The Dinner Plan

Spice importer Sana Javeri Kadri and her team traveled for four and a half months across the length and breadth of India and Sri Lanka to learn family recipes from the spice farmers she works with. They joined a wedding feast in Kashmir and a pakora party in Gujarat, toured a women's market in Manipur, and learned to make fish puffs like the ones at a legendary Sri Lankan bakery. In this episode o...

Cookbook author and content creator Maxine Sharf organized her new cookbook, Maxi's Kitchen , by day of the week. Easy recipes for Mondays anticipate lower energy and keep things simple, while Tuesday recipes cut down on dishes. Wednesday mixes things up a bit, and Thursday is date night, with restaurant-worthy dishes you can make at home. Listen to the full episode to learn how she plots the rest...

Ella Quittner conducted around 1500 recipe tests as a part of her research for her new book, Obsessed With the Best . In this episode of The Dinner Plan, Ella and host Maggie Hoffman discuss the pros and cons of the internet's preoccupation with pronouncing certain foods and cooking techniques "the best," and what Ella was looking for as she attempted to figure out the best roast chicken, crispy s...

If you find feeding your kid frustrating, you're absolutely not alone. In this episode of The Dinner Plan, host Maggie Hoffman interviews cookbook author Phoebe Lapine, who is also the voice behind the Munch Menus newsletter on Substack. Phoebe's menu system helps busy parents figure out kid dinners, and in this conversation, she shares her advice for increasing variety if your child is picky (per...

They call Naoko Takei Moore "Mrs. Donabe"—she’s taught classes on cooking with these Japanese clay pots, and wrote the first English-language book on the topic. Her new book, Simply Donabe , focuses on simple one-pot meals made in the donabe. In this week’s episode of The Dinner Plan podcast, host Maggie Hoffman asks Naoko about the advantages of donabe cooking, the best things to cook in the pot,...

Jerrelle Guy was in the midst of a serious case of burnout when she began to dream up her new book, We Fancy . It's not a cookbook highlighting high-end ingredients or elaborate meals—it’s about finding magic in everyday weeknight dinners. In this episode of The Dinner Plan, Jerrelle talks to host Maggie Hoffman about how to calm your nervous system if your kitchen is stressing you out, what to ma...

Chef Vivian Howard has written two cookbooks—and now she's the star of a public television series called Kitchen Curious . But she still struggles with the challenge of cooking on busy weeknights. In Episode 82 of The Dinner Plan, Vivian chats with host Maggie Hoffman about her real-life dinner routine, the way she's cut down her grocery spending, and some important fridge safety tips that she lea...

Chef Natasha Pickowicz always wants to bring people together, and her new book, Everyone Hot Pot , shows you how to host a truly impressive night of hot pot with zero stress. In this episode of The Dinner Plan, host Maggie Hoffman chats with Natasha about why hot pot is such a perfect low-key way of entertaining, and gets all her advice for the hot pot equipment you need, what to buy and prep in a...

The Kitchen Cupboard Chef by Theo A. Michaels focuses on pantry recipes: dishes that highlight your stash of beans, tinned fish, and canned tomatoes. In this episode of The Dinner Plan, Theo shares favorite cupboard staples, and the cooking techniques he's learned to help them shine. He also shares advice for cooking with kids: While it's not going to be "rainbows and unicorns" he says, Theo stron...

You eat 21 meals a week, Jenn Lueke points out, which means you have a lot of choices to make when you're meal planning and shopping for food. Jenn's new book, Don’t Think About Dinner , aims to ease the decision fatigue and help you create a low-stress meal planning routine. On this episode of The Dinner Plan, Jenn talks to host Maggie Hoffman about how to fit meal-planning into your schedule, wh...

If you've ever rushed into the kitchen and frantically tried to throw dinner together—or if that's how you always cook—you know that feeling of fight-or-flight doesn't actually make for a tastier meal. Nicki Sizemore, the author of Mind, Body, Spirit, Food , chats with The Dinner Plan's host Maggie Hoffman about how she gets out of that state of stress at the end of the day—and gets more out of th...

Even if you really want to getting more organized about your daily meals, creating a meal-planning and meal-prepping routine from scratch can feel like a lot. But Coco Morante's new book, The Instant Kitchen Meal Prep Cookbook , takes a lot of that work off your plate with 10 full weeks of meal plans and shopping lists, ready to go. On the 77th episode of The Dinner Plan, host Maggie Hoffman talks...

In this episode of The Dinner Plan, host Maggie Hoffman talks to Debra Borden, a licensed clinical social worker whose book, Cooking As Therapy , describes how she uses cooking as a tool to unlock whatever her clients are struggling with. Through the use of mindfulness, metaphor, and mastery, cooking can lead to breakthroughs. Learn the core tenets of Debra's practice, plus tips for dealing with t...

Flora Shedden, who you might remember from The Great British Bake Off, opened the acclaimed ARAN Bakery in the heart of Scotland when she was just 21. She’s the author of  Gatherings , Aran , Supper , and the new cookbook, Winter in the Highlands: Eating, Drinking and Celebrating in Scotland . In this episode of The Dinner Plan, Flora shares favorite holiday food traditions, ways to get ahead...

Joshua Russ Tupper is the 4th-generation co-owner of Russ & Daughters, the iconic New York City appetizing shop, and the co-author of the cookbook Russ & Daughters: 100 Years of Appetizing . In this episode, Josh talks to host Maggie Hoffman about the ultimate fishy bite from the shop, his go-to brunch moves and holiday appetizer favorites, his thoughts on hosting a latke party for Hanukka...

In the 73rd episode of The Dinner Plan podcast, Alex Snodgrass of The Defined Dish shares her winter salad formula, a few favorite low-lift weeknight meals, and her family's essential December food tradition. Her most important holiday entertaining advice? It's all about a strategic menu that doesn't require everything to be prepped last minute. Twice-baked potatoes are your friend. Get a few week...

Tamar Adler's new book, Feast on Your Life , captures 365 moments of delight in the kitchen. Looking for those moments of goodness in the necessary practice of feeding oneself, Tamar Adler says, “ended up being super lucky because when you’re depressed, even if you’re a food writer, you know, you don’t really want to cook, you don’t want to do anything. And so it was this secret mind trick that re...

Kat Craddock, editor-in-chief of Saveur magazine, has one main piece of Thanksgiving advice: "Revel in the shortcuts, and take the time to do the things that matter to you," she says. "And get started earlier than you think you should." On this episode of The Dinner Plan, Kat shares pie-making advice, quick dinners to eat in November, and the story of how she made scratch-and-sniff happen in the l...

On Episode 70 of The Dinner Plan, host Maggie Hoffman talks with Toni Chapman, @themoodyfoody on Instagram, and author of Everything's Good . “Cooking is at the intersection of everything in our lives,” Toni says. "Approaching it with care and love and learning just makes it better." Toni shares holiday recipe favorites, soups she loves, and thoughts on dialing down Thanksgiving stress. Get all th...

Working as a private chef can teach you a lot about elaborate dinners—including what not to do when you're hosting Thanksgiving. On this episode of The Dinner Plan, host Maggie Hoffman chats with Maddy DeVita, a private chef and recipe developer whose content you may have seen at @ handmethefork . Maddy shares advice on cooking more efficiently, tales of cooking disaster, and the way she's thinkin...

Elyse Inamine and Jessie YuChen’s new book, For the Love of Kewpie , showed me that my use of Kewpie mayo was woefully limited. In this 68th episode of The Dinner Plan, learn all the ways they bring it into recipes—and all the easy dinners the two authors make most at home. Be sure to jump over to The Dinner Plan's newsletter on Substack for two recipes from the book, Jessie and Elyse's most prize...

Clare de Boer and Jess Shadbolt's The King Cookbook gives you the kinds of lessons you'd learn if you came to work at the New York restaurant: how to make their signature sauces and other building blocks of their daily menu, how to make a superlative pot of beans, or family-meal soup, or salad. In this conversation on The Dinner Plan, they share the pantry staples that really make a difference, th...

On the 66th episode of The Dinner Plan, host Maggie Hoffman talks to Michael W. Twitty, the author of Recipes from The American South . This vast collection highlights specialties from various regions across the South—and the history of each dish. This episode will make you hungry for gumbo and barbecue and caramel cake and chicken and dumplings. Luckily you can subscribe at TheDinnerPlan. Substac...

Dorie Greenspan is the author of 15 cookbooks—including her most recent, Dorie's Anytime Cakes . In the 65th episode of The Dinner Plan podcast, Dorie chats with host Maggie Hoffman about the memories that shaped this book, the dinners she makes most frequently at home, and the differences in her cooking routine when she's in Paris vs. Connecticut. Head to TheDinnerPlan. Substack.com to get Dorie'...

You might recall Joe Sasto and his mustache from Top Chef. His new book, Breaking the Rules , is full of fun spins on classic recipes—think focaccia with blackberries, Everything Bagel Pasta, and a savory crumble you can take in a ton of different directions. In Episode 64 of The Dinner Plan podcast, Joe talks with host Maggie Hoffman about the food magazine he's collected for years, the unusual m...