Notes about Recipes in this book

• Pressure-cooker chicken noodle soup

  • MeganGarcia on October 05, 2018

    Excellent flavor especially for the short ingredient list and minimal effort involved.

• Red lentil soup with North African spices

  • Partyof7 on August 25, 2018

    Very fast and easy. The herbed butter drizzled on top takes it over the top. Yum

• Chicken and sausage gumbo

  • Shewi128 on October 30, 2023

    This was my first homemade gumbo, so I have nothing to compare it to. It was fairly straight-forward to follow. The only problem I had was browning the flour in the oven. When I stirred it, it spilled on the bottom of the oven. It definitely made the roux and gumbo very brown. With hot sauce, it was a great warming dish!

• Farmhouse vegetable and barley soup

  • Partyof7 on March 28, 2023

    Had high hopes but it’s completely mediocre. Bland even with some of the herbed butter recommended. Too bad. I may try bacon and cheddar with the second bowl.

• Foolproof vinaigrette

  • hbakke on June 29, 2020

    This was simple to make and nice to add to some spring mix lettuce for an easy salad. I would make this again.

• Pasta frittata with sausage and hot peppers

  • Shewi128 on October 06, 2023

    This was a really interesting recipe. It tasted like an egg dish, so it was like, is this breakfast or dinner? I have made frittata before, but never with pasta. I increased the sausage, but I would also increase the peppers as well. It got nice and crispy on the bottom. I would make this again if I have angel hair pasta lying around.

• Skillet chicken pot pie with biscuit topping

  • Kouture007 on December 20, 2011

    Kevin liked it

• Pressure-cooker pot roast

  • hbakke on October 01, 2019

    I used chicken broth instead of beef broth because it was what I had. I didn't tie up the roasts either. The meat I used was very fatty and the fatty bits weren't easily removed. It still turned out very good. This is a delicious and quick recipe for pot roast. I would make this again with some steamed veg on the side since all the vegetables get blended to make the gravy.

• Best chicken stew

  • Shewi128 on July 11, 2023

    If you want a hearty beef stew, but made with chicken, this is the recipe for you. It's hearty, thick, and meaty. The one annoying thing is that they tell you to throw away the chicken wings. When they cooled down, I took off the meat from the bone. This is delicious comfort food.

• Chicken pot pie with savory crumble topping

  • Shewi128 on November 07, 2023

    I cooked this as a make-ahead version where I made the filling the day before, then heated it up in the oven with foil on top the day of cooking. I also heated up the topping at the same time, then cooked as instructed. The flavor was more interesting and deep compared to normal chicken pot pie. The kids didn't love it due to the mushrooms, but they finished their servings.

• Tonkatsu sauce

  • Shewi128 on May 08, 2024

    This was easy to throw together for homemade tonkatsu sauce. I'd use this recipe again, but maybe decrease the amount because we ended up having extra.

• One-hour broiled chicken and pan sauce

  • eliza on March 15, 2018

    This was on the program recently so I thought I would give it a try. A 3-4 lb chicken is butterflied and then placed in a hot pan and broiled. My chicken was almost 4 lbs so I went with the slightly longer cooking time. Even so, my chicken wasn't completely cooked and had to go back in for an additional 10 minutes. By this time the breast meat was slightly overcooked. If I make this again, I would add about 5 minutes to the stovetop time before putting it in the oven. On the plus side, the taste was good and I enjoyed the pan sauce/gravy with the addition of thyme and garlic.

• Turkey gravy

  • Kouture007 on January 13, 2013

    Can be made ahead.

• Quick all-purpose gravy

  • hbakke on March 16, 2020

    Having never made a remotely decent gravy, this turned out better than I had hoped. I would make this again, but with a few changes. I would make this in a dutch oven (the large saucepan I used was too small for the amount of vegetables) and cook the flour longer for a better colored/flavored gravy. It did need a good amount of added salt at the end to offset the sweetness of the carrot (or onion possibly?).

• Thick-cut pork tenderloin medallions

  • Kouture007 on December 20, 2011

    Bacon-wrapped version is fabulous.

• Pan-seared oven-roasted pork tenderloins

  • Fyretigger on July 09, 2023

    Very good cooking technique, producing a well browned, but evenly cooked tenderloin. Everything else is in the sauces and sides.

• Garlicky lime sauce with cilantro

  • Fyretigger on July 09, 2023

    It's good, but the prep is a little time consuming for the results. I doubt I will make it again.

• French-style pot-roasted pork loin

  • Foodiewife on January 07, 2018

    Definitely a bit of work, but it looks gorgeous for entertaining. Definitely loved the flavor of the sauce and wouldn't change a thing.

• Herb-crusted salmon

  • GaryCooks on May 07, 2025

    This was “OK”. I made it as stated, but didn’t brine it and simply baked it for 10 minutes. The breadcrumbs browned perfectly after 4 minutes. I didn’t have fresh tarragon so used 1/3 of 1/4 cup of dried. This had a decent flavor (the mustard and herbs; it had a little bit of a bitterness but maybe because of the dried tarragon). Nothing to get excited about, but a pleasant dinner. This was from the 2001-2022 book (not indexed yet) p261

• Braised halibut with leeks and mustard

  • Rinshin on January 11, 2017

    Not bad, but I believe this can be better. Followed the recipe completely but for my taste, the halibut was bit on the dry side. I did like the reduced white wine based sauce along with cooked leeks but would have liked a more mustard taste. Next time I either reduce the amount of time fish poaches/braises or reduce the temp from 135 to maybe 120. Another method I might try is making the sauce ingredients separately along with leeks and using the aluminum enclosed packet of halibut and sauce ingredients for more tender fish and baking it.

• Creamy chipotle chile sauce

  • Acarroll on January 27, 2024

    I was looking for a way to use leftover chipotles in adobo and this was perfect. I didn't have sour cream so I doubled the amount of (vegan) mayo. I also doubled the amount of chipotle, garlic, and cilantro. Was perfect served with crab cakes.

• Cincinnati chili

  • Shewi128 on September 20, 2023

    I made this again after trying it several years ago. The flavor is quite unique, and our whole family liked it. I did use ground turkey, which made the sauce more watery. So, if you plan on doing the same, you'll have to reduce the sauce a little longer if you want it thicker.

• Black bean burgers

  • Amycado on April 12, 2023

    Good flavor, good consistency, and everyone enjoyed them!

  • Logan92995 on August 22, 2023

    These were great, and the chipotle mayo was a good topping! Plus, super easy to make.

• Oven-fried onion rings

  • jumali on September 22, 2011

    A bit time consuming, but tastes very good.

• Pasta with creamy tomato sauce

  • Acarroll on December 24, 2023

    Omitted the cream because we served this with a rich mushroom/cheese/truffle ravioli. The flavors in the sauce itself were divine.

• Classic shrimp fra diavalo

  • Shewi128 on May 13, 2024

    Ok, so this was our first time flambeeing anything, so that part was less than perfect. But, this recipe was amazing. Very garlicky but also light. I used petite diced tomatoes which fit our texture preferences. I also used a technique that ATK posted online about tossing shrimp with baking soda prior to cooking to keep them from getting rubbery, and it worked great. We rarely eat shrimp, but I'd make this again.

• Sausage meatballs and spaghetti

  • Shewi128 on August 14, 2023

    Cross-posted: Surprisingly tender and good. They are definitely more fennel-heavy, so you have to like fennel for this recipe (you could decrease if you want). I used Italian-flavored ground turkey instead of Italian sausage, and I forgot to put in the shredded parmesan into the meatballs. However, the meatballs held together really well and were very tender. The sauce was light enough to not clash with the Italian flavored meatballs. I'd highly recommend!

• Deep-dish pizza with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil

  • Partyof7 on April 06, 2024

    Crust was very thick which was distracting from the toppings. P really wanted a tomato sauce, not diced tomatoes.

• Ultimate grilled pizza

  • Shewi128 on July 10, 2023

    Cross-posted: The technique for this recipe takes a couple of tries to get it right. The effort it takes is worth it for the tender and chewy crust. However, I did a test of oven baked pan pizza versus thin crust grilled pizza, and almost everyone liked the pan pizza more, so... keep that in mind while you're juggling the oily crust from the pan to the grill.

• Italian vegetable stew (Ciambotta)

  • ecasey830 on October 06, 2019

    Labor-intensive but worth it

  • Partyof7 on September 04, 2022

    So so delicious!! But even with my largest equipment, too hard to double. Made it for a teachers luncheon and they loved it!

• Chicken Marsala

  • Fyretigger on December 16, 2022

    This book contains 2 versions of the recipe. I used the original, but prepared the cutlets as in the 2nd, salting and resting them. I also made some adjustments for family tastes (double mushrooms and garlic). I used a quality bottle of sweet Marsala. It came out fantastic, the equal of any I’ve had in a restaurant. Some members of the family found it a little too sweet, I next time I will try using dry Marsala.

• Better chicken Marsala

  • Fyretigger on April 14, 2025

    An excellent, restaurant worthy version of this classic. True to its name, better than ATK’s previous Chicken Marsala recipe, but “better” is more involved; both recipes are in the book. One improvement between the two recipes is dry marsala versus sweet, the difference akin to a too sweet dessert versus one where you want a second serving.

• Walkaway ratatouille

  • Shewi128 on August 21, 2023

    Cross-posted This was my first time making ratatouille, so I didn't quite know what to expect. This method was fairly easy, and I did like the various textures in the vegetables. It didn't end up pretty--the sauce was a little brown--but the flavor was good. The recipe was easy to follow. My husband doesn't like eggplant, so I don't know if I'd make it again, but I thought it was nice.

• Butternut squash galette with Gruyère

  • estanzler on October 04, 2024

    We really liked this. I put in a lot of effort to make sure the spinach was dried out and didn't have any issues with the crust getting soggy. I increased the amount of cheese too.

• Spicy pork tacos (al pastor)

  • Shewi128 on June 04, 2024

    5/5 stars. Undoubtedly some of the best homemade tacos I've ever made or eaten. The method of the chiles, the sauce, the braising, then the grilling.. is all a bit tedious. But man, these were good. Also, unless you don't like pineapple, increase the pineapple! I think what would've make this recipe A++ would have been a small amount of cabbage slaw for some crunch. We added chopped onion, but just a little slaw would have been nice. One person remarked that these were like taco truck tacos, and I definitely took that compliment to heart. Trust me, these are worth the work.

• Mexican rice

  • hbakke on February 26, 2020

    This turned out well. I liked the jalapeno and cilantro added at the end. I would make this again.

• Huevos rancheros

  • Shewi128 on July 31, 2023

    Cross-posted: This was my first time making huevos rancheros. I thought that the recipe was really easy to follow with good results. The tomatoes and vegetables were highly flavored from the large amount of chili powder. It easily fed 4 people with some leftovers. I'd definitely make it again.

• Potstickers with scallion dipping sauce

  • love2laf on February 10, 2010

    Excellent flavour and cooking method for the wontons. I still find my patience worn thin by making so many little nibblies. The dipping sauce was only average though.

• Thai pork lettuce wraps

  • love2laf on February 03, 2010

    One of the few recipes I can't think to make an improvement on. After one bite, I stopped caring about the messiness of serving this way, and just dug in.I did not use pork tender loin though, I used pork shoulder, and I used my grinder instead of the food processor.

  • SACarlson on June 15, 2019

    I did the same thing. I put pork shoulder through my meat grinder. I love this recipe--so easy and so delicious!

• Hot and sour soup

  • djoh437938 on July 11, 2011

    this recipe is so good, had to go to a japanese market to find it, it is worth it, totally.

• Stir-fried beef and broccoli with oyster sauce

  • Kouture007 on January 13, 2013

    Everyone's favorite.

• Stir-fried portobellos with ginger-oyster sauce

  • jumali on September 22, 2011

    Tastes good but not worth the mountain of prep work and cleanup.

• Thai-style grilled chicken with spicy, sweet, and sour dipping sauce

  • MeganGarcia on March 27, 2019

    This was delicious even though I couldn't find chicken breasts as small as specified. I served it with steamed jasmine rice and sauteed snow peas fresh from the garden. The sweet and sour dipping sauce was great with the rice as well. The rub was easier to put together using a food processor for the garlic and cilantro.

• Grilled Thai beef salad

  • SACarlson on June 28, 2019

    The ingredient proportions in the dressing recipe are all off. There are better recipes for Thai beef salad out there, so I would skip this one.

• Indian-style spinach with fresh cheese (Saag paneer)

  • Fyretigger on August 23, 2021

    Makes a restaurant quality Saag Paneer.

• Grilled spice-rubbed chicken drumsticks

  • chawkins on June 20, 2023

    I brined mine for an hour and skipped the cayenne in the spice rub. Quite tasty.

• Almost hands-free risotto with Parmesan and herbs

  • Shewi128 on October 17, 2024

    The result were really good despite the easier method to make risotto. I'd definitely use this method again.

• Simple Israeli couscous

  • Shewi128 on September 12, 2022

    Make sure you stir while it's cooking covered. The couscous ended up slightly too tender, so watch the cooking time.

• Fluffy omelet

  • Shewi128 on March 27, 2023

    I don't know what I expected, but it ended up exactly as described: very fluffy. It was like "cloud eggs" if you've ever had those. I did not enjoy this omelet texture at all.

• Classic banana bread

  • GaryCooks on March 26, 2025

    This was OK - not bad, just OK. Very mild banana flavor (I used 3 very ripe bananas), dense, and slightly moist - not “wet”. Made as stated. Sides were very dark and very crisp. Wouldn’t make again as I like other banana breads better (my favorites are from the Williams Sonoma and Midwest Made cookbooks).

• Oatmeal muffins

  • Shewi128 on May 22, 2023

    Another good muffin recipe with perfect texture and oat flavor. Of note--you do have to let the batter rest for 20 minutes. I also had to cut out pecans due to food allergies, but I increased the oats in the streusel. I would make this again.

• Fresh corn cornbread

  • Acarroll on January 02, 2024

    Solid basic cornbread. Veganized it by using vegan butter and a combination of soy milk/lemon juice/cider vinegar for buttermilk. Picky kids loved it!

• Easy sandwich bread

  • Shewi128 on May 08, 2023

    I was pleasantly surprised how good this bread was. It also sliced up nicely. I'd make this again, especially when I'm feeling lazy and don't want to shape bread or rolls.

• Classic chocolate chip cookies

  • Tweety134 on June 01, 2026

    Directions very easy. Taste was great

• Cream cheese brownies

  • chawkins on September 14, 2015

    Very good fudgy brownies. I baked them in my counter-top oven a lot longer than the recipe stated, but then I adjusted the temperature and time for convection baking, I probably did not have to do that. From their television shows, their ovens seem to be convection.

• Cider-glazed apple bundt cake

  • damazinah on October 07, 2024

    Wonderful cake! Very apple-y, and although it's a bit of work, it's so worthwhile!

• Applesauce snack cake

  • Analyze on March 12, 2019

    This is SO good! The base cake has a wonderful apple flavor and a great texture. I tried both this recipe, and the Oat-Nut Streusel variation. My husband, who doesn't normally like oat streusel or sweet quick breads, loved the streusel variation. I actually preferred this original version with the cinnamon-sugar topping, as in my opinion it complements the apple flavor in the cake better, and actually makes the cake taste more apple-y. You can't go wrong with either version, or try half and half like I did :) I already have several apple cake recipes that I love, and didn't think I needed another, but I did! I'm excited to try the ginger-cardamom version next. Personally, we had it for breakfast, but this would be great with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream too.

• Cream cheese frosting

  • hbakke on September 23, 2019

    Delicious! I made this exactly as written and it worked well with a strawberry cake.

• Spice cake

  • damazinah on December 06, 2020

    Fantastic flavor! I took a star off, however, because of the directions. No way is a cake in a 9"x13" pan going to be done in 35 minutes at 350°. Experience told me that it'd still be soupy in the center, and it was. I added another 10 minutes to the baking time.

• Strawberry cream cake

  • mamacrumbcake on September 05, 2017

    The good: the cake is beautiful and impressive. The strawberry filling is delicious. (Don't omit the kirsch.) Just about everyone will enjoy it. The bad: Twice I've made this and twice the chiffon cake didn't rise as I had expected, though I followed the directions to the letter. I wonder if greasing the cake pan is the problem? Most other chiffon cake recipes say not to grease. Anyway, I'm not thrilled with the cake layer and in the future might substitute a different layer. Also, I didn't love the cream cheese whipped cream, but I was the exception.

• Simple chocolate sheet cake with milk chocolate frosting

  • Partyof7 on April 19, 2023

    Wow! This sheet cake looks so basic, but it is incredibly delicious. My teenage boys devoured it! It will be a go-to dessert. So easy to transport too.

  • Shewi128 on May 16, 2023

    I made this for my daughter's birthday based on another reader's positive review. The cake was pretty easy and delicious. The frosting was simple, but it was definitely like a light ganache as it wasn't very sweet. I'd make this again, but there are too many other chocolate cake recipes to try.

• Flourless chocolate cake

  • Nancith on April 24, 2017

    This garnered rave reviews with our dinner group! Dense, fudgy, deeply chocolate & decadent. However, even with using 9" rather than the preferred 8" pan, the baking time had to be almost doubled before it got to the correct temperature for doneness. It was still quite jiggly even after cooling to room temp, but the time in the refrigerator firmed it up perfectly. Being in a bit of a hurry to serve it, we couldn't figure out why it was so hard to remove a piece, until I remembered the parchment paper! Don't forget to remove that!

• Tiramisù

  • Partyof7 on March 18, 2024

    Perfectly delicious and easy to make! It does need the full 5 hours in the fridge to have the ladyfingers blend in. My family thought the rum flavor was overpowering. On subsequent times I halved the rum to great results, or I subbed an equal amount of Kahlua to excellent results.

• Best butterscotch pudding

  • Analyze on March 25, 2017

    HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! I made it side by side with the older "Butterscotch Pudding" published by the same company in the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, and this one was SO much more flavorful. Because you end up cooking the caramel to a deeper color/flavor, it turns out a better pudding with WAY more intense flavors; it also has more rich ingredients (more butter and cream). The older ATK recipe (while good) is incredibly mild by comparison (kids might like it better). If you do make this amazing recipe, I'll add that we personally preferred it without the rum, though it's good with the rum too.

• Blueberry cobbler

  • jumali on July 26, 2010

    An excellent recipe! The blueberries were the perfect consistency--neither too runny nor too thick, and the cornmeal added a great texture to the biscuit. I'll definitely make this again.

• Chocolate cream pie with Oreo cookie crust

  • Slapeti on February 10, 2026

    Used dairy-free half n half and worked fine.

• Roast chicken with warm bread salad

  • Shewi128 on June 13, 2023

    This chicken earns the award for the crispiest skin I've ever made. I could not believe how crispy it got. I don't eat chicken skin, so it was lost on me, but I'm sure others would enjoy it more. The chicken took a little longer to cook than the 40-50 minutes, so be sure to use a thermometer. Also, some of the bread was definitely soggy, but I think the point was to have some crispy and some soggy bread pieces..? The flavor was fantastic, and I loved the salad. The dressing was very unique with white wine vinegar and currants (I had to use golden raisins instead), but it complemented the arugula quite well. This recipe would be worth making again!

• Next-level chicken piccata

  • Fyretigger on February 22, 2023

    So juicy and succulent! Great flavor. Restaurant worthy results with weeknight dinner ease of execution.

  • Partyof7 on February 26, 2023

    Very delicious! I substituted veal (with much shorter cooking time) with excellent results

• Crispy tacos (Tacos dorados)

  • Rinshin on February 15, 2025

    I love crunchy tacos, and these were very easy to make. I used the microwave to warm the tortillas in a tortilla warmer instead of the oven method, which cut out a few steps. Adding some cheese to the cooked beef mixture provided just enough glue to hold the tortillas lightly closed while frying in shallow oil. The spices used for the beef mixture worked well, adding a light smoky flavor. I didn't brown the tacos as much as the ATK version

• Pane Francese

  • Shewi128 on May 01, 2023

    I have been waiting to try some of these techniques in Bread Illustrated--like using the lava rocks in pie pans--for years. I even bought a linen couche to up my bread making game. The bread turned out great--the crust wasn't as crispy as I would like, but I don't have a professional oven. Speaking of my oven--the day or two after I used the lava rocks, my oven's glass cracked and broke. It could have been the uneven heat from the rocks. Sadly, I won't be trying that particular technique again.

• Ultimate flaky buttermilk biscuits

  • hbakke on March 22, 2020

    These were a bit fussy, but turned out well. I used salted butter which made the biscuits a little too salty. I would cook them on the middle rack next time because the scraps I put on the middle rack got more rise than the actual biscuits on the upper rack.

  • Rinshin on August 29, 2020

    Most incredible biscuits made. I have made these several times now and fold, spread more times than directed. As long as the final shape for cutting is 8 in square to make 9 biscuits, this recipe makes fluffy moist in the middle, nicely flaky on top with beautiful layers. It is not hard to make but takes more time than drop biscuits. Photo added.

• Brazilian cheese bread (Pão de queijo)

  • Fyretigger on January 29, 2023

    My first attempt at making these was a miserable failure. Mistake 1: Recipe calls for Tapioca Flour/Starch. I had Cassava Flour on hand. Knowing they are the same plant, I did a bit of internet research and was lead to believe they can generally be used interchangeably -- well... not in this case. Don't substitute! Mistake 2: My Parmesan and Romano were on the older side and dried out. Measuring by weight, I ended up with a massive amount of grated cheese. Use fresh cheese! Results: Between the two mistakes I got beautifully golden brown bread cannon balls. For any Terry Pratchett fans, I think I made my first foray into Dwarven Weaponized Baking.

• Indian butter chicken (Murgh makhani)

  • Fyretigger on August 23, 2021

    Very nice Butter Chicken sauce. Easy and freezes well.

  • Fyretigger on August 23, 2021

    Flavorful. Definitely superior to jarred simmer sauces. Not particularly difficult to make. I'm definitely adding to my rotation. I did use ghee for the sautéing, but finished with cold butter.

  • Delys77 on November 25, 2021

    This was great. I got the recipe from the site (pay wall) and it is likely to be my new recipe for butter chicken as it is a bit lighter but still offers good results fairly quickly.

• Chicken under a brick with herb-roasted potatoes

  • Shewi128 on February 04, 2022

    I cooked this with a 5 lb chicken instead of the 3 lb in the recipe, so it took a lot longer to cook. I was worried about the potatoes overcooking, but they still turned out great. The whole meal looked professional!

• Oven-roasted chicken thighs

  • Shewi128 on February 23, 2022

    Very easy method to cook chicken thighs and get crispy skin!

• Nut-free chewy granola bars

  • Shewi128 on February 20, 2023

    Wow, this was really good! I skipped out on the sesame seeds for flavor preferences, and I added some leftover dried cherries and cocoa nibs. The bars felt lightly sweet from the brown sugar and pureed dried apricots. You couldn't really tell the sweetness was from dried fruit. I will definitely make these again.

• Cast iron 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.

• Ultracreamy hummus

  • Fyretigger on August 02, 2023

    As written, this is too strong on both lemon and tahini. I ended up making a double batch to take that edge off.

• Classic shrimp fra diavolo

  • Shewi128 on May 13, 2024

    Ok, so this was our first time flambeeing anything, so that part was less than perfect. But, this recipe was amazing. Very garlicky but also light. I used petite diced tomatoes which fit our texture preferences. I also used a technique that ATK posted online about tossing shrimp with baking soda prior to cooking to keep them from getting rubbery, and it worked great. We rarely eat shrimp, but I'd make this again.