Make date night dinner at home extra special with these easy, yet elegant restaurant-quality recipes! With everything from chicken and poultry to beef, seafood, vegetarian and vegan main courses, and even romantic desserts, there's something here for everyone.
As fun as it is to get dressed up and go out for a romantic meal on Valentine's Day (or any date night), staying at home can also be special. And you can still get dressed up even if you're staying in!
Surprise your sweetheart with a beautiful home-cooked meal, or put on some music, open a bottle of wine, and whip up dinner together. And of course, don't forget a decadent dessert.
Here are over 35 romantic dinner recipes to inspire you. This collection includes:
- Simplified classic French recipes like Coq au Vin
- Favorite restaurant meals - such as Cheesecake Factory's Chicken Madeira - that are a breeze to make at home
- Date night chicken recipes that come together in just minutes
- Romantic steak dinner ideas
- Easy seafood recipes to keep dinner on the lighter side
- Tons of vegan and vegetarian main dishes to choose from, including a date night staple: cheese fondue!
And don't forget dessert! With everything from classic Crème Brûlée to Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes, a jaw-dropping two-layer Nutella Cake, and an easy Oreo Mug Cake, you're sure to find something sweet for you and your sweetheart.
Restaurant-Quality Date Night Dinner Recipes
Here are tons of delicious ideas no matter what your favorite type of main course is: chicken, beef, seafood, or vegetarian/vegan!
Chicken and Poultry
We all know how versatile chicken is, but you might be surprised at how easy it is to transform this humble meat into a sophisticated meal. The best part is, even though these dishes are elegant and impressive, many of them are also quick and simple to whip up! And let's not forget affordable; if you're sticking to a budget, chicken is a good way to go.
For even more great chicken dinner ideas, check out this collection of boneless chicken thigh recipes!
Dutch Oven Coq au Vin Recipe (French Chicken in Red Wine)
This Dutch oven Coq au Vin recipe is true the to the classic; tender chicken and hearty vegetables cooked low and slow with layers of flavor in a rich, velvety red wine-based broth. It’s perfect for date night dinner and it takes just an hour to make from start-to-finish!
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Pan Seared Duck Breast with Cherry Sauce
This pan seared duck breast recipe with a quick and easy cherry pan sauce is a beautiful 30-minute main course that works equally well for a romantic date night dinner for two or scaled up for a family holiday meal.
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Chicken Madeira (Cheesecake Factory Copycat)
This Chicken Madeira recipe is a homemade take on Cheesecake Factory’s most popular chicken dish. It’s easy make at home and an explosion of flavor! Skip the reservations and whip this up for your significant other from the comfort of your own kitchen.
Marry Me Chicken Recipe
This Marry Me Chicken recipe features juicy pan-seared chicken in a rich savory sauce with garlic, sundried tomatoes, and fresh herbs. It takes less than 15 minutes to make this restaurant-quality meal, and it's naturally gluten free and keto!
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Apple and Brie Stuffed Chicken Breast
This apple brie stuffed chicken is decadent, elegant, and yet simple to make with minimal ingredients. It's a delightful combo of sweet and savory flavors!
Longhorn Parmesan Crusted Chicken
Make the iconic Longhorn Parmesan Crusted Chicken for your sweetie at home! This irresistible chicken dinner is easy enough for weeknights, yet impressive enough to make for company. And it's also a great romantic meal!
Chicken Piccata Pasta
Chicken Piccata Pasta is a light and zesty pasta dish! It features lemon juice, capers, and cream. It’s the perfect comfort food dish to enjoy anytime, and it makes a lovely romantic dinner at home.
Chicken Caprese Salad with Lemon and Thyme
This Chicken Caprese Recipe with Lemon and Thymetransforms a classic Caprese salad into a flavorful meal! It strikes the right balance between being satisfying but not overly heavy.
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Blackened Chicken Recipe
This tender, juicy, and flavor-packed blackened chicken recipe comes together in just 20 minutes for a weeknight dinner to get excited about.
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Beef
There's just something about a gorgeous steak cooked to perfection that says romance. You can keep it classic with a grilled ribeye, serve your steak topped with a punchy peppercorn whisky sauce, or spice up your meal with Mexican Arrachera. (Heads-up, cheddar and thyme butternut gratin is a beautiful side dish for just about any steak dinner!)
Grilled Ribeye Steak Dinner Recipe
Learn how to make a grilled ribeye steak dinner at home; with this easy method your steak will be perfectly browned and crisp outside, and tender and juicy inside every time!
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Steak Pizzaiola
Steak Pizzaiola is an incredibly flavorful Neopolitan dish featuring tender steak in a perfectly seasoned tomato sauce. Serve it up with pasta or fresh bread to sop up the sauce!
Easy Grilled Sirloin Steak with Peppercorn Whisky Sauce
Grilling up sirloin steak is so easy! It's all about that perfect outer sear giving way to a juicy, melt-in-your-mouth-tender inside. The whisky peppercorn sauce has a bold, piquant flavor that elevates the steak to a whole new level.
Instant Pot Beef Tips and Gravy Recipe
This Instant Pot beef tips and gravy recipe features tender pieces of beef with a flavorful savory gravy. It's homestyle dinner at its finest, but in a fraction of the time!
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Creamy Steak Pasta with Mushrooms and Whiskey Sauce
Creamy Steak Pasta is sure to be your new favorite pasta dish, especially if you want to spoil the special steak enthusiast in your life! This sophisticated, yet approachable meal showcases a blend of comfortingingredients: chunky pasta, succulent steak slices, and a creamy, punchy mushroom and whisky sauce.
Arrachera (Mexican Skirt Steak)
Arrachera is a flavor-packed Mexican skirt steak that's grilled to perfection and served in tacos or fajitas! It's also delicious made into a rice bowl or salad bowl on a bed of greens. It is known for its intense beef flavor and tender, juicy texture.
Seafood
There's something about seafood that says fancy dinner. It's one of those things that you think is going to be hard to make, but is actually so simple - and quick!
Pan Seared Cod with Tomato Garlic Sauce
This Pan Seared Cod with Tomato Garlic Sauce recipe pairs flaky mild-flavored cod fish with a flavor-packed sauce for a beautiful meal that comes together in just 30 minutes!
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Garlic Butter Salmon Recipe
This Garlic Butter Salmon recipe showcases flaky, tender salmon in a rich, buttery garlic sauce for an impressive meal that whips up in just 10 minutes! We pan-sear the salmon on the stovetop to give it a gorgeous golden color. And we only use one skillet so there’s minimal cleanup!
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Pan Seared Sea Bass
Pan Seared Sea Bass is a simple, healthy seafood recipe that combines chilean sea bass and a lemon butter sauce. This restaurant quality seafood meal is an excellent elegant choice for company or just a small party of two!
Blackened Sea Trout
Introducing the Best Blackened Sea Trout recipe you will ever make! It's made with simple ingredients, and is guaranteed to be a hit all around. Whether you're new to cooking fish or have been making it your entire life, this recipe is one of the best ways to prepare sea trout!
Yellowfin Tuna
This simple yellowfin tuna recipe is quick and easy to put together! The fish comes out deliciously juicy, tender, and hearty. This seafood dish is great for family dinners, holidays, special occasions, birthdays, and date-night dinners at home.
Air Fryer Salmon Recipe
Learn how to cook salmon in the air fryer the easy way! This recipe takes just 10 minutes and the salmon comes out perfect every time. It has a delicious flaky and tender interior, beautiful golden exterior, and the perfect spice blend. Pair it with steamed vegetables for a fast, healthy dinner!
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Vegan and Vegetarian
You're going to fall in love with these incredible vegetarian and vegan main courses! There's a gorgeous galette, romantic pasta recipes, gooey cheese fondue, and impressive vegan scallops. Also, a savory sweet potato-filled candy-shaped pasta - how sweet is that?!
If you want a delicious side dish for any of these pasta recipes, homemade garlic bread is it! (Because if you both have garlic breath, it doesn't really matter, right?!)
Caramelle with Sweet Potato Filling (Candy Shaped Pasta)
This handmade pasta dish is the perfect cozy and romantic meal. Handmade pasta is filled with sweet potato puree and served in a silky balsamic brown butter sauce that's meant to look like candy!
Smoked Gouda Fondue
Fondue is a classic recipe for Valentine's Day for a reason - it doesn't get much more romantic than two lovebirds dipping into the same pot of melted cheese! This Smoked Gouda Fondue boasts a deliciously smoky flavor that a you'll both love.
Vegan Scallops
These vegan scallops are made with all plant-based ingredients! This quick and easy recipe uses king oyster mushrooms, seared to perfection in a delicious savory pan sauce. It's healthy vegan seafood that'snaturally gluten-free, keto, paleo, and allergy-free. And the meaty texture of these perfectly marinated and cooked mushroom scallops will impress everyone on the guest list!
Red Lentil Bolognese
This Red Lentil Bolognese recipe is vegan-friendly and packed with flavor and nutrition! Toss it with pasta or zucchini noodles, or serve it on top of grilled chicken.
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Pappardelle Pesto with Vegetables
Pappardelle pesto pasta is quick and easy to whip up. Because of the thick pappardelle noodles and rich, flavor-packed pesto, you get a restaurant-quality meal at home in under 30 minutes.
Beet Galette with Goat Cheese
This healthy beet galette with goat cheese and orange mustard vinaigrette is a lovely vegetarian entrée. Whole grain olive oil crust filled with tangy goat cheese and sweet, earthy beets marinated in orange mustard vinaigrette make for a perfectly balanced and flavorful dish.
Vegan High Protein Mushroom Lentil Risotto
Make your sweetheart feel like they're at a fancy restaurant with this homemade-with-love meal. This mushroom lentil risotto is restaurant-quality, easy to make, and loaded with flavor - and nutrition!
Lemon Ricotta Pasta
Lemon Ricotta Pasta combines the zesty, bright flavor of freshly squeezed lemons with the creamy richness of ricotta cheese. The result is a dish that's both refreshing and comforting. We also add spinach and Parmesan cheese in with the pastaand finish it off with fresh parsley. Enjoy it as-is for a vegetarian main course, or use it as base for additional protein like white beans, chickpeas, shrimp, salmon, or chicken.
Romantic Desserts for Date Night Dinner
Decadent chocolate desserts are the obvious choice when it comes to the perfect ending for a romantic meal. Here there's something for everyone no matter what your skill level is, even if you only have a couple minutes to throw it together!
Keep it classic with Vanilla Crème Brûlée, make just two slices of indulgent Chocolate Cake, or whip up a batch of Red Velvet Cupcakes, complete with silky cream cheese frosting.
Nutella Cake Recipe with Nutella Frosting
Nutella lovers, this cake recipe is the stuff your decadent dreams are made of: rich chocolate hazelnut Nutella cake with creamy Nutella frosting and fudgy Nutella ganache, adorned with Ferraro Rocher candy. And it's easier to make than you might think; the cake batter whips up by hand, and the frosting takes just 5 minutes!
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Classic Vanilla Crème Brûlée for Two
Classic Vanilla Crème Brûlée for Two is the perfect sweet ending to any special meal you make at home, especially a romantic date-night dinner! This sinfully rich heavenly dessert is easy to whip up, and can be made well ahead of time.
Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes for Two with Vegan Fudgy Chocolate Frosting
This bakery-quality vegan chocolate cupcake recipe yields rich, moist cupcakes topped with fudgy cashew-based chocolate frosting to make them even more decadent. This recipe makes just two cupcakes (so it's perfect for date night or anytime a random chocolate craving strikes!), and you probably have everything on hand to make them.
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Chocolate Valentine’s Day Cake for Two (How to Make Just 2 Slices of Chocolate Layer Cake!)
Perfect for date night or Valentine’s Day dessert, this luscious Chocolate Valentine’s Day Cake for Two uses one layer of rich, moist chocolate cake that's cut into four pieces and stacked with silky-smooth chocolate buttercream to make two decadent bakery-quality slices of cake.
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Bittersweet Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes
Who doesn't love a gooey, decadent molten chocolate lava cake? These step-by-step instructions make it easy for anyone to enjoy perfect results every time!
2 Ingredient Oreo Mug Cake
Inspired by the two-ingredient Oreo mug cake recipe on TikTok, this decadent treat couldn't be easier to make! If you're in the mood for something rich, decadent, and chocolaty to satisfy your sweet tooth, look no further! It's perfect for Valentine's Day dessert for you and your sweetie - if you want to share!
Easy Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting
This decadent red velvet cupcakes recipe with cream cheese frosting features rich, moist, and flavorful cake with a tangy, fluffy frosting. This recipe whips up in less than an hour and is the perfect treat for Valentine’s Day, date night, or anytime!
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