Two-time Top Chef finalist Sara Bradley loves to play with soup recipes, and in this episode of The Dinner Plan, she shares her favorite ways to dress up squash soup, tomato soup, corn soup, and cantaloupe soup. (Yes, cantaloupe soup.) Sara also shares the story of her famed cornbread salad, the flavor-boosting ingredients that she reaches for most, and the easy dinner she makes when she really needs to clean out the fridge and keep her family happy.Sara’s Book: The Kitchen I Came Home ToRECIPES OF THE WEEK:Get Sara’s Cornbread Salad and Pimento Cheese Waffles on TheDinnerPlan.Substack.comCheck out this week’s sponsors:Cangshan Cutlery: Use code DINNERPLAN15 for 15 percent off a purchase of $100 or more until Dec 31, 2026 at CangshanCutlery.com.Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.MaraBela: Find Marabela Alcohol-Free Sparkling Tea at MaraBelaTea.comNordic Ware: Use code DINNER10 at checkout for 10% off your purchase at Nordicware.com. (Nordic Ware note: Excludes Sale items. Offer can not be combined with other promo codes, and only one promo code may be used per customer. The offer is valid for U.S. online purchases only. This promotion is non-transferable, not redeemable for cash, and not valid on prior purchases, special orders, or taxes. Discount is valid until 11:59 PM CST on December 31st, 2026.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a teenager, Meherwan Irani would sneak out to eat street food against his mother’s wishes. These days the chef of Chai Pani and Boti Walla shares the flavors of his childhood in India with guests at his restaurants, and cooks at home through the pages of his new cookbook, No. 1 Best Indian Cookbook in the World: At-Home Recipes from the Streets, Truck Stops, Villages, and Palaces of India. In this episode of The Dinner Plan, Meherwan shares his current cooking obsession; the key lessons home cooks can learn from street vendors; the best way to julienne okra, carrots, or ginger; and how to make better saag paneer for dinner tonight.Get Meherwan’s tandoori salmon recipe on TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com ➡️Check out this week’s sponsors:MaraBela: Find Marabela Alcohol-Free Sparkling Tea at MaraBelaTea.comMade In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nik Sharma wants home cooks to better understand food science; in this episode of The Dinner Plan, he shares some of the best cooking tips from his new book, Fundamentals of Flavor: 100 Recipes for the Science of Better Cooking, and why they work. If you’ve ever struggled with dry pork tenderloin, you’ll want to listen in before you try to make that quick dinner staple again. Hear about Nik’s favorite flavor-boosting pantry essentials, his favorite fall dinners, and the one ingredient he could have named this book after, too.RECIPES OF THE WEEK:Get Nik’s recipes for Caramelized Shallot Dip and Seared Gnocchi with Chili Garlic Shrimp at TheDinnerPlan.Substack.comSEPTEMBER GIVEAWAY:To win Earlywood kitchen utensils, a Cuisinart countertop oven, a Hestan roasting pan, and so many cookbooks, enter by Wednesday, September 23, 2026CHECK OUT THESE SPONSORS:Staub: Find iconic Staub Dutch ovens now at Staub.comDirty Labs: Use code DINNERPLAN to get 15% off your first order at DirtyLabs.comEquator Coffees: Use code DINNERPLAN for 25% off your first order at EquatorCoffees.comMade In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.Find Kishwar Chowdhury’s Smoke, Rice, Water: Recipes and Stories from a Bengali Home at Amazon, Bookshop, or wherever you buy books. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cortney LaCorte—also known as Cheese Gal—joins The Dinner Plan this week to share her best advice on how to make a cheese plate and all the ways she makes entertaining more relaxed. That includes tips on what to cook for a dinner party, the most important thing you can do for a dinner party guest, and the cleaning detail you really can skip. What to make with Boursin? Cortney's all over that. On this episode, she also shares snack ideas for TV nights on the couch, memories of her mother's dinner parties, and her favorite recipe for a quick dinner you can make with grocery store fried chicken.🍽️ Get Cortney's cookbook recs and recipe on our newsletter at TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com 🍽️LAST CHANCE to enter our September giveaway ➡️___Check out this week's sponsors:Massican Wines: Use code DINNERPLAN for 10% off at Massican.com. Must be 21+McEvoy Ranch: Use code DINNERPLAN for 10% off at McEvoyranch.comCheesy by Farideh Sadeghin is available wherever you buy books.Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Olivia Tiedemann will be the first to tell you that working as a private chef isn't easy. You've gotta know what each guest likes and doesn't like, all the dietary restrictions, "who doesn't eat anchovies, who doesn't eat onions, who doesn't eat dairy. And there's 12 of them, and they're all there at one time," Olivia says. "How am I going to contort this same entree seven different ways?" But ultimately, she loves cooking for her clients, and shares everything she's learned in her new cookbook, Eat (Like) The Rich. In this episode of The Dinner Plan, Olivia talks with host Maggie Hoffman about what really matters in a great meal. Expensive lobster and steak is nice, but the difference all comes down to cooking technique. She walks us through a few favorite dinner recipes from the cookbook, the right way to sear a piece of fish, the way she thinks about creating a new dish for a dinner party, and reveals the popular ingredient she actually hates.🍳 ENTER THE GIVEAWAY and get Olivia Tiedemann's Parsnip Gnocchi recipe on TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com 🍳___Check out this week's sponsors:Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.Une Femme Wines: Use code DINNERPLAN at unefemmewines.com for 20% off. Must be 21+ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You may know Pati Jinich from her long-running series, Pati’s Mexican Table, or her previous cookbooks, but this fall you’ll be seeing a lot more of her, including her new docuseries, Panamericana, and her new cookbook, Foods of La Frontera. In this episode of The Dinner Plan, Pati chats with host Maggie Hoffman about the surprising dishes she tried while traveling along the Mexican-American border, and the way her time on the road has changed how she cooks at home. Pati shares favorite Mexican recipes from a wide range of border regions: lobster burritos, vegetarian pozole, surprising salsas, and easy tacos recipes you’ll want to cook this week.🌶️ ENTER THE GIVEAWAY and Get Pati Jinich's chipotle chicken taco recipe on TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com 🌶️____Check out this week's sponsors:Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.Listen to Food Friends on Apple podcasts or any podcast listening app.More Mexican cooking episodes you might like: Rick Martinez’s new salsa book will transform your weeknight cookingClaudette Zepeda’s Secret Ingredients for Bigger, Bolder FlavorCrispy Zucchini Tacos With Andrea Aliseda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Carla Lalli separated from her ex and moved part-time into a sublet after decades of marriage, the first thing she did was make dinner. “I cooked because it gives me a sense of comfort,” Carla says in this week’s episode of The Dinner Plan. “It makes me feel like I’m in power, and it’s soothing, and it is a way to shut off other noise.” Carla shares the meals she made as she got in touch with her own cravings again and what freedom and flexibility she found cooking for one or cooking for two instead of four, and also gets into what she thinks a cookbook written by a human can offer in the age of AI. Carla’s new cookbook, Food Is a Feeling, is the rare cookbook that doesn’t start from the assumption that “every day is happy and perfect.” Instead, she says, “actually sometimes it's a really bad day, and that the best thing in your day might be this great thing that you make for dinner.”📚📚📚Get Carla's cookbook recommendations + the recipe for Carla's Chovy-Forward Fazool on our newsletter: TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com__________Check out this week's sponsors:Straus Family Creamery: Find Straus organic ice cream at Whole Foods nationwide or at strausfamilycreamery.com.Michele's Granola: Use code DINNERPLAN15 for 15% off your order at MichelesGranola.comRow 7: Get 10% off Row 7’s chef-prepared tinned vegetables using code DINNERPLAN10 at Row7Seeds.comMade In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The high-protein vegetarian recipes in Grace Elkus's new cookbook, Protein-Packed Vegetarian, are exactly the kind of dinners I crave, packed with flavor and easy to make, even on a busy weeknight. In this episode of The Dinner Plan, I talk to Grace about her must-have kitchen gear, how to cook tofu so it actually gets crispy, and what to do if you just haven't come around to the idea of cottage cheese. I've been making the easy dinners from Grace's book over and over already, and I think you'll love them too.Get Grace's recipes for sheet-pan veggie parm and unstuffed eggplant parmesan shells on our newsletter at TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com_____Check out today's sponsors:MaraBela: Find Marabela Alcohol-Free Sparkling Tea at MaraBelaTea.comTrimona Yogurt: Find Trimona's A2A2 Bulgarian-style yogurt at TrimonaFoods.com and stores near you. Michele's Granola: Use code DINNERPLAN15 for 15% off your order at MichelesGranola.comDirty Labs: Use code THEDINNERPLAN to get 15% off your first order at DirtyLabs.com.Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've been looking forward to chef Pim Techamuanvivit's Thai cookbook for years. It's an essential guide to cooking Thai food, including fresh curry pastes, grilled dishes, curries, soups, and laab. In this episode of The Dinner Plan, I talk to Pim about how she learned all the Thai recipes she'd missed from home, why it matters that you seek out Thai ingredients to cook these recipes, and everything she'd put on a September dinner party menu, whether the guests eat meat or are vegetarian. You'll hear about Pim's favorite cookbooks and her advice for dealing with cooking burnout, too.Get Pim's recipe for Kin Khao's chicken wings on TheDinnerPlan.Substack.com.___Check out this week's sponsors: Thaan Charcoal: Get a free starter kit including Thai-style charcoal, fan, and fire starters with the Thaan Grill when you use code DINNERPLAN at thaancharcoal.com/dinnerplanListen to Food Friends on Apple podcasts or any podcast listening app.Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steel Russell started The 99% Cooking Club after walking out of the grocery store with a single bag of food that cost $150. He focuses on tips for making easy, cheap meals taste complex and flavorful, and shares recipes for family dinners that stretch your grocery budget. In this episode of The Dinner Plan, we talk through the best budget-friendly ingredients to buy right now, and how to think about meal planning when you're trying to save money.We’re all in this together, Steel reminds us. "I wanted to be able to show people how to make good food for cheap, but I also wanted to find a way to give people a place that they can come to and not feel isolated," he says. "I think we need to be reminded that, you know, my neighbor is going through the same thing I'm going through right now. On the other side of my house, they're going through the same thing I’m going through right now, but we don’t talk about it."Steel gets into the backstory that inspires this work. Trigger warning: addiction.___Check out this week’s sponsors:Find Ajinomoto at your local grocery store, and stocked in bulk at your nearest Costco.Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.MaraBela: Find Marabela Alcohol-Free Sparkling Tea at MaraBelaTea.comStraus Family Creamery: Find Straus organic ice cream at Whole Foods nationwide or at strausfamilycreamery.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.