Counting down the top recipes of the year

With the end of the year comes retrospection, and food websites are no exception. Every other post in my feeds is a countdown of the most popular or most saved recipes from different websites. I am sharing some of these lists because it’s always interesting to see what others are cooking – sometimes inspiration will strike. We’ll start off with Epicurious, which counts down the 49 top saved recipes from the site in 2023. The list is heavy on chicken, which featured 16 times – about one-third of the total countdown. Salmon was the next most popular protein, and a bevy of pastas and baked goods rounded out the list.

Food and Wine skips the mains, sides, and desserts, opting to focus on the most popular cocktail recipes of the year. It’s not a surprise to see a negroni at the top of the list as that drink was everywhere in 2023. One comeback that I didn’t anticipate this year was the revival of the espresso martini, which also landed on Food and Wine’s retrospective. I must admit I’ve never tried one, but maybe it’s time to give up on being a martini purist and give them a whirl. The New York Sour is another comeback kid for the year.

Other sites that had countdowns of their most popular recipes include NYT Cooking (their 50 recipes), allrecipes (their top 20), Half Baked Harvest (top 25 recipes); and Southern Living (top 20 recipes). While we don’t tally which recipes in the Library our Members click on most frequently, we do have some numbers to share on what you found interesting in our weekly updates and monthly newsletter emails. The top 20 recipes for 2023 were these:

• Ooey gooey buttercake from Food Network by Trisha Yearwood (pictured above)
• Best homemade brownies from Love and Lemons by Jeanine Donofrio    
• Warm butter cake from www.halfscratched.com   
• Crispy smashed chicken breasts with gin and sage jus from The New York Times Cooking by Amy Thielen
• Slow cooker General Tso’s chicken from The Recipe Critic
• Chocolate dump-it cake from Food52 Baking
• Raspberry and pistachio tartlets from Bake It Better by Matt Adlard
• Viral smash burger tacos from rachlmansfield.com
• Cinnamon toast with butter and honey from Leite’s Culinaria by Rick Rodgers      
• ‘Circle of death’ carrot cake from The Guardian Feast supplement by Meera Sodha      
• Cheesy sage and sesame biscuits from Waitrose Food by Ed Smith
• One bowl chocolate cake batter from Food Network Magazine
• Sweet potatoes, avocado, and roast pumpkin seed oil salad from Salad Freak by Jess Damuck
• Charred zucchini and sweetcorn with basil Caesar-ish sauce from Tenderheart by Hetty McKinnon
• Corn soup with avocado cream from House & Garden by Diana Henry
• Asian chicken and green beans sheet pan meal from Kayln’s Kitchen by Kayln Denny
• Sheet pan fried rice with vegan ‘XO’ sauce from The New York Times Cooking by Hetty McKinnon 
• Irish cheddar white soda bread from Bake from Scratch Magazine   
• Chocolate zucchini cake from King Arthur Baking
• Radicchio with blood orange and mozzarella di bufala from Noon by Meike Peters