Sunday Dinner Alternatives to Roasts – Stroganoff to Braised Pork
Our top Sunday dinner alternatives to roasts include the best beef Stroganoff you’ll ever make instead of roast beef, a rich and spicy chicken curry instead of roast chicken, braised pork belly with star anise, black pepper, ginger and peanuts in lieu of roast pork, and a salmon tray bake just because. All make memorable meals for sharing style dinners for families, a group of friends, or dinner for two with leftovers.
When I was a child growing up in Sydney, we sometimes went to my Australian grandparents for Sunday dinner, which meant a roast dinner and baked veggies no matter what the weather. Many Aussie families maintain the tradition. While I love a good roast as much as the next person, I’ve pulled together a compilation of Sunday dinner alternatives to roasts if you’re a traditionalist looking for something different to cook tonight, if you’re not cooking Father’s Day dinner for dad.
The collection includes everything from a salmon tray bake and chicken curry to a pork stew and beef Stroganoff. And I know I’ve shared my beef Stroganoff in other compilations before, but it’s long been one of our most popular recipes, and millions of readers can’t be wrong. You’ll find lots of vegetable sides recipes here and our best potato recipes here, from the creamiest potato mash to some of my favourite potato salads.
And we’ve got more Sunday night dinner ideas for comfort food dishes, Sunday dinner chicken recipes if Sunday dinner means a chicken dinner, Sunday dinner ideas for takeout recipes to cook in tonight, Sunday dinner ideas starting with soup, bread and wine, food for the soul for challenging times, curry recipes if Sunday night is curry night, and Sunday dinner ideas for families.
Before I tell you more about my Sunday dinner alternatives to roasts, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader supported. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo by supporting our epic Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon; buying a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever; booking a cooking class or meal with locals on EatWith; or by buying something on Amazon, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellers, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, or gifts for Asian food lovers and picnic lovers.
If you don’t find cooking inspiration in this round-up, do browse our recipe archives, which is brimming with 15 years of recipes we’ve cooked, created and collected around the world, from places we’ve lived, worked, travelled, and loved. Now let me tell you all about my Sunday dinner alternatives to roasts for you to cook tonight.
Sunday Dinner Alternatives to Roasts from Beef Stroganoff and Chicken Curry to Braised Pork
Our Sunday dinner alternatives to roasts, from beef Stroganoff to braised pork.
Beef Stroganoff as an Alternative to Roast Beef
One of my best Stroganoff recipes, my beef Stroganoff is one of the best Sunday dinner alternatives to roasts and to roast beef in particular that you can cook tonight, and chicken Stroganoff is another terrific alternative to a roast chicken, and we also have a mushroom Stroganoff for vegetarians.
What I love about this beef Stroganoff recipe is that while it makes a dish that looks and tastes like a rich slow-cooked stew, the dish actually doesn’t take all that long to make at all. And I don’t know about you, but I love making family recipes for dinner on Sunday as I channel my family while I cook and recall Sunday dinners when the family gathered around my grandparents’ dining table.
This classic garden salad is a great companion to the Stroganoff. If you’re cooking for family, you could start with bowls of my baboushka’s borscht or do some traditional Russian cabbage rolls. Everybody seems to be cooking cabbage recipes right now. For dessert, we have pancake recipes.
Authentic Russian Beef Stroganoff Recipe for a Retro Classic from a Saint Petersburg Palace Kitchen
Alternatively, instead of a roast chicken, why not make my rich and spicy chicken Stroganoff for Sunday dinner? Inspired by the old Shanghai-style of Stroganoff, it’s incredibly rich, redolent of spices, and slightly tangy due to the addition of Worcestershire sauce, which was added to beef Stroganoff in the Russian restaurants in Shanghai and Harbin in China in the early 20th century. Then there’s my creamy mushroom Stroganoff…
Chicken Stroganoff Recipe for a Rich, Spicy, Tangy Old Shanghai Style Stroganoff
Chicken Curry Instead of Roast Chicken
A big batch of a rich and complex chicken curry is one of the best Sunday dinner alternatives to roasts and to a roast chicken in particular. We have so many fantastic chicken curry recipes in our archives, but this Cape Malay chicken curry recipe makes one of our favourites.
This richly spiced curry from Cape Town, South Africa, is eaten with aromatic Cape Malay yellow rice, buttery roti, and simple tomato, onion and cucumber sambal. It’s an incredibly delicious curry that you’ll be sorry to finish. Our advice: make double the amount, as it tastes even better as leftovers the next day.
This wonderful Cape Malay chicken curry recipe makes a richly spiced tomato-based curry from South Africa, inspired by the aromatic chicken curry we learnt to make in a Cape Malay cooking class in colourful Bo-Kaap, the heart of Cape Malay culture in Cape Town.
Cape Malay Chicken Curry Recipe for a Richly Spiced Curry from Cape Town, South Africa
Braised Pork as an Alternative to Pork Roast
This braised pork belly recipe with ginger, black pepper, palm sugar, star anise, and peanuts is one of the best Sunday dinner alternatives to roasts and to a pork roast.
It makes a comforting Cambodian slow-cooked pork belly dish that Cambodians would simply call a pork stew or khor sach chrouk – also spelt kaw sach chrouk. The palm sugar caramelises the pork and combined with ginger gives it a sweet fragrance, while the peanuts add crunch.
‘Stew’ in Khmer is ‘khor’ or ‘kaw’ and ‘sach chrouk’ means pork meat. A literal translation might be khor sach chrouk knhei mrech skor thnot sondek dei, which explains why it’s just called a Cambodian pork stew.
Whatever you want to call this braised pork recipe, it makes an incredibly delicious dish and it’s not only one of our favourite pork belly recipes, it’s one of our favourite pork recipes. Like our other Asian braised pork dish recipes, it’s a dish that is best enjoyed with stir-fried Asian greens or morning glory and steamed rice.
Braised Pork Belly Recipe with Ginger, Black Pepper, Palm Sugar, Star Anise and Peanuts
Easy Salmon Tray Bake with Vegetables Just Because
If you’re looking for easy fish recipes or salmon recipes for Sunday dinner tonight, try my salmon tray bake recipe for crispy skinned salmon fillets baked so that the skin crackles but the flesh remains moist, with roasted vegetables that are just-done so that they’re still fresh and crunchy.
Sprinkled with spring onions and fresh fragrant dill and served with lemon slices, it makes the lightest of roasts, perfect for a summery Sunday dinner. If it’s winter where you are, try Terence’s crispy skin salmon fillet with colcannon with prawns or creamy mashed potatoes instead, another of our best salmon recipes.
If you’re a salmon lover, you’ll also love these recipes for Cambodian salmon ‘ceviche’, smoked salmon ‘carpaccio’, fish soup with salmon, Russian salmon potato salad, smoked salmon pasta with capers and dill pickles, and Vietnamese caramelised salmon.
Easy Salmon Tray Bake Recipe for Crispy Skinned Salmon with Spring Vegetables
Please do let us know if you make any of our recipes for Sunday dinner alternatives to roasts in the comments below as we’d love to get your feedback and hear how our recipes turned out for you.
A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.
