Cold-weather cooking: Our three most popular recipes for warming dishes

Whenever we hear there's a cold front coming, the Sunday Times Lifestyle team's WhatsApp group comes alive as we eagerly start discussing what sort of soups, stews and curries we're planning on cooking.

To provide inspiration for like-minded foodies, we decided to look up which of the recipes on our website had been the most popular over the past year.

Here are the top three that best fit the “cold weather comfort food” bill:

PIZZA CHICKEN TRAY BAKE

Topping the list is a low-carb pizza chicken tray bake (pictured above). Though it's a fairly recent addition to our recipe archives, we weren't surprised that this dish was a hit with our readers.

Low-carb dishes continue to be a popular choice thanks to Banting and Keto enthusiasts, while trendy tray bakes are a real win for time-pressed cooks: you simply load all the ingredients onto a tray and bake them in the oven — what could be easier?

This family-friendly recipe ditches that doughy pizza base in favour of chicken pieces, which are layered with an array of toppings including melty mozzarella cheese.

Click here for the recipe.

CREAMY MUSSEL SOUP

“This wonderful recipe comes from Lannice Snyman and Anne Klarie's Fine Dining in SA (with a few tweaks)," says Food editor Hilary Biller.

 “Add a French baguette to dunk, a glass of white wine and you have a feast.”

Click here for the recipe.

BOEREWORS, POTATO AND TOMATO STEW

It seems boerie isn't just a favourite on the braai.

This recipe for a hearty boerewors, potato and tomato stew has been perennially popular with our readers since it was first published in print in 2015.

It was created by butcher Phinah Mashego who was finalist in the Shoprite Checkers Boerewors Championships that year. 

This dish is fairly speedy for a stew — it takes just an hour to make from start to finish — and is budget-friendly to boot. What's not to love?

Click here for the recipe.