21 Recipes Our Editors Are Cooking on Father's Day (It's Not Just Steak!)

An oval platter holding fried chicken cutlets topped with lemon-butter pan sauce containing capers. The platter is on a blue and white dish towel. — Serious Eats / Julia Estrada

What makes a recipe a Father's Day recipe? According to a quick internet search, it's meat, meat, and more meat—preferably grilled. That's fine and dandy, but some dads may want a little more variety. To find out what Serious Eats staffers are cooking up for Father's Day, I recently polled the staff on their dad's favorite meals. While the results were mostly meaty, there were also plenty of comforting carbs and desserts. Below, you'll find all the dishes our staffers plan on making for their dads this Father's Day, including tender ribs, cheesy lasagna, and a luxuriously rich New York cheesecake.

June 2023

Harissa-Honey Glazed Chicken Skewers

Serious Eats / Melati Citrawireja

Smoky, sticky, and spicy—these skewers bring the heat and the sweet with every juicy bite. A quick marinade seasons the surface and allows salt to penetrate the chicken, resulting in juicy, flavorful meat.

Harissa-Honey Glazed Chicken Skewers
Pan-Seared, Butter-Basted Thick-Cut Steak

Serious Eats / Julia Estrada

This thick and meaty pan-seared steak is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. Contrary to popular belief, flipping your steak frequently helps it develop a great crust and ensures it'll cook more evenly. Basting the steak with butter deepens its crust while also distributing flavor from aromatics like fresh rosemary or thyme.

Pan-Seared, Butter-Basted Thick-Cut Steak
Toad in the Hole

Serious Eats / Lorena Masso

With juicy sausages nestled in crisp, tender Yorkshire pudding, covered in plenty of gravy, toad in the hole is a British classic worth recreating at home—regardless of whether it's Father's Day or not.

Toad in the Hole
Sous Vide Barbecue Pork Ribs

J. Kenji López-Alt

Tender and meaty pork ribs with a crusty bark or rich glaze of sauce—no smoker required.

Sous Vide Barbecue Pork Ribs

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The Ultimate Smash Cheeseburger

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Smashing ground beef firmly into an ungreased pan increases contact points, delivering maximum browning and flavor. Here, we cook two 2-ounce patties instead of one 4-ounce patty, which increases the amount of surface area for browning.

The Ultimate Smash Cheeseburger
Chicken Piccata (Fried Chicken Cutlets With Lemon-Butter Pan Sauce)

Serious Eats / Julia Estrada

Chicken piccata—fried chicken cutlets bathed in a bright, savory lemon-butter pan sauce—is a staff favorite. Crispy, juicy, and loaded with punchy lemon juice and briny capers, it's an easy, impressive meal that dad will love.

Chicken Piccata (Fried Chicken Cutlets With Lemon-Butter Pan Sauce)
Foolproof Pan Pizza

Serious Eats Team

This pan pizza recipe is for those who love a thick and crispy crust that's golden on the bottom, but puffy and soft under the layers of sauce and mozzarella.

Foolproof Pan Pizza
Pan-Seared Duck Breast With Orange Pan Sauce

Vicky Wasik

Pan-searing duck breast is a restaurant-worthy main that's surprisingly easy to make at home. For tender, crisp, and juicy duck, score the skin, start with a cold pan, then cook it low and slow.

Pan-Seared Duck Breast With Orange Pan Sauce

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Rigatoni alla Vodka

Daniel Gritzer

This vodka sauce is a powerhouse of tomato flavor smoothed over with the silky richness of heavy cream. Using a hefty dose of tomato paste gives the sauce the deeply sweet base notes it needs, while a small can of tomatoes adds a brighter layer of flavor.

Rigatoni alla Vodka
Extra-Crispy Fried Chicken With Caramelized Honey and Spice

Vicky Wasik

Inspired by Popeyes, this fried chicken has that signature airy crust of rugged and scraggy bits, coupled with some personal touches.

Extra-Crispy Fried Chicken With Caramelized Honey and Spice
Outdoor Pizza Oven 'Nduja Pizza

Andrew Janjigian

How about a classic Margherita pizza with a spicy 'nduja twist? The spicy Calabrian cured pork holds its shape when baked quickly in a high-temperature pizza oven, and complements the simple tomato sauce, Parmesan, and fresh mozzarella on this pizza.

Outdoor Pizza Oven 'Nduja Pizza
The Ultimate Beef Wellington

Serious Eats / Diana Chistruga

With medium-rare beef tenderloin, a rich mushroom duxelles, foie gras, and prosciutto all wrapped up in buttery puff pastry, beef Wellington is impressive no matter the occasion.

The Ultimate Beef Wellington

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Roasted and Reverse Seared Prime Rib

J. Kenji López-Alt

A low and slow start guarantees medium-rare doneness all the way from the edge to center, and blasting the prime rib with heat just before serving gives you a crackling-crisp crust.

Roasted and Reverse Seared Prime Rib
Classic Baked Lasagna Bolognese (Lasagne alla Bolognese)

Photograph: Vicky Wasik. Video: Serious Eats

Lasagna Bolognese is the king of all lasagnas: Thin layers of delicate fresh pasta and savory ragù are bound by creamy besciamella. While robust and meaty, the dish has a hint of sweetness to it. Sounds like a meal fit for a king.

Classic Baked Lasagna Bolognese (Lasagne alla Bolognese)
Coconut Cream Pie

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Filled with a rich custard and topped with whipped cream and toasted flaked coconut, this coconut cream pie is fragrant, nutty, and a delight to eat.

Coconut Cream Pie
The Best Mint Chip Ice Cream

Serious Eats / Mariel De La Cruz

This fresh mint ice cream has an unbeatable roundness of flavor you just can't get with extract. Steeping fresh. mint leaves in hot dairy helps extract the herb's minty-fresh flavor, and blending the chocolate with a little oil and drizzling it into the churning ice cream ensures it melts smooth and creamy on the tongue.

The Best Mint Chip Ice Cream

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Epic New York Cheesecake

This majestic cheesecake gets its creaminess from a combination of cream cheese and fresh goat cheese. An initial burst of high heat encourages the cheesecake to puff, lightening its texture slightly, and a deep, sturdy pan helps it bake up nice and tall.

Epic New York Cheesecake
Rich and Creamy Tiramisu

Vicky Wasik

With espresso- and liqueur-soaked ladyfingers, creamy mascarpone, and a dusting of rich cocoa powder, tiramisu is an elegant dessert that dad is sure to love.

Rich and Creamy Tiramisu
Devil's Food Cake Recipe

Vicky Wasik

Cap off your Father's Day celebration with this devil's food cake, which gets its rich chocolate flavor from a combination of dark chocolate and Dutch cocoa powder.

Devil's Food Cake Recipe
Gooey Apple Pie

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Is there a dad who doesn't love a gooey apple pie? For an apples that retain their shape during cooking, par-cook the fruit to 160°F (71°C), which sets their pectin into a more stable form. A mixture of cornstarch and sugar help thicken the juices of the chunky, lightly sweetened filling into a gooey syrup, resulting in a deeply satisfying apple pie.

Gooey Apple Pie

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Scotcheroos

Serious Eats / Jatin Sharma

Part Rice Krispies Treat, part candy bar, this sticky-sweet classic belongs at every potluck. Using brown sugar instead of granulated sugar amplifies the bars' caramel notes, while bittersweet chocolate helps temper the sweetness of the butterscotch.

Scotcheroos

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21 Recipes Our Editors Are Cooking on Father's Day (It's Not Just Steak!)

June 2023

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