• swayingoak on October 12, 2022

  Made the baked sweet potatoes with crème fraîche. Delicious! The lime zest really made this dish even better, so don’t skip. Will definitely make this again.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Magic 15-second creamy scrambled eggs [Mandy Lee]

  • ljl1989 on June 12, 2025

    I can see what these are going for - the texture of soft scrambled egg without the waiting - but I really did not enjoy these. Made the first time as written, with tapioca starch. The recipe calls for a tablespoon of butter per egg - I adore butter, but that amount of fat really overpowers the eggs. Tried once more with two tablespoons of butter per three eggs and it was...fine. But I much prefer the texture of traditionally soft scrambled eggs with a less overwhelming portion of butter.

• Pimentón fried eggs [Christopher Hirsheimer & Melissa Hamilton]

  • Lepa on February 15, 2024

    This was such an easy- and delicious - upgrade to my morning fried eggs. I suspect I will be making this all the time. Genius recipe, indeed!

• Cocoa almond oatmeal [Samantha Seneviratne]

  • KCKB on December 23, 2022

    This is tasty, I will make it again, but next time I will start with only about half as much cocoa powder and increase it to taste - I would prefer the chocolate to be a little lighter so that the almond can stand out more.

  • bernalgirl on May 15, 2026

    This was tasty if a little rich for breakfast. Because I like oatmeal, I would halve the cocoa powder and possibly just swirl some almond butter across the top as a garnish, but I would make this again!

• Tahini pistachio granola [Jenné Claiborne]

  • Lepa on October 17, 2022

    I like this because it's not too sweet but the other members in my family are loyal to the granola recipe in the original Food 52 Genius Recipes book because it is sweeter and tastier.

  • Feelingsamtastic on December 09, 2022

    Super easy to make. Perfect level of sweetness (not too sweet), my kids loved it too! Made it with cashews in place of the pistachios

  • emusro on November 03, 2023

    I served this at a simple brunch and it got rave reviews (a friend even went and bought oats and tahini afters). I made 1.5x the recipe and had to cook it longer to get dry. Used pecans and pepitas as I didn't have pistachios.

• Avocado tartines with banana & lime [Apollonia Poilâne]

  • Wende on January 22, 2023

    I was drawn to this recipe primarily because it came from Apollonia Poilane, and I had the ingredients on hand. It's a bit of an odd combo and I honestly wasn't expecting to like it half as much as I did. But I thought it was surprising good and certainly good enough that I would happily make it again.

• Lofty buttermilk pancakes [Dana Velden]

  • Kelli_L on March 25, 2026

    Our go to pancake recipe

• Glorious croissant bread pudding [Shilpa Uskokovic]

  • hbusig on April 02, 2024

    Made the salted honey version in December. The raspberry/chocolate version over the weekend. The salted honey version was my favorite. If I make the choc/rasp again, I will decrease the amount of sugar by at last 1/4 if not 1/2, decrease the amount of chocolate by half, and maybe double the berries, as well as mix both chocolate and berries throughout.

• Chickpea soccata with tomatoes & kale [Ria Dolly Barbosa]

  • rmardel on January 01, 2023

    I thought this was fabulous. The texture is not at all like socca, the chickpea pancake, which is lighter and fluffier, but it is complex and delicious. I made mine in a long can ape-type loaf pan rather than a standard loaf pan, and the distribution of kale to tomato to chickpea batter was perfect. It is important that the soccata chill overnight or you will not be able to slice it. Once sliced and browned, the combination is magic, soft, crunchy, bitter, tart, sweet. Something I will make again.

• Caramelized cream smashed potatoes [Aki Kamozawa & H. Alexander Talbot]

  • bernalgirl on December 13, 2022

    Not just genius but magic. The caramelization is wonderful. I added Greek oregano, black pepper, and onion powder to punch up the flavors a bit, I think these lend themselves to any seasoning that can handle the cooking down with the cream. 8/2024: also excellent with a masala stirred into the cream to go with S. Asian food.

• Buttermilk-marinated roast chicken (AKA chicken for tomorrow) [Samin Nosrat]

  • bernalgirl on December 13, 2022

    I could probably start and end by saying my Jewish MIL, a wonderful cook and daughter of a wonderful cook, said this is the best roast chicken she’s ever had. I don’t have roast chicken mojo and this came out wonderfully moist and flavorful throughout, with that beautiful burnished skin. Definitely a genius recipe.

• Farro & olive salad [Heidi Swanson]

  • bernalgirl on October 26, 2023

    Full of umami goodness, forgiving of substitutions — I used oil cured black olives and toasted chopped almonds and found this completely addictive. Leftovers stored well and were fantastic tossed with crisp romaine lettuce.

  • Jviney on November 06, 2024

    Delicious. I used 3/4 lb of brined and smoked olives, and I think that was a good ratio. Very very good.

• Shockingly easy no-knead focaccia [Sarah Jampel]

  • colinary on April 23, 2026

    Eeva bday sandwich

• Canh [Andrea Nguyen]

  • Feelingsamtastic on December 26, 2022

    Super simple, shocking amount of flavor for such few ingredients.

  • rmardel on December 31, 2022

    Excellent soup with minimal ingredients. Once you can make this simple soup, all other variations on Canh, or many other soups, just come down to gilding the lily. A good place to start if you are new to or nervous about Vietnamese soups.

• Soy-seared tofu [Andrea Nguyen]

  • rmardel on December 31, 2022

    Good technique for those times when you don't have time to actually press tofu, but need something firmer and more substantial than what comes out of the package. Delicious. Texture is somewhere between pressed tofu and tofu in its natural state. Flavor is quite good, probably depending on the soy sauce used.

• Pad Thai [Kris Yenbamroong]

  • brokencup on October 30, 2024

    This is really tasty and really quick. Short ingredient list too. For me, it ticks all the boxes.

• Tiny pasta with tender herbs, chickpeas & yogurt [Sohla El-Waylly]

  • janetjanetjanet on April 12, 2026

    Had low expectations but turned out delicious. More flavour than expected. Added some tom paste and chili flakes. Instead of herbs, added frozen spin at the end. I’m not a huge soup person, esp not a brothy chickpea soup person but would remake!

• Skillet lasagna [Kathy Brennan & Caroline Campion]

  • bernalgirl on December 16, 2022

    My family called this Jenky Lasagne. Need I say more? Yes, because last month’s deconstructed lasagna, Cheesy baked pasta with tomato, sausage, and ricotta from Dinner in One, was genius. This is not genius. It is a quick meat sauce with pasta and cheese. Not the same. And honestly I’d rather have properly salted pasta and one more pot than worry if the noodles are cooking — they were still too firm for my Little, not overly al dente but firm on the way to gummy from too little liquid. Feh.

• Slow-roasted salmon (or other fish) [Sally Schneider]

  • Lepa on January 19, 2023

    This was just okay. The fish lacked flavor and even though the thermometer showed it was cooked it had an off-putting slimy texture in the middle. While I normally like roasted salmon this one probably won't be a repeat.

  • rmardel on February 14, 2023

    Excellent technique, timing easily adjusted for preferred level of doneness. The timing is easier with a larger piece of salmon. Technique will work with any seasoning, but with something so simple, quality of ingredients becomes paramount.

• Magic spice-rubbed salmon [Eric Kim]

  • bernalgirl on August 04, 2025

    Even decreasing the brown sugar this blend was not to my taste. I wanted more salt and black pepper and possibly Aleppo or Urfa chile.

• Sheet-pan gnocchi with chili crisp & baby bok choy [Hetty McKinnon]

  • Lepa on December 13, 2022

    My husband and I LOVED this quick and easy dinner.

  • bernalgirl on December 27, 2022

    I really wanted to like this but while we loved the texture of the sheet pan gnocchi, the dish is rather bland. I didn’t think the sour cream sauce complimented the dish, I might make again with Chinese ginger scallion sauce like the one in the Momofuku cookbook

• Pork shoulder ragù (AKA the instant dinner party) [Andy Ward & Jenny Rosenstrach]

  • bernalgirl on May 02, 2023

    This truly is a great recipe for feeding a crowd. I add tomato paste, Italian seasoning and chile flakes to boost the flavor.

• Sheet-pan roasted mushrooms & greens [Millie Peartree]

  • bernalgirl on December 07, 2022

    While this is exactly the sort of thing I like to eat for lunch over brown rice, and the mushrooms are more hands-off than sautéing, I’m not sure this rises to the level of genius. I did all the optional things, cranberries and pickle brine, and next time would eliminate the cranberries and use the full measure of olive oil and pickle brine. It’s an easy lunch or light dinner.

• Roasted butternut squash & red onion with tahini & za'atar [Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi]

  • VegasCook37 on February 24, 2026

    Topped with pomegranate seeds and cilantro. Cut up the squash in cubes and added onion after 20 minutes. Great layer of flavors and textures. Most difficult thing is cutting up the squash. I did peel the squash. A version is on NYT app with more comments and variations

• Baked sweet potatoes with maple crème fraîche [Nik Sharma]

  • Lepa on October 27, 2022

    I was really wowed by this recipe. It's so simple and healthy but the flavors are amazing. Everyone in my family liked this (even though they aren't so keen on sweet potatoes).

  • jenmacgregor18 on September 03, 2023

    This is good for something different. I subbed the sour cream and used 1/2 the fish sauce.

• Honey-sautéed spinach [Yi Jun Loh]

  • Jviney on November 13, 2022

    This is a great idea, with a lovely subtle sweetness to it. Such a quick, simple way to make use of a bag of CSA spinach.

  • Feelingsamtastic on December 21, 2022

    Got my four year old to love spinach! Super simple, with just a slight sweetness. Definitely adding to the weeknight rotation

• Blueberry-thyme yogurt cake [Dorie Greenspan]

  • bernalgirl on December 14, 2022

    I followed the recipe replacing thyme with French four-spice. It has a tender crumb despite the new-to-me technique of stirring the oil into the batter after the flour. its an easy quick loaf and time I’d cut the sugar to 3/4 cup.

  • Feelingsamtastic on January 26, 2023

    Left out the thyme and used the cupcake/jam variation. flavor was really bright and lemon-y and super easy to make. The kids really enjoyed - would make again! May consider reducing sugar, as the adults found them a little overly sweet

  • GaryCooks on May 07, 2025

    This is probably one of my all time favorite desserts. I absolutely loved it the first time I made it. The citrus and blueberries were made for each other. I made it once before with rosemary as I didn’t have fresh thyme. Today, I didn’t have a lemon so I used the zest of 1/2 orange, but did use fresh thyme. I think I prefer the combination of the lemon and rosemary. I used a 9X5 pan, so baked it for 50 minutes and it was perfect (last time I went for 55 and it was a little too much). Next time I think I’ll add an additional 1/2 cup of blueberries on top of the batter after adding it to the pan to (1) have more blueberries near the top of the cake and (2) just because I love the blueberries!

• Peach galette [Benjamina Ebuehi]

  • skvalentine on August 01, 2023

    I would cut back on the ginger powder next time-- it was too much for my taste. Otherwise, this turned out beautifully!