7 Ultimate Dishes to Try in 2026 | Eating With Erica

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Each year is an opportunity for something new. Whether you’re looking to expand your palate, , now’s the time. It’s the perfect time to be intentional about what you cook and how you eat. Food is one of the most accessible ways to experience something different. A single new recipe can change how you think about an entire ingredient, cuisine, or occasion. These are the dishes to try this 2026 if you want your cooking to feel new again.

These seven dishes to try this 2026 are my curated lineup — . Each one is designed to challenge and inspire you, no matter where you are in your cooking journey. , there’s a signature cocktail and a dessert worth saving room for. Together, this list . Every recipe links directly to the full post, so you can dive as deep as you want into each one.

What I love most about this list is that it doesn’t ask you to choose between impressive and effortless. In 2026, you don’t have to. , and are genuinely within reach. Make one, make all seven of these dishes to try this 2026. Or let this be the starting point for the most delicious year you’ve had yet.

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Everything I Love for this recipes

Copper Moscow Mule Mugs

The copper conducts cold and keeps the drink icy longer — also makes the most beautiful presentation

Cocktail Shaker

Combines and chills ingredients evenly before the pour — essential for a crisp, well-blended mule.

Citrus Juicer / Press

Fresh lime juice makes a noticeable difference — a handheld press gives you exactly the right amount fast

Serving Tray

A beautiful tray elevates the whole moment — especially when serving a crowd or setting out a

1. Dishes to Try This 2026: Smoked Salmon, Dill & Caviar Crostini

This is the dish I reach for when I want to set the tone. It works before a single word is spoken at the table. Crisp, golden crostini topped with creamy dill, , and a touch of caviar come together beautifully. It’s indulgent without being heavy, and elegant without being intimidating. What makes it work is the layering. Each component brings something distinct, and together they create a bite that feels genuinely special. This is one of those recipes that can be prepped almost entirely in advance. That means you’re relaxed and present when guests arrive, instead of rushing in the kitchen.

Why You need to try Smoked Salmon, Dill & Caviar Crostini

The Art.
It teaches you the art of the composed bite — a skill that elevates going forward.

Caviar.
Caviar is more accessible than ever in 2026. This is the most approachable, beautiful way to introduce it to your table.

Make it Ahead
It’s make-ahead friendly — assemble the components separately and plate just before serving.

Smoked Salmon, Dill & Caviar Crostini

2. Dishes to Try This 2026: A Smoked Trout Board for Elegant Grazing

A beautifully arranged board is one of the most powerful hosting tools you have. This smoked trout board takes the concept to a genuinely elevated place. Crackers, artisan bread, horseradish cream, capers, radishes, and fresh vegetables all come together around the smoked trout. The result feels abundant, considered, and effortlessly beautiful. What I love most about a board like this is how interactive it becomes. Guests build their own perfect bite while naturally gathering, chatting, and connecting. The smoked trout brings a depth of flavor that a standard charcuterie board simply can’t replicate. It also doubles as a stunning table centerpiece that requires almost no day-of cooking.

Why You need to try Smoked Trout Board for Elegant Grazing

Its Underrrated
Smoked trout is an underrated, sophisticated alternative to smoked salmon that deserves a place at your table this year

A Beautiful Board.
A board this beautiful requires no cooking, just assembly. That makes it one of the most stress-free ways to impress.

Customizable
It’s endlessly customizable: swap or add components based on what’s seasonal and what your guests love

The Moments
Boards like this create natural gathering moments — guests linger longer and conversations flow more easily.

Smoked Trout Board for Elegant Grazing

3. Dishes to Try This 2026: The Perfect Steak Frites

Steak frites is one of those dishes to try this 2026 that has never needed reinvention. It just needs to be done right. A perfectly seared steak, golden crust, tender interior, and a mountain of crispy fries make a meal worth savoring. It makes people put down their phones and pay attention. Steak frites sits in a rare category of dishes that feels simultaneously celebratory and deeply comforting. It’s equally at home at a dinner party as it is on a quiet Friday night. It’s one of the most versatile mains in your entire hosting repertoire. Getting it right in 2026 means mastering a skill you’ll use for the rest of your cooking life.

Why You need to try The Perfect Steak Frites

Perfect Sear.
Mastering a perfect sear is a foundational cooking skill — this recipe teaches you exactly how to get it right

The Combination of Textures.
The combination of textures — crispy frites, caramelized crust, tender interior — is a lesson in contrast. Every bite stays interesting.

Showstopper
It’s a showstopper main that feels luxurious without requiring specialty ingredients or advanced technique.

Crowdpleaser
Steak frites is one of the most you can serve. Almost no one at the table will pass it up.

The Perfect Steak Frites

4. Dishes to Try This 2026: Salsa Chicken for a Crowd-Pleasing Favorite

Not everything has to be elaborate to be intentional — and this salsa chicken is proof. Simple pantry ingredients come together into a dish with genuinely bold, satisfying flavor. It serves a crowd without breaking a sweat. Serve it over rice, tuck it into warm tortillas, or plate it alongside roasted vegetables. It’s a meal that feels complete and comforting every single time. What I love about including this among the dishes to try this 2026 is that it represents something important. The most reliable recipes in your rotation aren’t always the most complex ones. This is the kind of dish that earns its place at the table. It doesn’t impress on sight — it delivers on every single bite. People always ask for the recipe.

Why You need to try Pace Chicken Salsa

Weeknight-Weekend Recipe
It’s a true weeknight-to-weekend recipe — equally suited for a or a laid-back gathering with friends.

Hands-off Cooking Method.
The hands-off cooking method means it practically makes itself — ideal for when you’re juggling multiple things

Build Big Flavor
It teaches you how to build big flavor from simple pantry staples. It’s a skill that carries across dozens of other recipes.

Versatile
Endlessly versatile: serve it over rice, in tacos, over nachos, or alongside a salad. The same recipe works four different ways.

Chicken Salsa

5. Creamy Lemon Salmon Piccata Pasta

This is the dish that surprises people — in the best possible way. A creamy lemon piccata sauce already has everything going for it: bright, rich, silky, and deeply satisfying. Add salmon on top and you’ve created something that feels like restaurant-quality dining without the reservation. The lemon cuts through the cream in a way that keeps the whole dish feeling light and bright. Even the sauce coats every strand of pasta beautifully. If you’ve been playing it safe with pasta dishes, this recipe will push you forward. It’s the most delicious direction you can take in 2026. It’s the kind of dish that makes people pause mid-bite, put their fork down, and say something. Make it once in 2026 and it becomes a permanent part of your rotation.

Why You need to try Creamy Lemon Salmon Piccata Pasta

Piccata Technique
It introduces you to piccata technique — a bright, briny, butter-and-lemon sauce that works across chicken, fish, and pasta

Conversation Starter.
The combination of pasta and salmon feels unexpected and elevated. It’s a conversation starter at the table.

Versatile
The sauce is genuinely versatile. Once you know how to make it, you’ll use it across multiple proteins and occasions.

Photographs
It photographs beautifully. The golden salmon on top of cream-coated pasta earns saves on every platform.

Creamy Lemon Salmon Piccata Pasta

6. Dishes to Try This 2026: Bourbon Peach Tea Smash

Every great menu needs a signature drink, and this bourbon peach tea smash has held that spot for years. There’s good reason why it’s stayed in my hosting repertoire this long. It’s smooth, lightly sweet, and easy to sip, with real flavor depth. People ask what’s in it before they’ve even finished the glass. The combination of bourbon, ripe peach, and sweet tea feels distinctly Southern and distinctly celebratory. It’s the kind of cocktail that fits equally well at a summer garden party or a cozy fall gathering. What’s more, it batches beautifully. Make a large pitcher ahead of time and enjoy your guests, instead of playing bartender all evening.

Why You need to try Bourbon Peach Tea Smash

Signature Cocktail
It’s a signature-level cocktail that requires minimal effort — batch it ahead and it practically serves itself.

Unexpected Combination
The bourbon-peach-tea combination is unexpected, approachable, and immediately memorable — guests will ask for this recipe.

Across Season
It works across seasons. Serve it iced in summer, or warm it slightly with a cinnamon stick for a stunning fall variation.

Hosting Skill.
Learning to batch cocktails is a hosting skill that changes everything. This recipe is the perfect place to start.

Bourbon Peach Tea Smash

7. Mini Chocolate Tarts with Fresh Fruit

Of all the dishes to try this 2026, dessert should never feel like an afterthought. These mini chocolate tarts ensure it never will. Rich, dark chocolate filling sits in a perfectly crisp shell, topped with fresh, seasonal fruit. It looks like it came from a patisserie. And it tastes even better than it looks. Individual portions are one of those small hosting decisions that make a disproportionately large impression. There’s something about a dessert made just for you that feels genuinely considered. Chocolate and fresh fruit is one of the most universally loved flavor combinations. That makes this a safest bet on the list. It’s the one most likely to leave people asking for seconds. In the final analysis, a meal is only as memorable as its last bite, and this one delivers.

Why You need to try Mini Chocolate Tarts with Fresh Fruit

Elevate the Party
Individual plated desserts signal intention and care — they elevate any dinner party or gathering immediately

Timeless Combination
The chocolate-and-fresh-fruit combination is timeless, universally loved, and works across every season with whatever fruit is ripe

Elegant Dessert
These can be made ahead and refrigerated, making them one of the most stress-free elegant desserts in your repertoire.

Pastry Fundamentals.
They teach you pastry fundamentals — a tart shell, a ganache — that carry across dozens of other dessert recipes

Mini Chocolate Tarts with Fresh Fruit

More Hosting Tips You’ll Love

Keep on reading these articles for more hosting tips.

BOARD

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The Subtle Hosting Choices — If you love hosting but value ease as much as elegance, this is the kind of board—The Perfect Caviar Board—that carries the evening beautifully.

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Host an Intimate Dinner Party — The Palm Beach Royale finale party was one of those rare events where every detail aligned perfectly—the setting, the fashion, the energy, and the kind of celebration worth savoring.

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A Palm Beach Royale–Inspired Brunch

Hosting done with Intention is an Art Form — Brunch at The Colony Palm Beach is one of those rare experiences where the setting, food, and company all align into something memorable.

Cooking With Intention in 2026

This year is about choosing recipes that feel meaningful, not overwhelming. A few elevated starters, comforting mains, one great drink, and a dessert that feels special is all it takes. These seven dishes to try this 2026 capture how I approach food—intentionally, generously, and always with connection in mind.

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