Whether you’re celebrating Valentine’s Day with your partner, with your friends or by yourself, these recipes will help make the day special without a full day spent in the kitchen. These dishes don’t require tons of ingredients, and most come together in under an hour.
1. Flourless Chocolate Cake
Genevieve Ko takes the standard flourless chocolate cake and makes it all the easier with the inclusion of chocolate chips instead of chocolate bars. That will save you the messy chopping, and spent the time enjoying this sweet with your sweetie. KRYSTEN CHAMBROT
Nothing says “I love you” like a grilled cheese sandwich stuffed with melty Gruyère and caramelized onions. This recipe from Ali Slagle has more than 2,000 five-star reviews, so it’s a guaranteed home run. (Tip: Have breath mints handy.)
Recipe: French Onion Grilled Cheese
3. Strawberry Spoon Cake
This easy no-mixer cake from Jerrelle Guy can be made with fresh or frozen strawberries (or any berry, really). Just be sure to defrost frozen berries in the microwave first. Serve it with whipped cream or the best vanilla ice cream you can get your hands on — or both.
Recipe: Strawberry Spoon Cake
4. Caramelized Cabbage and Walnut Pasta
The unassuming cabbage gets the star treatment in this hearty vegetarian pasta from Hetty McKinnon. Cabbage and leeks are cooked until jammy, sweet and silky, then tossed with crunchy toasted walnuts. Finish the dish with fresh chives or scallions for a contrasting brightness.
Hear us out. The air fryer can be very romantic. Take, for instance, how well it cooks small servings, making it a perfect vessel for creating a dinner for two. This recipe from Eleanore Park quickly turns out succulent chicken thighs, marinated simply with a mix of vinegar and sour cream. Pair it with whatever you’re in the mood for: roasted vegetables, a simple salad, creamy mashed potatoes K.C.
Recipe: Air-Fryer Chicken Thighs
6. Classic Cheese Fondue
Perfect for celebrating with your Galentines or your family, this velvety fondue from Melissa Clark is a welcome excuse to pull out that 1970s fondue set you inherited from your Aunt Charlene. It’s endlessly adaptable, too: Sub in Cheddar, raclette or Monterey Jack for the Gruyère and Emmenthaler.
Recipe: Classic Cheese Fondue
7. Chocolate Shortbread Hearts
This Valentine’s Day, your loved ones truly can hold your heart in their hands — your chocolate shortbread heart, that is. This recipe from Melissa Clark is so simple and buttery. You don’t have to dunk them into melted chocolate, but it adds something truly special, as does a dusting of freeze-dried raspberry powder. K.C.
Recipe: Chocolate Shortbread Hearts
8. Gochugaru Salmon With Crispy Rice
“Holy moly, this is literally one of the top 10 best things I have ever cooked!” wrote one reader about this 20-minute dish from Eric Kim. Pan-seared salmon is slicked with a garnet-colored glaze made with gochugaru, or Korean red-pepper powder, maple syrup, vinegar and butter, and served alongside crispy rice that’s made in the same pan. You get bonus points for the cucumber curls, but cucumbers sliced simply would be great, too.
Recipe: Gochugaru Salmon With Crispy Rice
9. Lemony Shrimp and Bean Stew
Readers adore Sue Li’s 30-minute lemony white bean and shrimp stew for its simplicity and adaptability. If you like, add another can of beans, serve it over pasta or use shallots in place of leeks to speed up the prep.
Recipe: Lemony Shrimp and Bean Stew
10. Honey-Glazed Chicken and Shallots
If you’re a romantic with a penchant for puns, you might get a kick out of making this honey-glazed chicken from Yewande Komolafe for your honey this Valentine’s Day. It is, all at once, sweet and slightly spicy. Serve it over grains or alongside a tangle of greens.
Recipe: Honey-Glazed Chicken and Shallots
11. Cast-Iron Steak
Forget everything you’ve learned about cooking steak. In this recipe, Julia Moskin calls for buying boneless, not-too-thick cuts, drying them well, and searing them in an “insanely hot” cast-iron pan. Then, you salt the pan, not the steak, and instead of leaving it alone as is traditionally suggested, you flip it often.
Is there anything more romantic (or simple) than an ice cream sundae for two? This one, from Yossy Arefi, is made all the better with a peanut butter fudge sauce that comes together quickly on the stovetop. It makes enough for eight sundaes, which means you can have a little bit of Valentine’s Day excitement for days and weeks into the future. K.C.
Recipe: Peanut Butter Hot Fudge Sundaes
13. Creamy Pan-Roasted Scallops With Fresh Tomatoes
This Melissa Clark recipe was inspired by a classic dish at Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York, an old-school place with spectacular tiled archways, excellent seafood and great martinis. Tender scallops are poached in a creamy tomato sauce that’s seasoned with Worcestershire and celery seed. Serve it over buttery rice or (and?) with good bread.
Recipe: Creamy Pan-Roasted Scallops With Fresh Tomatoes
14. Pork Chops With Jammy Mustard Glaze
Ali Slagle gives the weekday pork chop a makeover with a simple, though kind-of fancy sauce made with just two ingredients: good jam and Dijon mustard. Do as Ali says and serve it with potatoes and a green salad.
Recipe: Pork Chops With Jammy Mustard Glaze
15. Red Velvet Cupcakes
You don’t need a mixer for Millie Peartree’s brilliant red cupcakes, just some arm strength. Vegetable oil keeps them lighter than their buttery counterparts, while cocoa powder adds a rich depth. Then, they’re finished with a lightly tangy cream-cheese buttercream so that they’re sweet — but never too sweet. K.C.
Recipe: Red Velvet Cupcakes
16. Classic Champagne Cocktail
This sparkling cocktail has been around since at least 1862 when Jerry Thomas mentioned it in his book “How to Mix Drinks.” This is the gist: Drizzle some bitters on a sugar cube at the bottom of a Champagne glass, then top with sparkling wine and garnish with a lemon curl. Rebekah Peppler recommends experimenting with bitters: Try grapefruit, celery, orange or persimmon.
Recipe: Classic Champagne Cocktail
17. Roasted Dill Salmon
This recipe, originally published in Naz Deravian’s cookbook “Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories,” came from her stepmother. It pairs lime, maple syrup and soy sauce with turmeric and saffron for a deeply flavored but extremely easy dish that feels luxurious. Pair it with some sheveed polo (Iranian dill rice), or simple white rice, for a meal that’s good both for a special occasion and a weeknight. K.C.
Recipe: Roasted Dill Salmon
18. Vegan Cacio e Pepe
“BIG WIN” wrote one reader about Alexa Weibel’s vegan version of the classic Italian dish. Pasta cooking water, store-bought cashew butter, nutritional yeast, white miso paste and toasted crushed peppercorns come together to make a creamy, dairy-free sauce that doesn’t feel like a compromise.
Recipe: Vegan Cacio e Pepe
19. Dutch Baby
A Dutch baby, which is also known as a German oven pancake, is like a giant popover. This one, from Florence Fabricant, is wonderful served with maple syrup or confectioners’ sugar, or topped with fresh fruit.
Recipe: Dutch Baby
20. Blender Chocolate Mousse
Mousse has a reputation for being fussy, but this one is not. It originated in a 1980s Junior League cookbook and came to The Times through the cook Monica Stolbach, via the pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz. You don’t have to separate the egg yolks and whites; instead, you pour hot sugar syrup into a blender with chocolate and whole eggs. Blend for a bit, then fold the mixture into softly whipped cream.
Recipe: Blender Chocolate Mousse