• eliza on January 12, 2018

  I used their method to season a brand new skillet using flax oil. This proved to be quite straightforward and worked well. I made an omelet the following day and there was no sticking at all!

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Filets mignons with peppercorn cream sauce

  • stef on August 16, 2017

    Cooked the filet just the way we liked it. Our go to recipe

  • clawsgirl on November 25, 2016

    A+ all around. The steaks were perfect (although I did take them off at 110, since my boyfriend prefers his steak as rare as possible), and the sauce was easy and delicious.

• Middle Eastern-style lamb pita sandwiches

  • stef on October 14, 2022

    The lamb patties and yogurt sauce were very good but the 8" pita bread is way too big. Everything sank to the bottom. Will go with smaller pita breads.

• Crisp-skin salmon with honey-lime sauce

  • babyfork on March 02, 2016

    The wild Pacific salmon I used was very tasty, but the skin had been removed already by the fishmonger, so I didn't use the book's technique for crisp-skin. I just cooked it as I usually would in my cast iron skillet. My rating is really for the honey-lime sauce. Very good over the salmon...Dan especially liked it. Had run out of cayenne pepper, so used Aleppo pepper instead.

  • Liz_Young on October 16, 2022

    Cook times as listed were too long for me. The crispy skin was good, but alot of the skin stuck to the pan. The sauce was delicious. Result: will use the recipe for the sauce again, but not the salmon itself.

• Teriyaki chicken thighs

  • mamacrumbcake on September 17, 2019

    This resulted in chicken that was dense and firm, with somewhat flabby skin, not the “crisp skin and juicy meat” of the recipe description. I’m skeptical about the merits of weighing the chicken down with the Dutch oven. The Dutch oven seemed to act as a cover, causing the chicken to stew in its own juice, rather than to become crisp. Also, the Dutch oven, weighted down with cans, seemed to squeeze all the juices out of the chicken. It was acceptable but not great. The teriyaki sauce, however, was delicious. PS I did not experience the sticking mentioned by sscholl and clawsgirl.

  • clawsgirl on November 25, 2016

    The dutch oven I used for weighing down the chicken was a couple inches smaller than the one that they used for this recipe, and so not all of the skin got pressed into the skillet. The recipe was a bit frustrating, because it was absolutely delicious, but I had several problems with it. The biggest problem was that the chicken kept sticking to the pan. Maybe it was because I was using chicken thighs that had very recently been defrosted and probably had some moisture still on it. Maybe I simply need to add more oil. Either way, that ultracrisp skin promise only came to fruition on a couple of the thighs. However! The sauce? Divine. Absolutely delicious. I plan on cooking this again to see if I can fix the sticking problem.

  • sscholl on January 27, 2019

    The previous reader is right, the Dutch oven thing was tricky, but in my case because the rendered grease splashed out of the skillet and risked creating a fire. Keep watch on it and pour out most of the grease if this starts. Mine didn’t stick too badly but I let them be - there’s a little window between undone and burnt when meat releases. You can kinda smell it. Having said that, two of my thighs did burn a bit :/ I’d make this again, though. It was really delicious.

• Chocolate chip skillet cookie

  • mamacrumbcake on February 23, 2018

    This was ok. It was a bit dry. I was hoping for a gooier cookie.

  • clawsgirl on November 25, 2016

    I have made this recipe at least 20 times since getting this book. It is the deliciousness of their chocolate chip cookies, but made easier. This monster sized cookie tastes exactly as you want a chocolate chip cookie to taste. The slices keep really well in a tupperware too, not that you'll often have leftovers with this recipe.

  • Foodiewife on March 13, 2016

    How can anyone improve a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe? By baking it in a cast iron skillet! While still warm, these cookies are a deadly addiction. They are buttery, with a crispy bottom. They are also really easy to make. Serving it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream sounds good, but I think it would be too rich. One small wedge (I cut them into 16 pieces) was very rich.

  • ldholakia on October 03, 2021

    We have made this many, many times and it always turns out. Much easier than making individual cookies, and it is a hit with kids who get excited about one giant cookie. Leftovers keep well in Tupperware.

• Cinnamon swirl bread

  • clawsgirl on November 25, 2016

    It is not even fair how gorgeous and amazingly tasty this bread comes out for the effort put in. I don't even have a stand mixer, meaning I had to knead it by hand, and it was still by far worth the effort. It is delicious, interesting and engaging to make, and is SUCH a centerpiece. I've taken this bread to parties several times now, and people are always so impressed. Must must make.

• Hot fudge pudding cake

  • clawsgirl on November 25, 2016

    Really simple, really easy to whip together. Makes an awesome hot shareable dessert. Only issue is that it dirties several bowls at a time.

• Blueberry pie

  • clawsgirl on November 25, 2016

    So, I really wanted to make a pie, but did not want to make pie crust because I don't have any devices to make it easier (food processor, stand mixer, etc). And so I made this recipe using storebought pie crust. One word: don't. The filling is amazing, and I could eat it all day. It was actually pretty hilarious to taste this well rounded, juicy yet thick blueberry filling and then taste the chemical filled, barely flaky, stick to the roof of your mouth crust next. Seriously, this recipe is awesome. Everything you'd want in a blueberry pie. Just make sure to use homemade pie dough.

• Pour-over peach cake

  • clawsgirl on November 25, 2016

    I tested this recipe with fresh peaches. The cake itself was delicious and well seasoned. However, when it came to release the cake from the skillet, it became a mess. I acknowledge my own responsibility in this, because I definitely struggled holding the still hot skillet with the wire rack against it. Maybe next time I make it, it won't fight me coming out. Even though I couldn't bring it to serve at a party like I had intended to, the broken bits were absolutely delicious.

• Southern-style cornbread

  • clawsgirl on November 25, 2016

    Tasted dry and muted. Definitely will test again, but not a good prognosis so far.

• Brown soda bread

  • clawsgirl on November 25, 2016

    Tasty and easy. Would be perfect to service on the side with a hearty stew. Does go stale quickly, which isn't surprising given the lack of preservatives.

• Cinnamon buns

  • clawsgirl on November 25, 2016

    Dangerously easy. Super tasty, couldn't tell the difference between these and the ones that took a day and a half.

• Cast-iron skillet calzone

  • clawsgirl on November 25, 2016

    VERY disappointing. Tasted fine, but not worth the effort.

  • Shewi128 on January 10, 2020

    This is a huge calzone that feeds my family of 4 for 2-3 meals. We love it, and it may be highly dependent on what you put in the calzone.

  • taste24 on June 11, 2020

    This was very delicious the first night, fresh out of the oven, but lacked a little leftover (it was dry). Not too difficult with the store bought pizza dough. I used extra pepperoni and omitted the sausage.

  • BrendaD1962 on August 09, 2023

    We were also disappointed with this. I have better calzone recipes. Won’t be repeating.

• Crisp roast butterflied chicken with rosemary and garlic

  • clawsgirl on November 25, 2016

    There was nothing really wrong with this recipe. Butterflying isn't hard to do with a good pair of poultry shears, and flipping the chicken is made quick work with metal tongs. It's just that the pan drippings weren't used at all, and really couldn't be since they had all but burned off. If you're going to butterfly a chicken, use their recipe for high roast chicken over potatoes. It is a much better application of butterflied chicken.

• Sausage lasagna

  • clawsgirl on November 25, 2016

    My boyfriend absolutely loved this lasagna, said it was the best one I had ever made him, and I've done several of ATK's versions. It feels a little fussy, but making a lasagna always is. I appreciate the fact it's made in one pan, which is one of the issues with traditional lasagna: it dirties every pan! My only issue with this recipe is that the size of the skillet dictates the size of the dish, which means less leftovers than normal. C'est la vie.

• Classic roast chicken with lemon-thyme pan sauce

  • clawsgirl on November 25, 2016

    This recipe is easy and delicious. The most challenging part is not burning your hands while placing the lemon cut side down in the hot skillet. The sauce isn't amazing, but it is good. I plan on trying this recipe with a brined bird to see what a difference it makes.

• Skillet macaroni and cheese

  • clawsgirl on November 25, 2016

    This is the best and easiest mac and cheese recipe I have ever tried. It's delicious, only takes about 15 minutes, and there's no hard to find ingredients or crazy sauce to make. Better, it's only one dish.

• Skillet macaroni and cheese with ham and peas

  • clawsgirl on November 25, 2016

    I've done this recipe with peas, and I love it. The peas give it a nice textural contrast among the gooey cheesiness. Great recipe.

• French toast casserole

  • anya_sf on June 27, 2021

    Regular (not potato), sturdy white sandwich bread worked fine. I made 1/2 recipe in a 9" skillet, which served 3. Since this doesn't get assembled ahead of time, I wasn't sure the custard would be evenly absorbed by the bread, but it was. We enjoyed it with a little maple syrup, but fruit compote would be even better.

  • Kag2020 on May 22, 2022

    Excellent recipe prepared exactly as written. Definitely a keeper.

• Steak tips with mushroom-onion gravy

  • KitKatCat on November 30, 2019

    Tasty, we enjoyed it over noodles

• Baked pepperoni pizza dip

  • breakthroughc on January 23, 2022

    This was a fun appetizer and party idea. It is very impressive coming out of the oven and people want to dig into it. The only change I would make is that it calls for 3 ounces of pepperoni and I had a 5 ounce package and I would just use the whole package. It would take a lot of pepperoni to be too much.

• Indoor barbecued chicken

  • breakthroughc on March 13, 2021

    Great recipe, love this method of cooking chicken. I used 8 chicken thighs which fit snugly in the pan. 30 minutes was perfect.

• Lamb meatballs with yogurt sauce

  • breakthroughc on March 13, 2022

    These meatballs have great flavor. They are not the prettiest meatballs as they are vey soft and hard to not mangle while frying. I will try reducing the water by a Tablespoon next time. The sauce is good with them. They were devoured at our monthly cocktail night with friends.

• Rustic Italian loaf

  • breakthroughc on May 30, 2023

    I ended up with a very decent loaf of bread. We are recovering from Covid are still on quarantine and were out of bread. I was looking for a recipe using a kitchen aide dough hook as I was not up to kneading bread for 10 minutes. There is a serious direction issue with this recipe which is surprising for ATK. It directs you to heat 12 ounces of beer, 4 ounces of water and 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a 2 cup measuring cup in the microwave to 110 and then stir in the yeast. Guess what??? When you stir warm beer and yeast it foams like crazy and your kitchen smells like a fraternity house. On the second try I used a 4 cup measuring cup with much better results. I weighed my flour and added 5 additional Tablespoons to get it to come together. I will bake it 5 minutes longer next time as it is slightly under done. I will make again as it is easy and good.

• Rosemary focaccia

  • Shewi128 on July 19, 2022

    This turned out well despite me misreading the instructions. The oil should read 5 TB, divided. I added it all into the dough at once, leading to a very sticky dough and me having to add a ton of extra flour. However, it still turned out really good. I would make this again as it was pretty easy.

• Smoked turkey club panini

  • Shewi128 on April 21, 2021

    These turned out really well! The bread was nice and crusty. I decreased the amount of mayo with sun-dried tomatoes, and I wish I hadn't. Don't forget to put the tomato oil on the bread.

• Baked ziti with charred tomatoes

  • Shewi128 on March 14, 2023

    This was not a memorable recipe but an easy weeknight recipe. Plus, it only used one pan. The sauce ends up being fairly thin. One thing I would recommend is making sure the tomatoes get more charred for more flavor and make a thicker sauce. I would make this again, especially during the summer with fresh tomatoes. Edit: I made this again, and I cooked the noodles 2 minutes longer, and that helped thicken the sauce.

  • Liz_Young on April 22, 2024

    This was okay, not great. Too little sauce, too much pasta for us.

• Pork tamale pie

  • Apepin on January 13, 2022

    Everyone liked this, even though I undercooked the topping a bit. Next time I'll wait for it to brown all over.

  • sharone7 on May 25, 2021

    This was fine but a little bland. I'd try a different recipe before I used this again.

  • Liz_Young on March 09, 2024

    Bland -not as good as I thought it would be.

• Chicago-style pepperoni pan pizza

  • BrendaD1962 on July 15, 2023

    We weren’t a fan of this pizza. I used the dough in the recipe and it ended up more like a cracker than pizza dough, however, maybe I cooked it too long. Way too much sauce (I should have listened to my instincts and used less). Just ok. I have too many good pizza recipes that I won’t bother with this one again.

• Pull-apart garlic rolls

  • LittleLemon on September 03, 2022

    SO good! My family absolutely loved these! I had zero issues with this recipe. They turned out exactly as pictured. I would not change a thing.

• Southwestern-style chicken and biscuits

  • Liz_Young on December 08, 2023

    This was really good, one of those recipes where the flavor is built in layers. But OMG! It took forever to prep the ingredients, cook the chicken, make the sauce (stovetop), make the biscuits, and then bake it all in the oven!!! I think the issue is that the focus of the recipe writers was to do it all in one pot. If I make this again, I will do some steps in parallel and use multiple pots. Maybe do the biscuits separately in the oven.

• Big and fluffy lemon-dill biscuits

  • vegabond2016 on April 14, 2024

    Delicious! Absolutely will make again.