A red Dutch oven filled with braised pork cubes with an orange wedge on top and a few orange wedges, garlic cloves, oregano, and spoon on the side.
Romulo Yanes
1 of 13

Carnitas ~ Mexican Braised Pork

This old-school carnitas–pork shoulder simmered with onion, garlic, bay leaf, and orange until falling-apart tender and crispy–is excellent in burritos, tacos, or on its own. And it can be made in an Instant Pot or slow cooker.
A pot roast with potatoes and vegetables on a decorative platter with a serving fork on the platter and a napkin on the side.
Sara Remington
2 of 13

Easy Pot Roast, Potatoes, and Vegetables

This easy pot roast with potatoes and vegetables is quick to assemble and then made in the slow cooker or crock pot or simply slid into the oven. A simple classic with beef, carrots, potatoes, and red wine. Perhaps our best—and most comforting—Sunday supper.
A red Dutch oven filled with beer-braised chicken with root vegetables on a wooden surface.
Erin Kunkel
3 of 13

Beer Braised Chicken Thighs

This beer braised chicken is made from chicken thighs and root vegetables–onion, carrots, potatoes, and celery root–simmered in porter along with brown sugar, Dijon mustard, tomato paste, and thyme to create a luscious, rich, satisfying stew with some of the most flavorful chicken thighs we’ve ever experienced.
Nine colorful braised carrots on a white platter.
David Leite
4 of 13

Braised Carrots with Orange and Rosemary

These braised carrots are a showstopping side dish that’s gently cooked with orange and rosemary until the carrots are tender, buttery, and fragrant.
A ladle of braised cranberry beans with chorizo being held above a bowl.
Connie Miller
5 of 13

Braised Cranberry Beans with Chorizo

These braised cranberry beans with chorizo are a comforting one-pot meal that can be made in your Instant Pot.
A sliced piece of braised brisket with red wine and honey laying on a cutting board with a large knife and covered with braised onions.
Sang An
6 of 13

Braised Brisket with Red Wine and Honey

This braised brisket with red wine and honey is sweet and tangy and fall-apart tender and so perfect it makes us go weak in the knees. And it’s a hunk of beef large enough to feed a crowd so it has that going for it, too.
Braised beef with red wine pasta and carrots in a skillet.
Ed Anderson
7 of 13

Braised Beef with Red Wine Pasta

This braised beef with red wine pasta is versatile. You can use oxtails, short ribs, or stew meat to make the ragú. And the homemade red wine pasta? You have to experience it to truly understand its loveliness…though you could swap in store-bought pasta instead. The beef ragu is even better the next day.
White oval dish with four chicken drumsticks, chopped green tomatillos, cilantro, onion, sliced chiles.
Erin Kunkel
8 of 13

Braised Chicken with Tomatillos

This braised chicken with tomatillos has a slightly tart green sauce made from tomatillos, onions, peppers, garlic, lime, and cilantro that’s perfect with chicken cooked until falling apart tender, whether on the stovetop or in the slow cooker.
Braised pork with red wine sauce in a Staub Dutch oven.
Andrea Bemis
9 of 13

Wine-Braised Pork Shoulder

This braised pork with red wine is an easy, set-it-and-forget-it one-pot meal. Made with meltingly tender shredded pork shoulder, red onions, and a rich red wine and herb sauce, it boasts French overtones but without any fussiness.
Cast iron pot with braised new potatoes inside.
Pierre Monetta
10 of 13

Braised New Potatoes

These braised new potatoes basically take a bath in butter. French style. What results is the exact same rich taste and creamy texture of potatoes roasted with your favorite hunk of meat—but in only 30 minutes and on the stovetop.
An oval bowl filled with braised pork in red chile sauce with a spoon resting on the side and a stack of tortillas and dried peppers on the side.
Eric Wolfinger
11 of 13

Braised Pork in Red Chile Sauce

This braised pork in red chile sauce is made by slowly cooking pork butt in a smoky, spicy homemade ancho chile sauce. You’ll want to have plenty of tortillas on hand to soak up that sauce.
A braised lamb shank in pinot noir, and exposed bone, on mash potatoes, all on a white plate sitting on planks of wood
Kathryn Russell
12 of 13

Braised Lamb Shanks

Braised lamb shanks are left to slowly burble in a lovely Pinot Noir with fennel, ginger, cinnamon, coriander, and more until the meat is literally falling-off-the-bone tender. One of our favorite winter pastimes is making this.
A grey platter of Italian-style chicken braised in wine with a spoon resting on top
Ed Anderson
13 of 13

Italian-Style Braised Chicken in Wine

This Italian-style braised chicken in wine is made by gently simmering chicken pieces in a sauce of wine, peperoncino, and tomatoes until tender. Fancy enough for company yet completely doable on a weeknight.



About David Leite

I count myself lucky to have received three James Beard Awards for my writing as well as for Leiteโ€™s Culinaria. My work has also appeared in the New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Bon Appรฉtit, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Yankee, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and more. I’m also a cooking teacher, memoirist, and inveterate cat lady.


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