Butternut with Rocket and Feta
In Canada, fall means squash piled high at farmers’ markets — a true emblem of the harvest season. Butternut, with its golden sweetness, has long been part of Prairie and Ontario gardens, valued for its ability to store through winter. Here it’s paired with peppery rocket, tangy cheese, and toasted nuts for a salad that feels both rustic and modern — a colourful dish that brings warmth to cool autumn evenings.
Mexican Inspired Corn Salad
Corn carries nostalgia for many Canadians — from county fairs and backyard corn roasts to evenings gathered around butter-drenched cobs. Ontario’s Kent County, often called the “corn capital of Canada,” has long symbolized this harvest tradition. This salad takes that sweetness and gives it a bold Mexican twist, blending smoky, creamy, and tangy flavours into a dish that feels both familiar and exciting.
Bulgur Wheat with Tomatoes and Herbs
Bulgar wheat has nourished the Mediterranean for thousands of years, but in Canada it found a new home through waves of Greek and Middle Eastern immigration. By the late 20th century, it appeared at community dinners, Greek festivals, and eventually in health-conscious kitchens across the country. With Canadian wheat at its core, this salad blends sun-ripened tomatoes, cucumber, and herbs into a dish that feels both timeless and distinctly Canadian.
Greek and Cypriot Salads
Fresh, vibrant, and simple, these salads are built on the same foundation — juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumber, onion, olives, and good olive oil. In Greece, the classic horiatiki is finished with feta and oregano, while in Cyprus, halloumi takes centre stage. In Canada, they’ve become summer favourites at backyard tables, blending Mediterranean flavours with local produce like Ontario and BC greenhouse tomatoes that rival the sweetness of the Mediterranean sun.
Pork Tonkatsu with Miso Slaw
Crispy, golden, and comforting, tonkatsu is a Japanese favourite that has found a home in Canada, especially on the West Coast where Japanese food culture thrives. From restaurants in Vancouver’s Little Tokyo to family kitchens across the country, tonkatsu shows how Japanese flavours have blended seamlessly into Canadian dining. Served with crunchy cabbage, rice, and tangy sauce, it’s simple, balanced, and always satisfying.
Sausages with Potatoes and Chard
Sausages, potatoes, and greens — a trio that’s as comforting as it is timeless. In Canada, this dish reflects both resourcefulness and heritage: backyard gardens supplying greens like chard, hearty potatoes pulled from Prairie or PEI fields, and sausages tied to immigrant traditions. Italian and Portuguese families especially made chard a staple, planting it in abundance and weaving it into simple, satisfying suppers. This plate brings those influences together — rustic, nourishing, and unmistakably Canadian in spirit.
Pounded Pork with Herby Vegetables
This dish may draw from rustic European kitchens, but it feels deeply Canadian in spirit. Pork, aubergine, and sweet potatoes are staples of farm and family tables across the country — humble ingredients elevated with fresh herbs and simple cooking. Pounding the pork thin keeps it tender and quick to cook, while roasted vegetables and a spoonful of yogurt add warmth and freshness. It’s the kind of dish that belongs just as easily at a Prairie farmhouse table as at a weeknight dinner in the city.
Perfect Pulled Pork
Pulled pork may have Southern roots, but it has found a true home in Canada. From backyard barbecues and hockey nights to rib festivals that fill Ontario and Alberta towns with smoke and music, slow-cooked pork has become a dish of celebration. Sweetened with maple, simmered in local barbecue sauces, and stretched to feed a crowd, it captures the Canadian way of cooking: resourceful, hearty, and built around gathering.
Chorizo, Potatoes and Eggs
This dish speaks to both resilience and flavour — a humble, hearty meal with roots in Spanish cooking that feels right at home in Canadian kitchens. Immigrant traditions brought smoky chorizo to Canada, where it mingled with Prairie potatoes and backyard greens. Crowned with a fried or poached egg, it’s the kind of dish that proves simple ingredients can still feel rich, comforting, and complete.
Schnitzel with Spätzle and Cabbage
Crispy schnitzel, buttery spätzle, and sweet-sour braised red cabbage are the essence of Central European comfort food. In Canada, these traditions arrived with waves of German, Austrian, and Eastern European immigrants, who brought their hearty dishes to Prairie towns and farming communities. With pork, apples, and cabbage plentiful, schnitzel dinners became Sunday staples, later celebrated at Oktoberfest events in places like Kitchener-Waterloo — now one of the largest Oktoberfests outside Germany. This dish reflects how Old World recipes adapted to Canadian abundance, becoming part of our own food story.
Mexican Pork Stuffed Peppers
Stuffed peppers are a dish that has travelled across continents — from Eastern European kitchens to Mexican taquerías — and found a welcome home in Canada. Immigrant families brought their own versions, often filled with rice and pork, and over time, Canadian kitchens adapted them with local abundance. Bell peppers, now a staple of Prairie gardens and Ontario greenhouses, meet Mexican flavours of cumin, chili, beans, and corn to create a dish that feels both global and deeply Canadian. Colourful, hearty, and endlessly adaptable, these peppers are as fitting at a backyard barbecue as they are on a weeknight family table.
Hearty Mushroom Risotto
Risotto is the kind of dish that slows you down — demanding patience and rewarding it with creamy, comforting perfection. For me, it carries the memory of crisp Canadian autumns spent mushroom picking, baskets filled with chanterelles or morels, the forest floor alive with colour and scent. Across Canada, mushroom foraging has become both tradition and passion, from BC’s golden chanterelles to Quebec’s prized morels. This dish brings that wild bounty into the kitchen, pairing Italian technique with Canadian harvests for a bowl that feels rustic, seasonal, and deeply comforting.
Mama Squires’ Zucchini Pasta
This recipe carries the heart of home cooking — tender chicken meatballs in a rich tomato sauce, served not over pasta but over zucchini noodles, a clever twist that feels both comforting and fresh. In Canada, where backyard gardens overflow with zucchini each summer, this dish has become a seasonal ritual. Families who once baked endless zucchini loaves or handed off extras to neighbours now spiralize them into silky noodles — a modern answer to an age-old garden surplus. It’s a meal that blends tradition with creativity, offering comfort that’s lighter on the plate but just as satisfying at the table.
Spaghetti Bolognese
Bolognese, or ragù alla bolognese, is the heart of Italian comfort cooking — a sauce that rewards patience, slowly simmered until rich, silky, and full of depth. When Italian immigrants arrived in Canada, they brought this tradition with them, adapting it with local beef, pork, and pantry staples. Over time, Bolognese became a family favourite from coast to coast — whether ladled over spaghetti, layered into lasagna, or even spooned onto a baked potato on a snowy Prairie evening. It’s a dish that bridges old-world heritage with Canadian warmth and practicality.
Ravioli with Sausage and Ricotta
There’s something magical about making pasta from scratch — the feel of the dough under your hands, the rhythm of rolling, and the joy of sealing each little pillow of filling. This version, with sausage, ricotta, and spinach, has the heart of Italian tradition but feels perfectly Canadian when made with artisan ricotta and market-fresh greens. In Toronto’s Little Italy or Montreal’s Jean-Talon Market, dishes like this became part of Canada’s food story, bridging family kitchens and community tables with a sense of both heritage and home.
Mozzarella Stuffed Arancini
Golden, crisp on the outside and molten inside, arancini are the ultimate comfort bite. Born in Sicily as a thrifty way to use leftover risotto, they’ve travelled the world — and in Canada, they’ve found a home at kitchens and gatherings where thrift meets indulgence. Stuffed with gooey mozzarella (or even smoky cheddar for a Canadian twist), they’re the kind of dish that turns “leftovers” into something worth celebrating.
Homemade Tomato Sauce
Golden, crisp on the outside and molten inside, arancini are the ultimate comfort bite. Born in Sicily as a thrifty way to use leftover risotto, they’ve travelled the world — and in Canada, they’ve found a home at kitchens and gatherings where thrift meets indulgence. Stuffed with gooey mozzarella (or even smoky cheddar for a Canadian twist), they’re the kind of dish that turns “leftovers” into something worth celebrating.
Easiest Pizza Recipe
Pizza night in Canada is more than dinner — it’s tradition. From Friday nights to birthday parties, homemade pizza means family gathered around the table, kids stretching dough with flour-dusted hands, and everyone claiming a corner or slice with their favourite toppings. While Italian immigrants first brought pizza here, Canadians made it their own — from Ontario’s world-famous Hawaiian invention in 1962 to the bacon-mushroom-pepper “Canadian classic.” It’s a dish that feels homemade, celebratory, and endlessly adaptable.
Bacon, Onion and Tomato Pasta
There’s something wonderfully nostalgic about this dish — smoky bacon, sweet onions, and the burst of fresh tomatoes straight from the garden. For me, it captures late Canadian summers when the tomato plants were heavy with fruit, and the kitchen always smelled of something bubbling on the stove. Using Canadian bacon gives it a uniquely local touch, turning a humble, quick supper into a dish that celebrates both harvest and homegrown flavour.
Tuna Pasta with Capers
This pasta is quick, light, and endlessly forgiving — exactly the kind of dish that shows up on the table when Canadian summers run hot and the last thing you want is to fuss in the kitchen. It was always a kids’ favourite in our house: bright with tomato, salty with olives and capers, and just enough tuna to make it hearty. Best of all, it tastes just as good cold the next day, ready to be packed into a picnic basket or served on the back deck in the evening sun.