Tasty Food Trends and Easy Recipes for Everyday Meals

Our contributors brought the ideas, and our Test Kitchen put them to the test. These Food brand-new recipes went straight to our favorites list.

Between our community of contributors, expert Test Kitchen staff and always on-trend editors, we’re constantly cooking up something new here at Taste of Home. Each week, we meet to discuss food trends and cool new ingredients, and our Test Kitchen carefully selects, tests and evaluates the recipes submitted by home cooks. The ones we’re most excited about receive our Test Kitchen-approved stamp, and we can’t wait for you to try them!

As we gear up to welcome fall, we’re searching for the best ways to use up our late-summer produce (in other words, zucchini recipes galore), deciding what to bring to the last few get-togethers while it’s a perfect 75°F, and planning the best transitional summer-to-fall dinners for busy weeknights. In addition, we’ve come up with some really fun desserts that kids can enjoy as after-school snacks, and three adult-only beverages for after-work treats.

. Chicken Schnitzel With Cucumber Salad

If you think making chicken cutlets is not for you, Sue Li is here to show you how it’s done. First, cut the breasts into cutlets. Then, pound them until thin. (This increases the surface area, which creates more real estate for crispy breading and helps the breasts cook more evenly.) Next, gently shake the pan while it fries to puff up the breading. And finally, add salt right after it’s cooked. The chicken is served with a fresh, herby cucumber salad that cuts through the richness.

One-Pan Dumplings With Greens

This lifesaver of a recipe calls for cooking dumplings and kale together in one skillet. First, brown frozen, not thawed dumplings, then sauté kale with garlic and ginger. Put the dumplings on top of the kale with a little water, cover the skillet and let the kale tenderize while the dumplings plump. Sauce simply with soy sauce and vinegar and garnish with any combination of sesame seeds, cilantro, scallions and chile crisp; for a bigger meal, serve over rice or another grain. 

Chicago Deep-Dish Panzanella

From the Recipe Creator: This Chicago deep dish panzanella is loaded with zesty sausage, pepperoni, mozzarella pearls, and an array of pizza veggies, all tossed in a homemade Italian vinaigrette with toasty focaccia bread cubes.—Lauren Habermehl, Pewaukee, Wisconsin

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving: 656 calories, 49g fat (14g saturated fat), 56mg cholesterol, 948mg sodium, 38g carbohydrate (5g sugars, 2g fiber), 17g protein.

After the success of our loaded Chicago dog panzanella, we thought, what next? An authentic Chicago deep-dish pizza was the answer. Toasted pieces of focaccia are tossed with the usual deep dish toppings: Italian sausage, pepperoni, red onions, green bell peppers, mushrooms, black olives, mozzarella pearls and Parmesan. We even included a few dollops of chunky marinara.

Hoosier Pork Tenderloin Sandwich

From the Recipe Creator: These pork tenderloin sandwiches are just like the ones you can get at the fair! The pork is way bigger than the bun, which is what makes it fun. —Erin Fitch, Virginia Beach, Virginia

Nutrition Facts: 1 sandwich: 511 calories, 20g fat (4g saturated fat), 142mg cholesterol, 811mg sodium, 37g carbohydrate (4g sugars, 2g fiber), 43g protein.

We might not all be so lucky as to attend the Indiana State Fair, home to the Hoosier pork tenderloin sandwich. Thankfully, you don’t have to travel there in order to enjoy this big-as-a-dinner-plate marvel. We’ll show you how to build the sandwich just as it’s sold at the fair. Then try your hand at other homemade state fair food, like funnel cake or lemon shake-ups.

dinners i like to make when i’m not sure what to cook.

These are some of my favorite easy recipes for dinner! All of these are on my list of things to make when I don’t feel like cooking. The best dishes that give me inspiration in the kitchen – ones that are still easy to make!

Baked Feta Pasta

From the Recipe Creator: There’s a reason this recipe went viral on TikTok! Baked Feta Pasta is about to become a new household favorite. It’s simple to throw together and incredibly creamy and delicious. —Sarah Tramonte, Taste of Home Associate Culinary Producer

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving: 373 calories, 16g fat (6g saturated fat), 25mg cholesterol, 507mg sodium, 46g carbohydrate (5g sugars, 3g fiber), 12g protein.

TikTok Ramen Noodles – Buttery, Spicy, Delish

This TikTok Ramen recipe makes my favorite kind of stir fry noodle dish–simple to make, BIG flavors, and versatile so you can always change up the mix-ins and toppings!1360

This TikTok Ramen recipe makes my favorite kind of stir fry noodle dish–simple to make, BIG flavors, and versatile so you can always change up the mix-ins and toppings

A quick sauce of butter, garlic, soy, spicy chutney, and brown sugar caramelizes with the noodles as they become one in the pan. Every ounce of spicy, salty, sweet flavor gets soaked up. Finishing with soft scrambled egg, crunchy seed topping, fresh scallions, and a swirl of sesame oil takes the humble ramen to  !

This is a super easy recipe with a big payoff in flavor. I already had all of the ingredients (which are very few) and was ready to get cooking minutes after I saw the TikTok videos. Since it is a pantry-based recipe, this dish could be clutch on the nights you don’t know what to make and haven’t been grocery shopping yet.

This week I met up with my friend Karen after more than a year. I think a lot of people can relate to these long separations and it was so good to see her! As we were catching up on everything under the sun, of course, we started talking about food. She mentioned this new TikTok Ramen Trend that went viral and was posted on Food52.

How To Make Fried Rice

• Rice: Everyone knows that leftover rice (preferably long-grain jasmine, but any long-grain white rice will work) is the best when making fried rice, but what if you don’t have any? Here, I’ve included the method used by restaurants to get that ideal, slightly dried-out rice without having to wait a day. The YouTube channel Chinese Cooking Demystified is one of my favorite places to go for all my Chinese culinary questions. The method that its hosts Steph and Chris use to par-boil and then steam the rice is borderline miraculous in the results you get. The Delish kitchen team was floored at the consistent texture you get with the rice, and I, for one, will not be cooking my rice any other way going forward.
• Oil: Choose an oil with a high-smoke point, and don’t be afraid to use a lot of oil—this is fried rice after all.
• Eggs: I use 3 large eggs in this recipe. I prefer to have some white streaks in my eggs, so I barely beat them together.
• Garlic: I like my fried rice super garlicky, so I use 5 cloves. You can take it back if you want, but honestly, I don’t suggest it—the more garlic, the better.
• Ginger: About an inch of ginger, minced very small, goes with the garlic before adding in our veggies.
• Scallions: When chopping your scallions, separate the whites and the greens. The green we’ll use as a garnish, and the white we’ll cook with.
• Soy Sauce: The first thing you’ll notice about this recipe is that soy sauce is included. While to some, this might not be super-traditional in fried rice, a lot of American eaters (and Delish taste testers) prefer it! Because there is no meat or seafood in this fried rice, after some testing, I felt it added some extra body and umami to the rice that is totally delicious. I suggest using low-sodium soy sauce so you can control the salt amount.
• Sugar: I believe that all savory dishes should be finished off with a bit of sugar if there isn’t a natural source of sweetness in them. It helps to round out the dish and provide a more complex flavor.
• White Pepper: White pepper is underutilized outside of fancier kitchens, but it’s worth buying if you can. Honestly, it’s one of my favorite things about this recipe; at home, I’ll add even more. It’s earthy and has less of a kick than black pepper.
• MSG: MSG adds the perfect sweet-salty boost to fried rice. It’s a widely misunderstood ingredient—check out this article all about MSG if you’re looking to learn more.
• Peas: I personally love peas in fried rice, and find it’s a common addition in many American versions. Don’t worry about using frozen peas; they won’t emit too much moisture to the rice.
• Butter: Using butter is a bit controversial, but it adds a wonderful richness, and a little bit goes a long way. If you really don’t want to use it, you can omit it.

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