Recipes

Our 14 Favorite Go-To Websites For Making Home Cooked Meals

By Lauren Ver Hage Thursday, June 04, 2015

Last week, I wrote about my top 10 favorite cookbooks that have taught me to love home cooking. After posting that article we had a commenter ask us to reveal what our favorite online cooking website were, which could serve as cheap alternatives to the more expensive hard (and soft) cover cookbooks. Personally, I’ve spent a ton of time over the last couple of years perusing food blogs — some VERY fancy ones meant for far more experienced chefs than I, and some simpler ones (which are more my speed). I go weak in the knees for beautiful food photography, and I’m always intrigued to see how food bloggers use text, lighting, and unique props to make their recipes sing.

Unfortunately, I do not live inside the picture-perfect world of a food blogger, and a lot of the food that Chelsea and I create doesn’t look as appetizing as the food produced by professional food bloggers — and that’s OK! Although there is a place for food photography on websites (because, let’s face it, food that is poorly photographed doesn’t inspire much confidence in someone wanting to try a recipe) you shouldn’t let the pressure of preparing something ~Pinterest worthy~ prevent you from feeling proud of a home-cooked meal!

Chelsea and I selected our favorite 14 go-to food websites which we use to research the meals we want to cook. We visit these sites again and again because of the success we’ve had with the recipes. What I love about a lot of the recipes found on them (aside from the baking ones) is that they serve as a jumping off point through which you can express your own creativity in the kitchen. Home cooking should be affordable and fun, and you should feel as if you can leave your own mark and creative flair on whatever dish you’re preparing.

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