Working AI-generated recipes aren’t going to be in your kitchen right away. Luckily, Eater’s team of editors, who are also people who need to think about what to make for dinner most nights, tested thousands of recipes online and in print to decide on their favorites. Here are some of my favorite recipes from 2023.
What was the best recipe you made this year?
Grateful pizza focaccia: Everyone says focaccia is “so easy” and “you can’t mess it up,” but I still end up eating so many mediocre focaccias that I’m irredeemably a bad baker. It solidified the image in my mind. I was disappointed, so I decided to try some new things this year. I switched from active dry to instant yeast. After watching a lot, caroline andersonI tried making a focaccia recipe based on a cooking video on TikTok. Then I tried combining the two. She makes focaccia almost every other week these days, praising each version as “the best focaccia ever.” No matter how much you mess around with it, such as omitting the overnight fermentation, accidentally adding yeast at the beginning, or adding toppings like caramelized onions or kimchi and scallions, you’ll still end up with a crispy bottom and fluffy inside. . . — Bettina Macalintal, Senior Reporter
This must be Romy Gill’s sweet and sour tofu. Zaika. I make tofu often and have made many delicious tofu recipes this year (thanks to the unerring genius of Hetty Louis McKinnon). But this is my favorite for several reasons. The first is a super flavorful and super easy recipe. Just marinate tofu in a simple sauce made with ketchup, honey, cornstarch, soy sauce, fresh ginger and garlic, and a few spices. Fry the tofu for a few minutes. And voila! Second, I made this for the first time when I visited my dear friend Louise in Scotland in October. We hadn’t seen each other in nearly 10 years, but being able to cook together was one of the best things about my year. Therefore, this recipe will always carry its memory with me as much as it conveys its enchanting flavor. —Rebecca Flint Marx, Home Editor
I’m not a good cook, but I like to bake bread from time to time. The most memorable thing for me this year was the sprinkle cake I made for my 1st birthday party. This Molly Ye recipe.I didn’t go out of my way to buy a fake vanilla, but the result was — I also decorated it with furikake. —Nevertheless, it was the platonic ideal of a homemade birthday cake that was nostalgic and delicious. — Monica Barton, Associate Editor
This year, I’ve made it my mission to cook with more actual recipes rather than my usual random, improvised “just bake whatever’s in the fridge” style. The most memorable of these is Smitten Kitchen. butter onion chicken rice. This deceptively simple dish is loaded with onions, hearty, and can be reheated over and over again, making it a magical one-pot dish. Tasty enough to eat with friends, yet easy enough to feed the family on a Tuesday. Deb Perelman strikes again. — Leslie Suter, Special Projects Editor
I spent most of the summer making Nasim Lahbichi’s herb-packed no-mayo potato salad recipe. It was bright, punchy, painted in olive oil, and infinitely malleable. No cucumbers? Add pickles. Don’t you need dill? Please exchange it for mint. However, never leave out the essential ingredient: preserved lemons. — Amy McCarthy, Staff Writer
Lately, I’ve been slowly working as a baker. brave tart, a wonderfully challenging cookbook of classic American desserts by Stella Parks. In honor of my mother’s previous birthday, an infamous incident in our family where Hostess Cupcakes replaced a birthday cake during a family vacation, we will be making as much homemade as possible for my mother’s celebration in 2023. I cobbled together a version of cupcakes. It’s a snafu with a hardened filling, but I opted for a simpler cream cheese icing and focused on the swirly piping technique. The only other additions were a few birthday candles. — Nicolas Mancall Bittel, Senior Editor
of cabbage carbonara style From Hetty Louis McKinnon tender heart. I’ve been reading this cookbook for a long time and every recipe has been a big hit, but this one was truly perfect. One ball of cabbage was completely transformed into a sweet, meaty pasta garnish, and her instructions resulted in one of the few times I’ve managed to make a silky carbonara sauce. — Correspondent Jaya Saxena
Look, I’m obviously going to pick something next. eater cookbook, came out this year. One of the dishes I keep coming back to is actually part of a larger recipe. Zoe Komarin’s curry-dusted roasted broccoli, beet and orange salad. On its own, it’s a visually appealing and flavorful side dish. Also, if you’re like me and have a toddler and time in the kitchen is at a premium, so you choose to buy pre-cut florets, it’s super easy. (You can find it on page 53.) Honorable Mention: Max Boontanakit’s Chick Chilli Crisp Bolognese eater cookbook (126 pages), Ali Slagle’s Harissa Chickpeas and Feta dream of dinner, This Alison Roman’s One Pot Chicken I made this when I couldn’t attend a family meal due to my toddler’s illness and had to make some last minute plans. — Hilary Dixler Canavan, Restaurant Editor