Dinner

Here’s what’s for dinner tonight! Inspired, easy and delicious dinner recipes from the Arizona-Mexico borderlands written and photographed by the Taste of Tucson and Yellowstone Cookbook author, Jackie Alpers. 

Sonoran-Style Carbonara with Mushrooms

Sonoran-Style Carbonara with Mushrooms

Witchy carbonara made with black pasta, purple basil, and exotic mushrooms inspired the by the modern gothic visuals in Tim Burton’s television show, Wednesday.

Spicy Cowboy Mac and Cheese

Spicy Cowboy Mac and Cheese

Spicy cowboy-style “gun barrel” mac & cheese recipe made with barrel-shaped penne pasta baked with blue cheese, Parmesan, gruyere, Irish Cheddar and cayenne chile – for a flavor explosion that will knock you off your feet.

How To Roast A Goose

How To Roast A Goose

Recipe for how to defrost and roast a whole goose, and shred the meat for tacos or sandwiches with step-by-step instructions.

Salsa Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Salsa Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Chicken slow-simmered in salsa, then shredded for serving in as a filling for tacos, tostadas, enchiladas, and is keto when served in lettuce cups. 

Chicken Fried Steak Recipe: Yellowstone 6666 Ranch Style

Chicken Fried Steak Recipe: Yellowstone 6666 Ranch Style

How to make the perfect chicken fried steak dinner – includes recipe links to my smoky mashed potatoes, sausage gravy, and garlic butter green beans. Fun fact!: The vintage plate shown in this photograph matches the one from Yellowstone that this meal was served to “Jimmy” on at the 6666 Ranch in Texas.

Cara Dutton’s Pot Roast Braised in Irish Stout Beer

Cara Dutton’s Pot Roast Braised in Irish Stout Beer

Pot roast with carrots and potatoes braised in Irish Stout beer is similar to recipes brought to the American West by Irish settlers. Inspired by the Yellowstone 1923 TV series. Use as the base for Cara Dutton’s Irish Pasties recipe.

Topopo Salad Recipe: Tucson’s Famous Regional Salad

Topopo Salad Recipe: Tucson’s Famous Regional Salad

The Topopo salad is Tucson, Arizona’s most unique regional salad. It’s is a visually stunning volcano of chopped lettuce and mixed vegetables piled high on a bean tostada. This monumental salad was first inspired by a volcano in Sonora, Mexico.

Grilled Octopus Recipe Inspired by Yellowstone

Grilled Octopus Recipe Inspired by Yellowstone

Recipe for Mediterranean diet grilled octopus served with scallions, romaine and fresh tomatoes in a light citrus vinaigrette from The Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook by Jackie Alpers.

Cara Dutton’s Butte Pasties

Cara Dutton’s Butte Pasties

Traditionally made with leftover Sunday pot roast, Butte pasties are a beloved Montana via Ireland tradition to this day. 

Authentic Sonoran Hot Dog Recipe from El Guero Canelo

Authentic Sonoran Hot Dog Recipe from El Guero Canelo

Authentic Sonoran Hot Dogs recipe from El Guero Canelo Restaurant, winner of the James Beard American Classic award. This recipe was featured in Taste of Tucson: Sonoran-Style recipes inspired by the rich culture of Southern Arizona.

Sonoran Carne Asada Quesadillas

Sonoran Carne Asada Quesadillas

Sonoran carne asada, scallions, cheese and crunchy tortilla chips stuffed in quesadillas and re-grilled for more crunch. Many years ago, Ben Galaz owner of BK Tacos taught me how to make Sonoran carne and cebollas asada.

Old West Style Vegan Chili Recipe

Old West Style Vegan Chili Recipe

Old West style spicy vegan chili recipe made with plant-based meat, black beans and mushrooms. Served with vegan shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.

One Pot Arroz Con Pollo: Sonoran Style

One Pot Arroz Con Pollo: Sonoran Style

Arroz con pollo is one of the recipes most requested by locals from my Taste of Tucson cookbook and I’ve always found chicken and rice to be a comforting combo. This is a great make ahead recipe for workday lunches. At first glance El Pato salsa de chile fresco may look like pureed tomato sauce, but it’s got a medium spicy kick of heat that will convince you otherwise.

BLT Lettuce Wraps | The Perfect Summer Meal

BLT Lettuce Wraps | The Perfect Summer Meal

Tomatoes are at their best, and something about the heat and humidity of the Arizona monsoon season makes me almost totally inert and immobile. This is about all I can muster dinner-wise, so I’m lucky that it’s fairly healthy… It turns out that mayo and bacon are better for us than expected, and my versions is also low-carb.

Beef Patty Tacos Recipe

Beef Patty Tacos Recipe

Teresa Matias told me that to help satisfy her children’s cries for burgers when buns weren’t handy, she would fold a hamburger patty into a tortilla and fry it. Topped with cheese, lettuce, and tomato, it later became a regular menu item at her restaurant, Teresa’s Mosaic Cafe. Apparently, a lot of moms had the same experience, because the beef patty taco has been standard restaurant fare around southern Arizona since at least the mid-1970s.

Chicken Molé Amarillo

Chicken Molé Amarillo

Nuttier and less sweet than its chocolate based cousin, this version of Molé Amarillo is the personal creation of Chef Suzana Davila of Tucson’s Cafe Poca Cosa. She specializes in these complex sauces, and her recipes are longtime local favorites which is one reason why I wanted to feature the recipe in my upcoming cookbook Taste of Tucson: Sonoran Style Recipes Inspired by the Rich Culture of Southern Arizona. Serve this dish with tortillas and a pretty, salad, as Suzana would. 

How to Grill The Perfect Cowboy Steak

How to Grill The Perfect Cowboy Steak

Making authentic cowboy steaks is really easy. When I asked Bryan Keith, the Grill Master from Pinnacle Peak Steak House if he had any additional tips he said, “Put some love in it!”

Sonoran Marinated Flank Steak

Sonoran Marinated Flank Steak

I marinated myself a flank steak using my mom’s recipe from the 80s, adding in some Mexican oregano and extra citrus to #sonoranize it a bit so now it’s an Ohio meets Tucson recipe.

Sonoran Street Corn Hot Dogs (Elote Hot Dogs)

Sonoran Street Corn Hot Dogs (Elote Hot Dogs)

I’m pretty sure I invented the Elote Dog when I first developed this recipe for The Food Network in 2018. Since then Elote Hot Dogs, inspired by Sonoran-Mexican Street Corn have become a sensation with hot dog enthusiasts all over the word coming up with their own version. Here’s my recipe for hot dogs topped with elote, mayo, lime and spices and served in a bolillo roll.

Masa Crust Pizza Recipe Featuring the Three Sisters

Masa Crust Pizza Recipe Featuring the Three Sisters

Corn, beans and squash are three of the earliest domesticated crops grown by Native Americans in the Sonoran region. For this recipe, prepared corn masa, which is usually used to make tortillas or gorditas, is pressed into a cast iron skillet for the crust. If you’ve never tried tepary beans, this recipe is an excellent way to experiment with them, but you can substitute black beans instead if you want.

Grilled Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Parmesan

Grilled Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Parmesan

This is a healthy and extremely flavorful way to dress up boneless skinless chicken breasts. Adding just a small amount of butter on top, and using grated parmesan for a garnish, keeps the fat and calories down.

Johnny Marzetti Three Ways

Johnny Marzetti Three Ways

Three Johnny Marzetti recipes, including the original recipe for the pasta dish, low carb, and Paleo versions.

Cincinnati Turkey Chili (4-Way)

Cincinnati Turkey Chili (4-Way)

Cincinnati chili does not exist in Arizona, except for in a suspicious canned variety, so I went on quest and figured out how to cook it up myself.

Thin Crust Pizza with Premade Dough

Thin Crust Pizza with Premade Dough

How to make a thin crust pizza at home using a non-stick 16″pizza tray with holes with a my step-by-step procedure for getting the dough almost paper thin. Video included. The pizza toppings are written in the ingredients section of the recipe below.

Classic Caesar Salad Recipes

Classic Caesar Salad Recipes

This is a story about choices, creativity, personal power, and a salad. Specifically, the Caesar salad from the 1967 Joy of Cooking.

Order Jackie's Cookbooks

Screenshot
The Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook Cover
cover of The Unofficial Elf Cookbook by Jackie Alpers. Treat every day like Christmas with recipes inspired by the classic film "Elf".
The Unofficial Elf Cookbook by Jackie Alpers
Food photography by Alpers of loaded hot dogs is an American Photography 41 winner.
Jackie Alpers 2025 World Food Photography Awards for Food Influencer and Food in the Field
Tucson City of Gastronomy designation for Taste of Tucson cookbook