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March 7, 2026

Good morning! Today we have for you:

Ella Quittner’s vodka sauce tomato soup. David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff.

You get a tomato soup, and you get a tomato soup

What is it about tomato soup that makes it so easy to love? I’m sure a food scientist could elaborate on the salty-sweet-umami flavor triad; a color theorist might have things to say about its striking red hue. Andy Warhol certainly plays a part, as does the desirability of its frequent dance partner, the grilled cheese sandwich.

Or perhaps it’s that, as Allison Jiang points out in this new collection of 17 tomato soup recipes, there’s a tomato soup for everyone. We have a soup for the spice seeker, the pantry cleaner-outer, the oh-geez-it’s-suppertime-already harried parent on dinner duty.

I’ll be the happy-to-be-home traveler, ready for some quality time with my kitchen, so my tomato soup is this vodka sauce tomato soup. Ella Quittner’s new recipe, shared from her new cookbook, “Obsessed With the Best,” builds serious tomato flavor by blending roasted canned and cherry tomatoes with caramelized tomato paste. She keeps things fun — this is tomato soup, after all — with minced jarred Calabrian chiles and a generous splash of vodka for warmth and kick. If you’ve ever wanted to lap up vodka sauce with a spoon, this is the tomato soup for you, too.

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Vodka Sauce Tomato Soup

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You say tomato, I say dinner

Joseph De Leo for The New York Times Skillet Chickpea Parmesan By Sheela Prakash 62 40 minutes Makes 4 servings

Sang An for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks. Chinese Stir-Fried Tomatoes and Eggs By Francis Lam 2,962 20 minutes Makes 2 or 3 servings, with rice

Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Judy Kim. Creamy Tomato Spaghetti With Preserved Lemon By Nargisse Benkabbou 2,162 25 minutes  Makes 4 to 6 servings

Cozy cooking

Garlic Parmesan chicken thighs and potatoes: Yes, I’m tired of winter, but I’m still finding a lot of joy in cold-weather cooking. This easy, lemon- and dill-enhanced dinner from Toni Chapman looks as if it would yield the perfect sort of leftovers for turning into a comforting soup (or outstanding egg muffins).

Green curry salmon with coconut rice: Of course this very green Melissa Clark dinner would be welcome in spring or summer, but there’s something about the creamy coconut rice and the dish’s snuggly one-pot-ness that makes it feel just right for a gray March weekend.

Vegetarian shepherd’s pie: French green lentils form the base of Samantha Seneviratne’s take on the mashed-potato-topped classic; mixed mushrooms, vegetable stock and tomato paste add plenty of umami depth. If you’d like to make a meaty pie, Sam’s got you covered there, too. Both of her recipes boast five stars and rave reviews.

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Joseph De Leo for The New York Times Garlic Parmesan Chicken Thighs and Potatoes By Toni Chapman 9 1 hour 15 minutes Makes 6 servings

David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Green Curry Salmon With Coconut Rice By Melissa Clark 2,848 1 hour Makes 4 to 6 servings

Meredith Heuer for The New York Times Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie By Samantha Seneviratne 6,754 1 3/4 hours Makes 4 to 6 servings

And before you go

This week, in her Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter, our editor in chief, Emily Weinstein, wrote about being stuck in a cooking rut. And truly, who among us hasn’t opened the fridge or pantry, looked at the contents and felt a wallop of “meh”? For those times — or any time, really, when you just need a condensed dose of cooking inspiration — we have this curated list of 21 healthy, cheap dinners we love.

Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Mariana Velásquez. 21 Cheap, Healthy Dinners for When You’re All Out of Ideas Let us make the decisions for you. By Emily Johnson and Sharon Attia

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