Twenty years after launching one of the internet’s most enduring and beloved food sites, culinary writer and home cook Deb Perelman is marking a major milestone. What began two decades ago as a personal digital notebook to share enthusiastic recipes has evolved into a cornerstone of online home cooking, amassing more than 1,400 recipes and inspiring a generation of kitchen enthusiasts.
Reflecting on the journey, Perelman notes that the website was born out of a desire to share recipes she was genuinely excited about, driven by an innate enthusiasm for the things she loved. Looking back at her early days of navigating adulthood, she recalls realizing that while she knew the basics of cooking, countless mysteries remained unsolved. Mastering the art of transforming a simple can of tomatoes into a spectacular pasta sauce, crafting truly exceptional meatballs, achieving ethereally smooth hummus, and baking a definitive New York crumb cake were milestones that shaped her culinary education.
You might think that after two decades and more than 1,400 published recipes, a creator might consider closing this chapter. After all, the internet has kale-salad-ed, tomato-soup-ed, and apple-pie-ed its way through endless variations of classic dishes in search of culinary fulfillment. Yet, for Perelman, the reality is quite the opposite. Most days, she feels as though she is only just getting started.
The celebration of the site’s two-decade milestone arrives alongside the introduction of a new recipe designed to solve a very modern dilemma: the pursuit of a fast, reliable, and deeply flavorful chicken taco that can be executed effortlessly on a busy weeknight.
The development of the recipe stemmed from a common household scenario. Perelman realized she needed a technique for chicken tacos that could come together quickly in a single skillet without requiring advance marination, the use of store-bought salsa dumped into a slow cooker, or the bizarre internet trend of dragging out a stand mixer to shred cooked poultry. Above all, the dish needed to avoid the primary pitfalls of dry or overcooked meat—the very reasons she spent years mistakenly believing she disliked chicken. Through a classic mix of spontaneity, poor planning, and a last-minute realization that dinner needed to materialize immediately at six o’clock, the simple skillet chicken taco was born.
The milestone anniversary offers a moment to appreciate the trajectory of the platform and the unique joy of connecting with a community of home cooks. Beyond the day-to-day work of developing and testing recipes, Perelman points out that reaching the 20-year mark provides the benefit of accumulated culinary wisdom. That experience allows a cook to distill complex desires into their simplest and most practical parts. A well-executed weeknight meal does not require over-complication; rather, it thrives on reliable foundations. A skillet of well-seasoned chicken paired with an avocado on its last legs, some finely shaved cabbage, a quick shortcut for pickled red onions, and a preferred hot sauce represents the kind of dependable midweek dinner that never wears out its welcome.
To mark the twentieth anniversary, Perelman has engaged with several media outlets and platforms, sharing reflections on the evolution of food blogging and home cooking. Recent features include interviews with Ravenous and the Columbia Journalism Review, alongside a dedicated newsletter inviting readers to share their all-time favorite Smitten Kitchen dishes. Additionally, a curated retrospective highlights twenty of the most iconic recipes published on the site over the past two decades.
The accompanying recipe for simple chicken tacos exemplifies the practical, unpretentious approach that has sustained the platform for twenty years. The process begins by preparing the fixings to ensure everything comes together cohesively. Tortillas are warmed in the oven using foil or a designated warmer. Red onions are combined with red wine vinegar, water, kosher salt, and a touch of granulated sugar to pickle quickly, with a microwave shortcut accelerating the process by warming the liquid briefly so the onions achieve their vibrant pink hue as they cool. Cabbage is easily shredded into a fluffy pile using a sharp utility peeler.
The chicken component relies on boneless, skinless chicken thighs seasoned with a straightforward blend of salt, cumin, chili powder, paprika, and black pepper. The chicken cutlets are browned in a hot skillet with olive oil for a few minutes on each side before being briefly transferred to a plate. Minced garlic is then sautéed in the pan until golden, followed by chicken broth used to deglaze the skillet and incorporate the flavorful browned bits. The chicken and its accumulated juices return to the pan to simmer briefly in the reducing broth, after which the meat is easily shredded directly in the pan with two forks or cut into bite-sized pieces with a spatula, soaking up the remaining savory liquid.
The finished chicken, alongside the warm tortillas and prepared toppings, offers a dependable template for a weeknight meal designed to be repeated week after week.