Claire Saffitz
Contributing Editor
A former senior food editor at Bon Appétit, Claire Saffitz was the host of the popular series Gourmet Makes before leaving the company in 2020. She is the bestselling author of Dessert Person and What's for Dessert and currently hosts a companion series to her books on YouTube, also called Dessert Person. After graduating from Harvard University, she received a master’s degree in culinary history from McGill in Montreal and then studied pastry in Paris at École Grégoire Ferrandi. She lives in New York City with her husband and two cats. dessertperson.com
Recipes
One-Skillet Roasted Sesame Chicken Thighs
Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are the dinner gods’ gift to home cooks everywhere. Each one is its own perfect portion of crispy skin and juicy meat that’s pretty impossible to overcook. Just make sure you cook them thoroughly on the skin side first to render out as much of the fat as possible and ensure maximum crispiness.
Recipes
Roasted Cauliflower With Capers and Parmesan
This is how vegetables can crisp and caramelize, and not slowly steam and turn to mush.
Cooking
How to Make Pasta That's Truly Restaurant-Worthy, in 5 Easy Steps
At restaurants, those noodles get coated in a silky, glossy sauce—the secret is an emulsion of fat, pasta water, and cheese. Here are the 5 key steps to replicating that at home.
Recipes
Rigatoni with Sausage, Beans, and Greens
Our favorite and best method of making pasta—the same one the pros use in restaurants—is one in which the pasta finishes cooking in a glossy sauce made by emulsifying cheese into the pasta cooking liquid. It’s so easy and good it might change your life (or if not your entire life, then definitely your weeknight pasta game).
Recipes
Pesto Potato Salad
To test boiled potatoes for doneness, use a skewer or the tines of a fork rather than the tip of a knife so you know they’re truly tender (a knife slides through the flesh way too easily). To test boiled eggs for doneness—wait, you can’t! Just make sure the eggs are room temperature when you drop them in the water (otherwise they’re prone to cracking), set a timer right away, and have an ice bath at the ready.
Cooking
Is Parchment Paper the Same as Wax Paper?
If you're standing in your kitchen right now wondering if you can substitute one for the other, you need to sit down and read this.
Recipes
Easiest Lamb Gyros with Creamy Yogurt Sauce
Did you think a juicy, savory, filling gyro was only something you could find at a Greek restaurant? Think again. Our version has everything you love about the classic—crispy lamb, creamy yogurt, and crunchy vegetables—and serves it up fast using only 10 ingredients. And, if you’re not a lamb person, you can easily make this recipe with ground pork or beef.
Recipes
Sheet Pan Chicken Meatballs With Tomatoes and Chickpeas
Harissa, a spicy North African paste of chiles, garlic, and spices, is available in many large grocery stores and Middle Eastern markets—some brands come in tubes, others are sold in jars. If you can’t find it, though, substitute by mixing together your favorite hot sauce, tomato paste, a pinch or two of ground cumin, and a drizzle of olive oil. Keep playing with the ratios until you have a medium-spicy paste.
Recipes
One-Skillet Corn Chilaquiles
This recipe makes just enough salsa verde to coat one bag of chips, but it's so tasty and versatile that we always make a double batch. If you can, choose a heftier chip that will hold up when stirred into the sauce.
Recipes
BLT Salad
Cooking bacon in the oven on a sheet tray is so hands-off, so splatter-free, and so easy, it just might convince you to eat a lot more bacon in the future.
Recipes
Crispy Peppercorn Chicken Wings
These super-flavorful, no-fry chicken wings turn out best when they’re seasoned ahead of time. You can do this as little as 1 hour in advance, but letting them hang out with salt and those spices overnight is a complete game changer.
Recipes
Blackberry-Pistachio Crumble Bars
These easy crumble bars are the ultimate bring-over dessert. They're incredible when made with blackberries, but any other berries that look good—raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, or a even a combination—make a more than acceptable substitute.
Cooking
How Much Salt Should You Put in Pasta Water?
It depends: Do you want your pasta to be delicious? Well, then kind of a lot, to be perfectly honest.
Recipes
Cheesy Zucchini-Eggplant Bake
Eggplant is one of the true stars of summer, but it can be tricky to cook. Because it absorbs oil like a sponge during frying, we prefer the oven-roasted method in this recipe, which yields tender, caramelized slices minus all the mess.
Recipes
Pasta with Chopped Pesto
This chopped pesto requires nothing more than a cutting board and a knife.
Recipes
Gochujang-Marinated Skirt Steak
Skirt steak is the ultimate summer steak for grilling—quick cooking, buttery, and versatile.
techniques
How to Make Oatmeal Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches and Win Summer
Crispy oatmeal cookies are all the cooking you have to do here—the rest is simple assembly.
Recipes
Chocolate Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches
We can confidently say that we love these more than the ones from the ice cream truck–plus you can customize them with your favorite ice cream flavors.
Recipes
Oatmeal Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches
These crunchy cookies are all you need to make—then buy your favorite pistachio ice cream and you're done!