Favorite Stovetop Recipes for Comfort Food Cravings
Searching for recipes with cheesy, spicy, or buttery flavors? Try stovetop recipes like Cajun mac and cheese with chicken, chicken tortilla soup, Jamaican brown stewed chicken, shrimp and rice, beef burritos, and bacon cheeseburgers. Ingredients and spices used in these recipes include garlic butter, cheddar cheese, and other warm spices.
Why These Stovetop Recipes Work
- Cheesy Dishes: Mac and cheese, cheesy burritos, and bacon cheeseburgers are creamy, cheesy dishes that use widely available ingredients.
- Bold Options: Seasonings and other ingredients, such as Cajun spices and Scotch bonnet peppers, and red pepper flakes can be used to give customers a bolder flavor.
- Less Filling: Shrimp with rice and chicken tortilla soup offer a lighter-feeling counterpoint to the richer pasta, meat patties, and burritos.
1. Garlic Butter Shrimp Rice Bake with Long-Grain Rice
Buy live or fresh large shrimp. Devein and peel the shrimp. Serve cooked shrimp on top of long-grain white rice baked in warm broth. Add garlic butter to shrimp. Top shrimp with parsley and red pepper flakes to give the shrimp a glazed look and browned appearance. I rinse rice until the rinse water runs clear. I cook it in broth at a warm temperature and cover a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with foil. I check before baking to ensure the rice is fully covered by liquid. Covering the dish with foil during baking keeps the rice in the center of the dish from drying out. I stir the cooked rice with a fork until it's shiny and soft after all the liquid has been absorbed. Cooked rice helps prevent the shrimp and sauce from sticking. While the rice bakes in the oven, I dry the shrimp on paper towels and heat olive oil in a large cast-iron or stainless steel skillet. If the shrimp are wet, they will steam in the skillet and turn lighter in color. Drying the shrimp before cooking them in the skillet darkens their color. The shrimp should be removed from the skillet once the browned bits have been added to the butter mixture and the shrimp are no longer translucent but pink. Serve garlic butter shrimp rice bake right away to eat the sauce. Suggested side dishes to serve with garlic butter shrimp rice bake include Sicilian-style green cauliflower salad and winter vegetable casserole. Other good side-dish choices include garlic parmesan roasted sweet potatoes for another garlicky side.
2. Taco Bell Beefy Melt Burrito with Nacho Cheese and Fiesta Strips
These beef melt burritos are a homemade fast-food alternative. Other ingredients in these burritos include seasoned beef, melted cheese, rice, sour cream, and fiesta strips wrapped in a flour tortilla. I always serve these burritos with fiesta strips to provide a different texture. I brown ground beef in a large pan on medium-high heat, breaking it up with a spoon. I discard excess grease and add spices. I cook for 3 to 5 minutes to thicken the sauce, which should help it adhere to the beef. The seasoned meat mixture probably won't spill into the pan when making a burrito. I warm the tortillas in the microwave before adding other ingredients. Warming the tortillas is a critical step I never skip. Don't pack too many ingredients into the tortillas. Fold the tortillas to enclose the ingredients, with the seam side down. Fry both sides of the tortillas in a pan until crispy and brown. Frying helps keep the cheese inside the tortillas, among other benefits. This is why I choose to fry my tortillas. For a faster option, substitute crushed tortilla chips for fiesta strips and queso sauce for nacho cheese sauce. Ten-inch tortillas should be sufficient for rolling without having to push the unbaked filling out toward the edges.
3. Cajun Chicken Mac and Cheese with Andouille Sausage
Cajun chicken mac and cheese is a dish I prepare when I'm in the mood for a pasta dish with chicken, andouille sausage, elbow macaroni, and other classic Cajun flavors, including thyme and smoked paprika. Andouille sausage provides a smoky flavor to the entire dish. I cook pasta al dente. It will finish cooking in the sauce. Pasta cooked in boiling water to overdone will be too soft when combined with other ingredients. A large Dutch oven can help reduce splattering of sauce when cooking pasta. The roux is cooked for two minutes without other ingredients. The sauce is cooked for an additional five minutes to thicken. Preheating the evaporated milk and broth, if time allows, can help prevent lumps. Cheese can be added to the sauce slowly off or low heat. The chicken pieces should be cooked through and golden when taken out of the pan, and the sausage pieces should be browned. I like the onion and bell pepper to be sautéed with the pasta and cooked for a few extra minutes, and the garlic for an extra minute or so. Don't use pregrated cheese; it can make the sauce gritty.
4. Chicken Tortilla Soup
Choose three chicken breasts for this tortilla soup recipe. Cut the chicken breasts into serving-size pieces to fit your 6 quart pot. Cook the chicken breasts in tomato and chicken broth. Shred and combine the chicken with corn and black beans. Add other ingredients, including chile peppers and lime juice, at the end of preparation. I prepare this dish in a 6-quart Dutch oven, ideally an enameled cast-iron Dutch oven. Yellow onions are sautéed in olive oil for 2 to 3 minutes until softened. Garlic is added and cooked for 30 seconds, never more. Chicken breasts and cumin, chili powder, sea salt, and pepper are added to the Dutch oven with Rotel tomatoes and tomato sauce and broth to cover the chicken breasts. Once the stock has reached a boil, lower the heat and cover the pot. Let the stock simmer for 20 minutes, then remove the chicken breasts and shred them into small pieces. Return the shredded chicken to the stock pot with the remaining ingredients. Methods for shredding chicken include using two forks, a stand mixer, or other shredding tools. The stock will be hot while you shred the chicken. Let the soup cook for 5 more minutes before serving. Offer shredded cheese, avocado, sour cream, chopped cilantro, tortilla chips, and lime wedges on the table with the soup. The toppings can remain on the table until the soup is served. I slice the avocado to order.
5. Garlic Butter Bacon Cheeseburgers with Cheddar and Brioche
These garlic butter bacon cheeseburgers are a meal choice if you're looking for something other than a basic cheeseburger. Four beef burgers with bacon and cheddar cheese are served on brioche buns. I brush garlic butter over the buns and burgers. My favorite part is the texture of soft buns with bacon. I cook the butter and garlic gently for 1 to 2 minutes or until fragrant. Take the pan off the heat to prevent browning. Add the parsley and salt now. Use fresh garlic in this recipe to minimize cooking time. Serve with hamburger buns and cooked hamburgers. I cook bacon in a large pan or griddle and drain it on paper towels. I cook burger patties in the same pan with bacon grease over medium-high heat, leaving 1 tablespoon of grease in the pan after you remove the bacon. This helps the burgers brown nicely in the pan. Add cheese to an assembled burger in the last minute of preparation. Serve with warm buns. Brioche buns work well with melted garlic butter and juice from the burger. Serve garlic butter bacon cheeseburgers immediately with melted cheddar cheese on the patty.
6. Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken with Thyme and Scotch Bonnet
Jamaican brown stew chicken is my choice for dinner when I want a heartier meal. Ingredients in the dish include bone-in chicken pieces braised in a sauce made with browning sauce, thyme, allspice, and Scotch bonnet peppers. The chicken is cooked until it pulls away from the bone when eaten hot. Patting the chicken dry before placing it in the bowl helps avoid diluting the marinade. I apply the same marinade to each piece of chicken and pat off extra marinade before placing the chicken in a heavy Dutch oven, saving some of the extra marinade to add to the Dutch oven after the chicken comes out. I keep the thyme sprig whole and do not chop it before adding it to the stew. Leave room in the pan for browning the chicken. Browning does not occur if there isn't enough room, this prevents flavor from developing in the sauce. I add the vegetables I removed earlier to the juices in the pan when adding the sauce, cover the pan, and use the sauce to cook the chicken. Carrots and broad beans can be added to dishes for cooking for about 10 minutes at the end of the cooking process. I don't always add carrots and broad beans. I like to serve hot chicken and rice with runny gravy.
Pin this post
Tap an image to save it to Pinterest.
