The Recipe You Loved Most in 2017

2017 was a banner year for recipes on our site. There was a crunchy sheet pan salad and a one-pot pasta. There was a dead-simple yogurt cake and a crowd-pleasing pound cake and lots and lots of laminated dough. There was an influx of things made in the the instant pot.

But out of all of our most-loved recipes, sweet and savory, there was one that had the most views of any on our site. Can you guess? Hint: It's genius, it's crazy simple, and it's chicken (surprise, surprise).

Drumroll, please...

The most-viewed recipe of 2017 was Jamie Oliver's Tender & Crisp Chicken Legs with Sweet Tomatoes & Basil! It's not hard to figure out why this cozy dish earned the most views of the year (130,702 times and counting!); it's easy to pull together, impressive enough for company, and makes excellent leftovers. Plus, it's incredibly versatile.

This is chiefly a "summer" recipe (hi, tomatoes and basil), but it's easily adaptable to fit into your winter lineup. Substitute canned tomatoes for fresh, and swap basil for woodier, cooler-weather herbs like rosemary, thyme, or sage. The technique will still the same (and just as simple)—season chicken, cover with tomatoes, herbs, and garlic, braise until absurdly tender—and so will the results: fall-apart, deeply flavored meat that goes perfectly with crusty bread, cannelini beans, or boiled potatoes—or all three.

Jamie Oliver’s Crispy Chicken Legs With Sweet Tomatoes & Basil

View Recipe

Ingredients

4	higher-welfare chicken leg quarters
1	pinch sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1	big bunch fresh basil, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped
2	big handfuls red and yellow cherry tomatoes and ripe plum or beefsteak tomatoes, cherry tomatoes halved, plum tomatoes quartered
1	whole bulb garlic, broken into cloves
1	fresh red chile, finely chopped, or a big pinch of dried chile flakes
1	splash olive oil
1	14.5-ounce/410 g can cannelini beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
2	handfuls new potatoes, scrubbed (optional)

4	higher-welfare chicken leg quarters
1	pinch sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1	big bunch fresh basil, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped
2	big handfuls red and yellow cherry tomatoes and ripe plum or beefsteak tomatoes, cherry tomatoes halved, plum tomatoes quartered
1	whole bulb garlic, broken into cloves

1	fresh red chile, finely chopped, or a big pinch of dried chile flakes
1	splash olive oil
1	14.5-ounce/410 g can cannelini beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
2	handfuls new potatoes, scrubbed (optional)

What was your favorite recipe of 2017? Reminisce in the comments section!