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Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs include nearly 400 standout talents — rising stars that include now-legendary chefs like Thomas Keller (class of 1988), Roy Choi (class of 2010), and Nina Compton (class of 2017). Over the years, they’ve shared hundreds of recipes with us. We’ve rounded up the very best: easy, high-reward dishes perfect for weeknight cooking. These chef-approved meals are simple to make, big on flavor, and designed to impress — no restaurant reservation required.
Yakisoba (Japanese Stir-Fried Noodles)
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
2000 F&W Best New Chef Takashi Yagihashi’s recipe for this Japanese street-food favorite of savory, stir-fried noodles comes together in just 20 minutes. To make it, noodles, thinly sliced rib eye steak, and vegetables are quickly stir-fried in a sweet and savory sauce.
Pan-Roasted Chicken with Grapes, Garlic, and Rosemary
2017 F&W Best New Chef Angie Mar’s roast chicken, cooked with grapes, garlic, and rosemary, couldn’t be simpler or more elegant. Make sure to serve it with crusty bread for sopping up the deliciously schmaltzy pan sauce.
Spaghetti with Fresh Soppressata
Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
A garlicky wine-and-fennel marinade transforms store-bought Italian sausage into fresh soppressata, which forms the base for the flavorful and fresh-tasting tomato sauce for 2000 F&W Best New Chef Andrew Carmellini’s delicious spaghetti dish. To make the recipe more weeknight-friendly, start the dead-simple marinade in the morning.
Panko-Coated Chicken Schnitzel
Morgan Hunt Glaze / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall
1988 F&W Best New Chef Thomas Keller of The French Laundry in Yountville, California, makes a quick brown butter, lemon, parsley, and caper sauce to spoon over these panko-breaded chicken cutlets, taking them over the top in the best possible way.
Roasted Branzino with Caper Butter
Diana Chistruga
2007 F&W Best New Chef Steve Corry shared this fast and easy recipe for branzino. The fish is stuffed with lemon and rosemary and then roasted whole, yielding a flavorful, perfectly cooked main dish in just 25 minutes. Don’t skip the easy caper-parsley compound butter — it’s delicious.
Seafood and Chicken Paella with Chorizo
Diana Chistruga
Spanish chorizo, chicken, shrimp, mussels, and cockles come together in this sumptuous Spanish dish from 1994 F&W Best New Chef Tamara Murphy. If you can’t find cockles, littleneck clams make a good substitute.
Bucatini Carbonara
Food & Wine / Photo by Greg Dupree / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling
2009 F&W Best New Chef Linton Hopkins’ 30-minute carbonara recipe is extra-rich and satisfying, thanks to the addition of cream to the base of crisped pancetta and softened garlic and onions. Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and egg yolks, stirred into the hot, creamy pasta, pull it all together.
Entomatadas
Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
2023 F&W Best New Chef Edgar Rico of Nixta Taqueria in Austin makes these savory entomatadas by frying corn tortillas, dipping them in tomato sauce, then filling them with queso fresco and Cotija cheese. They’re simple, delicious, and on the table in under an hour.
Pasta Aglio e Olio
Kelsey Hansen / Food Styling by Annie Probst / Prop Styling by Breanna Ghazali
2010 F&W Best New Chef Roy Choi, the chef behind Kogi BBQ, created this pasta for the 2014 movie Chef, where Casper, played by Jon Favreau, makes a lusciously oily, garlicky pasta. It’s a weeknight-friendly recipe that uses garlic, red pepper flakes, and lemons to make a flavorful main in minutes.
Reblochon Tarts with Bacon and Fingerling Potatoes
Greg Dupree / FOOD STYLING by CHELSEA ZIMMER / PROP STYLING by JULIA BAYLESS
Inspired by tartiflette, the beloved Alpine dish of potatoes, bacon, and creamy cheese, 1995 F&W Best New Chef Terrance Brennan’s tarts make a cozy yet refined meal — simple enough for a weeknight but special enough for guests. A store-bought puff pastry base holds layers of caramelized onions, tender potatoes, smoky bacon, and rich, tangy cheese.
Grilled King Salmon with Meyer Lemon Relish
The rich flavors of grilled king salmon are brightened with an easy and incredibly tasty relish featuring Meyer lemon, shallot, capers, olives, and parsley in this approachable dinner dish from 1999 F&W Best New Chef Suzanne Goin.
Creamy Farfalle with Broccoli Crumble
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
Charred broccoli florets add a crunchy bite to 2019 F&W Best New Chef Misti Norris’ creamy weeknight pasta. The star of this dish is a savory broccoli crumble made from oven-roasted broccoli florets, stale bread, and fresh garlic.
Chickpeas and Kale in Spicy Pomodoro Sauce
2010 F&W Best New Chef Missy Robbins riffs on pasta al pomodoro with nourishing chickpeas and tangles of kale for a spicy reinvented dish in 45 minutes.
Swiss Chard Frittata
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
2007 F&W Best New Chef April Bloomfield’s Swiss chard frittata is topped with dollops of mint-flecked yogurt before going into the oven. While it’s delicious at any time of day, with a side salad and a slice of good bread, it makes a satisfying dinner.
Cambodian Black Pepper Beef
An overnight marinade in a mixture of oyster sauce and black pepper transforms flank steak into ultra-flavorful bites of beef, perfect for serving alongside rice or in lettuce cups in this easy stir-fry from 2019 F&W Best New Chef Nite Yun. Once the beef is marinated, the dish comes together in 20 minutes flat.
Sweet Potato and Kale Soup
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
This fall-perfect soup by 1995 F&W Best New Chefs Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison of Bacchanalia in Atlanta is hearty and satisfying, packed with sweet potatoes and kale in broth boosted by a Parmesan rind.
Pescado con Sofrito
2015 F&W Best New Chef Katie Button’s slow-building sofrito adds vibrancy to her quick-cooking wine-poached fish. Most of the hour-plus cook time is spent slow-cooking the sofrito, which builds its rich, rewarding flavors.
Nut-Free Chickpea Pesto
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
In this nut-free basil pesto from 2020 F&W Best New Chef Douglass Williams, roasted chickpeas stand in for the usual pine nuts, contributing a nutty flavor and smooth texture to this satisfying pesto. In this recipe, it’s tossed with orecchiette, but it would be equally delicious with any pasta you prefer.
Arroz de Galinha
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell
2011 F&W Best New Chef George Mendes’ comforting Portuguese chicken and rice recipe showcases shredded rotisserie chicken, olives, sautéed onions and bell pepper, and crispy rendered soppressata, which bake with rice to make a cozy dinner.
Spicy Guava-Glazed Wings
Cedric Angeles
These fruity, sticky glazed chicken wings from 2017 F&W Best New Chef Nina Compton are roasted in the oven then tossed in a tangy guava glaze. Serve these wings alongside rice or potatoes to make them a main dish.
Peruvian-Style Pasta Bolognese
© Fredrika Stjärne
2011 F&W Best New Chef Ricardo Zarate’s Peruvian-inspired pasta dinner combines a rich meat sauce with garlicky soy-flavored noodles. It’s a quick weeknight dinner with a major flavor payoff, thanks to ginger and ajà amarillo paste in the sauce.
Skillet-Roasted Lamb Loins with Herbs
John Kernick
This lamb recipe from 2006 F&W Best New Chef Cathal Armstrong comes together in under an hour, making it a doable weeknight entrée or an easy dinner for special occasions. The loins are rubbed with herbs, garlic, and shallots then tied up, seared, and finished in the oven.
Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Burgers
1999 F&W Best New Chef Marc Vetri uses his favorite Italian ingredients for making pasta — sausage, broccoli rabe, and Fontina cheese — on these satisfying burgers. The burgers, a mix of ground pork, veal, beef, and minced pancetta, are seasoned with warming spices for an unforgettable bite.
Tuna Steaks with Mashed Taro
These quick and easy tuna steaks from 2013 F&W Best New Chef Jose Enrique are draped with a phenomenal dressing that requires only three ingredients: mustard, cilantro, and oil. Enrique likes to serve them with creamy mashed taro, but they’d be just as delightful alongside mashed potatoes.
Beef, Turkey, and Mushroom Meatloaf
1999 F&W Best New Chef Rocco Dispirito makes this meatloaf recipe using a mix of ground mushrooms, beef, and turkey for a winning — and gluten-free — dinner. Best of all? It’s ready to eat in under an hour.
