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.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

We didn’t eat Chicken Kiev when we were growing up – we had cordon bleu instead. They’re a lot easier than a Kiev but just as tasty. Great for kids.

Roman Artichokes

This is one of the best ways to enjoy artichokes. I got these artichokes from Kingston Market – they’re fresh in from Italy.

Dad’s Californian Salad with Artichokes and Fresh Vegetables

A delicious salad of fresh vegetables, typical of those grown in my childhood home!

Chicken Tacos

‘Another classic family meal for the weekend at our place. Everyone getting their hands into the center of the table and making their tacos in a bespoke way is what makes this meal so enjoyable.’

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.

Grilled Asparagus

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

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!

Asparagus Spring Roll

Spring rolls never fail to impress or delight. These rolls are designed to celebrate the asparagus season and although they taste deliciously Asian, you really can taste the asparagus. It works a treat.

Asparagus and Tuna Sesame

It’s a Japanese way to mix sesame sauces in with food – I suspect the reason is because the sauce is so good it can’t help being slipped into all sorts of dishes…

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.

Can a Brownie be Healthy?

Dad explores the question, can a brownie be healthy? Reducing fats and replacing sugars with Xylitol and Stevia in an attempt to make an indulgent brownie.

Cookbooks

I have hundreds. So many in fact, that cracks are beginning to appear in the walls around my various libraries from holding the sheer weight of the tomes.

Sweet Corn Memories

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

A Night At The KERB

What a great night out! WDC was invited by Time Out to attend a preview for the KERB in Camden Market – they promised a night of free food from 35 affiliated street traders.



ADVERTISEMENT

GET THE LATEST STUFF!

Sign up to the WDC newsletter for the latest recipes, foodie stories and ingredient specials!

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