Fall Dinner Ideas

Sheet Pan Sausage, Apple and Delicata Squash

40 minutes · one pan

The dinner for a Tuesday when nobody wants to cook. Everything goes on one pan, the apple collapses into something almost like a sauce, and the only washing up is the pan.

Ingredients

• 1 lb Italian sausages (about 5–6)
• 1 delicata squash, halved, seeded, sliced into half-moons (no need to peel)
• 2 firm apples, cored and cut into thick wedges
• 1 red onion, cut into wedges
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp fennel seed, lightly crushed
• Salt and black pepper
• A handful of sage leaves

Method

1. Heat the oven to 425°F. Put the squash, apple and onion on a half sheet pan.
2. Toss with the olive oil, fennel seed, a good pinch of salt and plenty of pepper. Spread into one layer — crowding is what makes it steam.
3. Nestle the sausages in among the vegetables.
4. Roast 25 minutes. Turn the sausages, scatter over the sage, and roast another 10–15 minutes until the sausages are browned and the squash edges have caught.
5. Let it sit 5 minutes before serving straight from the pan.

Cider-Braised Chicken Thighs with Onions

1 hour 20 minutes · one pot

A Sunday dinner that mostly cooks itself. Bone-in thighs are cheap, forgiving, and better than breast for this — they do not dry out if you leave them ten minutes too long.

Ingredients

• 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 large onions, sliced thin
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1½ cups apple cider (not vinegar)
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 bay leaf

Method

1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Dry the chicken well and season both sides generously.
2. Heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium-high. Brown the thighs skin-side down, 6–8 minutes, without moving them. Turn, give them 2 more minutes, then set aside.
3. Pour off all but a tablespoon of fat. Add the onions with a pinch of salt and cook 8–10 minutes until soft and golden, scraping up the brown bits.
4. Add the garlic and thyme, cook 1 minute. Pour in the cider and let it bubble down by half, about 4 minutes.
5. Stir in the stock, mustard and bay leaf. Return the chicken skin-side up — the skin should sit above the liquid.
6. Uncovered, into the oven for 40–45 minutes, until the chicken is tender and the skin has crisped again.
7. Rest 10 minutes. Serve with the onions and plenty of the liquid spooned over.

Brown Butter Banana Bread

1 hour 15 minutes · one loaf

The banana bread recipe worth keeping. Browning the butter first is a five-minute step that changes it from fine to the one people ask you for.

Ingredients

• ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1¼ cups)
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1½ cups (190g) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Method

1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
2. Melt the butter in a light-coloured pan over medium heat. Keep swirling. It will foam, then quieten, then smell nutty and show brown flecks — about 5 minutes. Pour it into a bowl straight away, scraping in the flecks, and let it cool 10 minutes.
3. Whisk the brown sugar into the butter, then the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla and the mashed banana.
4. In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
5. Fold the dry into the wet until just combined — stop while it still looks a little lumpy. Overmixing is what makes it tough.
6. Pour into the pan and bake 55–65 minutes, until a skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs.
7. Cool in the pan 15 minutes, then turn out. It slices best once fully cool, if you can wait.

Nordic Ware Half Sheet Pan

$23.81 · the one pan the first recipe needs

Heavy enough that it does not warp and buckle the second it hits a hot oven, which is what makes vegetables roast instead of steam. This is the single most-used thing in the list.

Lodge Enamel Cast Iron Dutch Oven, 6 Quart

$72.99 · for the braise

The most expensive thing here and the one that lasts longest. It goes from the stovetop to the oven without changing pans, which is the whole reason a braise is a one-dish dinner.

Amazon Basics Nonstick Loaf Pan

$11.17 · for the banana bread

Eleven dollars, and it releases cleanly, which is the only thing a loaf pan has to do. There is no reason to spend more.

Teak Wooden Utensil Set, 8 Pieces

$33.99 · will not scratch the enamel

Metal will chew up an enamel dutch oven over time. Wood will not, and these do not stain or hold onion smell the way cheap bamboo does.

Glass Meal Prep Containers, Leak-Proof

$27.99 · because all three recipes make leftovers

Glass instead of plastic means you reheat in the same box you stored it in, and the leak-proof lids are what make taking lunch actually happen.