Easy Fall Dinners for When You Are Sick of Pumpkin and Squash

Seasonal meals for when you’re ready to move past the gourds.

By Robin Shreeves
Published November 29, 2025
Overhead view of lifting up a spoon of tortellini from soup

Serious Eat / Amanda Suarez

When pumpkins and winter squash like butternut and acorn first show up at the farmers market, many of us dream about turning them into baked goods, soups, and cozy dishes like pumpkin lasagna or butternut squash with sage cream sauce. But by mid-October, the gourd fatigue hits, and we start looking for other seasonal recipes that feel just as perfect for a cool fall night. If you’re at that point, these fall-ready meals will give you plenty of inspiration for what else is in season.

Love these recipes? With MyRecipes, your personal home for recipes, easily save and organize your favorites, plus thousands more, in one convenient place.

  • Roasted Chicken Thighs With Bacon, Apples, and Cabbage

    Sheet pan chicken thighs served with bacon and apple on a platter

    Serious Eats / Melati Citrawireja

    In this sheet-pan dinner (fewer dishes to clean!), skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs are arranged around the edges of the pan so they crisp up beautifully. In the center, apples, cabbage, and bacon cook underneath, and everything picks up the flavor of the bacon as its fat renders and spreads. The result is maximum flavor for minimum work.

  • Sheet-Pan Gnocchi With Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

    A plate of gnocchi with roasted vegetables and cheese, next to a sheet pan with more of the dish

    Serious Eats / Victor Protasio

    If you’re accustomed to boiling gnocchi, you might be surprised by their texture when baked, but it’s a pleasant surprise. Store-bought refrigerated gnocchi and sausage go on a preheated sheet pan, and after a bit, broccoli rabe and tomatoes join them. It all comes together in under an hour, and clean up is a breeze.

  • Crispy Baked Pasta With Mushrooms, Sausage, and Parmesan Cream Sauce

    20140930-past-mushroom-sausage-cast-iron-baked-43.jpg
    J. Kenji López-Alt

    Break out your cast iron skillet for this pasta, which combines a creamy sauce of sausage, mushrooms, aromatics, herbs, stock, and cream with cooked noodles. Top it with a herbed breadcrumb mixture and slide the skillet under the broiler until the surface crisps up. The result is a rich, crowd-pleasing dinner that feels effortlessly cozy.

  • Sheet-Pan Pork Tenderloin With Sweet Potatoes and Broccoli

    Overhead view of sheet pan dinner

    Serious Eats / Two Bites

    Three simple ingredients, generously seasoned with a medley of spices, come together for a flavorful meat-and-potatoes dinner with plenty of vegetables. Everything cooks on a sheet pan in stages—first the sweet potatoes, then the pork, and finally the broccoli—so each component finishes at the right time. The result is an easy, well-balanced meal for two to three people.

    Continue to 5 of 10 below

  • Neapolitan Escarole Bean Soup

    A bowl of zuppetta Scarola e Fagioli with croutons and beans a spoon scooping out the soup

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    How comforting does rich, hearty zuppa di scarola e fagioli sound on a chilly fall night? The best version starts with dried white beans, but canned beans work in a pinch. The beans simmer in the same water and aromatics used to blanch the escarole, and everything cooks together for about 15 minutes. Ladle the soup over croutons and finish with good olive oil, black pepper, and a generous amount of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

  • Creamy Tortellini Soup

    Overhead view of lifting up a spoon of tortellini from soup

    Serious Eat / Amanda Suarez

    Start by sautéing juicy Italian sausage in a large pot, then remove it and cook the vegetables and aromatics in the rendered fat. Add flour for thickening, followed by tomato paste and stock, then stir in the kale and cooked sausage. While everything simmers together, boil the tortellini. Add it to the pot, finish with cream, and ladle into bowls. For extra flavor, top each serving with pesto and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

  • Sheet-Pan Salmon and Kale

    Salmon fillets topped with pomegranate seeds and greens on a baking sheet

    Serious Eats / Morgan Hunt Ward, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey

    As with most kale dishes, you’ll start by massaging the greens to tenderize them—and that’s the most tedious step, though it’s barely tedious at all. Next, toss together a walnut-pomegranate-herb gremolata to finish the dish. While the kale and salmon bake on the same sheet pan, whisk a quick pomegranate molasses and Dijon glaze for the salmon. The result is an easy, impressive, company-worthy dinner.

  • Sweet Potato Enchiladas

    Dish of sweet potato enchiladas topped with melted cheese sour cream and cilantro

    Serious Eats / Morgan Hunt Ward, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey

    These meatless enchiladas are filled with sweet potatoes and black beans and packed with smoky, cheesy comfort. Roast the sweet potatoes with poblanos, onion, and seasonings, then mix in the black beans and sour cream for the filling. While the vegetables roast, make the enchilada sauce. Assemble the enchiladas, place them in a baking dish, top with sauce and cheese, and bake until hot, bubbly, and irresistible.

    Continue to 9 of 10 below

  • Crispy Kale, Brussels Sprouts, and Potato Hash

    Crispy kale, brussels sprouts, and potato hash

    Serious Eats / Mateja Zvirotic Andrijanic

    This egg-topped hash works for weekend brunch or an easy dinner any night. Start by parboiling the potatoes, then cook them in an ovenproof skillet with Brussels sprouts, kale, and onion. Add a little heat with hot sauce, and just before everything is cooked through, crack a couple of eggs on top. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the eggs are barely set. When the yolks break over the vegetables, they create a silky, flavorful sauce.

  • Moroccan Egg Drop Harira (Vegetable and Legume Soup)

    Overhead view of egg drop Harira

    Serious Eats / Jen Causey

    This extra-hearty soup combines lentils, chickpeas, and rice, and gets an added comfort boost from warm spices like turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, and saffron. It starts the way many soups do: Sautéing vegetables in olive oil before adding the spices, plus strained tomatoes and vegetable broth. Everything simmers to build flavor before you add the beans, rice, and a lightly beaten egg, which gives the soup its velvety texture.

Explore more:

More Serious Eats Recipes