Braising is transformative. For generations, cooks across cultures have turned to the technique to create luscious comfort food from the toughest of meats, greens and beans. The beauty is not only in what it can create, but also in what it affords you: In many of the recipes below, the bulk of the cook time is hands-off. Simply sear, simmer and step away from the kitchen until the irresistible aromas call you back.
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Sundays are for cleaning, for resting, for braising, and this Ali Slagle recipe — a garlicky red sauce, replete with beef and pork of various textures — takes all that into consideration. It burbles away on the stovetop, filling your home with intoxicating smells capable of warding off even the most stubborn of Sunday scaries.
Recipe: Sunday Sauce
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Sweetness, from long-simmered tomatoes, carrots and brown sugar, takes the lead in this stew, while savoriness, from fish sauce and cinnamon, balances it all out. For the optimal experience, eat it like they do in Vietnam: with a shatteringly crisp baguette.
Recipe: Bo Kho (Vietnamese Braised Beef Stew)
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Whether you use store-bought or homemade xawaash — a Somalian spice blend of cumin, coriander, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom — you’ll relish the flavor that it imparts to these braised lamb shanks. They are simply seared, then simmered in a pot for three hours until the meat falls off the bone, ready to be eaten over white rice with plenty of gravy.
Recipe: Xawaash Braised Lamb Shanks
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Eintopf, which means “one pot” in German, is less a category of dishes and more a philosophy, and there are as many versions as there are admirers of it. This recipe from Yewande Komolafe features a heady combination of beef and root vegetables stewed in coconut milk. Consider this a petition to replace the phrase “aging like a fine wine” with “aging like a fine eintopf,” because this delicious one-pot meal only gets better as it sits.
Recipe: Eintopf (Braised Short Ribs With Fennel, Squash and Sweet Potato)
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Few things are as comforting as a good old-fashioned beef stew — except maybe this elevated version from Sarah DiGregorio, which simmers on the stove, then cooks in the oven for two hours. Complex in the best way, with chocolaty notes from espresso powder, cocoa powder and, of course, Guinness, it’s peak project cooking, seemingly designed to chase away any cold-weather blues.
Recipe: Oven-Braised Guinness Beef Stew With Horseradish Cream
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This rich braise from Ali Slagle deserves to be tucked lovingly into a bed of creamy polenta once it comes out of the oven. You’ll have plenty of time to prepare whatever starch you plan to pair it with, since the chile-spiced pork shoulder needs a good three hours to melt into the basil- and garlic-seasoned tomato base.
Recipe: Braised Pork All’Arrabbiata
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Not all braises take a long time: This recipe from Lidey Heuck comes together in just half an hour. Canned cannellini beans and hearty greens like Swiss chard and kale soften and meld together in the garlicky broth for a vegetarian meal that’s just waiting to be sopped up with a hunk of grilled bread or toast.
Recipe: Braised White Beans and Greens With Parmesan
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This recipe from Yewande Komolafe builds on two common techniques in Nigerian cooking: braising meats, and using obe ata, a purée of red bell peppers, onions, tomatoes and habaneros, as a mother sauce. The recipe calls for goat meat, but a similarly sized bone-in cut of lamb or pork would work incredibly well here.
Recipe: Braised Goat Leg in Obe Ata
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Some type of green-beans-and-potatoes dish is prevalent in many cultures, and you’ll know why as soon as you spoon the leftover liquid over rice or cornbread, then scrape your whole plate clean. This recipe, which Eric Kim adapted from “Fix Me a Plate” by Scotty Scott, proves just how delicious something can be with just a few ingredients and plenty of time.
Recipe: Braised Green Beans and Potatoes
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Kay Chun treats mushrooms, squash and a garden’s worth of root vegetables like short ribs in this dish inspired by Korean kalbi jjim. The vegetables soften and sweeten as they stew, and cooking them in the oven instead of on the stovetop ensures that they don’t get too much direct heat, keeping them largely intact but still supple.
Recipe: Soy-Braised Vegetable Jjim (Korean Vegetable Stew)
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While a rich pot of birria takes time, the possibilities are truly endless once you’ve pulled it out of the oven. This recipe, which Tejal Rao adapted from the chef Josef Centeno, is as delicious served in a bowl with some warmed tortillas as it is tucked into tacos with shredded cheese, cilantro and white onion, or used as the base for a comforting ramen.
Recipe: Birria de Res
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Are short ribs the ultimate braising meat? This recipe from Alison Roman, with its thousands of five-star ratings, makes a good case. After a deep sear, a brief simmer and a few hours in the oven, the tough meat transforms, falling off the bones and becoming one with the red-wine-spiked braising liquid.
Recipe: Garlic Braised Short Ribs With Red Wine
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In this quintessentially Filipino braise from the chef Angela Dimayuga, coconut does triple duty: Coconut oil serves as the fat for blooming spices and searing chicken, coconut milk adds body to the braising liquid and coconut vinegar imparts that nonnegotiable tang. Each one builds on the last, and none fade into the background.
Recipe: Coconut Milk Chicken Adobo
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There’s a lot going on in this classic French stew, and the results are worth the effort. Lardons, mushrooms, onions, carrots and celery fortify the red wine stewing liquid for a dish that’s as rich as the cooked chicken is succulent. For the best outcome, Melissa Clark recommends marinating the chicken overnight.
Recipe: Coq au Vin
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Braising’s ability to turn large pieces of meat into delicate shreds gave the national dish of Cuba its name: The tender, tattered flank steak looks an awful lot like “ropa vieja,” or old clothes. This recipe from J. Kenji López-Alt is a braise built on a braise, and aromatic stewed peppers and onions impart the stock that the meat cooks in with loads of flavor.
Recipe: Ropa Vieja
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Coconut milk is a great braising base for tough, hearty greens, as Von Diaz demonstrates with this recipe. As they cook, the collards wilt and soak up the subtly sweet liquid, creating something one can describe only as silky.
Recipe: Coconut-Braised Collard Greens
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Firm tofu is a lovely vehicle for a quick braise, as it softens quickly and dutifully absorbs any flavors surrounding it. This vegan recipe from Kay Chun places chunks of it in a coconut milk braise with a tablespoon of turbinado sugar. After 20 minutes, the mixture transforms into a caramelly, sticky sauce that will rival anything from your favorite takeout joint.
Recipe: Coconut-Caramel Braised Tofu
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This hearty stew from Yewande Komolafe falls somewhere between a quick weeknight meal and a long-simmered tagine. The chicken legs become delightfully tender as they simmer in the tomatoey broth, and slices of quick-pickled lemon add an unforgettable tang.
Recipe: Braised Chicken With Rosemary, Chickpeas and Salted Lemon
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