The Comfort Food Recipes You've Been Craving

Every once in a while, you want a meal that's going to warm you up and make you feel nice and cozy. It's like a hug in food form. When that feeling arises, you may find yourself wanting to take a trip to your local fast food joint. Well, there are far better options than that. There are so many different dishes that will give you that incredibly cozy feeling you're after. Whether you're more of a meat and potatoes person or you want something bursting with vegetables, we've got you covered.

That's because we've made a list of some of our favorite comfort food recipes. These dishes are great when you need a little pick-me-up in food form, when you have guests coming over, or when you just want something comforting to eat in a pinch. With so many tasty options, you're bound to find something you love.

Take a look at our top comfort food recipe picks, and you'll be enjoying the best that Mashed has to offer. Our advice? Don't forget to make extra for leftovers you can enjoy later on.

Perhaps you're looking for something that's on the healthier side ... or at least something you could mistake for being healthy. That's when you need to turn to this easy corn chowder recipe. This isn't your grandma's corn chowder. It's bursting with vegetables and boasts an amazing array of spices to take the flavor to the next level. And the best part? You can top it with a wide variety of ingredients, from scallions to peppers to cilantro and parsley. Don't be afraid to get creative here to give your corn chowder the texture you want.

Can you think of a comfort food that's more iconic than biscuits and gravy? It's one of those dishes that you can't help but love the first time you try it. After all, it's basically just carbs and gravy — aka the best parts of any meal. 

Now, you have to try our recipe for biscuits and gravy. You won't believe that you can make this meal in just 20 minutes. (Yes, you heard that right.) In 20 minutes, you'll be eating the best breakfast ever. Weekend mornings just got a whole lot easier.

Polenta is one of those dishes that not everyone has had. If you grew up with it, you probably love it and will eat it with almost anything. But if you haven't tried it before, you may be hesitant to give it a go. You shouldn't feel that way, though. It's so easy to throw together our polenta recipe, and you're going to be amazed by how good it tastes. It only requires a few ingredients and about 20 minutes of your time, so it comes together without much effort at all. Just don't get it confused with grits. (Grits are usually grainier than polenta, although they have a similar flavor.)

You can always make our polenta recipe, but what if you're really craving grits? That's no problem at all, because you can check out our recipe for Bobby Flay's shrimp and grits with a twist. This version of the recipe leaves out the bacon that Flay's includes, so it's a bit lighter than the original. With the savoriness of the shrimp, though, you don't really need to add anything else to the mix. Once you top it off with some chopped parsley and lemon juice, this may just become your new favorite dish.

Even if you consider yourself a total food lover, that doesn't mean you always want something fancy or out of the ordinary. Sometimes, you just need a meal that's going to remind you of being a kid. That's what this basic chicken salad recipe is for. It combines all the best parts of every chicken salad you've ever had and presents it all in a super simple recipe. This stuff is great when you eat it in between pieces of bread on a sandwich, but you can also use it as a dip, spoon it over some green salad, or eat it all on its own. Make a big batch of this stuff, and the possibilities are endless.

It doesn't have to be Thanksgiving for you to dig into this sweet potato casserole. If you grew up eating this dish, you probably crave it from time to time. Luckily, our recipe is really easy to follow and will have you indulging in this sweet treat in no time. It's got plenty of butter, brown sugar, and vanilla extract, so expect more of a dessert recipe than a savory one. This one is great to serve when you have friends or family over for coffee.

When you think about the comfort foods your family made when you were a kid, what comes to mind? If you grew up in some parts of the world, you probably think of meatloaf. It's an inexpensive dish, and it's jam-packed with veggies and other ingredients in addition to the meat.

You might not love meatloaf now, but we're willing to bet that you might change your mind when you try this Asian-inspired meatloaf recipe. That's because it's not just your basic meatloaf. Incorporating traditionally Asian flavors into the mix makes this meatloaf a dish you'll want to show off to all your friends. Comfort food doesn't get much better than this.

If you want to eat something that's going to take very little time to make but will still fill you up and make you feel super cozy, then you can't go wrong with this fried cabbage recipe. What's the secret to this popular recipe? The bacon, of course. When you cook cabbage in bacon, it soaks up all those fats, giving the whole dish a savory flavor that's basically the definition of comfort food. At the same time, you're getting all your veggies in. What's not to love about that?