The warming flavours and rich creaminess of Madhur Jaffrey’s classic chicken tikka masala make for a deeply comforting, home-cooked meal. This recipe is ideal for weekends when you have time to marinate the chicken for a few hours. Madhur recommends serving this with Indian breads, rice, or a black dal.
Feast your eyes on Jamie Oliver’s meat-free cottage pie filled with lentils, porcini mushrooms, and root vegetables in a rich gravy, all topped off with a fluffy cloud of mashed potato.
Mac and cheese, in all its creamy glory, is a failsafe way to combat the blues. This particularly luxurious recipe from Hawksmoor at Home uses not one but three types of cheese, giving it a ludicrously oozy, fondue-like consistency, plus a perfectly crispy golden top.
Combining the delicious flavours of brisket and pork belly, Jamie Oliver’s wintery chilli is one of those hearty, warming recipes that was made for a cosy night in. This satisfying dinner is perfect for a lazy weekend when you’ve got time to leave it bubbling away all afternoon.
According to podcast hosts and authors Jessie and Lennie Ware, chicken soup “most definitely has healing qualities”. Also known as ‘Jewish penicillin’ this clear, golden broth is served with fluffy matzo balls for a truly restorative supper.
Mac and cheese is by no means the only pasta dish that’s earned a place in the comfort food hall of fame. Nigella Lawson’s spaghetti carbonara is everything you could want in a comforting recipe: silky pasta coated in a creamy sauce, dotted with bites of salty pancetta.
Nothing quite says comfort food more than perfectly crisp fried chicken. Big Zuu shows us how it’s done with three twists on the classic recipe – one coasted in crushed Doritos, another seasoned with Maggi, and a third fried with Rice Krispies.
Inspired by her Gujarati heritage, Meera Sodha describes this dal as “a taste of home”. Subtly flavoured with star anise, curry leaves, and lemon, the dish is finished with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds and toasted peanuts.
Try Chrissy Teigen’s blueberry cream cheese pancake recipe to get your stack fix. The perfectly fluffy buttermilk pancakes are filled with pockets of melted cream cheese and sweet blueberries, and topped with a sprinkle of Digestive biscuit crumb.
When all else fails: chocolate. These incredibly chewy and fudgy brownies from Jane’s Patisserie are studded with dark, milk, and white chocolate chips. To ram up the comfort food factor, serve these brownies warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
