30 Spring Dinner Ideas to Refresh Your Weeknight Rotation

Refresh your dinner rotation with these spring recipes! They include vibrant salads, pastas, egg dishes, and more ideas filled with peak-season produce.

These spring dinner ideas are full of bright, fresh flavors! They’re the meals I’m craving as the days get longer and the weather gets warmer. Move over, soups and stews—here, you’ll find vibrant salads, veggie-loaded pastas, delicate egg dishes, grain bowls, and more. If your dinner rotation could use a refresh after a winter full of comfort food, these spring recipes have you covered. I chose these spring dinner recipes with weeknights in mind. Most are easy to make in about 30 minutes, and a few are designed for prepping ahead. They’ll help you enjoy the best flavors of the…

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Glazed Carrots

This glazed carrots recipe is an easy side dish for holidays and weeknights! The tender carrots are coated in a flavorful brown sugar or honey glaze.

This glazed carrots recipe is a delicious, easy vegetable side dish. Cooked with brown sugar or honey to bring out their natural sweetness, the carrots are tender, flavorful, and vibrant. They’re a perfect side dish for holidays like Easter and Thanksgiving (especially because they come together on the stovetop, saving you valuable oven space). But they’re so simple that you could make them on busy weeknights too! When I was growing up, brown sugar glazed carrots were always part of my family’s Easter menu. But they were never my favorite. I always found them too soft and too sweet. This glazed…

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Lemon Chickpea Soup

This chickpea soup recipe is comforting yet bright, seasoned with fresh dill and lots of lemon. Easy to make in 30 minutes, it's a perfect weeknight meal!

This chickpea soup recipe is my idea of the perfect weeknight dinner. Canned chickpeas, the starting point of so many of my favorite dinners, are the star ingredient here. Some stay whole for texture, while the rest blend with tahini to make the soup lightly creamy. Spinach, dill, and a squeeze of lemon juice brighten the whole thing up. This chickpea soup comes together in 30 minutes, calls for basic pantry ingredients, and is still somehow comforting, satisfying, and fresh. I first shared it in Simple Feel Good Food, and it’s since become one of the most-made recipes in the book—by me…

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Carrot Cake Bars

These no-bake carrot cake bars are a delicious spring dessert! A creamy, tangy frosting layer tops the warmly spiced carrot and date base.

I’ll be making these carrot cake bars all spring long! I don’t know about you, but I always crave carrot cake in the spring. The combination of warm spices, sweet carrots, and tangy cream cheese frosting just feels like the perfect dessert as the days get warmer and longer. I’m not about to make a full-blown layer cake with any regularity…but these carrot cake bars? I try to keep a stash on hand at all times. 🙂 I first published this recipe in my third cookbook, Simple Feel Good Food.  I shared a video of the recipe on social media before…

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Thai Green Curry

This 30-minute Thai green curry recipe is a delicious weeknight dinner! Store-bought curry paste, fresh ginger, and lime juice fill it with bold flavor.

This Thai green curry recipe is a restaurant-worthy weeknight dinner! It’s fresh, flavorful, and bright, yet it still comes together in 30 minutes thanks to an easy pantry shortcut: store-bought green curry paste. Made with aromatic ingredients like green chilies, lemongrass, and makrut lime leaves, the curry paste is packed with bold flavor. Simmered in coconut milk with fresh ginger and lime juice, it creates a curry sauce that’s rich, fragrant, and a little bit sweet. I can’t say it’s better than my go-to Thai restaurant (sometimes, nothing but takeout will do), but it comes pretty darn close. You could use any…

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Lemon Orzo Soup

I love to make this lemon orzo soup on busy weeknights! A cozy, healthy one-pot meal, it has a lemony broth filled with tender orzo and veggies.

Let’s make lemon orzo soup! This recipe has quickly become a favorite in our house this winter, a new go-to dinner for busy weeknights. I love that it’s cozy enough to feel warming and satisfying on a cold day, but that it’s still healthy and fresh. A bright lemon broth surrounds tender orzo pasta, flavorful vegetables, and creamy white beans. A sprinkle of dill or parsley takes it over the top. Like all the best weeknight dinners, this lemon orzo soup is easy to make. It comes together in one pot with simple ingredients and cooks up in about 30 minutes. I…

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20 Best Valentine’s Day Dinner Ideas

Our best Valentine's Day dinner ideas! Find everything you need for a date night at home—cozy pastas, elegant risottos, side salads, and more.

These Valentine’s Day dinner ideas will help you plan the perfect date night at home! Jack and I gave up going to restaurants on Valentine’s Day years ago. We realized that it was way more romantic—and more fun—to spend time in the kitchen together than it was to eat at a crowded restaurant that we chose weeks or months in advance (because that’s how far ahead you have to plan in order to get a reservation). I’ve rounded up some of our go-to date night dinner recipes below. They include classic Italian pastas, comforting risottos, soups, and more. Choose one for a…

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Best Guacamole Recipe

The BEST guacamole recipe! It's easy to make with simple, fresh ingredients like ripe avocados, onion, and lime juice. Great with chips, tacos, and more!

If you don’t already have a go-to guacamole recipe, let me introduce you to mine. This guacamole recipe is easy to make. You can whip it up in 10 minutes or less! It calls for simple, fresh ingredients. Think ripe avocados, onion, cilantro, and lime. It’s DELICIOUS. This homemade guacamole is creamy, zesty, and bright. I developed the recipe after years of living in Austin, Texas. The city has incredible Tex Mex and Mexican food, and I’ve eaten a TON of great guac at local restaurants there. Eventually, it inspired me to learn how to make guacamole at home. With…

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35 Best Super Bowl Food Ideas

The best part of Super Bowl Sunday? The snacks! Below, you'll find easy Super Bowl food ideas to help you make a crowd-pleasing game day spread.

If you ask me, great Super Bowl snacks are the secret to a great Super Bowl party. Sure, I can get into the game, but the snacks are the reason I look forward to it. Buffalo cauliflower, homemade guacamole, a great dip and potato chips… I’ll be hanging out by the snack table all night. 🙂 To help you get ready for this year’s big game, I’ve rounded up my best Super Bowl food ideas below. They include everything you need to put together an epic game day spread—finger foods, delicious dips, salty snacks, desserts, and more. These Super Bowl…

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Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Learn how to make chocolate covered strawberries! Made with just 3 ingredients, this recipe is easy, yet impressive. Perfect for Valentine's Day!

Chocolate covered strawberries are my favorite Valentine’s Day treat. They’re the perfect balance of indulgent yet fresh, fancy yet so utterly simple at the same time. I love how the rich chocolate coating gives way to the sweet, juicy berries inside. You’ll see them in grocery stores and chocolate shops around the holiday, but for a fun project (and the best deal), learn how to make chocolate covered strawberries at home! I’m sharing my go-to chocolate covered strawberries recipe below, along with my best tips for success. This recipe is easy to make with just 3 ingredients. Make it for…

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White Bean Chili

This zesty white bean chili is one of my favorite game day recipes! Creamy, hearty, and easy to make, it's also a perfect dinner for busy weeknights.

Meet my favorite white bean chili recipe! A plant-based spin on white chicken chili, this creamy vegan recipe is a perfect meal for busy weeknights and game day alike. It’s easy to make with basic ingredients (and minimal chopping!), and the flavor is oh-so-good. Spices like cumin and coriander add earthy depth, and canned green chiles and fresh lime juice make it zesty and bright. Load up your bowl with toppings like avocado, jalapeños, and cilantro for a hearty, healthy, and delicious meal! White Bean Chili Ingredients Here’s what you’ll need to make this white bean chili: White beans, of…

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A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Welcome to Love & Lemons!

I'm Jeanine Donofrio, a New York Times bestselling cookbook author and recipe developer. I share fresh, delicious vegetarian recipes that celebrate seasonal ingredients and flavors.

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