Recipes

33 Recipes Readers Are Finding Comfort in Right Now

From herby fish and chips to obscenely chocolatey cookies, these are their most soothing recipes.
Scallion pancakes with red chili ginger sauce
Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Elizabeth Jaime

It’s probably no surprise that the Bon Appétit staff has been spending these very strange days cooking our way to comfort. We’re a food-obsessed bunch, and nothing soothes us more than manhandling some pie dough or indulging in the weird ass snacks we’re too ashamed to eat at the office. So, when we put the call out last week for readers to tell us what they’ve been making, we were heartened to come back to an inbox full of similar feelings. From the bolognese harboring a whole head of cauliflower to the lentil salad that only gets better with age, here are some of your go-to favorites right now.

  • A shallow bowl filled with pappardelle Bolognese.
    Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Kate Buckens
    1/33

    BA’s Best Bolognese

    “I’ve been shut in with my two ravenous boys and I can tell you that BA’s Best Bolognese was happily demolished (even without the pancetta and with a bay leaf of questionable vintage),” says reader Jordan. “Three hours on the stove? No problem...we’re not going anywhere.”

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  • easy focaccia recipe
    Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Susan Spungen 
    2/33

    Shockingly Easy No-Knead Focaccia

    Cecelia reaped the rewards of resilience on her third try making this focaccia: “I was actually patient enough to let it sit overnight. It came out perfect.”

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  • Egg and jammy onions breakfast sandwich recipe
    Photo by Alex Lau, Food styling by Sue Li
    5/33

    Healthyish Breakfast Sandwiches

    Katie says she’s been eating this sandwich not once but TWICE a week, noting: “It’s the only thing that’s keeping me sane.”

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  • Image may contain Plant Food Produce and Vegetable
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Frances Boswell
    6/33

    Soy-Ginger Dinner Scramble

    Belena and co. made punchy eggs-for-dinner with no brekkie vibes in sight. “We both decided that we could never eat regular eggs again after that,” she says.

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  • Image may contain Food Cookie Biscuit Dessert and Chocolate
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Frances Boswell
    7/33

    Miso-Almond Butter Cookies

    Adelė’s been terrified of baking cookies ever since her whole burnt-giant-sheet-tray-sized-chocolate-chip-cookie-disaster. “But I took a plunge with these,” she says. “They turned out absolutely wonderful. I am very proud.” Same!

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  • Image may contain Food Dish Meal Plant and Platter
    Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou, Prop Styling by Sophie Strangio
    8/33

    Za’atar Fish and Chips

    “I could probably just eat potatoes and olives all day,” says truly relatable reader Hollie.

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  • Image may contain Roast Food Meal Dinner Supper and Turkey Dinner
    Photo by Marcus Nilsson
    9/33

    Cast-Iron Roast Chicken

    “It is so damn good,” says Michael. Also: “Can someone give me an honest review of The Marigny wines?” (A fair question for another day, Michael!)

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  • Image may contain Food Bread Bread Loaf and French Loaf
    Photo by Stephen Kent Johnson, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski
    10/33

    Swirled Sesame Tea Cake

    Jocelyn’s summary: “Claire’s tahini swirl bread came out really well.” That’s Claire Saffitz for ya!

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  • Stuffed Cabbage With Lemony Rice and Sumac recipe
    Photo by Laura Murray, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Sophie Strangio
    11/33

    Stuffed Cabbage With Lemony Rice and Sumac

    Reader Casey participates in a nightly dinner round-up, where each of her friends sends a photo of what they cooked. Their collective response to her rolls? “YUM.” You win, Casey!

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  • Green plate with a pile of molasses cookies some broken in half with one on a side plate with a bite taken out.
    Photograph by Victoria Jane, Food Styling by Mallory Lance, Prop Styling by Alexandra Massillon
    12/33

    Chewy Molasses Cookies

    Lillian’s already made TWO BATCHES of these bad boys. “After the first batch I made for my immediate family, I made another batch for my grandparents who are in strict quarantine because they’re older.”

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  • Tuna Nicoise Salad on a green and white plate
    Photograph by Travis Rainey, Prop Styling by Alexandra Massillon, Food Styling by Luciana Lamboy
    13/33

    Tuna Niçoise Salad

    Suzie, who’s keto, has been cooking for her daughter, “a pescatarian-with-vegan-leanings,” and their housemate, who “eats anything.” Tough crowd! But she pulled off the niçoise with what they had on hand: “no green beans, but we had asparagus; no oil-packed tuna but we glugged some extra olive oil on. It was beautiful and delicious.”

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  • Pasta Recipe with Brown Butter Whole Lemon and Parmesan
    Photo by Laura Murray, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Sophie Strangio
    14/33

    Pasta With Brown Butter, Whole Lemon, and Parmesan

    “I've been making Andy’s pasta A LOT,” says reader Brianne. “If you’ve had it, you’ll understand why.” And if you haven’t, we suggest you try it to find out.

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  • A bowl of ramen noodles with spring onions and garlic crisp
    Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Elizabeth Jaime
    15/33

    Ramen Noodles With Spring Onions and Garlic Crisp

    “Loved the crisps!” says reader Whitey. “I used normal noodles cuz the ramen section at the grocery store had been raided.”

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  • CinnamonDate Sticky Buns recipe
    Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Susan Spungen
    16/33

    Cinnamon-Date Sticky Buns

    Dayalan took on the epic—our two-day, April issue cover recipe—and is here to tell the tale. “The buns turned out way better than I expected based on my skills and fear around working with dough,” he says. “Thank you for helping me overcome those barriers!”

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  • lemon chicken orzo soup
    Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boytsova
    17/33

    Lemony Chicken and Orzo Soup

    “A splash of lemon at the table is critical,” says lemon-lover JoEllen.

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  • Salt and Pepper Fish
    Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boytsova
    18/33

    Salt and Pepper Fish

    “I made this with frozen cod and loved it,” says resourceful reader Jennifer. “Keeping rice and frozen cod on hand, along with a stock of lemons and green onions, is a game changer.”

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  • Four black white and green cookies
    Photo by Ted + Chelsea Cavanaugh, food styling by Michelle Gatton
    19/33

    Black-and-White-and-Green Cookies

    “My husband and I live in a NYC apt and it’s easier to share cookies with neighbors than to bring them part of a cake,” says Suzanne—the neighbor everyone wishes they had.

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  • Image may contain Food Dish Meal and Lunch
    Ted Cavanaugh
    20/33

    Soy-Sauce-and-Citrus-Marinated Chicken

    Cindee used skinless, boneless chicken breasts in lieu of the whole bird, and reports that “THE MARINADE IS LIQUID GOLD.”

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  • A pot of jalapeñotopped queso dip set in the center of a sheet pan loaded with tortilla chips.
    Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boytsova 
    21/33

    Queso, Not From a Jar

    Ceileigh used “the stipulated Monterey Jack and definitely-not-stipulated individually wrapped American cheese singles that my partner bought when he was on his own for a week. They actually worked really well and we poured the cheese over nachos with chopped chicken, black beans, sliced onions and tomatoes, and cilantro. We ate it with spoons.”

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  • A plate of spaghetti carbonara with bits of crispy guanciale and topped with shredded cheese and black pepper.
    Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Molly Baz
    22/33

    Simple Carbonara

    “I've just noticed how pasta-heavy my diet has been in this period of isolation,” says reader Kinzee. “C'est la vie!” That’s the attitude!

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  • Image may contain Food Cookie Biscuit Dessert Chocolate and Brownie
    Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Pearl Jones
    23/33

    Obscenely Chocolatey Chocolate Cookies

    Reader Anjali and her soon-to-be-reader (three-year-old kid) have been making tons of movie night treats. “These chocolate cookies were begging to be baked,” she says.

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  • Bowl of Amiel Stanek's French Onion Noodle Soup
    Photo by Emma Fishman, food styling by Yekaterina Boystova
    24/33

    French Onion Beef Noodle Soup

    Emily’s been hard at work breaking in her first Dutch oven. “The soup was a really fun challenge and the flavors were amazing. I feel so proud of myself,” she says. 

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  • FallApart Caramelized Cabbage recipe Bon Appetit
    Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boytsova
    25/33

    Fall-Apart Caramelized Cabbage

    Shamantha has three words and three words only, folks: “Loved it. Yum!”

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  • Slices of banana bread one with butter sitting on a cutting board
    Photograph by Victoria Jane, Food Styling by Mallory Lance, Prop Styling by Alexandra Massillon
    26/33

    BA’s Best Banana Bread

    “This week I kept it simple and used up all our old ‘naners,” says Chloe. “My grandparents are self-isolating, but we are going to (safely) smuggle some in for them.” You got this!

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  • This image may contain Food Dish Meal and Plant
    Photo by Chelsie Craig, food styling by Alison Attenborough
    27/33

    Dahi Toast

    Melissa went for a “weird and creative” take on Dahi toast, adding spinach, feta, and lots of spices. “It was ugly! It was messy! But DAMN it was good,” she says.

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  • Image may contain Bowl Food Dish Meal Plant Vegetable and Broccoli
    Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boytsova 
    28/33

    Broccoli Cheddar Soup With Cheesy Croutons

    “SO GOOD,” says reader Casey. The proof: “My roommate ate three bowls right in a row.”

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  • Image may contain Food Bread and Cornbread
    29/33

    French Yogurt Cake

    Betteirene makes this recipe on a monthly basis. “Partially because it’s so easy, but mostly because it’s so adaptable, if you switch in flavored yogurt for the plain: like,  lemon with lemon glaze, or strawberry served with a dab of strawberry yogurt on the side,” she says. “Today’s version is coconut.”

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  • Scallion pancakes with red chili ginger sauce
    Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Susie Theodorou, prop styling by Elizabeth Jaime
    30/33

    Scallion Pancakes With Chili-Ginger Dipping Sauce

    “They turned out thin, flaky, crispy, and delicious,” says Kelly. All adjectives we love to see!

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  • A big kale and lentil salad in a serving bowl with torn olives and strips of lemon peel.
    Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Taneka Morris, Prop Styling by Tim Ferro
    31/33

    Just-Keeps-Getting-Better Lentil Salad

    “It turned out so yummy and is packed with so much flavor!” says reader Mollie. “We’re excited to have something fun to look forward to for lunch this week. Not throwing any shade to my ol’ faithful, the turkey sandwich, but, hey, variety is the spice of life.”

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  • Image may contain Food Dish Meal Seasoning Sesame and Pasta
    Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich 
    32/33

    Cauliflower Bolognese

    Katherine says it all in two words: “Mind-blowing.”

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  • Billionaire bars with sesame seeds and a chocolate topping
    Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Susan Spungen 
    33/33

    Tahini Billionaire Bars

    After making these, Alice ‘realized’ her boyfriend didn’t like sesame. “So now I have to eat the entire batch myself,” she says. We see what you did there, Alice!

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