• mzgourmand on March 29, 2021

  I have tried several of Sam Sifton's recipes from the NYT's (incredibly lucrative) online recipe database. The NYT online presence was Sifton's brainchild and I use it and appreciate it. However, in terms of Sifton's actual recipes: I have never made one that worked. Never. And I am a pretty good cook. Siftonn may be a marketing genius and a decent writer, but that does not a good chef - or even more importantly - good recipe-writer make. Now he is now taking Mark Bittman's recipes - "tweaking" them a bit - and adding his name as recipe author which I think is a shoddy & shameful way to build your chef/recipe-writer credentials.

• MollyBelle on March 26, 2021

  Buy. This. Book. I love that there are more no-recipes in the book I want to cook than not. I've used it every night since receiving to make some of the best dinners we've ever had. Do not miss the 'Chicken with Caramelized Onions and Croutons' is a must. The 'Barbeque Shrimp, New Orleans Style' couldn't be simpler. The 'Sauted Greens and Soy Sauce Rice' is now a lunch staple. The 'Seared Lamb Chops and Lemon with Buttered Potatoes' is on the list for the weekend. And try the 'Peanut butter, Sriracha and Pickle' sandwich! To summarize, if I could possibly try, what makes this book so different is it guides you to cook, rather than following a recipe.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Fried egg quesadilla

  • alecreid on May 27, 2023

    One of go breakfast option. Good for one or many. Substitute whatever cheese you have. They all work. Guacamole, salsa and hot sauce all on the side

• Brown butter tomato salad [Gabrielle Hamilton]

  • mjes on October 08, 2021

    This salad is inventive (i.e. there isn't a recipe for it in every other cookbook), simple, and compatible with many other dishes. With a nice collection of heirloom tomatoes in differing colors, it can be impressive as well. I liked this very much and will use it frequently.

• Fried halloumi with cucumber salad [Julia Moskin]

  • maria_uaaaf6 on July 30, 2025

    This is on page 64!

• Kale salad with cranberries, pecans, and blue cheese

  • MarshaG on August 03, 2022

    Can sub romaine for kale.

  • donireedw on April 02, 2025

    This is on page 66.

  • emily_4k034p on March 19, 2026

    YUM!! My fiancee is not normally a kale person but loved this salad - so did I. Very easy to switch out the mix ins and I will make it again for sure

  • KatieK1 on March 19, 2026

    Can also be found through paywall at: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020002-kale-salad-with-cranberries-pecans-and-blue-cheese?algo=identity&fellback=true&imp_id=3546879144595873&req_id=7586011698944093&surface=cooking-search&variant=0_relevance_reranking

• Braised kale with paprika

  • Ezair92 on October 08, 2023

    This was quick and easy and very good. The flavors all worked nicely together

• Grilled broccoli with soy sauce, maple syrup, and balsamic vinegar

  • Astrid5555 on August 27, 2021

    Way too sweet for our taste, there are better broccoli side recipes out there.

• Miso-glazed eggplant with a bowl of rice

  • emily_4k034p on March 25, 2026

    My fiancee really loved this but personally I wish the miso flavoring had pierced the eggplant more

• Roasted sweet potato salad

  • emily_4k034p on February 23, 2026

    miso butter sweet potatoes are the best thing from this book and that’s all you need to know

• Kitchen sink rice and beans

  • cheffreddie on June 08, 2025

    I made this with all the suggested ingredients (just added some ground coriander) and we really loved it, especially the use of pickled banana peppers as a cooking component - never would have occurred to me to use them as anything other than a topper, but it added so much liveliness to the dish. One thing I would change next time is to skip Sam's suggestion to use the liquid from the canned beans. I found this made the dish too salty for my personal preference, so I'll probably rinse them and add water myself next time.

  • emily_4k034p on March 19, 2026

    this was fine? I think I’d zhuzh it up a bit more if I make it again

• Curried beans and rice

  • emily_4k034p on March 25, 2026

    I personally did a cup of rice but would either do less rice or more beans next time

• Weeknight fried rice

  • things.hannahlikes on January 16, 2026

    Easy, quick guidelines.

  • things.hannahlikes on April 25, 2026

    Just enough guidance to help

• Soba noodles with tofu and kimchi

  • ccav on April 05, 2022

    Used less chili flakes and augmented with sriracha. Instead of hoisin, used Japanese bbq sauce which worked well. Made extra sauce to coat tofu and noodles. Good with broccoli and mushrooms. Served with soft boiled egg and kimchi. Try with miso/soy eggs next time! Variation 2: Mirin, juice of small blood orange, Trappy's hot sauce, Japanese BBQ sauce, toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, Bragg's liquid aminos, and sweet & sour mustard, sliced scallions

• Pasta with chickpeas and a Negroni

  • emily_4k034p on March 23, 2026

    I’ve been making a variation of this dish from several different cookbooks & this is by far my fave, Negroni not included lol

• Pasta with sausage and Parm

  • emily_4k034p on March 19, 2026

    We had this for dinner last night & I was dreaming about the leftovers. I’m not a sage girl normally but this slapped

• Amatriciana on the fly

  • Logan92995 on February 20, 2023

    Pretty good, but nothing mindblowing. The recipe itself is basically just homemade pasta sauce with onions over spaghetti. Will say that the recipe note suggestion stating the need for half an onion per serving seemed a little excessive. I cooked this for a serving of 4, which would have required 2 full onions. I used just one, and even that made the sauce a little bit too onion-y. The bacon was a nice addition, however.

• Fettuccine with ricotta and a fistful of mint

  • cookingalice on May 26, 2026

    It was really good, and you honestly don’t need many ingredients. The ricotta is stirred until smooth with shallots, fresh fragrant mint, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil. I could have eaten that mixture by the spoonful all on its own. I can also imagine it being great spread on buttered bread or served with boiled potatoes.

• Crab Rangoon burgers [Paul Urban / Jessica Urban, Block 16]

  • Nkrieda78 on May 21, 2021

    As written, a four. I added scallions to the topped and steamed a crab cluster instead of doing canned. Sweet and sour could be amazing on this.

• Cod cakes with greens

  • Bessp on July 18, 2024

    I made these with salmon and gluten free matzos and added lemon zest, otherwise I followed the recipe. Served with a Japanese restaurant style salad. Next time I might add some capers too. Very quick, easy, tasty. A good weeknight meal.

• Broiled fish with mayo and mustard

  • Melissa_427 on August 14, 2024

    Incredibly easy and absolutely satisfying. Didn't have any quality mustard in the house so opted for bright yellow mustard and seasoned the mix with a little garlic, dill and crushed peppers. Served with a lemon and feta orzo dish from Ina Garten.

  • Ezair92 on April 02, 2025

    So easy and it turned out excellent I tried it with grouper

• Salmon with barbecue sauce and hot peppers

  • emily_4k034p on February 23, 2026

    Eh. It was fine but nothing special.

• Easiest chicken teriyaki

  • shapije1 on April 21, 2026

    The chicken is simple enough for a weeknight meal, but not very exciting or tasty. I suspect this recipe might work best with a lighter soy sauce (the one I used was a bit too fermented/salty for the sauce).

• Roasted chicken Parm

  • shapije1 on April 18, 2026

    Threw this together when needing a quick chicken dish for dinner, and was able to make this with pantry staples on hand. Super easy and very comforting—it likely won’t impress dinner guests, but it’s a family crowd pleaser.

• Smothered pork chops

  • Nkrieda78 on April 20, 2021

    Ok, not great, not terrible for basically a pantry meal, but mediocre.

  • alecreid on May 27, 2023

    Meh….even with an overabundance of strong spices (smoked paprika, pepper flakes, etc), the taste was only average. The chops were juicy, so maybe braising overnight. But in this incarnation, it doesn’t work

• Hasselback kielbasa

  • shep0012 on April 18, 2026

    I’ve made this many times and we love it for a fast dinner. Everything can be subbed—any kind of chicken sausage works, cabbage instead of peppers, honey-mustard for glazing, etc.

• Curry beef

  • Dollhouse_Cuisine on January 27, 2023

    Recipe directions don't allow enough time for proper cooking of beef stew meat (so it was quite tough).