Our 57 Most Popular Recipes of 2020
You cooked your way through 2020. You chopped and stirred and baked your way through exhaustion, burnout, and fear, through loneliness and grief. You scrambled to get quick dinners on the table, and you kneaded dough during long, slow days in isolation. You moved your meals outdoors and onto Zoom. You reevaluated your grocery budget, practiced pantry-focused pastas, and learned how to make your own drinks. You simmered lentils and preserved lemons and sought comfort in every meal. The Epicurious archives have tens of thousands of recipes—and we publish new ones almost every day—but this year, your clicks converged. Below, in no particular order, you’ll find the 57 most popular recipes on the site in 2020—the dishes you searched for and cooked over and over.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova2/56Salted-Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
If cookies helped you get through the year, it's quite possible they were these chocolate chip cookies, which are equal parts chewy and crunchy. (We all made a lot of other cookies, too.)
Leo Gong4/56Bagels
You probably know at least one person who got into baking sourdough this year—but Epi readers made a lot of bagels, too. This recipe from Peter Reinhart is a go-to—we also have a bagel troubleshooting guide here.
Photo and Food Styling by Joseph De Leo5/56Sourdough Biscuits
If you took on responsibility for a sourdough starter this year, you likely found yourself with lots of discard. But don't toss it! Instead, bake these tender, tangy biscuits, which our editor Joe Sevier uncovered in an old church cookbook.
Photo and Food Styling by Yekaterina Boystova6/56Sourdough Crepes
Another great option for using up sourdough starter: these tender, tangy crepes, which our site director says are way better than any sourdough pancakes.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Michelle Gatton8/56Old-Fashioned
Getting cocktails to-go is a great way to support your struggling local bars (if it's allowed where you live). But this year has also been a big one for making drinks at home. This classic whiskey cocktail is a great place to start. (And then, you can begin riffing.)
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone9/56Peruvian-Style Roast Chicken With Tangy Green Sauce
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson10/56Simple One-Skillet Chicken Alfredo Pasta
For many, 2020 was a year of juggling. Simple one-pot dinners helped. The chicken, sauce, and pasta for this dish all cook in the same pan. You can add broccoli, mushrooms, herbs, or chipotle at the same time that you stir in the Parmesan.
Ma'ayan Rosenzweig12/56Homemade Yogurt
If bread baking wasn't your project of choice this year, you might have been busy making fresh yogurt instead. Homemade yogurt is wonderfully creamy and requires very little specialized equipment. (We also have a recipe for making yogurt in the Instant Pot, in case you've got one of those hanging out on your counter.)
Photo by Travis Rainey, Prop styling by Sean Dooley, Food styling by Kaitlin Wayne13/56Easy Banana Bread Recipe
Banana bread became a bit of a punch line this year—it seemed like everyone on Instagram was baking a loaf. This recipe is really the ultimate: nutty, sweet, and supremely moist. It's one of our favorite quick breads to have around the house for breakfast—and mid-day nibbling.
Photo and Food Styling by Anna Stockwell14/56Lentil Bolognese
It was a great year for beans and lentils—especially if you made Anna Stockwell's big-batch marinated lentils, which can turn into this hearty pantry pasta, or a soothing way to use up the celery that's starting to flag in your fridge.
