Finding recipes online
Many people have turned their hand to cooking during lockdown. But, among the great recipes out there, there are some that simply don't work. So in today's blog, we look for sites that you can trust for good recipes.
The BBC good food site has a wealth of recipes. you can search for a particular recipe, or for dishes that use those obscure ingredients that are lurking at the back of the cupboard. You can also find recipes for particular diets, so if you're planning on going vegetarian, then you can search for vegetarian recipes. The recipes are rated by users, and they are rated by difficulty level and the amount of time involved in making them.
I like their list of the top 20 recipes, which includes old standards like Lemon Drizzle cake, as well as more exotic ones such as jambalaya. A good way to get through lockdown might be to cook through this list!
if you want to challenge yourself or try slightly more exotic recipes, Epicurious is another great site. They include 'more than 30,000 professionally tested and created recipes from the premier brands in food journalism, renowned cookbook authors, and celebrity chefs, as well as 150,000 member-submitted recipes'. Recipes are rated and reviewed. There is a good search facility, allowing you to find recipes for particular diets.
This website is part of the TV channel, and has recipes from well know chefs. The recipes are rated by difficulty level and the number of servings. There are some great recipes on site, including for drinks such as a ginger Margarita. You can also stream some of the TV shows.
All Recipes is a food / recipe network. Recipes are rated by users, and include videos showing the stages of preparation. I particularly like the slider that allows you to adjust the ingredients according to the number of servings you need. 'What started with a single cookie recipe has grown organically to become the world's largest food-focused social network with a community of 85 million home cooks consuming 3 billion pages annually of food inspiration across our 19 sites serving 24 countries in 12 languages'. If you like to cook and share this is the site for you.
Youtube has deliberately been omitted from this blog, as it is open to anyone to upload videos, and there are many dodgy recipes on the site. The sites listed here are curated, and reviewed. If you do find a good recipe on Youtube, only share if you have tried it, and it worked.
If none of these take your fancy, then you can explore this list of the 50 Best cooking websites.
Happy cooking!