35 Romantic Dinner Ideas for Two

By Zoe Denenberg
Jennifer Causey

When you think of date night, the image that comes to mind probably involves a low-lit restaurant, sleek white plates, and tasteful candles. While we always love a night out, spending date night at home can be just as special. In fact, we believe that there’s no date more special than cooking together, and we’re making it easy with these simple dinner recipes for two. From Easy Shrimp Scampi with Basil to Sausage and Kale Pesto Pizza, these recipes are built to impress—and best of all, you won’t be slaving away in the kitchen for hours. We’ve got one-pot wonders and slow-cooker hacks so you can share an excellent meal with your loved one any night of the week.

These dishes are built to be balanced main courses, with proteins matching vegetables, starches, and grains. Pair these entrées with a shareable appetizer—homemade Pimiento Cheese, anyone?—and a decadent dessert, like individually-portioned Molten Red Velvet Cakes, because sometimes you just can’t share everything. Every night can be date night with these easy dinners for two.

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Pasta with Eggplant, Burrata, and Mint

Photo: Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Cat Steele

Recipe: Pasta with Eggplant, Burrata, and Mint

Diced eggplant meets melty, creamy burrata and sharp mint in this unconventional, yet undoubtedly irresistible signature pasta dish.

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Chicken Thighs and BBQ Beans

Photo: Greg Dupree; Prop Styling: Claire Spollen; Food Styling: Margaret Monroe Dickey

Recipe: Chicken Thighs and BBQ Beans

This recipe redefines at-home barbecue and scales down the portions to ensure you don’t have heaps of leftovers sitting in your fridge.

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Greek Stuffed Peppers

Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Recipe: Greek Stuffed Peppers

The simple peppers stuffed with ground beef and feta are hearty and healthy. Serve with a side of couscous, and you’ve got an all-star Mediterranean dinner.

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Pork-and-Shaved Vegetable Salad

Photo: Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke

Recipe: Pork-and-Shaved Vegetable Salad

With elegant ribbons of bright carrots and delicate tendrils of golden beets and parsnips, this entrée-worth salad embodies “eat the rainbow.”

 

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Cast-Iron Cowboy Steak

Southern Living

Recipe: Cast-Iron Cowboy Steak

If you’re celebrating a special occasion, split this indulgent cowboy steak with a loved one. There probably won’t be any leftovers.

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One-Pan Hot Honey Chicken and Rice

Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Recipe: One-Pan Hot Honey Chicken and Rice

Hot honey brings the heat and the sweet to this easy one-pot chicken-and-rice dinner.

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Easy Shrimp Scampi with Basil

Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Lydia Pursell; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer

Recipe: Easy Shrimp Scampi with Basil

Shrimp is such a quick-cooking shellfish, it’s easy to accomplish for a weeknight dinner. Use the shrimp to top a dish of linguine and you’ve got a sophisticated dinner for two.

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Grilled Steak with Blistered Beans and Peppers

Photo: Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Tina Bell Stamos; Prop Styling: Christine Keely

Recipe: Grilled Steak with Blistered Beans and Peppers

If you’re looking to impress on date night, a nice cut of steak is a surefire way into anyone’s heart.

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Pork-and-Farro Bowl with Warm Brussels Sprouts-Fennel Salad

Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Recipe: Pork-and-Farro Bowl with Warm Brussels Sprouts-Fennel Salad

These balanced bowls can be prepared in advance as a meal-prep dinner solution for your busiest nights of the week.

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Easy Catfish Tacos with Slaw

Photo: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Tina Bell Stamos

Recipe: Easy Catfish Tacos with Slaw

We’ll never stop raving about the combination of crispy oven-fried fish with cool, acidic cabbage slaw, all wrapped up in a corn tortilla blanket.

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Grilled Scallop-and-Mango Salad

Photo: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer

Recipe: Grilled Scallop-and-Mango Salad

The tropical flavors of this main-dish salad will transport you to the shore. Be sure to develop a nice char on the scallops to counter the mango’s sweetness.

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Chicken and Charred Succotash Salad

Hector Sanchez

Recipe: Chicken and Charred Succotash Salad

Make Southern succotash into a main-worthy dish by topping it with simple grilled chicken. It’s fresh, colorful, and nutritious.

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Cajun Chicken Pasta

Photo: Ralph Anderson

Recipe: Cajun Chicken Pasta

You can never go wrong with Cajun chicken. Toss the sliced chicken into a pasta skillet with bell peppers and mushrooms for a confetti of flavor.

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Stuffed Eggplant Parmesan

Photo: Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Recipe: Stuffed Eggplant Parmesan

This pre-portioned Italian favorite uses half of an eggplant as a boat for lots of mozzarella and marinara. It’s not complete, though, without a side of homemade garlic bread.

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Grilled Steak Salad with Green Tomato Vinaigrette

Photo: Caitlin Bensel; Prop Styling: Claire Spollen; Food Styling: Anna Hampton

Recipe: Grilled Steak Salad with Green Tomato Vinaigrette

Leftover steak? Reheat it on the grill and use it to transform this simple green salad into a date-night-worthy main.

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Pork Chops with Tomato-Bacon Gravy

5-minute twist

Recipe: Pork Chops with Tomato-Bacon Gravy

While the pork chops roast in the oven, prepare the tomato gravy on the stovetop. This condiment is an essential part of the dish.

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Salmon with Lemony Greens and Grains

Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Claire Spollen; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Recipe: Salmon with Lemony Greens and Grains

Our favorite weeknight dinners are built with a protein, a green, and a grain. This salmon dish provides all of those elements and doesn’t skimp on the flavor.

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Shrimp Boil Vegetable Bowls

Photo: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Tina Bell Stamos

Recipe: Shrimp Boil Vegetable Bowls

If you grew up spending your summers around picnic tables, selecting your dinner from a big pot of Cajun-seasoned seafood, these easy shrimp boils are a great way to indulge in your nostalgia.

 

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Skillet Chicken with Beans and Greens

Photo: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Christina Lane; Food Styling: Tina Bell Stamos

Recipe: Skillet Chicken with Beans and Greens

You can’t go wrong with skillet-seared chicken breast—and you can save any leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

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Farro Bowl with Curry-Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

Alison Miksch; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl; Food styling: Karen Rankin

Recipe: Farro Bowl with Curry-Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

With sweet-and-savory curried sweet potatoes and crispy, earthy brussels sprouts, this farro bowl doesn’t even need any meat.

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Fontina-Stuffed Pork Chops with Mashed Potatoes

Photo: Linda Pugliese; Prop Styling: Claire Spollen; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Recipe: Fontina-Stuffed Pork Chops with Mashed Potatoes

Pork chops stuffed with cheese? We can get on board with that.

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Teriyaki Salmon Bowls with Crispy Brussels Sprouts

Photo: Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke

Recipe: Teriyaki Salmon Bowls with Crispy Brussels Sprouts

Cook this salmon in your slow cooker for a fuss-free date night dinner that checks all the food group boxes.

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Grilled Chicken with Quick-Pickled Squash Salad

Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Recipe: Grilled Chicken with Quick-Pickled Squash Salad

A quick pickle brings bright acidity to farmers’-market-fresh squash, perfectly complementing simple grilled chicken.

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Fresh Salmon Cakes with Buttermilk Dressing

Photo: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Missie Neville Crawford; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Recipe: Fresh Salmon Cakes with Buttermilk Dressing 

Fresh salmon fillets may be good, but these salmon cakes channel the spirit of crab cakes in a beautiful way. Serve with a generous spoonful of buttermilk dressing to add a creamy tang.

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Roasted Tomato Soup with Cheddar Cheese

Victor Protasio

Recipe: Roasted Tomato Soup with Cheddar Cheese

You can never go wrong with this oh-so-comforting childhood staple. Serve with a grilled cheese and save the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

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Cheese Sauce over Cauliflower

Photo: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling; Tina Bell Stamos

Recipe: Cheese Sauce over Cauliflower

We’re using this liquid-gold cheese sauce to top just about everything, including cauliflower and broccoli.

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Sausage and Kale Pesto Pizza

Photo: Alison Miksch; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl; Food styling: Karen Rankin

Recipe: Sausage and Kale Pesto Pizza

This pizza is the perfect size to share with your significant other. Did someone say date night?

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One-Pan Pasta with Chicken Sausage, Mushrooms, and Collards

Greg DuPree

Recipe: One-Pan Pasta with Chicken Sausage, Mushrooms, and Collards

This elegant pasta comes together in one pan, seriously minimizing the clean-up. Use that extra time to whip up something for dessert.

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Honey-Mustard Salmon with Vegetables

Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Tina Bell Stamos

Recipe: Honey-Mustard Salmon with Vegetables

We bake our honey-mustard salmon with baby red potatoes and sugar snap peas, but you can swap out the sides for anything you’d like.

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Poached Salmon Salad with Pickled Snap Peas

Hector Manuel Sanchez

Recipe: Poached Salmon Salad with Pickled Snap Peas

This refined dish can be served for a summertime lunch or a light dinner.

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Chicken a la King

Southern Living

Recipe: Chicken a la King

Spoon this chicken-pot-pie-esque mixture over fresh biscuits for a comforting entrée. Anything left over from these deconstructed pot pies can be easily saved.

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Foil-Pack Clams with White Wine and Herbs

Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Recipe: Foil-Pack Clams with White Wine and Herbs

Pick up fresh clams at your local seafood shop for a grilled dinner that you’re sure to remember.

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Chicken-Tortellini Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Recipe: Chicken-Tortellini Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

Tossed with arugula and shredded chicken, this tortellini salad is best served cold—and may even taste better the next day.

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Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

Caitlin Bensel

Recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

Crank up the slow cooker in the morning and return home to fragrant pulled chicken ready for taco assembly.

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Instant Pot Chicken Thighs

Jennifer Causey

Recipe: Instant Pot Chicken Thighs

Chicken thighs are some of the easiest parts to cook, and they develop a beautiful golden crust in the slow cooker.

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