Kendra Vaculin
Contributor
Originally from the San Francisco East Bay, Kendra has worked in food media (Epicurious, Eater, Food52) and test kitchens (Blue Apron) across New York City since 2014, as a writer, recipe developer, food stylist, and producer. She was Bon Appétit's Test Kitchen Editor until 2025, where she thought a lot about what you should make for dinner, developing recipes for her monthly column Speedy Does It and overseeing the Dinner Is Served section of the print magazine. Outside of weeknight cooking, she loves back-pocket desserts, produce-centric picnic food, and stuff to make for a party. She likes ice cream more than vegetables, but it's much closer than you'd think.
Recipes
Sour-Cream-and-Onion Tortilla Española
By using potato chips, this spin on the Spanish classic is doable on a weeknight.
Recipes
Chicken Pot Pie Soup
Imagine chicken pot pie in half the time. All the same flavors come together in a quick soup—no assembly required.
Cooking
This Brisket Bourguignon Got Me Out of My Hosting Slump
It’s make-ahead, hands-off, and holiday-ready.
Recipes
Smoky Chicken and Avocado Kale Salad
Once you mash avocado into raw kale, you might never eat the hearty leafy green any other way.
Recipes
Spiced Lamb and Shaved Carrots
Tagine-inspired flavors, saucy lamb, and crunchy raw carrot salad—what’s not to love?
Recipes
Herby Salmon and Potato Salad
A sheet-pan dinner gets the salad treatment with help from lemon-dressed herbs, briny olives, and sweet pickled peppers.
Recipes
Matcha Swirl Spritz Cookies
Grinch-colored, bite-size, and deeply adorable, these cookies make the case for buying a cookie press.
Recipes
Mostly Chard Tiny Pasta Salad
Swiss chard, bitsy ditalini, salty feta, toasted pistachios, and sage take your average pasta salad into winter territory.
Cooking
A 3-Ingredient Pomegranate Spritz, No Measuring Needed
A little tart, a little sweet, and extremely festive.
Recipes
Beefy Cheesy Sweet Potatoes With Kimchi
Not nachos, but not not nachos—this sheet-pan meal makes for a fun family dinner or game day addition.
Recipes
Foolproof Lemon Bars
With a puckery curd and buttery crust, these are the bars you’ll make again and again.
Recipes
Brisket Bourguignon
This luscious, impossibly tender brisket is the dinner party main you’ve been searching for—and you can make the whole thing in advance.
Recipes
Green Beans and Mushrooms With Crispy Shallots
When Thanksgiving demands green bean casserole but your jam-packed oven has other plans, opt for this buttery stovetop version.
Recipes
Hurricane Chips
Lovers of the classic salty-sweet Hawaiian popcorn flavor, these nori-seasoned potato chips are for you.
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Recipes
Buttery Milk Buns
These fluffy buns combine the classic folded-over shape of Parker House rolls and pillowy texture of a milk bread dough—perfect for your holiday table.
Recipes
Creamy Giardiniera Dip
Four simple ingredients, one party-ready dip that takes mere minutes to blitz together.
Recipes
Buttermilk Banana Cake
One bite is all it takes to fall in love with this extra-plush, cardamom-scented cake.
Recipes
Hot Buttered Rum Pie
This boozy pie tastes like a Hallmark Christmas movie—you know, in the best way.
Cooking
This 3-Ingredient Tomato Sauce Is Spicy, Creamy Perfection
Make it for stuffed peppers, baked eggs, weeknight chicken, and more.