10 Most Reliable Recipe Websites & Blogs
Multiple friends and family members have consulted me on whether to continue trying online recipes when so many don't turn out, or whether to stick to the old reliable paper cookbooks. As much as I love a good cook book, many of THEM have inaccuracies and issues too (I'm looking at you Joy of Cooking).
The process I use for choosing a cookbook OR a recipe from a search engine goes something like this:
- do a search for the dish I am looking for
- look at how many stars each recipe has
- look for the photo that fits the image in my head of what that food SHOULD look like
- look at the number of reviews. If a recipe has 5 stars based on 3 reviews, that's worse than a 4.5 star with 1000 reviews in my mind.
From there I read the recipe, see if it makes sense and if there are complicated steps that seem unnecessary. I research a couple other recipes and either meld them all together into something of my own, or I choose the one that I think looks best and go with it.
That being said, there are some recipe websites that I do tend to trust, and follow recipes from them expecting them to turn out every time. Here are the recipes websites and blogs that I love, trust, and recommend:
1. The Kitchn
Has many of my top favorite basic recipes. I love that they put a modern twist on things but still keep it basic enough that I can whip up these recipes on a weeknight.
2. Budget Bytes
Recently Budget Bytes has been my go-to recipe site for searching things like "ground beef" and coming up with interesting, pantry friendly, recipe inspo. I also use this site for meal planning during normal weekdays when I want some interesting but not-too-fussy dishes I can throw together quickly.
3. Betty Crocker
I love my Betty Crocker cookbook. My mother in law gave me one as a gift, and it has since been the reference cookbook I prefer. I have tried others, but none of them have the good ol' American basics like Betty.
4. Joy of Kosher
Jamie Gellar is a recipe whiz, and her modern takes on Ashkenazi classics bring me back to my childhood. She has a great no-knead challah bread, and my absolute favorite salmon recipe. Definitely worth checking out.
5. Delish.com (but be sure to check reviews, because recipes vary)
Delish is a site I don't fully understand, do readers submit recipes? I don't know. I do know that they have some of my favorite soups and breads and are generally very reliable as long as you make sure that the recipe you're using has a decent rating and number of reviews.
6. Cookie + Kate
Our family's favorite granola is hers, and we love some of the other baked goods from Cookie + Kate. She has vegetarian recipes and baked goods.
7. Venison for Dinner (check her baking, it's definitely not all game meats ;) )
LOVE HER. Love her. Love her recipes, love her instagram stories, and she has plenty for the vegan, and allergy crowd too. Kate's recipes are really good, and I'd trust any from her site.
8. Smitten Kitchen
The blog posts do go on a ways, but the stories are fantastic and the recipes are even better. Hands down one of the best recipe blogs on the internet, for years.
9. King Arthur Flour
Baking at its best. These are all tried and terrific recipes, but the best part of KAF is that if a recipe isn't turning out or you get stuck, they have a phone number where you can call them and talk it through with one of their bakers. Absolutely amazing service.
10. NYTimes
There are paywalls, complicated recipes, and descriptions that assume you have access to rare ingredients... but they really do have some of the best recipes, and pretty much everything I have made from NYT has been absolutely delicious and turned out well.
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Are there any that you'd add to this list? I'd love to hear in the comments!