It is no secret that food editors spend their professional lives conceptualizing, testing, and photographing recipes. From meticulously calibrating salt ratios to debating the merits of various cooking fats, their workdays are entirely consumed by the culinary arts. But for the team behind Bon Appétit, the kitchen does not close when they clock out. Behind closed doors, these editors and test kitchen professionals lean into the very same domestic routines, grocery constraints, and comfort-food cravings that challenge home cooks everywhere.
Offering a rare glimpse behind the curtain, members of the editorial staff frequently share what they are actually whipping up during their off-hours. Whether the goal is getting a swift dinner on the table after a grueling day of travel, entertaining friends with a newly acquired pizza oven, satisfying a persistent sweet tooth, or creatively clearing out a refrigerator full of leftovers, their home cooking reflects a pragmatic yet deeply passionate approach to food.
The Reality of Weeknight Dinners and Pantry Creativity
The culinary hustle often begins with the quintessential pantry meal. Returning home famished after a prolonged stretch of travel, assistant to the editor-in-chief Abi Lieff found herself facing a starkly bare refrigerator. Rather than surrendering to delivery apps, Lieff turned to creative problem-solving using soba noodles and long-forgotten pantry staples. Hetty Lui McKinnon’s recipe for Easy Peanut Noodles came together in mere minutes, requiring only a quick boil and rinse of the noodles followed by an improvised sauce of peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and hot water. Crowned with the final surviving cucumber from the crisper drawer and a handful of forgotten, crushed peanuts, the impromptu meal demonstrated the enduring reliability of well-stocked dry goods.
For senior recommendations and reviews editor Olivia Tarantino, a rained-out park barbecue left her with a surplus of two pounds of thawed shrimp and an intimate audience of two. Drawing inspiration from Shilpa Uskokovic’s recipe for mango summer rolls released earlier in the season, Tarantino cleverly substituted shrimp for chicken. The addition of mango provided a creamy sweetness designed to balance the funky, complex notes of a fish-sauce-laced peanut dipping sauce. The remaining shrimp found a second life in Rick Martinez’s Shrimp Scampi, a dish distinguished by a brief, garlic-forward marinade that seasons the shellfish from the inside out and secures its place in a permanent weeknight rotation.
Meanwhile, comfort food often takes the form of customized convenience. Senior cooking editor Kelsey Jane Youngman adapted a sheet-pan pepperoni pasta recipe to mirror her ideal pizza order: extra olives, extra mushrooms, added green peppers, and no meat. The resulting dish offered the tangy, cheesy satisfaction of a slice of pizza without the labor of a homemade pie or the expense of takeout, all while minimizing the dishwashing load by cooking the sauce directly on the sheet pan.
Practicality occasionally collides with travel logistics, as demonstrated by associate cooking editor Nina Moskowitz. Preparing to jet off to North Carolina for the peak of wedding season, Moskowitz threw together a travel-friendly ration of black beans and rice garnished with a zesty ají verde sauce adapted from a Peruvian-style tofu recipe. Brimming with cilantro, avocado, serrano peppers, lime juice, and mayonnaise, the meal was packed into a silicone deli container, doused in hot sauce, and secured in her bag—only to run afoul of TSA’s strict liquid limitations at the security checkpoint.
When illness strikes, the culinary focus shifts squarely toward recovery. Cooking director Emma Laperruque turned to a golden mushroom soup featured in Alison Roman’s latest cookbook to combat a bout of back-to-back colds. By swapping out the traditional orzo for comforting, squishy squares of tofu, the dish easily absorbed the rich, umami-laden broth.
Seasonal Produce and Weekend Celebrations
As the calendar turns, seasonal ingredients and celebratory milestones frequently dictate the menu. For research fellow Sangita Vasikaran, a weekend farm excursion to Warwick, New York, yielded a dozen heirloom eggs in stunning shades of wintry blue and pretzel brown. To preserve and celebrate their unique shells, Vasikaran prepared traditional soy-marinated eggs followed by a batch of Chinese tea eggs, producing soft-boiled yolks with a rich, savory gradient.
Celebrations also prompt deviations from traditional norms. Site director Rachel Tepper Paley celebrated her 40th birthday by bypassing traditional sweets entirely, opting instead for a retro Caviar Pie crafted by her mother and husband, accompanied by generous sides of Osetra caviar. For Paley, the briny indulgence offered a personalized tribute to her preference for savory flavors.
Seasonal vegetables similarly command attention in the test kitchen and at home. Editorial operations manager Kate Kassin leaned into her affinity for ground bison by preparing gochujang-stuffed sweet potatoes, a meal-prep-friendly favorite where the rich meat is simmered with tomato paste, gochujang, soy sauce, sesame oil, and honey.
For weekend gatherings, pizza making has evolved into a full-scale production. Armed with a new backyard pizza oven, Nina Moskowitz hosted a neighborhood pizza night featuring four distinct pies. The lineup ranged from a classic margherita to an innovative lemon pie finished with habanero maple syrup, and finally, a pair of vibrant green pies slathered with a meticulously ordered homemade basil pesto, where blending the Parmesan, garlic, and pine nuts before adding the basil ensures the herbs remain remarkably bright.
Baking continues to serve as an act of care. Social media manager Emma Jacobson baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies—omitting the traditional creaming and chilling steps while amplifying the dark chocolate and flaky salt—to support a friend in need of comfort.
Fast Proteins and Market-Driven Meals
As mid-September approached, editors continued exploring low-prep proteins and fleeting seasonal harvests. Kelsey Jane Youngman embraced mussels as a weeknight savior, praising their lack of laborious scrubbing compared to clams. Following a recipe for Mussels Dijonnaise from a feature on what chefs actually cook at home, she utilized a mini food processor to streamline the creation of an aromatic compound butter infused with fennel, shallots, and Dijon mustard.
Seasonal fruit found a starring role when senior test kitchen editor Jesse Szewczyk revisited a recipe for Peaches Foster during the height of the peach harvest. The warm, boozy, one-pan dessert, enhanced by a surprising pinch of black pepper, was served over vanilla ice cream to properly commemorate the transient fruit season. Emma Laperruque similarly utilized Trader Joe’s shredded rotisserie chicken to assemble no-cook mango summer rolls, pairing the protein with crisp farmers market vegetables and a standout peanut sauce.
Reflecting on a recent trek along the Camino de Santiago in Spain’s Basque region, where towering wild fig trees lined the coastal route, Nina Moskowitz brought home a crate of black Mission figs to recreate a vinegar chicken dish featuring red wine and balsamic vinegars that reduce into a sticky, restaurant-quality sauce in just 30 minutes.
Simplicity remained a guiding principle for classic weeknight staples. Laperruque returned to her preferred tofu meatballs, baked effortlessly in the oven and served over spaghetti and jarred marinara, while senior SEO and cooking editor Joe Sevier celebrated peak watermelon season by skipping formal recipes altogether, slicing a melon into batons, finishing them with olive oil and coarse salt, and garnishing them with torn basil blossoms.
Market-driven experimentation also yielded creative riffs on Italian classics. Test kitchen editor Rebecca Firkser utilized a three-pound bounty of affordable zucchini to develop a pasta dish loosely inspired by Amatriciana, substituting shredded zucchini for tomatoes alongside guanciale and garlic. Meanwhile, senior editor Sam Stone resurrected a favorite green chutney recipe, adjusting the spice levels and incorporating Greek yogurt to create a versatile condiment deployed across quesadillas, scrambled eggs, and rotisserie chicken tacos.
Rounding out the domestic dispatches, audience strategy manager Carly Westerfield departed from her usual habit of assembling quick snack-plate lunches to test a double-decker vegetarian club sandwich featuring layered, nutrient-dense fillings carefully engineered to withstand the hazards of structural collapse with the strategic placement of a toothpick.