7 Showstopping One-Pan Holiday Meals

Here’s an early New Year’s resolution for you: From now on, it’s one pan only. Yes, even for a party. Much like the ghost of Christmas future, one-dish mains are here to save your holiday spirit.

So grab your favorite HexClad skillet, sauté pan or Dutch oven and let’s find out exactly how stress-free holiday cooking can be. Here are seven effortless, elegant mains that are cooked in just one pot or pan. 

1. Perfect Roast Chicken with Pine Nut & Currant Salad

A whole roast chicken is the little black dress of holiday mains: classic, universally beloved and always appropriate. Also, it can be done effortlessly in one pan.

For the crispiest skin and juiciest meat, salt the chicken all over, season with black pepper and stick some fresh herbs under the skin. Then let it just sit in the fridge for two days. On the day of cooking, all you need to do is pile some potatoes in the bottom of a roasting pan and perch the chicken on the rack above. The potatoes caramelize in the drippings while the chicken crisps and you relax with a cocktail. Toss a quick salad and you’re done. Your guests will assume you spent hours. You will know you spent 15 minutes.

If you’re hosting white-meat lovers, try Roasted Lemon Chicken with Sweet Potato instead. This one features whole chicken breasts roasted directly on top of sweet potatoes, all of it seasoned with paprika and herbs.

2. One-Skillet Garlic-Butter Salmon and Asparagus

Choose this elegant holiday main if you are hosting a handful of people and want to wow them with a French-restaurant-style meal. The salmon is crisped in a sauté pan; the asparagus is lightly charred in the same pan. Then the real magic happens: Bubble garlic and butter together for a rich pan sauce that’s enlivened with lemon and Sriracha. Then just drizzle that crazy-delicious sauce over the salmon and veggies. If salmon isn’t your favorite, choose different fish filets or steaks, like swordfish or flounder. 

3. Couscous Paella with Shrimp, Peppers and Sausage

Paella is the original one-pot showstopper, a giant pan of assertively seasoned rice studded with meat, vegetables and seafood. In this clever twist, the paella is made with couscous instead of rice, and is chock-full of sweet shrimp, peppers and sausage. It’s a genius holiday dinner move, a dramatic dish that looks gorgeous and tastes even better. The wide surface area of a HexClad sauté pan gives you that coveted socarrat (the crispy bottom that paella-lovers know is the best part). 

For a more traditional rice version, try this Prawn Paella, seasoned with chorizo and brightened with peas. 

4. Pan-Seared Ribeye with Smoky Chimichurri

The holidays are for splurging, so now is the time to source the best ribeye you can get your hands on. That marvelous cut needs nothing more than a fry pan over high heat plus butter, garlic and fresh thyme. While the steak rests, use the leftover pan drippings (and the same pan!) to whip up the smoky chimichurri, which blends chipotle, cilantro, parsley, garlic and lime into a vibrant, celebration-worthy sauce. Serve the sliced steak and sauce family-style with some crusty bread. 

5. Tagliata Steak with a Winter Greens Salad

This Italian-style tagliata is holiday magic: a beautifully seared steak sliced into ribbons and served with a vibrant, peppery winter salad. It’s fancy and indulgent without being stodgy. In other words, it pairs equally well with Champagne, red wine or the nicest mineral water you can find.

The only key to tagliata success: Use your HexClad skillet to achieve the perfect sear with a deep-brown crust and a juicy interior. Consider it steakhouse festive. 

6. One-Pot Ricotta Pasta with Corn, Lemon and Basil 

On the darkest days of the year, you need a dish that’s comforting and warm, but also reminds you of the sun. This lemony, bright, herbal pasta strikes exactly the right balance. And when fresh corn isn’t in season, you can make it with frozen corn, which is even easier. It’s generous, cheerful and warming all at once.

7. One-Skillet Polenta with Sausage, Kale, Roasted Tomatoes and Eggs

If you volunteered for holiday brunch, you might imagine you need to make something for every kind of breakfast-eater: Sausage or bacon, a vegetable, some eggs, maybe a baked good or a delicious carb of some sort. What if we told you you could do it all in one pan? This beautiful people-pleaser of a recipe cleverly combines creamy polenta with kale, sausage and tomatoes, with sunny-side up eggs on top. Just add a carafe of coffee and a pitcher of mimosas. 

Here’s to holiday cooking that celebrates the season without the chaos: One pan. Seven mains. Happy hosting.