The 10 Most Popular Recipes We Published in 2019
We here at Kitchn love to write about practically anything that intersects with our love of food, from Baby Yoda cookie hacks to highly underrated food TV shows. But at heart, of course, our goal is to help readers cook — part of our work in that is developing and publishing recipes.
We take our job seriously. Although we’re a small staff, we publish hundreds of recipes each year (over five hundred in 2019, one of our biggest years ever!), and that includes cross-testing to make sure the steps work as well in your home kitchens as they do in ours. While we’re proud of every recipe that goes up on the site, there are always a few real standouts — recipes that Kitchn readers love and come back to over and over.
These are the new recipes of 2019 that make our hearts swell with a little extra pride. We love seeing what you love, and knowing that readers are using the shortcuts and upgrades we’ve worked so hard on. Here are the 10 most popular new recipes of 2019 — the ones that Kitchn readers resoundingly loved.
1. The ultimate Instant Pot beef stew.
The Instant Pot may have burst onto the scene back in 2016, but its reputation — and dominance — has only grown. And for good reason: The electric device offers all of the advantages of pressure cooking — concentrated flavors, juicier food, comparatively quick cooking times — with fewer of the dangers of the older stovetop pressure cookers. And what better recipe to use with it than a classic beef stew? We love the way the Instant Pot helps marry the sauce with the beef and veggies, and are glad you do, too.
Get the recipe: How To Make the Absolute Best Instant Pot Beef Stew
2. Steak bites, extra garlic.
This simple recipe, developed by Associate Food Editor Meghan Splawn, was an inspired stroke of genius. The best parts of steak are, of course, the combo of crispy scorched exterior and tender juicy interior. By cutting up the steak into inch-thick bites before, you get more than twice as much crispy sear. And by pan frying it in generous amounts of garlic butter, it stays extra tender and tasty!
Get the recipe: Garlic Butter Steak Bites
3. The one where you finally try lamb chops.
Lamb is rich and flavorful — and although you don’t hear as much about it outside of Easter, it’s widely available at most grocery stores. We’re glad to see so many readers got into this quick recipe for seared chops, pooled in a deeply delicious pan gravy.
Get the recipe: How To Make the Best-Ever Lamb Chops in Just 20 Minutes
4. The all-time potluck champion.
We developed this side dish as part of our ultimate potluck menu — five foolproof dishes that are easy to make, easy to transport, and yummy enough that you’d be proud to bring them to any group food gathering. We think it fits the bill, and readers seem to agree.
Get the recipe: Cheesy Garlic Butter Bubble Bread
5. An almost-forgotten Southern cousin to cinnamon rolls.
There’s a wonderful story behind Southern butter rolls. Cousins to cinnamon rolls, these almost-forgotten treasures were a longtime staple of Southern African American cooking. And they’re decadent: The rolls are almost poached in a rich custard-like sauce.
Get the recipe: Southern Butter Rolls
6. The very best French toast casserole for brunch all year long.
We love this recipe because it’s an easy way to feed a crowd with a dish that still looks impressive. The trick is to use a hearty bread like sourdough. It can absorb the custard without falling apart the way more typical French toast breads, like brioche, might do.
Get the recipe: How To Make the Absolute Best French Toast Casserole
7. A French apple cake, inspired by Dorie.
Readers got really into this simple rum-and-apple cake, inspired by a similar one from Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table. And no wonder. It takes under an hour to make, and is so delicious your family may polish it off in even less time than that.
Get the recipe: French Apple Cake
8. Hash brown casserole like Cracker Barrel (but better).
This casserole dish came together after Associate Food Editor Meghan Splawn raved about the hash brown casserole at Cracker Barrel. She diligently “researched” the dish at her local outpost a couple of times and then put together this impressive — and surprisingly easy — version.
Get the recipe: How to Make Copycat Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole
9. Absolutely foolproof Instant Pot rice.
Sometimes a recipe is popular because it has a great backstory. Sometimes it does well because it offers a smart shortcut, or an easy upgrade. And sometimes a recipe is popular simply because it meets a need. For all of you who simply need to know how to get rice going in your Instant Pot while you get the rest of the meal together, we’re happy to be of service!
Get the recipe: How To Cook Rice in the Instant Pot
10. The best use for a box of Jiffy mix.
Those popular boxes of Jiffy mix make pretty good cornbread muffins, but their not-so-secret superpower is corn casserole. It’s a Thanksgiving tradition in some parts. But it’s so easy and delicious it’s worth making any time of the year.
Get the recipe: Easiest-Ever Jiffy Corn Casserole
What was your favorite new recipe of 2019?
Did you find a favorite new recipe here or elsewhere this year? We’d love to hear all about it in the comments, or tag us @thekitchn on Instagram with a love letter to your favorite new recipe of 2019!