Our Best Father’s Day Recipes

For the dad or father figure in your life, make a dinner, dessert or brunch he won’t soon forget (unlike all your friends’ names).

This Father’s Day, which falls on June 21, skip the whiskey stones, the razor subscriptions, the graphic tees, mugs and ties in favor of a gift that won’t take up cabinet or closet space: a meal so delicious he won’t want to crack jokes between bites. Whether prepared with the help of the littlest assistants or the inevitable fatherly supervision (“Just checking in!”), he’s sure to feel celebrated.

1. Reverse-Seared Steak

If Dad has yet to explore reverse-searing on the grill, consider this recipe your chance to teach him a thing or two. Steven Raichlen’s method borrows elements from both low-and-slow barbecuing and flame-broiling for a result that’s perfectly done on the inside and expertly charred on the outside. Use tri-tip or your preferred thick cut of steak.

Recipe: Reverse-Seared Steak

2. Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes

A celebratory breakfast is hardly worth the fuss without a stack of syrup-drenched pancakes. With more than 13,000 five-star reviews, this recipe from Alison Roman is dad-approved and make-ahead friendly. In the comments, one reader wrote that she prepares a big batch once a month for her father (with blueberries!), then stacks them between parchment paper and freezes them in a zip-top bag.

Recipe: Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes

3. Texas Sheet Cake

Covered in fudge frosting and dotted with pecans, this chocolate-on-chocolate special from Genevieve Ko is an excellent treat for any dad, Texas-born or not. Baking the batter in a shallow pan is key to achieving the right fudgy-fluffy balance of icing to cake. Pop will definitely be coming back for seconds (or thirds)!

Recipe: Texas Sheet Cake

4. Smashed Cabbage and Mushroom Veggie Burgers

At the nexus of veggie burgers and savory pancakes like okonomiyaki lies this delicious hybrid from Sue Li. Instead of featuring the grains and beans that typically anchor veggie patties, these burgers are lightly bound with a little chickpea flour. Shredded green cabbage and a hearty mix of mushrooms make for flavorful smash burgers with a wonderfully crisp texture.

Recipe: Smashed Cabbage and Mushroom Veggie Burgers

5. Chopped Salad With Jalapeño-Ranch Dressing

This chopped salad from Alexa Weibel is lively and festive, certainly, but we know why you’re really here. For the ranch-loving dad, the creamy, spicy dressing is the ultimate “I love you,” worth making for a Father’s Day meal, as well as doubling or tripling to keep in the fridge for all future dipping and dressing needs.

Recipe: Chopped Salad With Jalapeño-Ranch Dressing

6. Belgian Waffles

For a very special brunch, whip up a batch of these Belgian waffles, which are sweeter and heartier than your everyday waffle. Belgian waffles are usually leavened with yeast, but Samantha Seneviratne’s version calls for baking powder and whipped egg whites to add fluff and thickness.

Recipe: Belgian Waffles

7. Sheet-Pan Döner Kebab

For the dad who would rather not battle restaurant lines, but wants to feel like he’s getting a restaurant meal, try these viral döner kebabs, which were adapted for home cooks. The technique, invented by Nefise Kansu and popularized by her daughter’s fiancé who goes by MezeMike on TikTok, involves flattening the ground meat between two scrolls of parchment paper and baking on high heat to mimic a cook from a classic kebab spit. Pile it into pita bread, dollop some yogurt on top and devour.

Recipe: Sheet-Pan Döner Kebab

8. Oven Bacon

For the dad who comes into the kitchen to pick off the bacon plate as the meat’s frying: Consider oven bacon. Ali Slagle’s foolproof method ensures crisp strips for a crowd without the mess and guarantees the diner of honor won’t spoil his breakfast.

Recipe: Oven Bacon

9. Korean Fried Chicken

Sweet, spicy and crunchy Korean fried chicken is a superior appetizer, meal and drinking snack all in one. This recipe from “Quick & Easy Korean Cooking” by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee has an easy gochujang- and ketchup-based marinade. Serve with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and dad’s favorite beer.

Recipe: Korean Fried Chicken

10. Baked Sweet Potato With Blue Cheese and Bacon

Sweet potatoes get the steakhouse wedge salad treatment in this decadent recipe from Cybelle Tondu. The roasted potatoes, soft and lightly caramelized, are topped with crispy bacon crumbs, blue cheese butter and chopped walnuts for extra crunch. Finish with a squeeze of lemon, a dollop of sour cream and chives to brighten it all up.

Recipe: Baked Sweet Potato With Blue Cheese and Bacon

11. Homemade BBQ Sauce

A 10-minute barbecue sauce, kicked up with smoked paprika, goes a long way in elevating simply grilled chicken, pork ribs or even tofu. The beauty in John Willoughby’s recipe is that the ingredients are most likely already in your pantry, saving you a last-minute trip to the store.

Recipe: Homemade BBQ Sauce

12. Huevos Enfrijolados

“This dish is everything. Easily customizable. All around, down right delicious meal,” one reader wrote about Rick Martínez’s pantry-friendly recipe. Canned black beans are cooked with chipotles and garlic until rich and creamy, then eggs poach in the simmering beans. Serve with crunchy tostadas, queso fresco and avocado, and you’ve put together a hearty brunch in under an hour.

Recipe: Huevos Enfrijolados

13. Cacio e Pepe Corn on the Cob

The flavors of cacio e pepe, that cheesy, peppery Italian classic, lend themselves well to sweet, lightly charred corn. In this recipe from Emily Fleischaker, pecorino, Parmesan and black pepper infuse softened butter that is then generously lathered onto the warm corn. Bliss!

Recipe: Cacio e Pepe Corn on the Cob

14. Quiche Lorraine

Save yourself the effort of making a full-blown diner-style breakfast and get bacon, eggs, cheese and pastry on the table all at once with Craig Claiborne’s quiche Lorraine. If you prepare the pie dough and fry the bacon the night before, the kids can help whisk the custard in the morning, and brunch will come together in practically no time at all.

Recipe: Quiche Lorraine

15. Old-Fashioned

An old-fashioned for your old man. For the sweetener, purists muddle up a sugar cube with water and a couple dashes of bitters, but simple syrup works as well. Use his favorite rye or bourbon. Cheers!

Recipe: Old-Fashioned

16. Pickle-Brined Fried Chicken Sandwich

A word to the wise: Don’t relegate pickles to a sandwich afterthought! The brine is a powerful marinade, as this recipe from Alexa Weibel proves, and chopped pickles add pep to mayonnaise and coleslaw. The results are, arguably, too good: “The only downside is that it’s ruined ordering chicken sandwiches from restaurants for me — this one is better than what you can get eating out,” one reader wrote.

Recipe: Pickle-Brined Fried Chicken Sandwich

17. Spring Pasta Bolognese With Lamb and Peas

Any kitchen can become an Italian restaurant with this seasonal white Bolognese from Kay Chun. Cream tenderizes the meat and gives this tomatoless sauce a bit of body, while peas, baby spinach and lemon add springy vibrancy that counters all that richness. Ground beef, pork or veal work well, too.

Recipe: Spring Pasta Bolognese With Lamb and Peas

18. Shrimp Fried Rice

This recipe from Eric Kim has all the trappings of a delectable hibachi-style fried rice: plump shrimp, tiny mixed vegetables and yum yum sauce. It’s easy, too, so kids can help crack in the eggs and stir the rice. If the little ones lend a hand, make sure to beat Dad at his own game with this absolutely killer joke: You’re telling me a shrimp fried this rice?

Recipe: Shrimp Fried Rice

19. Key Lime Pie

Treat Dad to a taste of the beach with Vaughn Vreeland’s recipe for this classic American pie. If fresh Key limes are hard to find — or you just don’t feel like juicing the tiny citrus — this recipe gives you a couple options: bottled key lime juice, or a blend of freshly squeezed juice from supermarket limes bolstered with a little lemon juice. This pie freezes like a dream; make it in advance so you can enjoy more of the day with family.

Recipe: Key Lime Pie

20. Hearty Bean Nachos With Spicy Salsa

Maybe dad just wants nachos. The options are endless. Keep things simple, or go all-out with this perfect pile of crispy chips, melty cheese, buttery pinto beans, tender vegetables and a fiery salsa, as Pati Jinich does here. A showering of cilantro and crema complete the party on a platter.

Recipe: Hearty Bean Nachos With Spicy Salsa

21. Grilled Pork Chops With Dill Pickle Butter

If you aren’t saving your pickle brine, this is your cue to start. Ali Slagle marinates pork chops in dill pickle brine for the juiciest results. After the golden chops come off the grill, top them with a spoonful of pickle-chive butter that will melt and add extra tang and richness to every bite. If you have any leftover brine, make pickle-brine margaritas or pickle lemonade.

Recipe: Grilled Pork Chops With Dill Pickle Butter

22. Crispy Baked Fish With Tartar Sauce

If a trip to the beach isn’t in the cards this summer, Ali Slagle’s recipe for crispy white fish will transport you to a sandy seafood shack. While tartar sauce is often served as a dip after the fact, she employs it during cooking, coating the fish in a homemade version to add flavor and to help the bread crumbs stick.

Recipe: Crispy Baked Fish With Tartar Sauce

23. Mushroom Chicharrón Tacos

Seared oyster mushrooms make for a satisfying taco filling, as Jocelyn Ramirez demonstrates in this recipe. Cooked in batches, bite-size mushroom pieces get ample space to crisp and brown, not unlike a deliciously golden chicharrón. Top with an avocado-flecked pico de gallo and serve with a chilled Mexican lager or agua fresca.

Recipe: Mushroom Chicharrón Tacos

24. Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie

Who doesn’t love chocolate chip cookies? Making a giant one in a skillet means no doling out scoops of dough or washing several sheet pans. Samantha Seneviratne’s one-bowl recipe is comforting and nostalgic, and the best part is that you can eat it straight out of the skillet while watching a movie on the couch.

Recipe: Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie

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