Year-end lists are somewhat daunting to put together. By December, who even remembers what happened in January? But they’re a chance to look back, to remember the days, months and meals of our recent pasts. Below, our staff members reflect on their most memorable tastes of 2022: some surprising savory recipes, some sweet standbys — all so good they had to be shared.
I probably make a batch of these Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookies every month or so. It is THE BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe — crisp exterior, gooey interior — and having a batch of homemade cookies on hand offsets the fact (in my mind anyway) that I feed my family frozen chicken tenders and crinkle fries on the regular. I use half milk chocolate and half bittersweet chocolate chips, and I like to add ¼ cup of cacao nibs for crunch. MARGAUX LASKEY
The recipe I made over and over this year is Becky Hughes’s vegan Caesar salad. I got my sisters hooked on it and, throughout the year, we would text one another our empty bowls after eating the full serving. It’s the perfect mix of crunchy, savory and creamy and I push it on everyone I know. If there’s one thing you should make, it’s this salad. NATASHA JANARDAN
I can’t even count how many times I made Ali Slagle’s arugula salad with Parmesan for lunch or as a side with dinner. I’m craving it as I write this. I keep shaved or shredded Parmesan on hand to speed up the process, and sometimes I like to add colorful cherry tomatoes, fresh cracked pepper and extra lemon juice to elevate it to a meal. My partner has also made Ali’s chicken piccata for dinner a bunch of times this year. It’s a hot, comforting, flavorful dish that’s ready in only 25 minutes, using many of the ingredients I already have in my fridge. The sauce on this chicken is so amazing that the skillet is always left clean. And we fight to make sure we both get an even amount. It’s that good. CHRISTINA MORALES
Recipes: Arugula Salad With Parmesan | Chicken Piccata
As a new mom back to work with an absolutely darling baby who absolutely refused to sleep, I was as low on spare time as I was on rest in 2022. But Yewande Komolafe’s glazed tofu with chile and star anise brought me so much joy! The recipe is easy on all cooks, and it turns out restaurant-quality results faster than I can figure out a takeout order. I halve the amount of tofu and keep the sauce amount the same when cooking for two, because its complexity is a revelation every time. ALEXA WEIBEL
My most cooked recipe of 2022 was actually a cocktail. Rebekah Peppler’s classic sherry cobbler to be exact. It’s everything I want in a late fall drink: citrusy, not-too-boozy, not-too-sweet! Unfortunately, most of the bars I frequent in New York City don’t keep amontillado sherry on hand — does that make me the weirdo? — so I’ll just have to settle for making this my at-home drink. I highly recommend trying it for yourself! NIKITA RICHARDSON
Recipe: Classic Sherry Cobbler
Impromptu or last-minute lunches, whatever the weather, had me turning to Mark Bittman’s simple carrot soup as a template. I always have carrots in the fridge, and a pound of them quickly turns into lunch for two or three. In summer, I might serve it chilled, in winter hot and vary the seasonings and various garnishes, often adding other vegetables, grains, leftover mussels, perhaps, or yogurt. FLORENCE FABRICANT
Recipe: Curried Carrot and Coconut Soup
Melissa Clark’s banana snacking cake was definitively the headliner of my year. I can’t tell you how many times this perfect, quietly magical five-star recipe swooped in to save me and the browning bananas on my kitchen counter. The cake is tender and just sweet enough, with a glaze imbued with brown sugary molasses flavor. I don’t even like cake, but I love this one. ERIC KIM
I use a lot of celery but rarely enough to use up all that I’ve bought. That, at least, was the case before I discovered Alexa Weibel’s recipe for celery-leek soup with potato and parsley, my new favorite thing to make for casual dinner parties. This was also the year I upped my farinata game. Tejal Rao’s recipe, with roasted mushrooms and radicchio, got me going. I’ve recently adopted techniques from a recipe in “Snacks for Dinner,” by Lukas Volger, which calls for letting the radicchio char atop the farinata as it bakes. BRETT ANDERSON
Recipes: Celery-Leek Soup With Potato and Parsley | Crispy Chickpea Pancakes With Roasted Mushroom Salad
This year, I fell in love with a couple of pasta. First, there was Genevieve Ko’s chile crisp fettuccine Alfredo, which is so simple and so satisfying, filling but never heavy. Genevieve writes that it’s the kind of thing you make quick, when you’re too tired to cook and too frugal to get delivery (which is where I’m always at, if I’m being honest). But when I was feeling a little — just a little — fancier, there was Alexa Weibel’s mushroom ragù pasta, which made every night I cooked it a special one. Lex doesn’t miss, and especially not when it comes to her mushroom dishes, which, in my tiny household, are eagerly anticipated and joyfully received. KRYSTEN CHAMBROT
Recipes: Chile Crisp Fettuccine Alfredo With Spinach | Mushroom Ragù Pasta
This tuna melt from Lidey Heuck is the perfect marriage between a grilled cheese and tuna salad sandwich — ultimate diner food! I’m one of the few people in the world who doesn’t like pickles or dill, so I leave those out. It’s become a favorite that my husband and I make frequently. I also made Ali Slagle’s shrimp scampi with orzo so many times over the past year. It comes together in one pot in less than 30 minutes so it works for a fast weeknight dinner, but it is impressive enough for weekend meals with friends or family. I love its garlicky butter sauce with bursts of lemon and usually serve it with a simple salad or some roasted broccoli. KIM GOUGENHEIM
Recipes: Tuna Melt | Shrimp Scampi With Orzo
This year, I craved one thing more than anything else: chewiness. That resulted in cooking many noodle dishes, consuming copious amounts of bread and keeping a bag of mochiko flour at the ready so I could make Genevieve Ko’s butter mochi whenever the craving struck. In addition to its texture, it’s a showstopper of a dessert, making it a hit at parties. (Watch Genevieve make the recipe on YouTube.) GABRIELLA LEWIS
Recipe: Butter Mochi
I’m always trying to cook different recipes from our database, and I’m extremely bad at sticking to routines, so it’s rare that I cook any dish truly on repeat. But Melissa Clark’s crispy Parmesan eggs managed to break through. I made them constantly this year, sometimes on their own, but more often as part of a simple, pleasantly bitter salad with ample lemon. (When I had some time on my hands, I’d make them as part of Melissa’s salad with radicchio and snap peas.) They’re everything I want in my hyperfixation meals: fast, salty, savory, cheesy and impossible to tire of. TANYA SICHYNSKY
Recipes: Crispy Parmesan Eggs | Crispy Parmesan Eggs With Radicchio and Pea Salad
