Even if that someone is you. Easy chicken soup, instant pot congee, green smoothies and more dishes that restore and rejuvenate.
For many, it’s got to be chicken soup or congee. For others, it’s nostalgic childhood foods like Jell-O, Saltines and ginger ale. What we want to eat when we’re sick varies, but it ultimately comes down to one thing: comfort. Here are the recipes our readers love to make when they — or their loved ones — are under the weather.
This sunny tonic from Yewande Komolafe is chock-full of warming ingredients, like citrus (a lot of it), ginger, turmeric and lemongrass. It will last for a while in the fridge, perfect for portioning as needed and stirring into a mug of hot water. As one commenter put it, “Perfect for a cold, Covid recovery or just a cold winter’s night.”
Recipe: Citrus and Herb Tonic
Ask me or any other Chinese person what they want when they’re sick, and chances are we’ll say congee. Melissa Clark’s recipe uses an Instant Pot for a hands-free bowl of savory porridge in just 30 minutes. But if you don’t have a pressure cooker, it’s extremely easy to make on the stovetop as well — it will just take a little more time. The white pepper and sliced scallions are small, but transformative additions.
Recipe: Instant Pot Congee
Pastina, which means “tiny pasta” in Italian, makes this soup as fun to eat as it is nourishing. Making chicken soup from scratch sounds daunting, but with Naz Deravian’s recipe, just toss the chicken breasts into the pot with your onions, carrots and celery and wait until everything comes together.
Recipe: Brodo di Pollo con Pastina (Chicken Soup With Pastina)
If you don’t want to assemble and bake a whole lasagna, but want to deliver the comfort of one, Lidey Heuck’s is the recipe for you. Use a whole jar of marinara sauce and broken lasagna noodles to mimic the dish that everyone knows and loves, but in an easier-to-make form.
Recipe: Lasagna Soup
This is just the thing to sip when your head is pounding and your throat is burning, but you still need to eat something. Yewande Komolafe recommends simmering bone broth with ginger, turmeric and large handfuls of restorative greens. Chicken stock works just as well.
Recipe: Ginger-Turmeric Bone Broth With Greens
This list would be incomplete without it. Ali Slagle pares down the classic from-scratch chicken soup recipe by using rotisserie chicken meat and chicken broth, store-bought or homemade. Adding egg noodles, carrots, celery and herbs makes it into the beloved cure-all we know and love.
Recipe: Chicken Noodle Soup
This bright, springy recipe from Ali Slagle makes the list because all of the ingredients are cut up into similar sized-pieces, so it’s barely any work to eat. Finish it off with garlicky panko bread crumbs, and you have a hug in a bowl.
Recipe: Lemony Orzo With Asparagus and Garlic Bread Crumbs
If the person you’re cooking for eats a vegan or vegetarian diet, let this Yewande Komolafe recipe be your guide. She swaps out the dried meat typically called for in this traditional Ghanaian soup with dried and fresh mushrooms. Ginger, tomato paste and a Scotch bonnet chile give it mild heat and flavor.
Recipe: Light Soup With Mushrooms
Sam Sifton’s all-purpose biscuits are just the thing to nibble on when you have an upset stomach or want something to dip into chicken soup. They’re easy to make, with only six ingredients, and come out perfectly buttery and flaky every time. As one reader writes, “I’m 78, Southern and these were the best biscuits I’ve ever made.”
Recipe: All-Purpose Biscuits
“Caldo de res,” which means “beef broth” in Spanish, is a staple of Mexican home cooking, full of fall-apart tender beef shank and vegetables, like zucchini, corn and carrots. Simmer it on the stove while the person you love is resting, and the smell alone might revive them.
Recipe: Caldo de Res
Sue Li knows just what you need when you don’t feel well, and it’s easy-to-digest warm, coconuty rice and tender squash. The rice is seasoned with garlic and ginger for a mild flavor, and with her magical instructions, you can cook this all in one pot.
Recipe: One-Pot Kabocha Squash and Coconut Rice
Vaughn Vreeland’s recipe offers the comfort of two classic desserts in one, so bake a batch for someone who needs it. The triple whammy of semisweet chocolate, cocoa and espresso powder will delight the taste buds and heal the soul. Make sure to bang the pan on the counter to get the satisfying, crackly surface.
Recipe: Chewy Brownie Cookies
There’s a tasty twist to this red sauce recipe from Ali Slagle: She treats garlic like a protein here, braising it to extract its flavor, resulting in a dish that’s cozy, but can cut through the dullness of any sinus-induced haze.
Recipe: Pasta Marinara With 40 Cloves of Garlic
Lidey Heuck’s extremely hearty recipe for an American version of the traditional Hungarian dish is sweet and earthy from bell peppers and paprika. It’s made in one pot, and is wholesome enough to feed a whole slew of sick people, if necessary. (But we hope it’s not.)
Recipe: Goulash
The combination of broccoli, Cheddar and rice can’t help but be appealing, even when you can’t stomach much. Ali Slagle’s true one-pot recipe features buttery rice scattered with broccoli florets, topped with cheese that becomes gooey under the broiler. And that’s it!
Recipe: Skillet Broccoli-Cheddar Rice
Whether your person is recovering from an illness or just down in the dumps, this streamlined chicken and dumpling recipe from Alexa Weibel will boost their spirits. It’s not traditional — it calls for store-bought rotisserie chicken and gnocchi for the dumplings — but it’s flavorful, rich and ready in just 20 minutes.
Recipe: Quick Chicken and Dumplings
“This is the most effective comfort food I have ever eaten,” one reader wrote about this classic home-style Chinese recipe from Francis Lam. It’s profoundly simple, but its restorative properties when eaten with a bowl of rice have to be experienced to be understood.
Recipe: Chinese Stir-Fried Tomatoes and Eggs
Smoothies can be hard to get right, but this recipe, from Ali Slagle, which she adapted from Veggies Natural Juice Bar & Cafe in Brooklyn, is tried and true. It has all the nutrients you need from spinach and curly kale, but most importantly, it tastes good. Sweetness from honey, banana and a teaspoon of vanilla extract make it go down easy.
Recipe: Green Smoothie
If you think they may have had their share of banana bread, make these muffins from Carolina Gelen with any spotty bananas you have lying around. They’re packed with warming spices and olive oil instead of butter, which makes them vegan and dairy-free.
Recipe: Vegan Banana Olive Oil Muffins
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