Make Our Most Popular Recipes!

You loved them in 2020, now enjoy these recipes again in 2021! 

While we are all pretty darn tired of COVID-19 and the changes it brought into our lives, one of the things we can celebrate is some of the great home–prepared recipes we discovered. I went from 70% dining out or grabbing meals on the way home to almost everything at home, developing new favorites along the way. I even made ricotta one rainy Sunday. 

Here are our top recipes of 2020 in no particular order. . .

(Not surprising, but comfort foods ruled the day!) 

Better-For-You Favorites

Two of the top recipes were from our friend and colleague and TV Food fame, Ellie Krieger, RDN, originally published in her cookbook Whole In One.  Ellie took typically rich dishes and lightened them up.  Fun fact: they are also plant based and super easy to make.  The Mushroom Stroganoff soup has become a family favorite paired with a crunchy salad, and the Broccoli Cheddar Skillet Strata is perfect for Sunday brunch. 

Easy Family Meals

Many families were faced with assisting their children with remote learning and learning new technology themselves. There simply was not more time in the day to prepare a full meal every night. And families wanted variety that they were missing from eating out.  Here are the top family-friendly recipes that our followers chose…all super-fast and extremely tasty! Creamy One-Pot Spaghetti has Instant Pot directions but can be made on the stove; plant-based Pasta in a Pinch uses the microwave to be ready in 20 minutes . . . start to finish! And you can escape to sunny Morocco in only 20 minutes with Creamy Couscous with Broccoli, Tomatoes and Cheese, a delicious dish that can be served as an accompaniment to any kind of protein, or a complete meal.  

Snack Attack

We also saw kid’s favorites reach the top ten. These recipes, both featuring peanut butter and nutritious yogurt, can be made by kids for a “between Zoom classes” easy snack. And both combine with fruit for that extra nutrition to keep them going through yet another Google Classroom. Try cooling off with Frozen Banana Pops or serve fresh fruit or graham crackers with Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip. Ingredients for both recipes just may be in the ‘to-go’ school meals you pick up or the kids bring home for remote learning days.  

Sweet Endings

And to round it out, we cannot forget the top desserts. Super easy–to–make Gingerbread Cupcakes with Whipped Vanilla Buttercream frosting are the flavor of fall just melting in your mouth, while Cranberry-Orange Bread Pudding lets you spend time in the kitchen creating a scrumptious new twist on a historical dish developed to use stale bread! And what better gift for the holidays than Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies. Mark these as a favorite for next year or put a touch of red in the cheesecake batter for a heartfelt Valentine’s Day treat! 

I hope you try one of these again this year. Cannot wait to see what the 2021 faves will be!