It’s no secret that Bon Appétit editors cook a lot for work. So it should come as no surprise that we cook a lot during our off hours too. Here are the recipes we’re whipping up this month to get dinner on the table, entertain our friends, satisfy a sweet tooth, use up leftovers, and everything in between. For even more staff favorites, click here.
January 17
Birthday cake upon request
I made the mistake of asking my son what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday. He was about to turn 12, with what proved to be alarmingly specific ideas that went way beyond a binary decision between chocolate and vanilla. His vision: a reverse chocolate Swiss roll. In other words, a rolled vanilla cake with a chocolate mousse filling, which he went on to state should also have a thin coating of bittersweet ganache. My colleague Kendra Vaculin mentioned she has adapted the chiffon cake base from Shilpa Uskokovic’s raspberry cream cake to use in rolled desserts, and it proved to be just the bendable yet tender base I needed. I also used Shilpa’s instant vanilla pudding mix trick from her Chocolate Swiss Roll, incorporating some cocoa powder (turned into a paste with hot water) alongside the pudding mix to turn the whipped cream filling into a rich mocha brown. The final touch was a drizzle of ganache across the top. While on paper it was a bit of a Frankenstein’s monster of recipes and ideas, it tasted like it had just stepped out of a kid’s dessert dreams. —Chris Morocco, food director
Shortcut arroz caldo
’Tis the season for arroz caldo. This recipe makes a stellar version from scratch, but this week I cheated, using some leftover rice and the second half of a rotisserie chicken. I boiled the bones for about two hours with white and black peppercorns and star anise, plus a bit of celery, onion, and carrot. (I guess making my own stock isn’t really cheating, but I magically had all the stuff and the time. (Boxed stock works too.) After straining, I sautéed aromatics in the same pot, added the rice, some fish sauce and soy sauce, and mixed in the stock bit by bit until it reached a porridge consistency. In went the shredded meat and dinner was ready. Toppings really up the ante, but I only had limes, hot sauce, and canned fried onions on hand. Truly one of the world’s most satisfying foods. —Joe Sevier, senior SEO editor, cooking
Smarter meal planning
I don’t do resolutions, per se. Like so many people, I’d prefer to think I’m always on the road to self-improvement. That said, this year I’m making an effort to meal-plan a little smarter. Instead of depending on sad leftovers, I’m cooking recipes specifically with my workday in mind—including breakfast, an often overlooked part of my day. I remembered listening to an episode of our podcast, Dinner SOS, and hearing food director Chris Morocco wax poetic about Zaynab Issa’s Make-Ahead Breakfast Sandwiches. Convinced these were the things I needed to get my day started on the right foot, I made a batch and have been snagging them from the freezer to reheat in the microwave for about a week now. These sandwiches reheat like a dream and give bodega BEC vibes, without the increasingly pricey markup. —Carly Westerfield, associate manager of audience strategy
A carrot redemption story
No vegetable to me seems as listless as a carrot, omnipresent in every grocery store but incapable of rousing any real desire. Faced with a big bag of them, I searched for inspiration among my rows of cookbooks. None of the first eight books I flipped through highlighted carrots in a lead role, reinforcing my belief that these orange cones are silly. I gave up, googled “carrot soup,” and found myself at this Cook’s Illustrated recipe. I had to read the recipe twice to make sure I wasn’t imagining the lack of aromatics. No shallots, no ginger, not a whisper of garlic. Just carrots cooked down with butter, sugar, thyme, and broth. How bold. I proceeded to make it and, when we sat down to eat, my husband said, and I quote, “Mmm, girl, this is good.” And I admit, it was. A clever technique, simple and good enough that I knew I’d make it again should a rogue band of carrots turn up in the fridge anytime soon. —Shilpa Uskokovic, senior test kitchen editor
The salad that keeps on giving
This warm salad—a member of our freshly dropped 2025 installment of the Bon Appétit 56—is a gift that gives, and gives, and gives. The day after making it, I found myself almost mechanically returning to the fridge on the hour to sneak a spoonful. Chopped broccoli enthusiastically sops up an incredibly aromatic dressing, bright with vinegar and lemon juice, sweet by honey, and fragrant from ras-el-hanout, a Moroccan spice blend. Meanwhile, chewy dates and crunchy pistachios deliver big on the texture front. I subbed in curry powder for ras-el-hanout and toasted pecans for pistachios—and proceeded to deplete the leftovers within the day. —Li Goldstein, associate newsletter editor
This salad puts all the best textures on a spoon: crisp, raw broccoli; chewy, sticky dates; and crunchy toasted pistachios. The ras-el-hanout, a Moroccan spice blend featuring aromatic and warm spices, adds a smoky depth to the bright citrusy dressing, which soaks into the broccoli as it sits. Don’t have ras-el-hanout? Garam masala, baharat, or curry powder will also work. And if you’re a meal prepper, this is a great make-ahead salad—it only gets better with a little time.
January 10
Party-ready dip
Some friends had a New Year’s gathering last weekend, and because I can’t show up to even the most casual hang empty-handed, I made a few little snacks to bring along with me. Not to brag, but I do have a deep bench of bitsy, party-ready recipes to my name and often end up looking to my own back catalog in these instances. This time I blitzed together my favorite dip, a creamy, four-ingredient number featuring spicy giardiniera. Chicago-style, oil-based giardiniera is the key here, for a rich, totally delicious dip—but if you can only find the vinegar-based kind, drain it well and add a drizzle of olive oil to compensate. —Kendra Vaculin, test kitchen editor
Make-ahead egg bhurji strata
After traveling for a month, I was eager to get back into the kitchen and eat some homemade food—so I turned to cookbook author Hetal Vasavada’s Egg Bhurji Strata. The tray bake is inspired by eggs I grew up eating, seasoned with aromatic garam masala, cilantro, and onions. It’s a great thing to pop in the oven to have breakfast ready for the rest of the week. —Urmila Ramakrishnan, associate director of social media
Couch potato dinner
Lots of folks think of winter as soup season, but when the temperatures start to drop, I reach for potatoes. Specifically, I like rich, comforting potato recipes that leave me feeling full, cozy, and ready for a night on the couch. Monday night I put these Papas con Rajas on a few quesadillas Mexicanas—on corn tortillas, fried in butter—after a long day at the office. The brightness of the peppers creates a lovely contrast with the weight of the crema, and the smaller quesadillas make dipping in salsa or guac easier than a crumbly flour tortilla cut into wedges. —Alma Avalle, editorial operations associate
Game-changing homemade pizza
I am pretty sure the latest Bake Club recipe for Incredibly Good Homemade Pizza ranks up there as being one of my most beloved BA recipes. Trust me when I say this is the one-stop pizza dough recipe to have in your arsenal. No longer do I need to Frankenstein a few different recipes to create an easy pliable dough that will be ready for me tonight (or later this weekend). Senior test kitchen editors Jesse Szewczyk and Shilpa Uskokovic achieve a wood-fire-style crust by first crisping the dough on the stovetop, then finishing it under the broiler. This ingenious move imparts the smoky char flavor that we pay the big bucks for at fancy restaurants. That this recipe also happens to produce a chewy, lofty crust is an added bonus. I have made this pizza no fewer than five times already, and it doesn’t look like I’ll be stopping anytime soon. —Hana Asbrink, deputy food editor
January 3
Quick chili with slow-cooked flavor
When the weather gets below a certain temperature, soup becomes my entire personality. Gingery chicken noodle, creamy wild rice soup, and hearty chilis all feel like a warm hug on cold days. Test kitchen editor Kendra Vaculin’s White Chicken Chili falls into that last category, and I’ve made it at least six times since the recipe was published last year. This time I double-batched it and added an extra can of beans to bulk it up. I love how this recipe uses pantry ingredients like canned green chiles to build bold flavor. It tastes like it’s been simmering for hours, when in reality it only takes 40 minutes. A scatter of corn chips (Fritos, please) are nonnegotiable. —Urmila Ramakrishnan, associate director of social media
Frozen blueberry scones
Americans have a complicated relationship with scones, but living in Scotland for a few months taught me to love them. In Edinburgh they were oversized, craggy, and never ever dry—which is what I chase after whenever I try a new recipe. That said, after making Rebecca Firkser’s Blueberry Scones, I may never try another formula again. They were crisp-edged, with a layered and buttery crumb and just sweet enough. Rebecca calls for fresh blueberries; I swapped in frozen blueberries and raspberries because that’s what I had. No need to thaw—the chilled fruit keeps the grated butter (a genius trick) nice and cold. With a strong cup of coffee, this was a glorious breakfast. And lucky for me, there were extras for an afternoon snack with tea. —Emma Laperruque, associate director of cooking
A vegetarian showstopper
The assignment: Make a kitschy dish for a holiday celebration with friends. The result: this showstopping Carrot Wellington. I roasted ripely sweet carrots until fork-tender and blitzed half of them with jammy shallots, walnuts, and cheese. The other half were kept whole and doused in honey and curry powder. I slathered the filling onto a rectangle of puff pastry and placed the whole carrots in a zigzag pattern on top. Carefully maneuvering the dough, I rolled it up over the carrots, then placed the log in the oven. Once it was golden, I transferred the Wellington onto a bed of curly kale and served it alongside parsley yogurt dip. Naturally, oohs and ahhs commenced. —Nina Moskowitz, associate editor of cooking
Satisfying sesame noodles
Most nights I cobble together a meal using elements from a few of my favorite recipes. Recently, I paired Jessie YuChen’s warm creamy sesame noodles with roasted broccoli and red cabbage slicked in a sesame and olive oil combo. Jessie’s noodles are extremely versatile—I easily swapped soy milk for the oat milk I always keep on hand and skipped the yuba, instead stirring in cubes of silken tofu just before serving. When I found I was ¼ cup short on rice wine, I made up the difference with a bit of dry vermouth. To serve, I piled the charred togarashi-seasoned vegetables over the saucy tahini noodles for a dinner that was both wholesome and satisfying. —Joe Sevier, senior SEO editor, cooking
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