Food52 Favorites
Our 52 Most Popular Recipes of All Time
Out of 80,000 recipes, these are our 52 greatest hits.
This year we're celebrating our community with a week's worth of your favorite recipes, products (many of which, hint hint, are on sale right now), and a few “52”-inspired collections. Since recipes are at the center of everything we do, it feels appropriate to kick off the festivities with an assortment of our greatest, most-celebrated recipes of all time. Out of the over 80,000 recipes that have been created on our site, here are the 52 best, ranked by popularity.
52. Martha Stewart's Macaroni & Cheese
Part of our Genius recipe series, Martha’s version of mac and cheese is quick to make (only an hour), big on flavor (nutmeg and cayenne give it depth), and always a hit (who doesn’t love mac and cheese?). It serves up to 12, meaning it’s ideal for any holiday, party, or potluck.
51. No-Knead Sourdough Bread
This loaf swaps commercial yeast for sourdough starter and ditches kneading altogether—but it doesn’t skimp on the ingredients or techniques necessary for perfect homemade bread. It’s important to note that this recipe will take at least 15 hours, so remember to plan ahead.
50. Creamy Chicken Curry
According to the recipe developer, this curry costs just $10 to make and can feed up to four people. As if that isn’t already appealing enough, the comments reveal that 150 people confirm that this dish is delicious.
49. Homemade Kewpie Mayonnaise
Kewpie—alongside Hellman’s and Duke’s—make up the pantheon of Great Mayos. If you’ve yet to try Kewpie and you can’t find it in your local grocery store, allow this recipe to introduce you to the wonderful world of umami-enriched mayonnaise.
48. Ina Garten's Pasta alla Vecchia Bettola
Think vodka sauce, but with a deeper, more roasted flavor. (And everyone loves vodka sauce.)
47. Pierre Hermé & Dorie Greenspan's World Peace Cookies
Community member JustMegan puts it best: “These are truly the perfect chocolate cookies. Intensely chocolatey, but not too sweet or rich. Just a hint of salt in the dough and delightfully crumbly and tender in texture.”
46. Ina Garten's Cauliflower Toasts
This is a reminder that roasted cauliflower, Gruyère, and prosciutto belong together on your next piece of toast.
45. Richard Sax’s Chocolate Cloud Cake
This chocolate treat from Richard Sax is all about texture. According to Sax, the cake’s craggy, crisp rim, soft, mousse-like interior, and whipped cream topping, pack “intensity, then relief, in each bite.”
44. Ina Garten’s Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli
It should be a surprise to no one that this cheesy classic from Ina Garten is our most popular broccoli recipe of all time.
43. Rao's Meatballs
From one of New York City’s most celebrated restaurants comes a time-tested meatball recipe that cooks in under an hour. Serve with Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce (see #4 on this list!).
42. Miso-Mushroom Pasta
This pasta further confirms that whenever miso and mushroom get together in the same dish, good things—and lots of umami—happen.
41. Olive Oil & Maple Granola From Nekisia Davis
Homemade granola blows the pre-made, store-bought, cardboard-tasting stuff out of the water. Plus, if you grab your ingredients from the bulk bins at the grocery store, the DIY version will likely save you a few bucks as well.
40. Snoop Dogg's Potato Chip Fried Chicken Wings
While Snoop’s wings are crunchy, crispy, juicy, and just really, really good, the best thing about them is that they allow for limitless potato chip experimentation. Big fan of jalapeño chips? Give those a try. Think sour cream and onion would play? Go ahead, find out about it.
39. Table Loaf
If you’re looking for bread you could eat everyday, this loaf is for you. And if you want to remember how committed many of us were to becoming bakers during the pandemic, go back and read the comments on this recipe from 2020—there’s a ton of them.
38. Chocolate Dump-It Cake
This recipe comes from Judy Hesser (the mother of Food52 co-founder Amanda Hesser), and it absolutely rules. Chocolatey and delicious whether served hot or cold, it’s a cake that anyone will enjoy, anytime, anywhere.
37. Jamie Oliver’s Crispy Chicken Legs With Sweet Tomatoes & Basil
Jamie Oliver describes this easy one-pan recipe as “un-stumpable,” and that’s exactly what we’re looking for in a weeknight meal. Even better, most of the ingredients are kitchen staples like cherry tomatoes, basil, and garlic, so you’ll clear out your pantry while avoiding an unnecessary trip to the store.
36. Mama's Cranberry Salad
File this away for Thanksgiving because while the canned stuff is good, this is much, much better.
35. Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi's Basic Hummus
People love this hummus recipe, and here’s how I know for sure: When you type “Yotam Ottloenghi” into Google, the top three suggested searches are “recipes,” “books,” and then “hummus.”
34. Simple Vegan Pesto
Fact: You don’t need Parmesan to make vibrant pesto. With a little bit of help from the vegan superhero that is nutritional yeast, you’ll create the same classic flavor at a fraction of the price.
33. Ina Garten's Skillet-Roasted Lemon Chicken
Of all the Ina classics we’ve got on our site, this chicken is her most popular. There’s a ton of reasons to love it (I covered them all in this article), but here are the two that matter the most: It’s delicious and impossibly easy to make.
32. Cardamom Cake From Niloufer Ichaporia King
A few years ago, Alice Waters said that out of all the recipes in the world, this was the one she couldn’t live without. If you like cardamom, desserts that aren’t too sweet, and an exciting blend of textures, you’ll likely agree.
31. Esquites (Mexican Street Corn Salad)
Elotes, off the cob. Serve this on a balmy summer night with whatever you’re grilling and something cold to sip on.
30. Éclair Cake
If you’ve visited our Instagram, then you’ve definitely seen this cake before. While this treat is certainly a looker, its chocolate-ganache-covered, pastry-cream-filled personality is pretty great as well. Bring this cake for your next gathering, and watch how the party stops.
29. Classic Ratatouille From Alice Waters
Like the dish served in the movie, but easier, more delicious, and without the rats.
28. Absurdly Addictive Asparagus
Community member Dylan Mierzwinski puts it best: “This was so wonderful (all ninety times I’ve made it). I don’t change a thing, this is my go-to ‘impress others’ dish. And let’s be real...my ‘impress myself’ dish.”
27. My New Roots' Life-Changing Loaf of Bread
A whole-grain, gluten-free, no-knead, no-mess, life-changing loaf of bread that has been celebrated by hundreds of our community members.
26. Baby Back Ribs With Dry Rub
Proof that if you’ve got salt, mustard, paprika, garlic powder, brown sugar, and a functioning oven, you can make some damn good ribs. Make a rack or two, throw together a potato salad, and have your friends over for an indoor barbecue.
25. Crispy Cheesy Pan Pizza Recipe From King Arthur Flour
Unlike thin crust, which is best cooked at a temperature much higher than most home ovens can reach, pan pizza is perfect for the home cook. For this pie, it’s best to plan in advance: Since the dough is made from scratch, you need to start this recipe 15 hours before you want your pizza to hit the oven.
24. Caribbean Johnny Cakes
These fried flatbreads are an ideal accompaniment for any daytime meal. Serve with honey, butter, and sea salt for the perfect midday treat.
23. Louisa's Cake
According to our former editors, this cake is “airy and light, but not without integrity: Ricotta, eggs, and plenty of butter give it richness, grated apple lends heft, and lemon zest rescues it from being at all bland.”
22. Brown Sugar Boba (Bubble Tea)
Whether you plan on making boba entirely from scratch or are simply looking for an adequate milk tea to accompany some store-bought tapioca pearls, this recipe is what you need.
21. Peach Tart
This is the kind of dessert you make when you’re on vacation: It’s easy to put together (only 20 minutes of prep), doesn’t require any special equipment (you’ll only need a knife, bowl, and some kind of pan), and serves up to eight people.
20. Torta Caprese (Chocolate and Almond Flourless Cake)
No matter how boring, awkward, or unnecessarily long a meal might be, if it ends with a good cup of coffee and this fudgy, flourless, chocolate cake, any suffering you’ve endured will feel worthwhile.
19. Judy Hesser’s Oven-Fried Chicken
If you want homemade fried chicken with weeknight convenience and without the smell, mess, or danger of deep frying, this is for you. Just keep in mind that, like traditional fried chicken, you’ll need to begin brining your bird several hours before meal time.
18. Ovenly's Secretly Vegan Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies
This vegan treat is “soft-bellied, chewy, caramelly-crisp-edged, rippled and ringed and puddled with melty chocolate.” Based on its more than 300 positive reviews, it’s also fully capable of standing up to any other cookie, vegan or not.
17. Double Chocolate Weed Brownies
A brownie with weed in it is still a brownie and therefore should remain delicious. Pro tip: Double this recipe and only put weed in half of it—that way, when you inevitably become hungry, you’ll have something safe to snack on. (Just make sure to label each batch.)
16. Effortless Oven-Roasted Corn on the Cob With Husks
If you want corn on the cob but don’t have access to a grill or pot of boiling water, this oven-based method is your savior. Also, since they’re roasted in their own husks, you’ll skip the whole shucking part.
15. Best Grilled Brussels Sprouts
Give Brussels Sprouts the smokiness you never knew they needed.
14. Pasta With Garlic Butter Sauce
If you like garlic, butter, and meals you can make in under 20 minutes, this pasta is for you.
13. Oven Rib-Eye Steak
Pan-seared and finished in the oven, this recipe features my preferred method for cooking any thick, bone-in steak. Just remember that when you’re searing, the pan will smoke a lot, so always run a fan and open any nearby windows.
12. Maialino's Olive Oil Cake
This really is the ultimate cake: It’s light, moist, complex, a little sweet, easy to make, and very much something you will want to eat multiple slices of. But don’t just take my word for it—our managing editor just wrote an entire article explaining why it's the one cake that she can always count on.
11. Grandma's Canned Tomatoes
Regardless of if they’re home grown or store-bought, in-season tomatoes should never go to waste. Enter: Canning, the technique that will reduce your waste and improve your tomato sauces year-round.
10. Martha Stewart's One-Pan Pasta
Our most popular Martha recipe of all time is a Genius, one-pan pasta that brings big flavor without many ingredients or much effort. Perfect for a hurried weeknight meal, this is a recipe you’ll always want in your back pocket.
9. Kindred's Milk Bread
This loaf is good on its own but even better when used to make Lucas Sin’s Hong Kong Egg Sandwich or a Pork Katsu Sando.
8. Bill Smith's Atlantic Beach Pie
A lemon pie with a cracker crust that’s ready in under 40 minutes? Sign me up.
7. Simple Brine for Pork Chops
This simple brine, made up of common pantry ingredients like brown sugar and peppercorns, is a great way to make sure your pork chops have moisture and flavor.
6. The Best Pan-Roasted Potatoes
Community member Panfusine puts it best: “Gretchen (the recipe developer) wasn’t kidding when she named her potato dish ‘The Best Pan-Roasted Potatoes.’ The dish is absurdly simple in terms of ingredients, but it’s the contrasting play of colors and textures that make it worthy of a community pick.”
5. Crockpot Brown Sugar & Balsamic–Glazed Pork Tenderloin
If you look through the comments, you’ll notice this recipe’s prescribed cook time has been quite controversial within our community. My advice: For best results, listen to former Food52 Editor (and current New York Times columnist) Eric Kim by reducing the cook time to 2 to 3 hours, or until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145°F.
4. Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce With Onion & Butter
Everyone needs a go-to tomato sauce recipe—with just three ingredients, this one is a good place to start.
3. Momofuku's Soy Sauce Eggs
A well-seasoned, jammy egg is a beautiful and versatile thing. Perfect by itself, over toast, mixed into a salad, or dropped into a bowl of your favorite broth, there’s little these eggs can’t do.
2. 'World's Best Cake' With Banana & Coconut
This is our most popular cake recipe ever. A towering treat, it highlights the always-enjoyable pairing of banana and ground cinnamon, while the addition of cardamom and toasted coconut keeps things crunchy and exciting.
1. Classic Nigerian Jollof Rice
Consistently making tender, well-seasoned rice is one of the hardest things you can do as a cook. Of course, if you have this Jollof recipe, that becomes a lot easier—just ask any of the thousands of our community members who have already tried it.
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