Joanna Gaines is the co-founder of Magnolia, a home and lifestyle brand, a bestselling author, and editor-in-chief of Magnolia Journal. Alongside her passion for design and food, nothing inspires Jo more than time at home with family—messing with recipes in the kitchen or planting something in the garden.

Joanna Gaines

When we were dating, Chip would often say that there are about five foods that he really, really loves, and one of them is scalloped potatoes. The sliced potatoes make this a pretty dish, and the cream and cheese mixture tastes like heaven. When we serve steak for dinner and I don’t have much time for sides, I’ll make mashed potatoes, but anytime I have a few extra minutes, I like to make this one especially for Chip.

Scalloped Potatoes

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While some evenings call for dishes that are quick and easy, on nights when I have a little extra time, this is the type of meal I can’t wait to get into the

Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines: Season 2, Episode 2

We all have those meals that remind us of our favorite time of year. Friendsgiving Casserole is just that for me. It’s a dish I started making when a group of

Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines: Episode 2

Do you like happiness? If you don’t, then this recipe isn’t for you. But if you do, then let’s make my macaroni and cheese together. This is the dish that put me on the map. It’s the one everyone talks about and the one that every person who comes over for dinner begs me to make. And the beauty is, it’s so simple. You’ll have friends begging you for this recipe.

Macaroni and Cheese

There are many versions of the iconic chicken Marbella, a recipe that debuted in the 1980s in “The Silver Palate Cookbook.” We added our favorite green olives to this incarnation and also sherry vinegar and honey for a touch more depth and sweetness. But what we really love so much about the dish is the sauce, so our spin on the recipe serves the chicken on toasted bread to put it over the top: The bread soaks up the sauce and makes it a one-pot meal.

Abner & Amanda's Chicken Marbella Over Sourdough

Chicken Marbella Over Sourdough

Even though pot roasts are a well-known dish in southern culture, I feel there are different variations of the slow-cooked meat dish that span through the country as a whole, and even globally. There’s something really special about a slow-roasted meat that falls off the bone, it really says “made with love,” and it’s an easy dish, especially for family dinners. For me, pot roasts invoke memories of Sunday family dinners. We would rotate houses and have everyone’s unique pot roast. I remember a big dish at the center of the table with a beautiful piece of meat and my mom cutting chunks away. Vegetables and gravy were always my favorite. I would reach out and soak a roll in the delicious gravy!

Charles Hunter III's Pot Roast with Potatoes and Carrots

Pot Roast with Potatoes and Carrots

I love to cook with fish—especially after Austin goes fishing—and I developed this recipe because I was looking for something that would be rich tasting but also really simple to make. For this recipe, I make a sauce out of white wine, cream, and fresh dill, then just slip the fillets into the pan and put the whole thing in the oven until the fish is tender and infused with the bright, creamy sauce. I like to serve it with saffron rice, which has a flavor that reminds me of food that I enjoyed when I studied in Spain as a student. Put the kettle to a boil while preheating the oven and the rice and fish will be ready about the same time.

White Fish with Dill Sauce and Saffron Rice

Pasta-like potato gnocchi are easy to make and require only a few ingredients that you likely already have in your kitchen. There is something so comforting about this dish that combines the browned, crispy edges of the gnocchi with roasted butternut squash and a cream sauce. The leeks and tarragon give it a fragrance and flavor reminiscent of early spring.

Elizabeth Poett's Homemade Gnocchi with a Creamy Tarragon and Leek Sauce

Homemade Gnocchi with Creamy Tarragon-Leek Sauce

These are, hands down, my kids’ favorite breakfast. Who am I kidding? They’re my favorite, too, especially when served alongside eggs—I can’t get enough of that combination of sweet and salty. These are definitely a labor of love, but honestly I think we all enjoy preparing them almost as much as we like to eat them. I’m in my happy place anytime I get to work with dough. Mixing the ingredients together into a cohesive whole, draping a towel over the bowl and letting the dough rise, punching it down, and then rolling, filling, and shaping it—the ritual of every step brings me pure joy. Whenever I bust out the ingredients for these squares, the kids know it’s a good day. I make these a lot during school holidays when there’s time in the morning for them to help. Duke and Emmie stand at attention with the measured ingredients waiting for the sign from me that they can dump them into the bowl, and then the older two help me roll out the dough and compose each layer. Drake loves that he’s finally allowed to use a big knife to cut the squares before they’re baked, and then he and Ella apply the egg wash to the tops of them. The kids understand that the bit of extra effort required for these squares makes them something really special.



I think it probably helps that these squares are the best iteration of a cinnamon roll that any of us has ever tasted. It can be hard to get a good balance with cinnamon rolls—they either have too much bread or too much cinnamon. The way I make these, rolling and folding them repeatedly so that the filling is between several thin layers of dough, results in a square that has a perfect amount of both bread and cinnamon, so every bite is balanced.

Cinnamon Squares

Our children’s book, We Are the Gardeners, is finally here! The kids and I have been working on this project for a little over a year, and I’m excited to be

The Making of We Are the Gardeners

Home matters. For Chip and me, there is nothing more valuable or essential to our well-being than the way our family feels when we are home. This philosophy