How did we ever manage to cook before the arrival of the internet? I suppose we had to rely on cookbooks, cooking tv shows, and knowledge handed down from our grandmothers. Of course, the more daring would experiment in the kitchen, remembering the successes, and mercifully forgetting any culinary disasters.
Nowadays we have a multitude of food blogs offering mouth-watering recipes, suggestions, and vivid photography, sending us straight to the kitchen … or the supermarket. There are hundreds of food blogs to tempt your taste buds.
1. Love and Lemons
Love and Lemons has been created by Jeanine Donofrio and her husband, Jack Mathews (“#1 taste-tester”). The blog’s name comes from the fact that Jeanine loves seasonal food, often finished off with a squeeze of lemon.
Most of the recipes on the site are vegetarian.
The blog was founded in 2011 and has been recognized by prestigious food magazines like Food & Wine, Food52, Refinery29, SELF Magazine, and Oprah Magazine. It was named Readers’ Choice Best Cooking Blog by Saveur Magazine in 2014 and won a Saveur Editor’s Choice award in 2016.
If you are looking for a recipe, you can filter your search by season, holiday, special diet, meal type, or ingredient.
2. Cookie and Kate
Cookie and Kate is all about celebrating good food. Kate is Kathryne Taylor. Cookie is her dog – which Kate describes as a “mystery mutt,” or as a DNA test found, half schipperke and half dachshund/Australian koolie mix.
Kate is a photographer and cook from Oklahoma. She created the blog in 2010 and now works on it full-time.
Like many of the other top food blogs featured here, Cookie and Kate features vegetarian and whole food recipes.
The site makes it easy to search for recipes. You can look for recipes by Course, Cuisine, Diet, Everyday, Ingredient, or Season.
3. Minimalist Baker
Minimalist Baker is one of those sites where the name says it all. It shares plant-based recipes requiring 10 ingredients or less, 1 bowl, or 30 minutes or less to prepare. It publishes a new recipe every three days, with a mixture of savory and sweet dishes.
Dana Shultz is the recipe developer and blogger. She has a deep love for recipe experimentation and food photography. She has even expanded into creating a Essentials of Building a Great Food Blog Course.
Despite the use of the word “baker” in the site’s name, it covers many different types of (predominantly vegan) cooking – sweets, entrees, breakfast, snacks, sides, and beverages.
4. Smitten Kitchen
Smitten Kitchen features delectable images of meals demanding to be eaten. Therefore should be no surprise that Smitten Kitchen has found great popularity with serious food fans.
Smitten Kitchen summarizes itself as being “Fearless cooking from a tiny kitchen in New York City.” It was created by Deb Perelman who obsessed with the intricacies of food and cooking. As she says on her About page, she loves being able to wake and cook whatever she feels like that day.
The recipes are the heart of this site. There is a particular emphasis on stepped-up comfort foods. The site also includes numerous tutorials on topics as diverse as how to poach an egg and how to make tart doughs that don’t shrink up on you.
Deb makes a point of only using commonly available ingredients.
The Recipes page splits all of the site’s recipes up by type, with additional subdivisions for Fruit, Meat, Sweets, and Vegetables.
5. 101 Cookbooks
Heidi Swanson’s 101 Cookbooks focuses on providing healthy everyday recipes. It currently features over 700 vegetarian, whole food, vegan, and instant pot recipes.
Heidi began the blog in 2003 when she looked at her vast collection of cookbooks and decided that it was time to stop collecting and start cooking. She was sick of repeating the same recipes over and over again. She felt it was time to explore the books in her collection.
As Heidi worked her way through her cookbooks, her skills and cooking knowledge improved, and she built her own repertoire of successful recipes.
Nowadays, Heidi chooses and writes about recipes that intersect her life, travels, and everyday interests. Often these are from her cookbook collection, but sometimes not.
Posts/recipes can be organized by categories (e.g., whole grain, vegan, pasta, chocolate, etc), by ingredients, or by season.
6. Budget Bytes
Budget Bytes aims to provide delicious recipes designed for small budgets. It recognizes that we can’t all afford to use expensive ingredients and cook recipes that take hours to prepare. It tries to cater to those with “Instagram taste and a peanut butter budget.”
Budget Bytes is the creation of Beth Moncel. She wants to help people shop, cook, and eat smart. She provides numerous recipes on her blog, along with their cost analysis, preparation time, alternative preparations, and step-by-step photos of each recipe.
Beth has developed six principles to keep her grocery budget low and reduce waste:
- Plan your meals
- Use ingredients wisely
- Portion control
- Don’t be afraid of leftovers
- The freezer is your friend
- Shop wisely
7. Closet Cooking
Closet Cooking chronicles Kevin Lynch’s efforts to cook and develop recipes in his closet-sized kitchen. Kevin found cooking became his passion and obsession in his quest never to eat a boring meal again! Kevin considers it fun coming up with creative ways to serve tasty meals from a small kitchen!
Kevin has developed 2,600 recipes since he began the site. He gives pride of place to a Top Recipes section where he highlights his 100 most popular recipes.
Some of his recent posts include:
- Shawarma Seasoning
- Sicilian Pizza
- Strawberry Lemonade Bars
- Prosciutto Wrapped Mozzarella Balls
- Pan Seared Balsamic Strawberry Chicken and Brie