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February 13, 2026 
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The Best of the Week in Cooking
What we — our readers and staffers — are clicking and cooking, and can’t stop thinking about.
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| Paul Prudhomme’s chicken and sausage gumbo. Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards. |
If you make one thing this weekend
Tuesday is Mardi Gras, but it’s also Tuesday: a day that’s best known for feeling like a second Monday. You may not be up for letting the good times roll that night (but if you are, my compliments), which is why Paul Prudhomme’s chicken and sausage gumbo is a great option for this weekend. Cook extra of this hearty, rich Creole stew and eat the leftovers on Tuesday, or stash them in your freezer to make a future winter weeknight feel plenty warm and festive.
View this recipe: Chicken and sausage gumbo
Want more Mardi Gras goodness? Here’s a collection of our best Mardi Gras recipes. Beignets, anyone?
Most clicked
Valentine’s Day must be approaching — or we’re all simultaneously trying to manifest Roman holidays — because Ian Fisher’s spaghetti carbonara was incredibly popular this week. It is a perfect pick for a romantic dinner at home. The dish “requires no fancy ingredients but is salty, silky and abundantly satisfying,” wrote Emily Weinstein, our editor in chief. “There’s an outrageousness to how delicious it is and a disheveled quality that only makes the dish taste better. It’s a meal to get excited about. (Picture yourself bellowing the word, Oprah-style: Carbonaraaa!)”
More of our most-clicked recipes this week: spinach artichoke dip; chicken adobo; cherry bounce.
New and noteworthy
Given the choice between macarons and macaroons, I’ll take macaroons — the chewy coconut cookie — every time. I do love a delicate and beautiful little meringue sandwich cookie, but I can’t deny the humble charms of a macaroon, and these coconut almond treats from Samantha Seneviratne look truly irresistible. A dip in (or drizzle of) melted chocolate solidifies their Almond Joy vibes. I’m afraid of how many of these I could eat in one go.
You said it
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| David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. |
View this recipe: Cybelle Tondu’s pan-seared chicken with peas and prosciutto
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