Browse 7 #date-night recipes from the TasteBuds community.
A rich, silky sauce built on butter, cream, and Parmesan, with plenty of garlic to give it backbone. This is the real deal, not the flour-thickened stuff. It clings to fettuccine like it was made for it, and honestly, it was. The key is good cheese and a gentle hand on the heat so the sauce stays smooth and glossy.
The orzo cooks right in the sauce, drinking up a tomato-vodka base made creamy with coconut cream and seasoned with a touch of coconut aminos for depth. Once it's done, a thick blanket of bright green basil-Parmesan pesto covers most of the surface, then a whole ball of burrata goes on top, torn open so the creamy centre spills out. A good drizzle of your best olive oil finishes it. Serve it in a wide metal bowl and it looks exactly like the kind of thing that breaks the internet. The contrasts here do most of the work: hot sauce, cool burrata, punchy pesto. Don't stir everything together at the table. Let each person break into the burrata themselves and drag it through the orzo as they eat.
Tender, juicy chicken thighs glazed in a bold garlic-chili sauce made with coconut aminos, fish sauce, and a hit of fresh ginger — all served over a tangle of shatteringly crispy fried rice noodles with a shower of fresh herbs and a squeeze of lime. This dish is part Thai street food, part fusion showstopper, and entirely photogenic. The crispy noodles are the hero — they're golden, light, and absolutely addictive.
A vibrant, show-stopping pan of golden saffron rice loaded with sweet peppers, zucchini, artichoke hearts, and cherry tomatoes, all kissed with white wine and finished with a generous shower of fresh mint and parsley. This is paella reimagined through a Mediterranean-meets-feel-good lens — socarrat crust and all — with zero dairy, zero soy, and all the drama.
A gorgeous Alsatian-style flatbread from the border region of France and Germany, topped with a tangy oat-based crème fraîche base, sweet slow-cooked caramelized onions, and smoky, salty speck. The crust is paper-thin and crisp at the edges, tender in the middle — basically the original pizza, and wildly impressive for how simple it is. We're baking this on your cast iron pan for that perfect rustic char. Completely free of all dairy — cow and goat alike — thanks to oat-based crème fraîche and cream cheese that bring that same luscious tang.
Silky handmade pasta pillows stuffed with creamy goat cheese, fresh herbs, and a whisper of lemon, draped in a nutty browned margarine sauce with crispy sage leaves. This is comfort food dressed up for a dinner party — and yes, goat cheese is absolutely on the menu since we're steering clear of cow dairy only. A touch of Asian-inspired brightness from lemon and fresh herbs keeps it vibrant and true to your palate.
Sweet, succulent Moreton Bay bug tails split and grilled with a luscious garlic herb butter — a true Australian coastal treat that's impressive yet surprisingly easy to make at home.