Everyone has one or two – or 20! – recipes they know by heart. You may have referenced the instructions every time you made it at first, but at some point you’ve memorized the measurements, what it should look like, and exactly what it should taste like when it’s done. It ended up being a standby, your Old Faithful.
Memorize part or all of these 18 recipes loved by readers and food staff alike — the sauce, the technique, or the flavor combinations — and you’ll be able to recreate these dishes or amplify others. However you approach them, you will find that these recipes are unforgettable.
This Kay Chun recipe can be broken down into three components: fried pepper-salt shrimp, a garlicky mayo (for spreading into a top-split hot dog bun), and a little Fresno chiles and cilantro. Best of all, the sandwiches come together in about 15 minutes — and probably last just as long.
The great thing about this over-the-counter recipe from Sam Sifton is that the two-ingredient glaze can be used on just about any kind of thick fish fillet, such as haddock, cod, halibut, or bluefish. If you really like crispy, caramelized pieces, put the fillet under a grill for a few minutes at the end.
Recipe: Roasted Salmon Glazed With Brown Sugar And Mustard
It’s nearly impossible to mess up this Sue Li cucumber salad. It’s really up to you how you balance the ingredients in the one-size-fits-all peanut butter sauce – taste, taste, taste! — and you’d be hard-pressed to overdo it with the salted roasted peanuts. For a peanut-free approach to the sauce, try tahini instead.
The topping in this roasted pumpkin recipe from Tejal Rao — shredded, unsweetened coconut, dried chiles de árbol softened in hot water, and crushed garlic — can be spread over just about any winter squash, but good luck finding a savory scenario where it wouldn’t be a runaway. be hot.
Recipe: Roasted Pumpkin With Coconut, Chili And Garlic
With nearly 9,800 five-star ratings, this easy Florence Fabricant recipe can’t be beat. Simply throw the ingredients into a blender or blend by hand and place in a 425 degree oven for 25 minutes. The result is a blank canvas for whatever you have on hand, whether it’s powdered sugar, that expensive jam you saved for a rainy day, or apples cooked in butter.
Recipe: Dutch Baby
With this recipe from Kay Chun, add finely ground Ritz crackers to all your future meatballs. It’s a fundamental technique that keeps these one-bowl meatballs—seasoned with fish sauce, garlic, and ginger—tender and moist. Serve with rice, salad cups or in your favorite stock.
Recipe: Pork meatballs with ginger and fish sauce
Another day, another technique as a recipe. Instead of peeling, boiling, and mashing your potatoes, this Mark Bittman recipe just requires cutting (with skin, please and thank you). They’re sort of baked in a delicious mix of rosemary, garlic, butter, onions and thyme, then simmered in your favorite stock until infused with all those flavors. Mashing arm, take the day.
Of course, store-bought marinara sauces have come a long way since Julia Moskin brought this Lidia Bastianich recipe to The Times in 2014, but let’s face it: There’s nothing quite like homemade stuff. This recipe originates from Southern Italy, which means no butter and no onions. Just basil, a few good tinned San Marzanos and seven (or more) cloves of garlic.
Recipe: Classic Marinara Sauce
What can’t you do with this herb butter from Mark Usewicz of the Mermaid Inn? Use it to sauté and baste bass, fluke, salmon and all sorts of thick-cut fish, or add it to shrimp, a hanger steak, bone-in pork or a nice lamb rib.
Recipe: Roasted Fish Fillets With Herb Butter
This recipe from Judy Kim gets its telltale spiciness from Sichuan chili oil and a lovely nutty flavor from fragrant sesame oil. Garnish with the roasted shallots you usually save for the green bean casserole on Thanksgiving.
Recipe: Chili Oil Noodles With Coriander
Some mornings call for a quick, comforting breakfast, and these light, crispy waffles from Julia Moskin are here to answer. They go beyond your basic waffle recipe by incorporating tangy buttermilk, nutty wheat germ, and deeply aromatic brown sugar. As one reader points out, you can also brown the butter in this recipe to achieve waffle nirvana.
Recipe: Buttermilk brown sugar waffles
The great thing about guasacaca sauce is that it goes with just about any meat and savory vegetable you can think of. The avocado-based seasoning is used to great effect in this recipe from Yewande Komolafe with garlic chicken and carrots, but it will also complement your favorite whitefish, cast iron steak, potatoes or yams. Will it be guasacaca? Yes it will.
Recipe: Garlic Chicken With Guasacaca Sauce
This very simple recipe—Velveeta, canned tomatoes, and chiles—is a collectible, one where you can buy all the parts in the blink of an eye. That said, don’t be afraid to spice it up with a combination of black beans, cumin, lime zest, or whatever suits your taste.
Recipe: queso
With summer just around the corner (at least here in the Northern Hemisphere), you’ll need a cold noodle salad recipe in your back pocket. The trick with this five-star recipe is to triple or quadruple the slightly spicy peanut sesame sauce so that you only have to cook the noodles and, voila, lunch or dinner in about 10 minutes.
This easy, high-reward recipe from Aaron Hutcherson only requires you to coat your sprouts in honey, red miso paste, and olive oil, then finish them off with a squeeze of lime and a little chopped almonds. Towards the end of the cooking time, pop them into the oven for your favorite roast chicken or other main dish.
Recipe: Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Honey And Miso
For this recipe from Hetty McKinnon, the soy dressing is essential, but the rest is up to you: Fried shallots? Absolute. Kimchi? Yes. Onions on sour? Sounds good. You really can’t go wrong.
Recipe: Silken Tofu With Spicy Soy Dressing
Sometimes you just need something sweet, like now. For that, there’s this five-ingredient shortbread from Melissa Clark. Bakers of every skill level can pull it off, and more than likely you have all the ingredients at home. No fresh rosemary? No problem. Use your favorite spice or simply enjoy your buttery shortbread as is.
Recipe: Rosemary Shortbread
These chocolate and pretzel-studded Rice Krispies treats from Genevieve Ko are a one-way ticket to Sweet-and-Saltyville. They come together in one jar, the contents of which you scrape into your favorite baking pan, and you have a Grade A dessert in record time.
Recipe: Rice Krispies treats with chocolate and pretzels
