Tag: #TasteofHome

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Slow-Cooked Chicken Enchilada Soup

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Have you ever been digging into a chicken enchilada and thought, this would be even better if I were eating it with a spoon? No, is it just us?

Well, we took apart the beloved Mexican dish and reimagined it as a soup. We led with southwestern flavors from poblano peppers, cumin and enchilada sauce, and added lean protein from shredded chicken. This healthier, homemade take on enchiladas doesn’t require much more than popping the ingredients into a slow cooker and going about your day. But if you don’t have a slow cooker, we’ve got your back in our recipe variations below.

While comforting, this dish is fiber-and-protein-filled for a nourishing weeknight dinner (and you can easily freeze it for future meals.) We love it alongside some cornbread or margaritas for the adults.

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup Ingredients

  • Anaheim or poblano peppers: These large, green peppers are more savory than spicy, adding smokiness and complexity to the flavors in the soup. Poblano peppers are slightly more spicy than Anaheims (although not by much)—both are relatively mild.
  • Onion: Aromatic and savory, onion (yellow onion is usually best in a soup) also adds a little touch of sweetness
  • Garlic: Bold and aromatic, garlic provides a key, savory flavor to this meal. Fresh garlic will have the strongest flavor, so opt for that over pre-minced garlic or powder.
  • Chicken: The primary protein in your dish, this chicken will be shredded for tender bites.
  • Chicken broth: This is the liquid base for your soup. Using chicken broth amplifies the savory flavors for a more dynamic dish.
  • Mexican diced tomatoes: This refers to diced tomatoes mixed with other ingredients, often green chilis. If you can’t find this, make your own mix of diced tomatoes and canned green chilis for a similar southwestern-inspired taste.
  • Enchilada sauce: Enchilada sauce typically includes flavors like chiles, tomatoes, cumin and oregano. It’s not usually that spicy.
  • Tomato paste: This paste helps increase the enchilada flavor with a very concentrated taste of tomatoes.
  • Chili powder: This is where you’ll get the heat and a little bit of smokiness.
  • Cumin: Earthy and warm cumin compliments the other flavors and spices in the enchilada sauce, helping the dish taste more vibrant.
  • Chipotle hot pepper sauce: While optional, a chipotle hot pepper sauce will, unsurprisingly, increase the heat, while also lending a savory, smokey flavor.
  • Cilantro: Bright and herbal, cilantro lifts the heavier flavors. If you don’t like the taste of cilantro, you can omit it.
  • Cheddar cheese: An optional topping, cheddar cheese has a sharp flavor that adds dimension to your soup. For best results, shred the cheese yourself!
  • Avocado: An optional topping, avocado can help tame the hotter flavors and add a rich, healthier creaminess.
  • Sour cream: An optional topping, sour cream can balance the heat from the chili powder and hot sauce while providing a well-balanced tang.
  • Tortilla strips: An optional topping, tortilla strips add a little extra crunch.

Taste of Home

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24 Christmas Cheesecake Recipes for the Nice List

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Christmas cheesecake recipes bring together everything that makes holiday dessert baking feel magical: decadently creamy textures, nostalgic flavors and festive twists that will shine on any table. This collection has all that and more, spanning from timeless classics like traditional cheesecake and chocolate swirl to more seasonal specialties like peppermint and bourbon pecan. These festive cheesecake recipes are top-tier in taste and visual appeal, so you can wow your guests all season long.

To make preparation simpler during the busy holiday season, many of these holiday cheesecake recipes provide guidance for make-ahead steps, freezing and long-lasting storage, ensuring each dessert stays creamy and fresh. Adaptations are easy to incorporate: Swap in gluten-free graham crackers or cookies for a gluten-free dessert, use a sugar alternative or change up the toppings to what you have on hand. These ingredient swaps work seamlessly with these recipes, so you can rest assured that you’ll be serving up a sweet slice that works for your family and friends. For a thoughtful finishing touch, try serving your seasonal cheesecake desserts with an espresso, a cup of tea or a festive holiday cocktail.

Taste of Home

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Delicious Low-Carb Soup Recipes for Chilly Days

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

When you want comfort without the carbs, opt for warming, low-carb soup recipes packed with nutrient-dense ingredients and flavors for all taste buds.

When it’s chilly outside, of course you’ll crave soup! And if you’re looking for a soup that’s low in carbohydrates but still satisfying and delicious, you might wonder where to start. Luckily, we’ve got a whole range of flavorful low-carb soups that each provide 15 grams of carbohydrates or fewer per serving. Pair them with fresh side salads, and you’ll have a complete meal.

Whether you’re following a low-carb diet for medical or personal reasons, or you’re looking to balance your meals with healthy recipes, these soups fit the bill for lunch or dinner. You’ll find everything from broth-based soups like matzo ball to creamy bowls of chowder and everything in between.

So stock your crisper drawer with the makings for mirepoix or the holy trinity and choose your favorite cooking aromatics. It’s time to dish up some goodness!

Taste of Home

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Cheeseburger Quiche

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

This cheeseburger quiche is so much more than just a quiche with ground beef. The cheeseburger-inspired recipe is packed with all your favorite burger add-ons—juicy tomatoes, onions, tangy pickle relish, smoky bacon and a hint of mustard—to really amp up the cheeseburger flavor in every bite. All the burger fixings are mixed into a creamy egg custard, topped with melty cheddar and Parmesan, and baked in a flaky, golden pie crust.

Cheeseburger quiche is delicious straight from the oven, but you can take it up a notch by adding extra burger toppings, such as chopped lettuce, diced tomatoes or a drizzle of burger sauce, for a fun finishing touch. Whether you’re serving it for brunch, a fun weeknight dinner or a potluck, this quiche recipe delivers an easy, satisfying meal.

Cheeseburger Quiche Ingredients

  • Pie crust: A refrigerated pie crust is a great timesaver, but you can use a homemade or frozen crust if you prefer—just be sure to thaw it according to package directions first.
  • Ground beef: An 85/15 lean-to-fat ratio gives the best balance of flavor and juiciness, but 90/10 ground beef works if you’d like a lighter quiche. Be sure to drain any excess grease so the crust stays crisp and the filling doesn’t get greasy.
  • Tomatoes: Chopped plum tomatoes add a touch of bright acidity that balances the rich, savory flavors of the beef and cheese.
  • Onion: Yellow or white onions work best to add sweetness and aromatic depth, or try red onions for a sharper onion flavor.
  • Dill pickle relish: Stirring pickle relish into the ground beef adds a tangy, zesty flavor—just like a burger with special sauce. Boost the pickle punch with a few spoonfuls of chopped dill pickles, or use sweet pickle relish for a milder taste.
  • Cooked bacon: Crumbled bacon adds a smoky, salty depth and a slightly chewy texture for bacon cheeseburger vibes. You can swap in pancetta or turkey bacon for a leaner option that still delivers plenty of flavor. Not a bacon fan? Simply leave it out.
  • Eggs: The backbone of any quiche, whole eggs provide structure and richness and help bind the filling together. Let the eggs come to room temperature before mixing—they’ll whisk more smoothly and blend evenly with the dairy.
  • Cream and milk: A 1:2 ratio of milk and cream creates a rich custard base that keeps the quiche filling creamy and tender. You can use all milk for a lighter quiche, although the taste and texture will be slightly less decadent.
  • Seasonings: The meat mixture gets extra flavor from a couple of teaspoons of prepared mustard and a dash of hot pepper sauce, adding just the right balance of tanginess and a subtle kick.
  • Cheeses: Cheddar is the classic choice for that signature cheeseburger flavor and perfect meltiness—use mild or sharp depending on your taste. A sprinkle of Parmesan adds a nutty, savory note for extra depth. Feel free to experiment with other melting cheeses, such as mozzarella, Swiss or Monterey Jack.
  • Optional toppings: Finish each slice with your favorite burger fixings—a dollop of mayo, crumbled bacon, pickle slices, relish, chopped onion and fresh tomatoes all add flavor, texture and an extra-fun touch.

Taste of Home

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Lemon Snowflakes

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

You’ll need just four ingredients to make these delightful lemon snowflake cookies. Confectioners’ sugar highlights the cracked tops to give them their snowflake appearance. —Linda Barry, Dianna, Texas

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White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

We love how incredibly soft and chewy these white chocolate cranberry cookies are. Best of all? No dough chilling time required!

These white chocolate cranberry cookies offer tidings of comfort and joy to any Christmas cookie tray. Each cookie is thick and incredibly soft with sweet white chocolate chips and tart dried cranberries dotted throughout. Their red and white coloring looks so festive for the Christmas holiday, but they’re so good that we eat them all year round!

Ingredients for White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

  • Butter: The key to making a fabulous cookie is starting with softened butter. If you forgot to soften it, fret not: here’s how to soften butter quickly.
  • Brown sugar: Brown sugar adds more moisture to the dough than white sugar, resulting in a chewier, softer cookie.
  • Egg: One egg binds all the ingredients together perfectly.
  • All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour is the goldilocks of flour for cookies. It’s not too soft like cake flour, but not too tough and dense like bread flour. All-purpose flour adds just the right amount of structure to a cookie while still allowing it to be soft.
  • White chocolate chips: Overwhelmed by the amount of white chocolate chips at the store? Our Test Kitchen pros found that the best white chocolate chips are Ghirardelli Classic White Chips.
  • Dried cranberries: We love the beautiful maroon hue, tart taste and pleasant chew that dried cranberries add to these cranberry white chocolate cookies.

Taste of Home

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64 Easy Christmas Desserts to Make This Year

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

From no-bake fudge and truffles to spiced cakes and chewy cookies, these easy Christmas desserts make enjoying sweet treats simple and stress-free all season long.

For many years, my next-door neighbor gifted my family a beautiful, homemade Yule log cake to enjoy on Christmas—meringue mushrooms and all! It was extra-special to me because, in my chaotic house, we relied on easy Christmas desserts that could be made in a flash. But I’m not complaining. As this collection shows, quick Christmas treats are just as festive, beautiful and delicious as more labor-intensive ones. Christmas dinner is great, but no-fuss holiday desserts are the real stars of the day.

We compiled simple Christmas dessert recipes that can be prepped in 20 minutes or less and are full of seasonal flavors. There are rich, chocolaty treats that taste like hot cocoa, red and white swirled minty bites, and pretty Bundts that practically decorate themselves. If the oven is full, try a no-bake treat, like fudge or truffles. And, of course, we include Christmas cookies, from jammy thumbprints to sugary snowballs and buttery shortbread. All that’s left is to make a batch of homemade eggnog and enjoy the holiday.

Taste of Home

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Sheet-Pan Chicken Potpie

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

There’s nothing I love more than feeling warm and cozy when it’s cold outside. And when it comes to meals that make me feel this way, nothing beats chicken potpie. This sheet-pan chicken potpie is a twist on the classic comfort food, with a creamy, hearty filling spread onto a sheet pan instead of into a pie plate, and a topping of puff pastry instead of pie crust that ensures there’s enough golden-brown pastry for every single forkful.

Shortcut ingredients including frozen veggies, shredded rotisserie chicken and refrigerated puff pastry make prepping this crowd-sized recipe a breeze.

Ingredients for Sheet-Pan Chicken Potpie

  • Puff pastry: Cut the store-bought puff pastry into strips and use them as a buttery, flaky topping for the chicken potpie. Feel free to use homemade puff pastry if you have it; it’s a fun baking project to try sometime if you’ve got a few hours on your hands.
  • Veggies: The savory filling includes classic potpie veggies, including peas, corn, carrots, green beans and onions. Using a frozen bag of mixed vegetables makes the prep work a breeze.
  • Heavy cream: Heavy cream adds a rich flavor to the filling.
  • Chicken broth: Chicken broth adds a savory, concentrated chicken flavor to the filling. Use a low-sodium variety to control the salt level in the final dish.
  • Shredded rotisserie chicken: This sheet-pan chicken potpie recipe uses store-bought rotisserie chicken. You could also use leftover shredded or cubed chicken breast or chicken thighs for this recipe. Use any leftovers in another rotisserie chicken recipe.
  • Flour or cornstarch: Flour helps to thicken the savory filling. You could also use cornstarch as a thickener.
  • Egg: A beaten egg is used to create an egg wash that’s brushed onto the pastry strips, giving them a shiny, golden brown finish once baked.

Taste of Home

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18 Diabetic-Friendly Oatmeal Recipes

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Oats are high-carb, but that doesn’t mean they’re off-limits to people with diabetes. These lighter oatmeal recipes have a moderate amount of carbohydrates and can be included in most diabetic meal plans.

Taste of Home

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Hot Honey Chicken Tenders

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Our recipe for hot honey chicken tenders features chicken tenderloins that are fried until golden and crispy, then generously drizzled with a sweet and spicy hot honey.

Chicken tenders are always a family favorite, especially on busy weeknights when time is of the essence. While it’s easy to grab a bag of frozen chicken tenders from the freezer section in the grocery store, it’s nearly just as easy to make them from scratch at home—all it takes are a few simple ingredients. This hot honey chicken tenders recipe adds another level of flavor by combining honey with peppers to make a sweet and spicy hot honey—’swicy’ is everything right now!—that’s perfect for drizzling over the crispy fried chicken strips.

These hot honey chicken strips are perfect for a family weeknight dinner, or save this recipe for the weekend and serve these tasty bites of chicken as a craveable football food. It’s perfect as part of a game day spread alongside a flavorful ranch dip.

Ingredients for Hot Honey Chicken Tenders

Hot honey:

  • Honey: You can use any type of honey you like for this recipe, but you don’t need to use anything too fancy. (I use a basic clover honey.) If you don’t have a favorite honey to use, try one of the best honey brands as tested and chosen by the Taste of Home Test Kitchen.
  • Apple cider vinegar: The sour and bright flavor of apple cider vinegar, as opposed to that of other types of vinegar, adds a bit of acidity to complement the sweetness of the honey.
  • Crushed red pepper flakes: Crushed red pepper flakes are a pantry staple spice that makes this hot honey, well, hot.
  • Cayenne pepper: Ground cayenne pepper adds a subtle smoky, slightly sweet flavor and a pungent punch of spice.
  • Kosher salt: Salt enhances the flavors of this hot honey.

Chicken tenders:

  • Chicken tenderloins: Both fresh and frozen (thawed) meat will work in a chicken tenderloins recipe. In a pinch, chicken breast strips will work as well.
  • Buttermilk: A dip in tangy buttermilk helps ensure the fried chicken is moist and tender inside the crisp breading.
  • Egg: An egg is combined with buttermilk to help the breading bind to the chicken.
  • Flour: Seasoned all-purpose flour is used to make a simple but flavorful breading for the chicken. For gluten-free hot honey chicken strips, use a gluten-free flour mix, cornstarch, rice flour or tapioca flour in place of the all-purpose flour.
  • Seasonings: The flour is seasoned with a combination of garlic powder, onion powder, coarse black pepper, salt, paprika and dried thyme.
  • Oil: You will need to use a neutral cooking oil with a high smoke point to fry the hot honey chicken tenders recipe. A few of our favorite oils for frying include soybean oil, peanut oil and safflower oil.

Taste of Home