Our TeamJan Valdez

Jan Valdez

Assistant Recipe Producer

I develop and refresh recipes and recipe roundups, and test recipes for the team.Chicago, IL

About Me

I got into this field by spending 10 years working in Research & Development and Product Development test kitchens, testing new products and recipes. For nearly eight years, I was the Senior Culinary R&D Specialist at Weber headquarters, where all the grills are designed, engineered, and tested. I've helped launch numerous best-selling, top-rated grills across the globe (you should see my grill collection at home!).

One of my proudest accomplishments happened years earlier, when I had the opportunity to visit the Good Housekeeping Institue in NYC after developing an award-winning Tropical Citrus Shrimp recipe that jumpstarted my career in test kitchens and food editing. Since then, I've worked at Serious Eats (one of my favorite food sites) and EatingWell as an updates editor.

I'm passionate about both classic recipes and new, unique twists. I'm constantly learning and that's what makes food and cooking so fun (just ask me how to bake light and airy pavlovas on the grill – I've tested them countless times!).

I'm an expert in

  • food editing
  • recipe testing
  • grilling

My education

Le Cordon Bleu Chicago (Culinary Arts)

Latest Stories

31 Best Noodle Recipes to Make Week After Week
Use any noodles you have on hand.
Jan Valdez
3 days ago
These One-Pot Pasta Recipes Are Absolutely Magical
One-pot pastas are an absolute magic trick. Cook pasta start to finish in just one pot? No straining? And oh, wait — all the other ingredients for a delicious, well-rounded weeknight dinner cook right in the pot with the pasta? Amazing!The family-friendly pasta technique deserves a spot in your meal plan. Here are 30 one-pot pasta recipes to keep you happy and well-fed.
Grace Elkus
3 days ago
76 Super Bowl Recipes That Will Win Over Your Friends
Every year the impending arrival of the Super Bowl incites a parallel culinary sport: churning out new recipes for chicken wings, different versions of creamy dips, and other easy appetizers. February calls for seven-layer dip, nachos, and hot wings. It’s the one Sunday I dispense with the hummus and bask in the glory of bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers. (Or bacon-wrapped anything.
Faith Durand
Jan 15, 2025
25 Absolutely Delicious Ground Turkey Recipes
Along with chicken thighs, a pack of ground turkey is one of the staples you will always find in my freezer. It’s more lean and mild than ground beef, but can be used in all the same ways for easy weeknight meals. From bolognese and burgers to meatloaf and one-skillet meals, here are 25 easy ground turkey recipes for the week ahead.
Kelli Foster
Jan 13, 2025
15 Easy and Delicious Couscous Recipes
Couscous has got to be one of the most underrated pantry staples in the kitchen arsenal. Made from semolina wheat, couscous is nutty, sweet, and versatile – it also happens to be incredibly quick-cooking.Along with quinoa, rice, and a cohort of pasta in varying shapes, do yourself a huge favor and always have a stash of couscous in stock. Once you do, you’re always at the start line of making a nearly endless marathon of quick and easy meals and side dishes.
Kelli Foster
Jan 10, 2025
The 5-Ingredient One-Pan Dinner I Make Week After Week Every January
It’s so easy.
Jan Valdez
Jan 8, 2025
How To Make a Quick & Easy Stromboli the Whole Family Will Love
Stromboli might actually be the most perfect weeknight meal. You roll up your family’s favorite fillings — meat, cheeses, or veggies — in pizza dough (store-bought, obviously) and bake the whole thing to golden-brown perfection. Then you slice the stromboli into portable, easy-to-dip pieces that you can serve with marinara sauce for dipping or wrapped in a napkin on the way to soccer practice.
Meghan Splawn
Jan 8, 2025
30 Easy Italian Sausage Dinners to Make Forever
Italian sausage is one of my favorite proteins. It packs a lot of flavor, and yet it still manages to pair well with just about anything. Whether you like yours sweet, spicy, or mild, there are plenty of things you can make at home with it. Of course there’s pasta, which is usually the first thing that comes to mind when people think about Italian sausage, but that’s really just the beginning. Soups, casseroles, and sheet pan dinners are all great ways to turn sausage into a meal.
Nicole Rufus
Jan 8, 2025
60 Romantic Dinner Recipes for Valentine's Day
During Valentine’s Day, there’s no better way to show appreciation for your loved one – whether that’s your spouse, significant other, best friend, or even (especially) yourself – than to spend quality time with them over a special at-home dinner. You don’t have to spend all day to cook a romantic dinner.
Kristin Appenbrink
Jan 6, 2025
The 31 Best Easy Recipes to Cook in January
Which one will you make first?
Jan Valdez
Jan 1, 2025
Steamed Mussels are the Easiest Dinner Ever
Whether we’re talking about date night at home or a quick weeknight meal, it doesn’t get much better than a giant bowl of steamed mussels. This dish has the kind of easy elegance and immediate gratification that I look for in both cases. Today, I’m sharing my favorite, most basic method for quickly steaming a batch of mussels. It’s simple — just mussels steamed with broth and white wine — but oh so very good!
Emma Christensen
Dec 24, 2024
My Jarred Secret Ingredient for Making Broccoli Taste Ridiculously Good
It's all about the cheesy sauce.
Jan Valdez
Dec 21, 2024
30 Perfect Sides to Serve with Quiche
For any time of the day.
Jan Valdez
Dec 21, 2024
82 Essential Air Fryer Recipes to Make Immediately
Countertop air fryers are an increasingly popular kitchen gadget. Air fryers work by circulating super-hot air, which quickly and evenly reaches all the surfaces of the food. In other words, it gives food that crispy-fried texture and golden-brown color without having to actually deep-fry anything. If you’ve joined the air fryer club and need some ideas for meal essentials, we’ve got you covered. You can make practically anything that you would fry in an air fryer.
Jesse Szewczyk
Dec 20, 2024
The 2-Ingredient Ingredient You Can Use All Week Long
Milk, lemon juice, and about a half-hour of your time — that’s all you need to make a batch of fresh, creamy homemade ricotta. You’re not going to believe how easy and foolproof this is! And trust me — once you make your own ricotta cheese, it’s hard to go back to the stuff from the tub.When I say this only takes a half hour, I should clarify that most of that time is actually hands-off.
Emma Christensen
Dec 19, 2024
25 Best Ways to Use Up Leftover Egg Whites
Have you made mayonnaise, custards, ice cream bases, hollandaise sauce, lemon curd, or a recipe that relies heavily on egg yolks recently? If so, you’re probably staring at a big pile of leftover egg whites. Whatever you do, do not toss them. Instead keep a running list of good egg white recipes handy, so you have a plan for this versatile leftover.From savory to sweet, and even drinks, there are a lot of different ways to use up egg whites, whether you have just one or a dozen.
Christine Gallary
Dec 19, 2024
35 Seafood Recipes for Your Feast of the Seven Fishes
For a very special Christmas Eve.
Jan Valdez
Dec 18, 2024
This Crab-Stuffed Salmon Is Restaurant-Worthy
Calling all seafood-lovers! This restaurant-quality crab-stuffed salmon can be made at home in under 40 minutes and tastes just like the real deal. The key to creating this luxurious dish at home is starting with great seafood. Thick salmon fillets and jumbo lump crab meat are the stars. This recipe adds just enough ingredients to elevate their flavors without overpowering the fresh seafood taste. Here’s how to make it. It’s fancy, but also easy to make.
Maria Do
Dec 17, 2024
50 Delicious Ways to Eat Eggs for Dinner
There really isn’t a more versatile ingredient to always have on hand in the refrigerator than eggs. In fact, you can make eggs any time of the day, from breakfast and weekend brunch to a simple lunch and weeknight dinner.Eggs for breakfast help us start our days off right. They give our baked goods moisture and structure. They’re also inexpensive, full of protein, and a lifesaver at dinner when you need to throw a quick weeknight meal together.
Christine Gallary
Dec 17, 2024
25 New Year’s Eve Cocktails to Ring in 2025
New Year’s Eve is a big night and it deserves a drink to match. Enter these fun, festive, and easy to make cocktails. Whether you stick with something bubbly, like Champagne (and Champagne cocktails!) or Prosecco, or prefer a cocktail with a little more oomph, we’ve got all the bases covered. Here are 25 cocktails to mix up for your New Year’s Eve celebration.
Kelli Foster
Dec 16, 2024
These Baked Crab Cakes Are All About the Crab
While I am big fan of traditional pan-fried crab cakes, it’s hard to beat the ease that comes with baking them. Skip standing over a hot stove and instead, bake the whole batch at once on a sheet pan.For these easy crab cakes, you’ll shape the crab mixture into patties and chill them for 10 minutes, which ensures they’ll firm up a bit so they won’t fall apart in the oven. The patties are then transferred to a 425°F oven and baked until just cooked through.
Sheela Prakash
Dec 16, 2024
16 Delicious Smoked Salmon Recipes for Brunch and Beyond
It’s not just for bagels.
Jan Valdez
Dec 14, 2024
This Spiked Frozen Hot Chocolate Will Chase Away Your Winter Blues
It’ll get you in the holiday spirit.
Jan Valdez
Dec 13, 2024
45 Winter Dinner Ideas That Will Keep You Warm and Cozy
Often, when I don’t feel like cooking, I’ll make a dinner salad, a plate of scrambled eggs and toast, or a quick beans-and-greens sauté and call it a night. But come winter I crave dinners that are way more comforting than that. When I’m looking for something to warm me from the inside out — something that is as hearty as they come — I turn to these recipes.
Kelli Foster
Dec 13, 2024
White Cranberry Margaritas Will Melt Away All Your Holiday Stress
This refreshing white cranberry margarita is the perfect winter cocktail — suitable for Christmas, New Year’s Eve, or even just a snowy day. It’s a simple mix of just four ingredients, and a garnish of glittered cranberries and rosemary adds some seriously festive sparkle. It’s perfect for the holidays. Garnished with sugared cranberries and rosemary, this margarita is fun and festive for the holidays. It’s so refreshing.
Elizabeth Van Lierde
Dec 13, 2024
25 Best Sides to Serve with Mac and Cheese
Mac and cheese is such a solid staple. You can make macaroni & cheese from scratch, find a favorite boxed variety, or go for pure nostalgia with the frozen kind that microwaves in minutes. While some might argue that mac and cheese is an entire meal, even on the most harried nights I still want a side dish to round out the table. So, what goes with mac and cheese? Side dishes for mac and cheese can be as easy as carrot sticks or a bagged salad.
Meghan Splawn
Dec 11, 2024
16 Champagne Cocktails for Celebrating Anything
Cheers!
Jan Valdez
Dec 10, 2024
This Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup Is the Easiest Soup You’ll Make
I’ve never met a lasagna I didn’t love. Yes, there’s something about the way it’s assembled — with the rich sauce, melty cheese, and juicy bits of browned meat blanketing the noodles — but what really makes it stand out is how the ingredients come together for a warm, comforting meal. And that’s exactly what you can expect when you tuck into a bowl of this lasagna-inspired soup. The secret to the best (and easiest) lasagna soup is jarred marinara sauce.
Kelli Foster
Dec 8, 2024
5 Ways to Cook Broccoli That Tastes So Good Your Kids Will Even Eat It
Allow me to present the humble broccoli — beloved sautéed side dish with lemon and olive oil, faithful team player to quick stir-fries, virtuous add-in to any number of cheesy pasta dishes. Broccoli is the vegetable we reach for when we need a little something extra to round out a meal.
Emma Christensen
Dec 6, 2024
The Legendary Cream Cheese Dip I Bring to Every Holiday Party (It's That Good)
It’s everyone’s favorite.
Jan Valdez
Dec 6, 2024
Our 50 Favorite Christmas Cookies to Bake for Santa
We’ve got all your favorites.
Jan Valdez
Dec 6, 2024
This Easy Chateaubriand Is the Most Delicious Way to Impress Someone
It's truly restaurant-worthy.
Olivia Mack McCool
Dec 5, 2024
50 Perfect Sides to Serve with Salmon
It always feels like a treat when salmon is in my dinner lineup. I love it because it’s easy to prepare and there are so many ways to cook it. Take your pick between cooking salmon in the oven, under the broiler for an extra-speedy dinner, or on the grill. You can even cook salmon straight from the freezer.The best side dishes for salmon should be simple enough to make while the salmon cooks, and deliver plenty of flavor without outshining the beautiful fish.
Meghan Splawn
Dec 5, 2024
55 Make-Ahead Christmas Dinner Ideas That'll Save You Stress
No matter how much thought goes into planning your Christmas dinner, the day can have a way of feeling hurried as you you take part in gift-giving, a brisk walk in the snow, and then getting into the kitchen to cook. One strategy that makes it feel easier and more manageable is sticking with options for a make-ahead Christmas dinner. Maybe it’s getting a head start with the main course or side dish, or perhaps you prefer to get the bulk of the meal done ahead of time.
Dana Velden
Nov 29, 2024
65 Make-Ahead Brunch Recipes Worth Waking Up For
I love brunch, you love brunch — I think we’re all on board for a good weekend brunch, yes? The one problem with brunch, however, is figuring out how to make it without having to get up at the crack of dawn to start cooking. That’s why we’re bringing you a roundup of all our favorite make-ahead brunch recipes for whatever plans you may have come the weekend.
Emma Christensen
Nov 27, 2024
45 Easy Sides to Serve with Beef Tenderloin
Beef tenderloin is an annual tradition on my family’s holiday menu. Covering the beef tenderloin in a salt crust makes roasting it easy and fast, which leaves me with plenty of time to make delicious side dishes. Our table almost always includes bread and rolls for soaking up roast juices, but it also needs a potato side dish (or two or three) and a few vegetables too. Here are 45 of my favorite side dishes to serve with beef tenderloin.
Meghan Splawn
Nov 25, 2024