dinner, sorted: crispy fried chicken tacos, ‘in-between’ meals, and a peek at what’s next!
easy meals, bold flavors, and a pickle-packed taco you’ll love
Happy Sunday and welcome back to dinner, sorted. Let’s get your dinner, sorted!
I hope your holiday break has been exactly what you need—whether that’s slow mornings in pjs, cookies and champagne breakfasts, or festive feasts with family. This “in-between” week—when time is a construct and leftovers reign supreme—is one of my favorite times to reset, reflect, and, of course, cook.
the “in-between” menu
This week, I’m craving meals that are simple to throw together and lighter while just indulgent enough to carry me to New Year’s festivities. Think of these as my go-to rally meals to balance out the cookies and bubbly:
Sheet pan sausage, peppers and potatoes with basil aioli
Boursin marry me chicken
Crispy rice paper spring rolls
Easy beef and broccoli with noodles
As I mentioned last week, as we step into 2025, I’m excited to share some updates about Dinner, Sorted.
If you know me you know:
I’m all about making your life easier, more delicious, and a little more luxe (without the extra effort).
I believe anything you pay for should feel valuable and worth every penny.
I thrive on efficiency, organization, and no-nonsense meal ideas.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about this newsletter. My mission has always been to help you create simple, crowd-pleasing meals without overcomplicating things. But the past few weeks, I felt as though I was almost trying too hard to make extremely unique recipes to provide the most value to you as a reader, and I’ve felt it’s actually pulled me away from what makes my recipes special: effortless, approachable, insanely good food.
So with that, I’m simplifying things and heading back to my roots of simply delicious recipes (of course with my unique spin as always). But since these recipes are simpler and maybe not overly complicated to figure out on your own, in order to provide more value, starting in January, I’ll be introducing twice-a-month meal plans 🎉. These plans will include:
Recipes: 5 simple dinners with accessible ingredients, all with my signature twist.
Grocery lists & substitutions: and ways to simplify so you can make everything from scratch or use store-bought to make your life easier.
Prep tips: things you can do ahead to make life even easier.
Hot tips: how to rework leftovers, what tools to use, how-to’s and so much more.
Think of it as a kind of “meal prep” plan for the week that you can buy all your groceries, prep as little or as much as you’d like in advance, and have 5 simply delicious dinners on your table for the week (and some leftovers for lunches too!)
Dinner, sorted is literally for YOU, so I’d love love love your feedback! Let me know what works, what doesn’t, and what you’d like more of. Think of these plans as your shortcut to a more effortless kitchen. And don’t worry—there will still be plenty of stand-alone recipes, like this week’s gem: fried chicken tacos with pickle de gallo.
Thank you for being here, for trusting me with your dinners, and for sharing your kitchen wins (and fails) along the way. Stay tuned for next week’s meal plan debut—it’s going to make dinner feel like a breeze.
Until then, enjoy the rest of your holiday break, and don’t forget to tag me if you make these tacos (or that martini 🍸)!
this week’s dinner, sorted: fried chicken tacos with pickle de gallo
Deep frying doesn’t have to be intimidating—hear me out! After testing this chicken every way imaginable, I discovered that deep frying is not only manageable but yielded a cleaner stove than shallow frying (win!). And HOLY SH*T was I proud of myself when I pulled those perfectly scraggly pieces of chicken out of the oil and saw the most delectable, crispiest, chicken tenders I have ever laid my eyes on. But if you don’t want to deep fry I get it, and I’ve offered some alternatives below.
Here’s why this recipe shines:
Pickle magic: We brine the chicken in pickle juice for tenderness, mix up a dill-ranch slaw, and finish with pickle de gallo for a triple pickle punch.
DIY-friendly: If you can get your hands on Grillo’s Pickle de Gallo, I recommend it! But if, like me, you’re dealing with limited grocery options (Canada, eh), I’ve got a homemade version that’s just as good.
Not into deep frying? No problem. I’ve included alternatives that still deliver on flavor.
Pro Tip: Pair these tacos with a pickle martini for the full pickle-forward experience. You deserve it 🍸
this week’s dinner, sorted: fried chicken tacos with pickle de gallo
TOTAL TIME: 1 hour
SERVES: 4
