6 Delicious Recipes To Try Out On Date Night

There’s just something super special and super romantic about cooking a meal with your partner in the kitchen. Not only is it a test of your relationship whether or not you can tolerate each other in the kitchen, but it can also be really fun and a special element to add to date night. When you cook a meal for your partner, when they cook one for you, or you plan a date night where you cook something together, shows each other that you love and care for one another. Preparing a meal for one another or together is one of the best tokens of love, because everyone needs to eat, loves to eat, and when someone provides you with a necessity like that it’s special. So on your next date night, if you want to keep it lowkey but still awesome, try some of these recipes that are perfect for two and can be better than going to some fancy restaurant. Surprise your partner with the meal or make it together for a romantic and filling date night.

1. Beef Ragu

For some reason, pasta is the most romantic dish that you can make for anyone. I don’t know why but it just is. For you’re next date try this recipe that is both quick and tasty. The sauce is one of the best sauces you’ll ever make and the parmesan cheese is a nice finishing touch. It’s the perfect date night recipe.

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 pounds chuck roast, cut into 2-inch cubes
Salt and pepper
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup red wine
1 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
1/4 cup water
3 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Parmesan

In a large stockpot over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Season roast with salt and pepper and sear until browned on all sides, 10 minutes. Set aside. Heat remaining oil and add onion and cook until soft, 6 minutes. Add garlic, fennel seeds, and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, 1 minute more. Add tomato paste and cook until it is darkened in color. 1 to 2 minutes more. Deglaze the pot with wine, scraping any brown bits up at the bottom of your pot with a wooden spoon. Add whole peeled tomatoes, water, thyme, bay leaf, balsamic vinegar, and roast and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine and reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until meat easily shreds, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Break up the tomatoes and meat, and remove bay leaf. Serve over your favorite pasta. Top with parmesan and serve for a delicious meal on date night!

2. Flatbread Pizza

Everyone loves a good pizza and a homemade one is perfect for date night. You and your partner can each make your own pizza, or make date night even more fun, and make each other’s pizza for them. It’s a great way to spend time together in the kitchen and you get a delicious meal out of it.

Flatbread Ingredients:

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons olive oil
Vegetable oil for pan

Topping:

12 oz. grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 small red onion, sliced
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons freshly chopped oregano
Salt and pepper
8 oz. mozzarella, sliced into rounds
Balsamic glaze
2 cups arugula

Preheat oven to 400. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add yogurt and mix until wet. Lightly flour work surface and knead the dough until smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Divide dough into 3 pieces. then roll into 1/4 inch thick round. Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat and add vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Cook flatbreads until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. In a medium bowl, combine tomatoes, red onion, oil, oregano, and season with salt and pepper. Top each flatbread with cheese, tomato-onion mixture, and bake until cheese is melty, 15 minutes. Drizzle with balsamic glaze and top with arugula before serving up your pizzas on date night.

3. Skillet Chicken Piccata

This one-pan lemony chicken is sure to steal the show on date night. Paired with pasta, potatoes, or rice, this chicken is an easy recipe to make for your loved one. The chicken will be juicy and delicious, making for a great date night meal and something you’ll enjoy making and eating over and over again.

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Slat and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons capers
1 lemon, sliced
Freshly chopped parsley, for garnish

In a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper and cook until golden and no longer pink, 8 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate. Discard half the chicken juice from the skillet and reduce heat to low. To skillet, add butter, garlic, white wine, lemon juice, and capers and bring to a simmer. Add lemon slices and return chicken thighs to the skillet. Let the chicken simmer in the sauce for 5 minutes, then garnish with parsley and enjoy on your date night.

4. Tuscan Butter Shrimp

This is the perfect Italian dish for you and your partner to make together and enjoy on date night. The sauce is so good, you’ll want to eat it straight from the pan. It’s perfectly served over pasta or with plenty of French bread for dipping. It also goes great paired with a Caesar salad if you’re looking for a lighter meal. A classy and delicious date night meal.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveiner, and tails removed
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
3 cups baby spinach
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup basil, thinly sliced
Lemon wedges, for serving

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. Season shrimp all over with salt and pepper. When oil is shimmering, add shrimp and sear until the underside is golden, about 2 minutes, then flip until opaque. Remove and set aside. Reduce heat to medium and add butter. When the butter has melted, stir in garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Add cherry tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook until tomatoes are beginning to burst then add spinach and cook until spinach is beginning to wilt. Stir in heavy cream, Parmesan, and basil and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer until sauce is slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Return shrimp to skillet and stir to combine. Cook until shrimp is heated through, garnish with more basil and squeeze lemon on top to complete this delicious date night dish.

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5. Steakhouse Sheet Pan Dinner for Two

This is a traditional surf and turf dinner that is perfect to make at home for date night. It has all the sides without the steakhouse prices and complicated prep. It’s made on one sheet pan, so cleanup is easy, but it still makes one delicious date night meal.

2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 tail-on jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 teaspoons thyme
3 cloves garlic, minced
Sal and pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes (about 6) sliced
2 oz. cream cheese
1 10 oz. package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2/3 cup shredded Gruyere
2 8 oz. New York strip steaks

Preheat oven to 450. Lightly grease a third of an 18-by13-inch sheet pan with butter. Toss the shrimp in the melted butter, thyme, a third of the garlic, and salt and pepper until well coated, set aside. Mix the Parmesan, 1/3 cup heavy cream, remaining thyme, half the remaining garlic, and salt and pepper in a small bowl. Arrange half the potato slices in a single overlapping layer on the buttered part of the sheet pan and pour the heavy cream mixture on top. Top with the remaining potato slices. Cover the potatoes with foil and bake until tender, 15 to 17 minutes. Whisk together the cream cheese, remaining heavy cream, remaining garlic, and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Fold in the spinach until coated. Divide the mixture between two 4-inch ramekins and press the spinach down so that it is flat and the cream mixture is pooling a bit on top. Remove the pan and foil and sprinkle the potatoes with the Gruyere. Put the steaks down the middle of the pan and season. Put the ramekins on the empty end of the pan. Bake for about 12-14 minutes. Remove pan from oven and turn on broiler. Add the steaks to the pan and broil until the steaks start to brown, the shrimp are opaque and the cheese on the potatoes turns golden and starts to crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes then plate and enjoy your date night steakhouse dinner!

6. Creamy Rice and Scallops

This recipe is fancy and impressive, but also easy enough for a weeknight date night meal. This risotto-like dish with have you and your feeling like your eating at a glamourous restaurant in the comfort of your own home. Perfect for that fancy date night feel but made easy so you can enjoy cooking and eating it together in your own kitchen and dining room.

2 cups uncooked Arborio rice
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 thyme sprig
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 3/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1 cup half-and-half
4 thick-cut bacon slices
2 cups yellow corn kernels
1 1/2 pounds dry sea scallops
2 tablespoons chopped chives

Combine rice, chicken broth, and water in a large pot over high, and bring to a boil. Stir in thyme, butter, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and take out thyme. Stir in half-and-half, then cover to keep warm. While rice is cooking, cook bacon in a large skillet over medium until crisp, about 10 minutes. Drain and reserve drippings. Crumble bacon and set aside. Place skillet with drippings over high and add corn. Cook, stirring often, until corn begins to char, about 4 minutes. Remove corn and stir in cooked rice with corn. Place skillet with remaining drippings over medium-high. Sprinkle scallops with remaining salt and pepper and sear in hot drippings until charred, about 1 minute per side. Stir bacon into warm rice. Serve scallops over creamy rice mixture and top with chives to complete your fancy at-home date night dinner recipe.