Our Favorite Food Network Recipes of 2019
It’s been a busy (and delicious!) year.
Caitlin Ochs
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When you work with as much food as we do, it can be hard to pick a favorite. In the past year, we at Food Network have published thousands of new recipes — and new ones are created, tested and shared all the time! Still, there are some dishes that are just so delicious, we can’t help but think about them (and cook them) over and over again. Check out our top picks from 2019, below:
We shot The Best Chicken Biryani (pictured above) for the Food Network Kitchen app this summer and upon seeing the recipe, I will admit I was a little annoyed. The ingredient list is not short, and it requires time and patience. Five months since our shoot, I am happy to report that I think about this recipe several times a week, for absolutely no reason. It was just that good. I want to make it for everyone I care about. It is packed with flavor, it is comforting, the chicken falls off the bone, the rice soaks up all of the spices and chicken juices, but it’s also not super heavy...do I need to keep going? I could live burrowed in a couch corner with a blanket and a bowl of this in my hand. In fact, I would say that this is one of my top 3 favorites from the entire time I’ve been at Food Network (6 years), not just 2019.
- Larisa Alvarez, Managing Culinary Producer
One of the things I love most about my job at Food Network Magazine is that I’m exposed to hundreds of new recipes each month. I always make it a point to try at least a few recipes from each new issue — it was one of my New Year’s resolutions for 2019 and I’m planning on renewing it again for 2020. By far, the best recipe I made this year has got to be Ina Garten’s Vanilla Brioche Bread Pudding from the March 2019 issue. The theme of that issue was "Comfort Food" and you really can’t get any more comforting than Ina’s super spongey and ultra-fragrant bread pudding. Even my own father — who has always hated bread in the past – loves it. I made it about seven times in 2019 (and that’s not an exaggeration) and I’ll definitely be doubling that in 2020. Please, please, please do yourself a favor and make it — and don’t forget to serve it with melted vanilla ice cream — it makes a world of difference!
- Michelle Baricevic, Online Editorial Coordinator, Food Network Magazine
Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll agree this Butter-Blanketed Turkey recipe from Food Network Kitchen changed my life in 2019. One bite and I didn’t stop talking about it for six months straight. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a whole turkey roasted under a "blanket" (read: cheesecloth) soaked in butter. Plus some butter under the skin — for good measure, of course. What you get is the juiciest, flavor-packed bird with perfectly crisp skin that’s begging for a photo-opp. I highly recommend making the most of the big reveal, so you can insist on bragging rights for the all of 2020.
- T.K. Brady, Senior Editor
My favorite recipe from 2019 was this Rigatoni with Summer Bolognese from Food Network Magazine. I LOVE making pasta all year long, especially one with a hearty tomato-based sauce and lots of fresh basil. But what I enjoy most about this recipe is its depth of flavor and simplicity (plus, it comes together in just 40 minutes). This recipe will definitely stay in my arsenal next summer and beyond.
- Amanda Neal, Recipe Developer
My favorite recipe from this year was the Black Chocolate Cake recipe I developed for the October issue of Food Network Magazine. This was my first deep dive into baking with black cocoa powder and I was sold: This cake has a dark dramatic color and deep chocolate flavor while also being incredibly moist and light. It’s paired with a silky dark and chocolaty frosting that’s not too sweet or heavy made in the style of a German buttercream (think whipped buttery chocolate pudding). I adore the recipe and there is no reason to limit it to Halloween.
- Melissa Gaman, Recipe Developer, Food Network Kitchens
Kate Mathis
Pasta salad is having a moment, and no recipe better deserves that moment than this fun, festive pesto-slathered gift from Food Network Kitchen. The key to good pasta salads is having enough fun nuggets to offset the pasta, as well as good acidity to make it palatable straight from the fridge or at room temperature, and this one checks every box. It has the tri-colored festive look that makes it ideal for a holiday table, but it’s just as delicious on a hot summer day, which is when I first made this. The spinach pesto, vinegar-brightened broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella balls kept every bite interesting, not just for me and my husband, but for our then-11-month-old, who reveled in wriggling the mezze rigatoni onto his fingers to sport like little pasta finger jackets before shoveling them into mouth.
- Erin Hartigan, Senior Managing Editor
Teri Lyn Fisher
This the most accurately-named recipe ever — they really are the best M&M cookies I’ve ever had or made. They’re super chewy on the inside and crispy just on the outside, they’re just the right amount of sweet, they’re loaded with M&Ms, and before you bake them, you add extra M&Ms on top so they look like mall cookie shop cookies. I’m obsessed; I’ve made 3 batches so far this month. The other thing I love is that they can be Christmas cookies, or they don’t have to be — I’ve used red-and-green M&Ms for my December batches, but I’ll make them throughout 2020 with the regular candies or other holiday colors.
- Michelle Buffardi, VP, Digital Programming
Teri Lyn Fisher
I try to make a habit of avoiding all the food that floats around our office — delicious as it is, I would need to buy a new wardrobe every other month if I ate everything. However, I really couldn’t resist when these five-star Butternut Squash-Stuffed Shells were in the kitchen. Cheesy, cozy and slightly spicy, they’re the ultimate comfort food meal. I could go on and on about how highly I recommend this recipe, but I’ll sum it up with this — I would gladly sacrifice my favorite jeans if it meant I could eat these stuffed shells every day.
- Leah Scalzadonna, Associate Editor
Teri Lyn Fisher
Miniature potatoes are one of the things that I almost always have on-hand (and not just because they’re adorable!). These tiny spuds make regular appearances all year long in German potato salad for cookouts and cast-iron skillet home fries on Saturday mornings. But one of my favorite ways to cook these potatoes, by far, is to roast them on a sheet pan with a little olive oil, salt and fresh rosemary. So, when I saw this recipe, I knew that I had to give it a try. It promised the rosemary-roasted flavor that I love but with an upgrade: extra-crunchy crust. And, let me tell you, this recipe delivered in a big way. These potatoes are so flavorful and so perfectly crisp that it will be a very, very long time before I make a regular oven-roasted potato again!
- Kristie Collado, Manager, Digital Programming
Matt Armendariz
This game plan for making your entire Thanksgiving meal on the grill was one of the most fun things we did this year! Not only is it delicious, but it might just be the most clever and efficient way to make the most important meal of the year. Plus, you get to use all your cool grill accessories: Drip pans! Grill baskets! Rotisserie! It makes me so happy to think about the families who might have gathered ’round the grill this year at Thanksgiving time.
- Lauren Piro, Director, Editorial
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