around the Caspian, where rice is eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Bright in color and flavor, the silky sauce for these meatballs is made from a purée of coconut cream, Thai green curry paste, and spinach.

You may not mistake these jammy-crisp, slow-cooked onions for bacon, but they are truly exceptional as a stand-in, giving a huge blast of umami to create a truly satisfying breakfast sandwich.