Recipe Roundup

The 10 Recipes You Couldn’t Stop Cooking in May

From summery grilled seafood to shareable sweets.

June  1, 2023
Photo by Julia Gartland

If there’s one takeaway from May’s most popular recipes, it’s that summer is here—and our community is ready to celebrate. This past month, we baked festive pink cakes filled with seasonal fruit and whipped up batches of panini stuffed with chicken, pesto, and sun-dried tomatoes. We made rendang fried chicken, grilled piles of shrimp and garlic bread, and doused cinnamon rolls with bourbon-infused icing. However different these recipes may seem, there’s one thing that unites them: They’re all dishes that are meant for sharing. So, whether you’re hosting a full backyard feast or simply cooking dinner with a few friends, these are the recipes you can (and should) reach for every time.

In no particular order, here are our most popular recipes from May 2023.


1. Grilled Shrimp With Herby Garlic Bread

Herby, garlicky olive oil pulls double duty in this summer-friendly recipe from Resident Melina Hammer. It’s first used as a marinade for the soon-to-be charred shrimp, then repurposed to make an easy (and flavorful) garlic bread.

2. Pistachio Celebration Cake With Whipped Custard Cream

This cheerful pistachio cake—layered with a whipped vanilla custard and strawberry jam—is exactly what every summer celebration needs. Bring it to your next potluck and watch your loved ones’ faces light up.

3. Skillet Galette With Creamed Greens & Parmesan

This cheesy galette, cooked in a cast-iron skillet, is similar to (but much easier to make than) a savory pie. The star, though, is the filling: a pound of greens wilted in a creamy sauce and generously topped with cheese.

4. Sweet Potato Cornbread With Maple Butter

Mashed sweet potatoes make for an especially moist cornbread, and the addition of warm aromatics—like cinnamon, brown sugar, vanilla, and maple butter—make this shareable side dish feel extra cozy.

5. Chicken Pesto Panini

These panini take the classic flavors of pesto, mozzarella, and sun-dried tomatoes and layers them between toasty slices of focaccia. Pressing the sandwiches before grilling them ensures that they stay intact and encourages all the ingredients to meld.

6. Crispy Bacon & Banana Martabak

This martabak—which draws inspiration from Indonesian and Hong Kong versions of the dish—is reminiscent of a pancake, but uses tapioca flour for a chewy texture. An Elvis-style filling of peanut sugar, bacon, and banana completes this showstopper.

7. Rendang Fried Chicken

Fried chicken is a summer staple, but this version, transformed by dollops of fragrant, spicy rendang sauce, is unlike any we’ve ever had. Serve it hot from the fryer, and eat the leftovers the next day, cold from the fridge (if there are any leftovers, that is).

8. Cinnamon Rolls With Bourbon Icing

Nothing beats a classic cinnamon roll—except a classic cinnamon roll doused in a bourbon-infused icing. Luckily, Resident Erin Jeanne McDowell has us covered.

9. Stuffed Peppers With Chicken & Rice

Stuffed peppers are ideal on busy weeknights and a great way to use up odds and ends in your pantry and fridge. This version combines rice, zucchini, chicken, and cheddar for a satisfying all-in-one meal.

10. Raspberry Cake With Whipped Cream Filling by Shilpa Uskokovic

For this month’s Genius column, Kristen Miglore looked to Shilpa Uskokovic’s gloriously pink raspberry layer cake, originally published in Bon Appetit. Pro tip: It’s equally delicious made with strawberries.


What was the best recipe you made in May? Share below!

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

Anabelle Doliner

Written by: Anabelle Doliner

Staff Editor

0 Comments