36 Warm and Comforting Recipes for Cold Weather

Beef and Guinness Stew

Guinness stout adds body to this hearty beef stew. Serve it with cheese scones or Irish soda bread.

Hearty Slow Cooker Chicken Chili

Use chicken breasts or boneless chicken thighs in this hearty chicken and pinto bean chili. 

Creole Jambalaya With Chicken or Ham

This versatile Creole jambalaya can be made with chicken, ham, diced leftover pork, or turkey. Add some shrimp near the end of the cooking time, if you like.

Oven Braised Country Style Pork Ribs With Apple Cider

This delectable dish is made with country-style pork ribs on the bone. A variety of chopped aromatic vegetables and apple cider add flavor to the wonderful broth.

Simple Meatloaf With Optional Topping

This basic meatloaf is comforting and delicious. Serve it with mashed potatoes and corn or green beans. The ketchup or tangy barbecue sauce topping is optional.

Coconut Curry Braised Chicken

These braised whole chicken legs are flavored with a combination of coconut milk and curry powder along with tomatoes and ginger.

Cheeseburger Soup

This rich and delicious cheeseburger soup is made with lean ground beef, potatoes, milk, and cheese. Top it off with some crumbled cooked bacon. Serve the soup with biscuits or crusty bread.

Southern Pinto Beans With Ham Hocks

These basic Southern pinto beans are cooked to perfection in the slow cooker with ham hocks and seasonings.

Savory Oven Braised Lamb Shanks

These succulent lamb shanks are braised with aromatic vegetables and a tangy red wine sauce.

Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Soup

Comforting and delicious, butternut squash soup is favorite. This recipe is easier than most because it's made in the slow cooker. Adding apples and coconut milk, along with cayenne, garlic, nutmeg, and thyme ensures a flavorful soup.

Cabbage Rolls

This dish is always a hit. Serve these cabbage rolls with mashed potatoes. 

Freeze your head of cabbage for several hours and the leaves will be ready to stuff—no boiling required.

Slow-Cooker Chicken Tinga

Chipotle peppers, onions, tomatoes, and chicken thighs go into the slow cooker for chicken tinga. The flavorful Mexican stew also makes an excellent taco filling and it keeps well, so you can get a few meals out of one batch.

Fast and Easy Slow Cooker Pot Roast Meal

What could be better on a cold winter's day than coming home to a fully cooked meal? This pot roast was made for long, slow braising, and the slow cooker does the job beautifully. You can prepare the meat and vegetables in the crockery insert the night before and refrigerate overnight. It's the perfect busy day meal.

Instant Pot Chicken and Rice

This comforting and adaptable dish makes the whole family happy. Perfect for those school nights when you need to get dinner on the table quickly or a curl-up-by-the-fire Sunday, Instant Pot chicken and rice can be your go-to all-in-one meal.

Chicken Marbella

This storied dish is adapted from The Silver Palate Cookbook, first published in 1982. Although that name might not ring a bell for younger generations, it was a standout cookbook in its time, and Chicken Marbella was its standout dish. This one-pan meal features skin-on chicken marinated in a brine of vinegar, olives, capers, and prunes, and then baked in the same dish—it couldn't be easier. This recipe is a little sweet, a little salty, and perfectly balanced with acidic tang. Great with Spanish rice or mashed potatoes.

Garlic Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters

Whole chicken legs or chicken leg quarters are flavorful and juicy, and they're budget-friendly. The chicken legs are rubbed with a mixture of garlic and seasonings and then they're roasted to perfection.

Nashville Hot Chicken

Is there anything more cozy than smelling the aroma of fried chicken, and waiting for biscuits from the oven? This Nashville fried chicken has just enough spice to chase any rainy day blues away. It's inspired by Prince's Hot Chicken, a now-legendary institution that first served up this style of deep-fried, spicy bird in the '70s. Nashville hot chicken is characterized by its spicy, deep red glaze, traditionally made with cayenne pepper. It's almost always served on top of white bread—plain white bread, the cheaper and sweeter the better—with some pickles on top.

Instant Pot Taco Soup

When you are in the mood for a taco but want something more comforting, this Instant Pot taco soup hits the mark. Seasoned ground beef, beans, tomatoes, and green chilis quickly cook together into a hearty soup. Finish with your favorite taco toppings.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Barbecue

This is another fantastic slow cooker meal. Pulled pork is always a family favorite, and preparation so easy. Use your favorite barbecue sauce to make sandwiches with this pulled pork. Serve with coleslaw and beans.

Instant Pot Jambalaya

The Instant Pot makes preparation a cinch in this Creole-style jambalaya. Andouille sausage, chicken, and vegetables are sauteed, and then the seasonings, stock, canned tomatoes, and rice are added and pressure cooked. The shrimp go in at the end along with some green onions making a delicious and filling dish.

Simple Chili With Ground Beef

This is a super easy stovetop chili made with ground beef and canned beans. Use a purchased chili seasoning mix or the homemade mix provided with the recipe.

Use leftover chili to make chili biscuit cups.

Crock Pot Red Beans and Rice With Andouille Sausage

These homemade red beans are jazzed up with spicy andouille sausage. This is a traditional Cajun-style bean and rice dish.

Skillet Pork Chops and Braised Red Cabbage

The spiced red cabbage makes an excellent side dish to go with these skillet pork chops.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This warm, inviting chicken tortilla soup is loaded with flavor. Use fried corn tortilla strips or tortilla chips as a garnish for this soup.

Slow Cooker Manhattan-Style Clam Chowder

This tomato-based clam chowder gets extra flavor from the bacon and clam juice. If you prefer a New England clam chowder, try this creamy slow cooker clam chowder.

Cauliflower Chowder

For a hearty vegetarian soup, try this cauliflower chowder recipe. The low-carb veggie is paired with potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions, and flavored with garlic and parsley. Serve it with crusty bread and top the soup bowls with cheddar or crispy onions.

Oven Braised Rosemary Chicken Legs

Garlic and rosemary flavor these slow-braised chicken legs, and a little tomato paste and white wine make a hearty, rustic broth. Use whole chicken legs in the recipe or make it with thighs and drumsticks.

Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Shredded pulled pork in an hour and a half? Pulled pork normally takes hours to cook, but the pressure cooker shortens the cooking time significantly. 

Braised Lamb Shoulder Chops Recipe

These shoulder chops are braised to succulent perfection with red wine and herbs.

Baked Ziti Recipe With Ground Beef and Italian Sausage

Your family will ask for this meaty ziti bake again and again. It's the perfect dish for a snowy winter evening. Serve it with crusty garlic bread and a simple tossed salad.

Roast Pork Rib Roast With Fingerling Potatoes

This is an all-in-one meal that's perfect for a weekend or holiday dinner. Use fingerling potatoes or chunks of red-skinned potatoes.

Roasted Potatoes With Ham

This rustic potato and ham dish is an excellent choice for a family dinner. Add a tossed salad or steamed vegetables to make it a meal.

Stuffed Peppers With Ground Beef and Rice

These classic stuffed peppers are a family favorite. The blanched bell pepper shells are filled with a mixture of ground beef, rice, and tomato sauce. The stuffed peppers are finished with a cheese topping.

Janetta's Vegetarian 15-Bean Soup

For those days you want to be meat-free, there's this 15-bean soup. Use a "many-bean" soup mix and this recipe to make a satisfying lunch or dinner soup. Add crusty bread and you have a perfect meal. Add ham, sausage, chicken, or ground beef if you like.

Slow Cooker Beef and Chicken Stew With Vegetables

This meaty stew is made with chicken thighs and stewing beef, along with potatoes and carrots. The secret to the great flavor is a few tablespoons of steak sauce.

Easy Brunswick Stew With Pork and Chicken

This Brunswick stew is made with cooked pork shoulder or leftover pulled pork, along with shredded or chopped cooked chicken thighs and vegetables. The meal takes about 1-hour start-to-finish if you cook the chicken and pork in advance.