What Dad Cooked is a collection of our dad’s recipes, thoughts, tips and cooking hacks that simply need to be shared with all you foodies!

Be Inspired
Seasonal Favourites

Some delicious seasonal summer family recipes to choose from the What Dad Cooked repertoire.

Braised Lamb Belly

‘Here’s one of Dad’s more elaborate dishes from a while back – in true Dad fashion he buries himself in the kitchen experimenting with new techniques. Five hours later out come these little gems…’

Chipotle Chilli Taco

A very adaptable vegetarian/vegan taco filling

Plum Soba, Prawns and Shiso Salad

This is inspired by a recipe in the book, ‘Salad’ by Amy Nathan (1985).

Dad’s Japanese style Asparagus Tempura Soba

This is a classic Japanese way with soba and tempura. Strickly speaking the asparagus tempura is kaki-age, made like a tempura fritter rather than individual spears coated in tempura. But such academic details seem trivial when it comes to tempura – any tempura is amazing – especially asparagus!

Latest recipes

Check out Dad's latest homecooked dishes and recipes below. Or click recipes in the menu to browse through 6+ years of Dad's homecooking recipes for families.

Cassoulet de Toulouse à la Pappa

A perfect winter warmer – Cassoulet!

The Laughing Cow Lightest Loaded Quesadilla

Try Dad’s loaded low-fat salsa quesadillas with The Laughing Cow Lightest x8 cheese.

Melanzane Parmigiana with Dolmio 7 Vegetables Sun Ripened Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce

An excellent way to turn a popular Italian slow food standard into an easy and quicker family classic.

Pumpkin Pie

My best pumpkin pie yet!

Asaparagus

A seasonal favourite ingredient of Dad's, so much so he made a 30 recipe series about the green spears! Try these recipes whilst asparagus can still be found locally.

Asparagus Fondue

Asparagus goes well with Parmesan cheese. Asparagus also goes well with Taleggio and Gruyèr. It seems we can assume that asparagus works with cheese generally – so why not a fondue?

Asparagus and Salmon Quiche

The boys are not keen on quiche – but I cannot see what is not to like. Besides putting asparagus in a quiche is a good way to enjoy the asparagus season.

Asparagus, Jersey Royal and Parmesan Fritatta

Fresh asparagus is full of flavour and goodness – the perfect vegetable to celebrate the arrival of spring. Dairy, eggs, potatoes, Parmesan and parsley all marry well with tasty asparagus and come together to create this delicious frittata recipe.

Grilled Asparagus

This is not really a recipe, more a method for grilling or griddling your asparagus.

Dad's Food Journal

Dad loves to write about food. Whether it's discovering a new road local to London or Surrey, where the treasures of foodie stores and independent shops delight—or Dad's macro observations in the world of food. Dad's articles (and foodie stories to his recipes) are a funny and knowledgable journey through the lense of how pops views the world.

Seven Places Where You Can Buy Traditional Panettone In London

There was a time when few would have recognised the panettones stacked in London’s Italian delicatessens. But now it’s impossible to do a Christmas shop without tripping over the lovely things.

Sweet Corn Memories

Growing up in Southern California in the 60s, our family was fussy about its corn…

Part One: What is Thanksgiving?

I am an American but I moved to the UK with my family when I was in my mid-teens. We have celebrated Thanksgiving here every year since. It’s a tradition that we keep alive with WDC’s extended family and friends…

Ode to an Omelette Pan

Those of a certain age will remember the post-Elizabeth David halcyon days of home gastronomy…



ADVERTISEMENT
© What Dad Cooked, 2026. Privacy Policy. Terms and Conditions. Twitter Instagram