Meghan Splawn

About Me

Meghan was the Food Editor for Kitchn's Skills content. She's a master of everyday baking, family cooking, and harnessing good light. Meghan approaches food with an eye towards budgeting — both time and money — and having fun. Meghan has a baking and pastry degree, and spent the first 10 years of her career as part of Alton Brown's culinary team. She co-hosts a weekly podcast about food and family called Didn't I Just Feed You.


Latest Stories

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I’m a Professionally Trained Baker and I Swear by King Arthur’s New Bread Mix Kits
As a professionally trained baker, I’ve never shied away from using or recommending time-saving mixes and kits. They save home bakers money and time, and the results are reliable and delicious. But after testing four new mix kits from King Arthur® Baking Company, I found them to be exceptionally high-quality, going way beyond merely reliable.
yesterday
Spatchcocking is The Easy Chicken Technique You Need to Know
Of all the techniques for preparing chicken I learned in culinary school, spatchcocking is the one I return to the most. Sure, it’s great to know how to break down a whole chicken, but nothing compares to the satisfaction that spatchcocking provides. Luckily, you don’t need a culinary school degree to spatchcock. The process is simple — remove the chicken’s backbone and then flatten the bird — and immensely rewarding.
2 days ago
The Best Way to Dry Out Bread of Stuffing (Plus More Tips)
Perfect stuffing is within your reach.
Nov 4, 2024
3 Best Methods to Reheat Dinner Rolls So They Stay Fluffy
No sad, dry rolls here.
Nov 1, 2024
This French Comfort Food Classic Has the Ultimate Cheese Pull
Pommes aligot is more than just a cheesy twist on mashed potatoes. This incredibly magical blend of creamy potatoes and cheese was born in the French region of Midi-Pyrénées, and it is a celebration of regional cheese, served on special occasions alongside sausage or roasted meat.
Oct 28, 2024
5 Mistakes to Avoid When Making Sweet Potato Pie
Don't become a victim of number 3.
Oct 22, 2024
How to Freeze (and Thaw) Pumpkin Pie So It Tastes Perfect
Save yourself some stress and make it ahead of time.
Oct 22, 2024
How to Carve a Turkey Like a Pro
Don't be intimidated.
Oct 10, 2024
Graveyard Cake Is the Perfect Halloween Dessert
Do you remember eating chocolate “dirt” pudding cups with crushed cookies and worms at every Halloween party as a kid? My birthday falls just before Halloween, and this is something I requested at every costume party from the time I was 6 until I turned 10. Now I’m delighted to introduce my own kids (and our neighbors) to this classic treat. Here’s how you can make your own party-sized graveyard cake this Halloween. It’s the perfect treat for Halloween.
Oct 2, 2024
How to Reheat Turkey to Keep it Extra Moist and Never Dry
No sad, dry turkey here.
Oct 1, 2024
Learn How to (Finally) Make That Perfect Pot of Oatmeal
Among the recipes that friends and family ask about most frequently – including how to make a proper pot of rice, how to boil eggs perfectly, or how to cook perfect chicken breast every time – how to make a decent pot of oatmeal is always up there on the list. It seems that every home cook is chasing that elusive ideal pot of oatmeal: thick but not mushy, and fluffy but not chewy.
Sep 27, 2024
Your Instant Pot Is the Secret to Fluffy, Perfectly Cooked Rice
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Sep 25, 2024
This 5-Ingredient Sweet Potato Casserole Is Impossibly Easy
Sweet potato casserole is one of the most popular Thanksgiving side dishes for a reason: It serves up the vegetable in a creamy, sweet, and decadent way, and as we pile it onto our plates, it makes us feel like a kid again. Unfortunately, it’s often overthought and over-complicated, riddled with too many unnecessary steps and ingredients (I’m guilty of it, too, although this classic, meringue-topped version is delish).
Sep 24, 2024
Air Fryer Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Are Golden, Gooey, and Absolutely Foolproof
Editor’s Note: If you’ve cooked this beloved recipe before, it might look a little different these days! We recently improved it to make it even easier to follow and more delicious.Anyone else grow up heating bread and cheese in the microwave on unsupervised afternoons at home?
Sep 24, 2024
The Perfect Way to Melt Chocolate In the Microwave
Adding a touch of melted chocolate to cookies, strawberries, pretzels, or marshmallows is an easy to way to elevate your favorite sweet (or salty) treat. But have you ever hastily tossed a bowl of chocolate into the microwave, set it to one minute, and come back to find burned bits of chocolate around the bowl and big clumps of chocolate unmelted? Oh, no? I guess that’s just me.
Sep 24, 2024
The Only Apple Crisp Recipe You'll Ever Need
Apple crisp is the lazy baker’s best friend. It delivers all the flavor and satisfaction of apple pie, but in half the amount of time. Tender, lightly sweetened, warmly spiced apples get dressed up with a sprinkle of buttery old-fashioned oats that crack under the pressure of a spoon. It’s truly the only crisp recipe you need for fall. Apple crisp requires just a few basic ingredients, an abundance of apples, and a warm oven.
Sep 20, 2024
65 Potato Sides That Will Prove Your Love for Spuds
I could eat potatoes every day for the rest of my life. At their core these spuds are so humble, but with a little finesse, they suddenly blossom into a comforting side which turns out to the best thing on the plate (no offense to the main dish!) Mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, baked potatoes — sign me up as interested for all of the above.
Sep 20, 2024
This Bacon-Wrapped Turkey Is Thanksgiving's MVP
The secret to the best-ever (and way easier) bacon wrapped turkey? A simple herb butter to act as the glue.
Sep 11, 2024
Martha Stewart Just Taught Me the Secret to the Best-Ever Baked Potato
It's probably the best thing I've eaten in 2020.
Sep 11, 2024
I Make This Refreshing Cold Brew Coffee All Summer Long
There are few things more satisfying than the cool, caffeinated sip of a cup of iced coffee. But cold brew is easy to DIY, and we’re sharing all the secrets to enjoying it at home. The first is to make a big batch in advance — a gift to your future self that’s even faster than hopping in the car and whipping through a Starbucks drive-thru. The second secret? Using the same technique that Starbucks — and other big coffee shops — use to make cold brew in bulk.
Sep 9, 2024
The Easiest, Most Delicious Way to Make Turkey Stock
When you really think about it, the whole Thanksgiving meal is one giant twofer. Next-day Thanksgiving leftovers are just as important as the perfect day-of meal. The turkey, however, is even more generous. You roast your turkey on day one; have the leftover meat for turkey sandwiches, chilis, and cheesy turkey enchiladas in the days after; and now you get this glorious sunny stock from the bones and bits leftover even after the meat is gone.
Sep 6, 2024
This Slow Cooker Cream of Chicken Soup Will Keep You Extra Cozy
Editor’s Note: If you’ve cooked this beloved recipe before, it might look a little different these days! We recently improved it to make it even easier to follow and more delicious.From here on out, creamy chicken soup from the slow cooker shall be known as change-your-life chicken soup. Try to imagine all the goodness of chicken soup — moist, tender chicken, bites of sweet carrot and peas — but wrapped in a creamy broth flecked with black pepper.
Sep 4, 2024
This Semi-Homemade Green Bean Casserole Will Fool Everyone at the Table
The secret ingredient comes from the freezer.
Aug 30, 2024
The Unorthodox Turkey-Roasting Method That Changes Everything
It's key to the juiciest Thanksgiving bird.
Aug 29, 2024
My Mom's 40-Year-Old Secret for the Best Roasted Turkey (So Easy and Juicy!)
Plus, there's little to no clean up.
Aug 29, 2024
I’ve Been Using Made In Cookware Exclusively for a Year — Here’s My Honest Review (Plus, How It Compares to My All-Clad)
Shopping
These pots and pans have been officially added to my cookware collection.
Aug 29, 2024
These Impossibly Crispy Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts Rival Any Restaurant's
My secret to getting dinner on the table every weeknight is a new sous chef — the air fryer. When I put this countertop appliance to work, I’m free to attend to the main dish while it works, virtually unattended. All I have to do is wait for that delightful “ding,” telling me the food needs a flip or is ready to eat.
Aug 22, 2024
How to Make Slime Without Glue
You only need three ingredients for this fun and easy slime.
Aug 19, 2024
My Easy Trick for the Absolute Best Homemade Lemonade
Sipping icy-cold sweet lemonade on a blazing-hot summer day is one of life’s finest pleasures, which is why we think making lemonade from scratch should be the easiest drink you make this summer. After all, it is just three ingredients: lemon juice, sugar, and water. To make this lemonade-from-scratch recipe, juice the lemons and strain them, use the lemon juice to dissolve the sugar, then add cold water to taste. It’s that simple.
Jul 29, 2024
30 Easy Toddler Dinners the Whole Family Will Love
The struggles of feeding a toddler is definitely a challenge. Toddlers bounce from happy and inquisitive to tired and cranky easily without the capacity to tell us that they are hungry and headed for a meltdown. All of this is to say that after a day, or a week, or even hours of extraordinary emotional highs and lows and generally wrestling a wild, stubborn toddler, you are tired. And you all still need to eat, so having easy toddler food ideas and toddler-friendly dinners on hand is key.
Jul 26, 2024
35 of Our Favorite Sides to Serve with Pizza
It’s tradition to have pizza night once a week at home. Sometimes it’s homemade pizza, other times we order delivery, and, yes, occasionally we put our favorite frozen pizza into the oven and call it dinner. An excellent side dish or salad (and, let’s be honest, a nice glass of wine) can elevate any and all pizza nights just enough to make it feel like a nice meal you planned — rather than one that just saved the day.
Jul 23, 2024
16 Easy Foil Packet Recipes for Camping and Grilling
Foil packets are a busy cook’s best friend. Simply wrap some veggies, a protein, and a sauce in a piece of foil and then take your pick between throwing the packet on the grill, in a campfire, or in the oven. That’s it. Really! The beauty of easy foil packet recipes is that they practically make themselves. Plus, with no pots and pans to wash, foil packet dinners make cleanup a total breeze. So just what can you cook in foil packets? The answer is just about anything.
Jul 18, 2024
35 Ridiculously Delicious Side Dishes to Serve with Ribs
Summer’s here, and that means one thing: it’s rib season! Whether you cook ribs in the oven, in the slow cooker, in an Instant Pot, or on the grill, they’re always the first to go at a summer cookout. While the ribs are cooking, there’s plenty of time to make tasty side dishes that are just as delicious as the ribs themselves.If you’re wondering what to serve to round out the meal, know that there are so many delicious options.
Jul 17, 2024
How To Quick Pickle Any Summer Vegetable
Cool, briny pickles straight from the fridge are one of the simplest pleasures of summer. Quick pickling is also a brilliant solution for preserving a plethora of summer vegetables from the market or your garden. Quick pickling doesn’t require canning or a bushel of vegetables. Best of all, you can adapt this simple formula for any fresh vegetables; try a mixture of vinegars and spices for a truly custom pickle pleasure. Here’s how to make these easy quick pickles in just 20 minutes.
Jul 12, 2024