46 Delicious Recipes I’m Cooking This Fall (2026)
What I’m cooking this fall list is out, and I’m excited about all the stews that slow cook in a Dutch oven and set off these amazing warm aromas.
And what I love most about this is that so many of these recipes are made in one pot. Set it and forget it, well at least for an hour, stir once or twice on low heat and you end up with a delicious stew or rice dish that tastes even better the next day. And so many of these cuts are in budget, and end up costing less than eating out, and they’re so wholesome. Great for big family dinners, or meal prep, or prepping for lunch the next day.
And if you’re not up for a whole meal and want something lighter or easier to prep, try a side. I love hummus for dinner with a side of my favorite crackers or flat bread.
What I’m Cooking this Fall for Breakfast
Colder mornings up here in the northeast mean I actually want to stand at the stove before work again to warm up before heading out. I love eggs with home fries, my favorite diner food, and a side of buttered sourdough or rye toast. You can prep the potatoes the night before and portion them out for the week.
Or go the traditional route my mom loves, a homey arepa con queso, which is corn masa grilled on a skillet then stuffed with cheese.
NYC Diner-Style Home Fries (No Onions)
Crisp-edged home fries the way a New York diner makes them. This is my cold Sunday breakfast, the one that takes an hour I would never give it in July.
Honey Butter Biscuits (Small Batch)
Biscuits with honey butter, small batch so you are not left with two dozen. The first cool morning always does it.
Sausage, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Roll-Ups
Sausage and egg and cheese rolled up so you can eat one on the way out the door. September mornings got loud again. These are how we cope.
Melty Colombian Arepa con Queso
An arepa split and filled with cheese until it pulls. I eat these year round, honestly, but they taste better on a morning cold enough to want coffee with them.
What I’m Putting Out Before Dinner
Something warm on the counter while I finish cooking. It keeps everyone out of the kitchen, and half of what I’m cooking this fall gets eaten standing up before we ever sit down.
Pumpkin Whipped Feta Dip
Whipped feta with pumpkin. The most fall thing I make. Warm pita and that is the whole appetizer.
Crispy Zaatar Roasted Cauliflower with Hummus
Zaatar roasted cauliflower over hummus, warm from the oven. It looks like I planned something. Twenty minutes, which is all I want to give it in October.
Crispy Roasted Cauliflower and Pine Nut Hummus
Roasted cauliflower and toasted pine nuts folded through hummus. Warm, nutty, the kind of thing I only want once the weather turns.
The Soups and Stews I’m Cooking This Fall
The minute the evenings turn I want something in a pot. These carry me from October straight through to March, and they are most of what I’m cooking this fall. Almost all of them leave enough for the next day.
Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup
Chicken enchilada soup with black beans, corn, enough cheese to go creamy. What saves dinner on the first properly cold night of the year.
The Best Poblano Chicken Tortilla Soup From Scratch
Shredded chicken in a smoky poblano broth. Crispy tortilla strips and avocado over the top. The smokiness is what makes it feel like fall.
Mexican Chicken and Black Bean Soup
Chicken and black beans in a warm, brothy bowl with cumin. Filling enough for a cold night that nobody asks what else there is.
Healthy Ground Chicken Taco Soup
All the taco seasoning in soup form, made with ground chicken. Thirty minutes. Exactly what I want on a weeknight that is dark by six.
Smoky Tomato Chicken and Corn Soup
Smoky tomato broth with chicken and sweet corn. It uses up the last of the good corn. It also freezes beautifully for January.
Creamy Mexican Street Corn Chicken Soup in 30 Minutes
Elote flavors in a bowl with shredded chicken through it. My bridge between summer corn and soup season. I make it every year right about now.
Creamy Elote Chowder, Mexican Street Corn Soup
Elote chowder with sweet corn, all the street corn spices, a little cream. How I eat elote once it is too cold to stand outside grilling.
Delicious Sopa De Lentejas with Plantains
Green lentils simmered with sweet plantains until the pot goes thick. The crispy plantain crumble on top is my favorite part. Lentils only sound good to me once it turns cold.
Puerto Rican Sancocho
A big one-pot stew with root vegetables and plantains. It takes a slow afternoon. That is the whole reason I wait for weather that gives me an excuse.
Puerto Rican Shrimp Stew (Asopao de Camarones)
Somewhere between a soup and a rice dish, with shrimp in a deeply seasoned broth. Lighter than the rest of these. For the fall nights that have not fully committed.
Extra Cheesy Creamy Lasagna Soup
Everything I love about lasagna without any of the layering. Ricotta and mozzarella melted over the top. A bowl of it is the whole point of sweater weather.
Colombian Chicken Stew (Sudado de Pollo)
Chicken stewed with potatoes in tomato and sofrito. The one I grew up eating. Always the first pot I put on in the fall.
Rabo Encendido (Cuban Oxtail Stew)
Cuban oxtail braised until it falls off the bone. A whole slow afternoon. Worth every hour.
45-Minute Creamy Coconut Milk Chicken Thighs
Chicken thighs simmered in coconut milk until the sauce goes silky. Rich enough for a cold night, never heavy.
What I’m Making for Dinner
These are the dinners I’m cooking this fall more than anything else. Some take an afternoon. Some are done in half an hour. All of them make the house smell right.
Fall Off the Bone Pot Roast Chicken in the Most Incredible Tomato Broth
Chicken braised low in a tomato broth in a Dutch oven until it shreds under a fork. Serve it in a bowl with the broth over everything. The most fall thing I make all season.
Lemon Herb Butter Roast Chicken (Whole Chicken)
A whole chicken with herb butter tucked under the skin. Once the oven is back on I roast one most weekends, and it covers dinner plus two days after.
Citrusy Garlicky Cuban Roasted Chicken (Pollo Asado Cubano)
Marinated in sour orange and garlic, roasted until the skin crackles. My Sunday chicken, and Sundays only feel like Sundays once it is cold out.
Citrusy and Garlicky Roasted Cuban Mojo Pork (Lechon Asado)
Pork shoulder marinated overnight in citrus and garlic, then roasted slowly until it falls apart. It needs a whole afternoon, which fall finally gives me.
No-Marinate Tender and Juicy Costillas (Baked Baby Back Ribs)
Baby back ribs with no marinating required. They go in the oven and I get on with everything else, which is the only way I cook ribs once grilling season ends.
Cuban Beef Picadillo That Solves Weeknight Dinner
Ground beef simmered with olives and warm spices over white rice. I make a double batch. It is always better the second night, and second nights matter more in the fall.
One-Skillet Onion and Pepper Kielbasa with Rice
Smoked sausage with sweet peppers and onions, all in one skillet. Smoked anything tastes better once the weather turns, and this needs no shopping trip.
Ground Beef and Potato Casserole with Cheddar Cheese
Layers of beef and potato under sharp cheddar, baked until the top browns. Casserole season starts the week I stop wanting salad.
Herb Butter Apple Cider Roast Chicken
Roast chicken basted with apple cider and herb butter. Cider is everywhere this month. This is the best thing I do with it, and the skin comes out crisper than plain butter ever manages.
Creamy Roasted Butternut Squash and Garlic Chicken Pasta
Silky butternut squash sauce over rigatoni with garlic chicken. The most fall pasta I make all season.
Creamy Marry Me Chicken Pasta
Chicken with sun-dried tomatoes in a rich parmesan sauce. This is what I want on the first genuinely cold evening, and it earned the name.
Cheesy Taco Rice Skillet Recipe
Seasoned beef and rice under melted cheese, all in one pan. This is my Tuesday.
What I’m Serving on the Side
Roasted or baked, all of them. Nothing cold goes on my table until March, and everything I’m cooking this fall wants something roasted next to it.
30-Minute Oven-Roasted Parmesan-Garlic Carrots
Roasted carrots with parmesan and garlic, sweet at the edges. Carrots get so much better once it turns cold. These cost almost nothing.
Honey Garlic Herb Butter Roasted Carrots
Carrots roasted in honey garlic herb butter until they caramelize. The glaze is the point. It belongs next to every roast I make this season.
Baked Corn Pudding Casserole
Corn pudding baked until the top goes golden and the middle stays custardy. The side people go back for. I start making it the week the oven goes back on.
Corn Pudding Recipe That Makes the Perfect Side
A simpler corn pudding with a handful of pantry ingredients. This is the one I make on a weeknight when the casserole feels like too much.
Creamed Corn From Scratch in Just 20 Minutes
Creamed corn made properly in twenty minutes, and nothing like the canned version. It carries the last of summer corn straight into fall.
Roasted Cauliflower with Parmesan
Cauliflower roasted with parmesan until the edges go brown and crisp. Four ingredients, and that is it.
What I’m Baking
The oven is on anyway, so I may as well. Baking is the part of cooking this fall I look after least and enjoy most.
Easy Apple Crisp Recipe
Apple crisp with a buttery oat topping. The most fall dessert there is. One dish feeds everyone.
Chewy Caramel Apple Cookies
Chewy cookies with caramel and apple. All the flavor of apple pie, none of the crust. Exactly what I want when the apples start piling up.
Levain-Inspired Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
Thick chocolate chip walnut cookies with a soft middle. Walnuts feel right once it turns cold. Worth heating the kitchen for.
6-Ingredient Arroz con Leche (Colombian)
Arroz con leche with six ingredients and plenty of cinnamon. What I make when I want something warm and simple on a cold night.
Traditional Colombian Natilla
Natilla, the Colombian custard we eat every December. I start making it in October. Nobody stops me.
Sweet and Crunchy Candied Pecans That Are So Easy to Make
Candied pecans you can make days ahead and keep in a jar. They start appearing on my counter in October and they do not stop until January.
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Buttery, nutty cookies rolled in powdered sugar. They keep for days, which is exactly what I want once the holiday baking starts.
If You Like This You’ll Love These
Here are a few others I’ve made and loved:
34 Fall Dinner Recipes I Cook When It Starts Getting Cold for the full dinner list.
17 Fall Soups and Stews You Must Try to Stay Cozy for the ones that simmer longest.
What I’m Cooking This Spring for the other end of the year.
Latin-Inspired Fall Dinner Ideas for the Latin side of the season.
I love hearing what you’re making. Leave a comment if you try one of these, or tell me what you cannot stop cooking this fall.
