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Weeknight recipes that work.
December 25th, 2025
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These savory noodles check all the boxes—they are bold, beautiful, and easy.
The best new recipes of 2025, according to me
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Jack Bishop
Author, editor, and avid home cook
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Sunday, I shared readers’ five favorite recipes from Dinner Tonight newsletters this past year. Now it’s my turn.
I’ve written about more than 300 recipes since January. I’ve shared many family favorites, dishes I have made for years and continue to enjoy. But which new recipe impressed me the most? That is, which 2025 recipe stands out as my favorite?
Nik Sharma’s Mezzi Rigatoni with Spicy Gochujang Tomato Sauce has become the default red sauce pasta dish in my kitchen. The Korean fermented chile paste is surprisingly subtle here, adding as much umami as spice. Buttery, garlicky bread crumbs work better with this sauce than the usual grated cheese topping. It’s definitely a strong contender.
During the late summer and early fall, I made Lidey Heuck’s White Beans and Chorizo with Quick Marinated Tomatoes and Onion at least once a week. My garden was overflowing with cherry tomatoes and this recipe turned them into a satisfying supper. Because the tomatoes are marinated, supermarket tomatoes are totally OK—no garden required. This dish is my first runner-up.
But kudos goes to Maggie Zhu for creating my favorite new recipe of 2025. Her Chili Crisp Noodles are so satisfying. Supersavory. Spicy but not overly so. And I adore the tingling sensation provided by the Sichuan peppercorns. As Maggie suggests, dried spaghetti is just fine here. But otherwise, I make this one as directed. The balance of bold flavors is perfect.
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I’m not alone in loving Maggie’s recipe. Among readers of this newsletter, it was 2025’s seventh most popular recipe (in terms of newsletter clicks). I think these comments from ATK member Jamie O. say it all: “I'm not sure I should admit how many times over I have made this recipe (by enthusiastic request) for my family in the last two weeks. It was love at first bite! As a cook, there is no greater joy than watching loved ones’ eyes roll back in their heads in utter taste ecstasy. THANK YOU FOR THIS RECIPE!!!!!”
Thank you Jamie; thank you Maggie, Lidey, and Nik; and thank you to all my readers for their support in 2025. If you’re celebrating Christmas with loved ones today, tell them how much they mean to you.
P.S. What was your favorite Dinner Tonight recipe in 2025? Write to me at [email protected].
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My Weekend Recommendations
I'll be back in your inbox on Sunday. Until then, here are some of my other favorites from the year that was.
Watch, Listen, and Read
My favorite video of 2025 features two of my favorite colleagues breaking down the details on one of my all-time favorite recipes. Dan Souza and Lan Lam are just so darn smart, and their “Everything You Need to Know to Make Neapolitan Pizza” video is thorough, fun, and inspiring. Even if you never plan to make pizza, Dan and Lan will change the way you think about this iconic dish.
For something utterly unexpected, chill out with my favorite podcast of 2025—this episode of Proof explores America’s obsession with ice. Mind-blowing, I promise.
Finally, I read a lot of new fiction—usually a novel a week. But I keep coming back to Gary Shteyngart’s Vera, or Faith. It’s hilarious, brilliant, and scary. Definitely my favorite book of 2025.
Bake
My favorite dessert of 2025 has the coolest name—Gâteau Invisible—and the most unlikely set of instructions. The end result doesn’t even look like cake, but trust me there is vanilla-scented batter binding those paper-thin apple slices together. In the oven, that batter all but disappears, leaving the fruit front and center. With such an unexpected culinary sleight of hand, maybe this cake should be called gâteau magique? ATK member Sarah S. commented on this recipe, calling the cake “beautiful and absolutely beguiling.” Oui. Oui.
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