247 comforting recipes

Cream of pea soup made with split peas, fresh peas, carrot, and a finishing pour of heavy cream for serious richness. The classic blended pea soup that pairs comforting heft with bright fresh-pea flavor.

Whole baked apples cored and stuffed with dried cherries, chopped almonds, cinnamon, and brown sugar, then baked in apple juice and honey until fork-tender. A rustic fall dessert lighter than pie but just as comforting.

Christmas kedgeree is a British Boxing Day brunch classic: flaked smoked fish folded with cooked rice, curry powder, cream, and hard-boiled eggs. An Anglo-Indian tradition from the Raj that holds up as holiday comfort food.

Nothing says comfort food like grandma's cookin'. I have simplified the process with canned beans but feel free to use a comparable amount of fresh. I also replaced the lard in Grandma's recipe with (marginally more healthy) butter.

Parmesan garlic soup simmers a whole half-head of garlic into a mellow, sweet broth, then thickens it silky with a tempered egg, parmesan, and olive oil liaison. Ladled over a crouton, it's rustic comfort in a bowl.

This cheesy chicken casserole loads tender chicken and cubed ham over fluffy rice in a creamy cheddar soup sauce with sautéed peppers and onions. Ready in 40 minutes flat, it's the kind of one-pot comfort food that brings everyone to the table.

Texas' premier comfort food, chicken fried steak, has no chicken in it. It is called such because the steak is breaded and pan-fried much like fried chicken. A descendant of the German dish wiener schnitzel, it is traditionally made with round steak. Top round is the most tender.