Easy Dinners That Make Good Use of Ketchup, Mustard and Mayonnaise

Hi, everyone! Mia here, your always-hungry New York Times Cooking newsletter editor. I’m delighted to fill in for Emily Weinstein today to talk weeknight dinners, because come 5 p.m. (or more like 3 p.m., if I’m honest), the only thing I can think about is what I’m going to eat when work is done.

I always have mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup in my fridge. Multiples of each, more like it: I have plain mayo and Kewpie, Dijon, whole-grain and ballpark yellow mustards, as well as a bottle of ketchup so large it really counts as two. So this week’s selection of easy and fast recipes features meals that lean on these classic condiments for flavor and depth. (I’m also including a delightful pickle soup recipe because I always have a massive jar of half-sours on hand.)

2. Chinese Stir-Fried Tomatoes and Eggs

If you were the sort of kid who drowned their scrambled eggs in ketchup (I’m raising my hand), this dish is for you. A couple of tablespoons of ketchup make the saucy tomatoes taste that much more tomato-y, a boon as we exit tomato season. I’ve made this Francis Lam recipe for dinner and lunch more times than I can count.

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3. Paneer Chile Dry

More ketchup, this time in a sticky sweet-spicy glaze that coats crisp cubes of paneer. (The “dry” in the name just means that the sauce is less gravylike than its sister dishes.) As Zainab Shah mentions in her recipe notes, you can sub in firm tofu for the paneer and skip the frying, which is something I do when making her fantastic mattar paneer recipe.

4. Roasted Chicken Thighs With Tangy Apricots and Carrots

There’s a little bit of planning involved with this one, as you’ll want to get your boneless, skinless chicken thighs and dried apricots in the mayonnaise-based marinade for at least half an hour (or overnight). So maybe do that now, skip down to the next recipe for tonight’s dinner, and tomorrow you’ll be set for this bountiful Eric Kim sheet-pan dinner of juicy, tangy chicken, plump apricots and crisp-edged carrot coins.

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