Recipes & Food

ChefSteps is here to make cooking more fun. Get recipes, tips, and videos that show the whys behind the hows for sous vide, grilling, baking, and more.

ChefSteps is here to make cooking more fun. Get recipes, tips, and videos that show the whys behind the hows for sous vide, grilling, baking, and more.

My method isn't exactly traditional, but it's a surefire way to guarantee homemade bagels that stay fresh long enough to enjoy them a few days in a row. They're chewy but tender, with a blistered crust that's eggshell thin and perfectly crisp. The trick is to pre-cook a portion of the flour and water on the stovetop, which improves browning and moisture retention and leads to bagels that won't turn into bricks overnight.

The perfect margarita is all about fresh, crisp flavors, with tequila barely tempered by triple sec and lime. After testing all the ratios, this is the one we reach for.

The wonderful thing about saag paneer—the Indian staple of greens and fresh cheese in a creamy sauce—is that, in my experience, it's almost universally loved by vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. But what if we wanted to make a completely dairy-free version, so that vegetarians, meat-eaters, and vegans can all enjoy a meal together? This recipe recruits the power of cauliflower, a variety of greens, and marinated tofu to do just that.

I'm a fan of goulash in all its forms, and there are many. But in the winter months, the version I'm after is the rich, hearty, rib-sticking Hungarian-American version, made with big chunks of beef, carrots, and potatoes in a stew flavored with onions, garlic, peppers, and plenty of great paprika.

Radishes are usually thought of as a raw-only vegetable, but they're delicious roasted, too, which tames their spicy flavor considerably. Here, they're roasted until tender and bursting with juice, then tossed with melted butter and fresh herbs.

Chinese hot pot is truly communal: Not only do you sit down to eat with all your companions, you cook the food together in the same pot of broth. This recipe will get you started, with one pot of simmering broth, tasty homemade shrimp balls, two flavorful dipping sauces, and lots of ideas for what else to cook in the pot.

What is dulce de leche? While often called Mexican caramel, it's based on the Maillard browning of dairy rather than the caramelization of sugar. That may sound like a technicality, but it gives dulce de leche a sweet and mellow, toffee or butterscotch-like flavor without the bitterness associated with caramel (i.e., burned sugar). Traditional methods made with fresh milk can take seven hours or more, while starting with a can of sweetened condensed milk drops the time down to two to three hours. It's a no-fuss approach to this rich and creamy sauce.

These thin and crispy chocolate chip cookies have a big, butterscotchy flavor and an earth-shattering crunch. A blend of raw cane sugar and light brown sugar give them a bold flavor and golden brown color, studded through with chocolate morsels. Their slim profile and delicate texture come from using a food processor to combine the dry ingredients with cold butter, for a uniquely textured dough.

Add one piece at a time, and you'll have the kitchen of a pro before you know it.

Homemade nacho-style cheese sauce is within your reach. With this easy recipe, you can make your own gooey, creamy, cheesy dip for nachos, fries, and more.

For an updated take on this classic combination, cook your broccoli like steak, turn food scraps into a punchy garnish, and then add gooey cheese.

How to make perfect oatmeal from scratch.

This recipe works whether you want to pre-soak the oats for quicker-cooking overnight oats or just want to cook them up from scratch. It's still a simple bowl of oatmeal, but it tastes like a lot more.

If you think snickerdoodles are simply cinnamon sugar cookies, think again. Properly made, they have crispier edges and chewier middles, with a rich and tender crumb beneath their shimmery crusts. Once upon a time, those qualities came from cutting butter with hydrogenated shortening, but virgin coconut oil does a better job: Its subtle aroma heightens both the cinnamon and the vanilla, while helping the snickerdoodles stay rich, moist, and chewy.

This is not everyday pizza. It's not every-week pizza. It might not even be every-month, if you want to live to a reasonable age. But damn, is it good pizza. So good that it's worth a trip to Detroit just to taste it. So good that it's worth devoting months of time, weeks of research, and dozens and dozens of experiments to developing a recipe to duplicate it at home. So that's exactly what I did. Here's what I found.

Japanese Milk Buns are known for their distinct milky taste and their soft, melt in your mouth texture. Delicious on their own or with butter or jam.

Spanish Bread are soft bread rolls that are filled with a sweet, buttery paste, dusted with bread crumbs and baked to golden perfection.

Debate rages over the correct way to make a classic Roman amatriciana sauce of cured pork and tomatoes. We tested all the variables to come up with this ideal version, which packs a delicate heat, gentle black-pepper spice, sharp Pecorino Romano cheese, and the intriguing interplay of sweet-tart tomato sauce and rich, fatty cured pork.

Just as with scrambled eggs, the method by which the eggs are heated and stirred is the primary factor that determines what kind of omelette you end up with. This is my basic technique for diner-style omelettes with large, tender, browned curds and plenty of space for fillings.

A classic French omelette has a smooth, silky exterior with little to no browning that cradles a tender, moist, soft-scrambled interior. The technique for making one is something every cook should learn—as long as you know these key steps, it's easy.

As with scrambled eggs, there are two major types of omelette: the hearty, big-as-your-face, fluffy diner-style omelette, and its refined French cousin, the tender, pale-yellow variety, gently rolled like the world's most delicious cigar. And, as with scrambled eggs, the method by which the eggs are heated and stirred is the primary factor that determines what you end up with. Today I'm showing you my technique for diner-style omelettes.

Much simpler than a classic soufflé, this omelette soufflé is cooked in a skillet on the stovetop, and it requires little more than eggs, cheese, and an extra couple minutes to beat the whites.

This decadent vegetarian side dish proves steaks and chops aren't the only things worth cooking in brown butter.

There's a lot of advice on which coffee grinder is best, but it often fails to take into account the drinker in question. We've done our homework to give you the best recommendation for your needs.

Learn about blue cheese in the Kitchen Dictionary - Genius Kitchen: Talk with your mouth full

This silky-smooth spread is as thick as creamy peanut butter, but packed with the caramelized flavor and aromatic spices of Belgian speculoos.

This dish is basically an omelette mashed up with one of those layered crepe cakes, with scallions and soy sauce interleaved between each layer. And while that might not sound particularly exciting, it is, when eaten with a bowl of plain steamed rice, an example of culinary alchemy on the same order as a sandwich made from good bread, prosciutto, and butter.

Tacos may not seem like the kind of food that you should assemble an hour before eating, which is why I've never thought of them as a particularly good potluck dish. But that's because, until recently, I'd never encountered tacos de canasta, a special variety of taco sold by bicycle vendors in Mexico that are made in advance and get better as they sit. This is the potluck taco you've been waiting for.