10 Valentine’s Day Recipes to Share With Loved Ones

Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating the many different kinds of love in our lives between romantic partners, family members, or friends. There’s no better way to do that than connecting over delicious food. Whether you are preparing a date night dish to impress, a festive drink for dinner with friends, or a rich dessert to satisfy your cravings, a dish and drink is a great way to show how much you care. Fall in love with these 10 recipes that are sure to help you with a luxurious dessert like chocolate peanut butter freezer pie, or an effervescent mocktail made with Sweet’s Elderberry Shrub.

Grilled Dry Aged Porterhouse with Bearnaise

Scoundrel chef Joe Cash in Greenville, South Carolina, shares this grilled porterhouse recipe that makes a great date night dish. The buttery, silky béarnaise sauce melts into the steak, and the tarragon reduction in the béarnaise adds a creaminess to each bite. This dish comes together easily for date night, as the tarragon reduction is prepared the day before, and the béarnaise sauce is the final touch prepared while the steak is resting. 

Chocolate Strawberry Dutch Baby

Chocolate and strawberries are the quintessential Valentine’s Day dessert combination, and this chocolate Dutch baby dessert from Phillip Ashley Rix’s cookbook For the Love of Chocolate is sure to impress. The rich chocolate batter puffs up as it bakes, creating a light, airy pancake that is topped with sliced strawberries and confectioner’s sugar. This dessert is served out of the cast-iron skillet it bakes in, making post-dessert clean up a tidy affair.

Linguine with White Clam Sauce

Pasta is a great choice for a romantic dinner, and this linguine with white clam sauce, created by Allora chef Ryan Jones in South Carolina, will not disappoint. The clams are cooked in olive oil and white wine, then finished with cold butter and reserved pasta water to create a creamy, emulsified sauce. After tossing the linguine to coat with the sauce, finish the dish with chopped parsley, lemon juice, and grated parmesan, which brings a bright acidity to the dish. 

Garibaldi

Charleston’s babas shared their take on the Garibaldi from their aperitivo hour menu. With fresh orange juice, Select Aperitivo, orange bitters, and a few drops of saline solution, this cocktail is bright, acidic, and bittersweet. To balance out the acidity and to experiment with the flavor notes of the drink, babas recommends adding mint, cocoa bitters, or strawberry hydrosol, making this drink endlessly customizable to suit any occasion or preference.

Black-Eyed Pea Cassoulet with Duck Confit

In this recipe, chef EJ Miller of Chardon in Houston combines andouille sausage and black-eyed peas, giving this classic French cassoulet a Gulf Coast twist. The sausage adds a smoky heat to the dish, and the starch from the black-eyed peas thickens the sauce. Serve the cassoulet topped with crispy duck leg quarters and crusty bread or cornbread.

Salted Caramel Pots de Malted Crème

Chef Whitney Otawka of the Greyfield Inn in Georgia shared this recipe for pots de crème, a custard dessert similar to a crème brûlée but without the crunchy sugar topping. Instead, this dessert is topped with a spoonful of malted cream, which cuts through the richness of the custard with an airy texture. This dish is lightly sweet, filled with toasty flavors from the malted milk powder. The custard is rich and creamy, with notes of caramel, chocolate, and vanilla. The individual servings for these pots de crème are ideal for sharing.

Strawberry Mint Shrub Cocktail

Combining the botanical notes of Wonderbird gin with a sweet and herbaceous strawberry mint shrub, this strawberry mint shrub cocktail is tart and refreshing. The strawberry mint shrub is prepared at least a few hours in advance and can be kept in the fridge for up to a month, making this a cocktail you will keep returning to. Garnish with a pickled strawberry to tie in the tangy sweetness of the shrub and gin, and this cocktail is a delicious addition to your Valentine’s Day dinner menu.

Burrata Ravioli with Wild Mushrooms and Asparagus Confetti

This pasta dish from Atlanta chef Mike Blydenstein combines burrata, ricotta, and sundried tomatoes to make a creamy and tangy ravioli filling. Make your own pasta dough or use store-bought wonton wrappers for the ravioli. The sauce for this dish is packed with mushrooms, asparagus, thyme, and tomatoes, creating a rich, umami flavor that pairs well with the ravioli filling. Finish things off with grated Parmesan cheese for a mouthwatering dish. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Freezer Pie

This chocolate peanut butter freezer pie by chef Mathew Swezey of the Black Radish Bar and Restaurant in Florida is sure to satisfy your Valentine’s Day chocolate cravings. With a rich peanut butter filling reminiscent of a Reese’s peanut butter cup, a graham cracker crust with a hint of chocolate, and a smooth chocolate ganache topping, this pie is pure comfort food. It requires two overnight freezes to set the peanut butter filling and the ganache, so make this ahead of time and leave it in the freezer while you round out the rest of your dinner menu. 

Sweet’s Elderberry Mocktail

For a non-alcoholic drink to bring to date night or to dinner with friends, this mocktail checks all of the boxes. The star of the show is Sweet’s Elderberry Shrub, which supports the immune system and digestive health while bringing a festive red color and tart flavor to the mocktail. Packed with effervescent bubbles from the sparkling water and tart sweetness from the white grape juice and lemon juice, this mocktail is vibrant and refreshing.

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