Caroline Chambers Needs Even Quicker Dinners Now
And she wants to make sure your cooking is worth the effort.
“I love this concept of family dinner every single night,” Caroline Chambers tells me in this week’s podcast conversation. Honestly, though, she says: “It’s not where we are.”
Caroline has four sons, age seven and below: “They don’t sit down. They don’t eat. They don’t want to eat the dinner I make them.”
It’s a reminder that even powerhouse bestselling cookbook authors who happen to write the #1 most popular food newsletter on Substack aren’t always having fabulous family dinners.
Caroline knows how to use her current chaos as a super power: “I think with each child I’ve become a better recipe developer,” she says, “because I have had to get quicker and more efficient and value people’s time in the kitchen more and more.”
Caroline says her new book, What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking: Make It Fast, “really has this ethos of getting dinner on the table as fast as humanly possible,” but she wants to make your work in the kitchen worthwhile.
“If you’re putting any effort into it, it better freaking be good,” Caroline laughs, “or else just get pizza!”
In this week’s episode, Caroline lets us peek behind the curtain a bit. She’s quick to explain that she absolutely doesn’t “do it all,” especially as her business has grown. “The Internet is this place where we all know that we’re being fed like these perfect versions of people’s lives. And yet it still is really damaging to our mental health,” she says, to compare yourself with someone who isn’t sharing the full picture.
We also get into the nitty-gritty of how she makes it through the week, with cooking tips that’ll be especially useful as we all head into the busy routines of fall.
Caroline knows that formal meal planning can feel like too big a mountain to climb. “It seems really intimidating” if you have to pick four recipes and churn them out in order, hitting the kitchen every night from scratch. Her answer: “Don’t do that!”
Instead, she says, the key is to cook more, less often, but she’s not talking about a whole meal prep session where you end up with a ton of containers of dinners that won’t feel appealing by Wednesday. Here’s what she recommends instead:
Once you’ve got that chicken on hand, you can use it to make Caroline’s quick peach and chicken salad recipe from the new book (out tomorrow!) which is reprinted in it speediest form below. (If you’re starting with raw chicken instead of a rotisserie bird, you have the option of doubling the dressing and using some as a pre-grill marinade the way Caroline does here.)
The whole conversation is only on the podcast—please do hit follow so you don’t miss all the fun new releases as we get into high cookbook season.
🥇 The simplest way to support The Dinner Plan and enter to win a copy of What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking: Make It Fast is to sign up as a paid subscriber to this newsletter by end of day Sunday, August 16, 2026.
🥈 Free subscribers can enter the giveaway by sending in a “what’s in my fridge right now” voice memo for us to play on The Dinner Plan podcast. We’ll come up with a dinner idea just for you based on what you have around. Follow the instructions here by end of day Sunday, August 16, 2026.
Winner will be alerted by Substack DM and email. 18+, U.S. and Canada addresses only. Giveaway not sponsored or administered by Substack. Ends August 16, 2026. Commissions from affiliate links in this newsletter help to keep this project going.
A note from today’s sponsor:
STAUB brings the passion, quality, and traditions of France to your kitchen. A great Dutch oven earns its place on the stovetop and STAUB’s enameled cast iron cookware is beloved for its exceptional heat retention, thoughtful craftsmanship, and timeless design.
Its black matte interior delivers superior searing and browning, while the signature spikes under the lid help lock in moisture and flavor. Easy to clean, never in need of seasoning, and built to last for generations, each piece moves beautifully from oven to table.
Caroline mentioned:
Cheater’s chicken tinga from Caroline’s first book
Garlicky grains from the first book
Grilled chicken to use multiple ways!
Home Cooking With Jean-Georges (Bookshop here)
Julia Turshen’s Small Victories (Bookshop here)
Julia Turshen’s novel, Down to Earth (Bookshop here)
From the ad break:
Straus Family Creamery: Find Straus organic ice cream at Whole Foods nationwide or at strausfamilycreamery.com.
Row 7: Get 10% off Row 7’s chef-prepared tinned vegetables using code DINNERPLAN10 at Row7Seeds.com
Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.
Massican Wines: Use code DINNERPLAN for 10% off at Massican.com. Must be 21+
Maggie mentioned:
Salmon with Apricot and Cilantro Pesto from Yotam Ottolenghi’s newest book, Simple Too (Bookshop here)
Caroline’s Cheesy Chipotle Shrimp Tacos
BBQ Chicken and Peach Chop
Recipe reprinted with permission from What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking: Make It Fast by Caroline Chambers © 2026. Published by Union Square & Co., an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group.
Serves 4
A few summers ago, our dear friends Gray and Tate invited us to their family’s house on Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, and, whoa. It was one of those *immediately starts browsing Zillow because, wait, should we move here?* moments for us. One afternoon we got babysitters and the adults took the boat from the house into the town of Wayzata for lunch at The Grocer’s Table. I still dream about their summer-in-your-mouth BBQ chicken salad with a BBQ vinaigrette—so much so that, years later, it’s still a regular in my summer grill-out rotation. I simplified things to make it a quick, no-cook recipe, but it’s kinda worth going the Extra Extra route if you have more time to grill the chicken, corn, and peaches like I do for special-occasion summer dinners.
Note from Maggie: This recipe was developed before the current Cyclospora outbreak in the US; while we can’t give any medical advice, for lower-risk greens, you may want to use hydroponic greens like these or start with whole heads of locally-grown lettuce.
BBQ Vinaigrette
⅓ cup barbecue sauce (I like Stubb’s)
3 tablespoons neutral oil
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Honey or sugar (optional)
Salad
1 (5-ounce) container mixed greens (see Note above)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups diced cooked chicken breast
2 ripe peaches
1 ripe medium avocado
3 scallions
1 (15.25-ounce) can white corn, drained, or 1 (16-ounce) bag frozen white corn, thawed
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
8 ounces shredded white cheddar cheese (2 cups)
Large handful of tortilla chips
Make the vinaigrette. In a large jar or container with a lid, combine the barbecue sauce, neutral oil, vinegar, ½ teaspoon salt, and some pepper. Taste for sweetness and add a little honey or sugar if needed (this will depend on your BBQ sauce).
Make the salad. Place the greens in a large, shallow serving bowl and season with a big pinch each of salt and pepper. Scatter the chicken over the greens.
Cut the peaches and avocado into small cubes and add them to the greens. Thinly slice the scallions and add them to the greens, along with the corn and beans. Sprinkle the cheese and a handful of tortilla chips over the top.
Drizzle with your desired amount of vinaigrette and toss to mix and coat the salad well. Enjoy immediately.
Swap: Thinly sliced romaine, kale, cabbage, or a combo would be great instead of mixed greens.
• Use ground turkey or chicken instead of rotisserie: Brown it in a skillet with a little oil and add a big pinch each of salt, garlic powder, chili powder, and smoked paprika and a splash of the BBQ vinaigrette at the very end.
Extra Extra: If you have a little more time, add the beans to the serving bowl first, along with a big pour of dressing. Lightly smash the beans so they can absorb the dressing a bit while you assemble the rest of the salad.
Riff: Grill it all! Double the BBQ vinaigrette and marinate a couple of chicken breasts in it for at least 30 minutes (or overnight, if you can). Drizzle 2 ears of corn and 2 sliced peaches with oil. Shake the marinade off the chicken and grill it along with the corn and peaches over medium-high heat until grill marks appear on the corn and peaches and the chicken reaches 165°F internally, about 10 minutes total, flipping everything halfway through.
Excited to listen to this one! Caroline’s honesty about “having/doing it all” is a breath of fresh air!
Pre-gamed her talk in Boston tonight with this listen, loved it!