It is hardly a secret that the editors and culinary professionals behind Bon Appétit spend their professional lives cooking, testing, and refining recipes for a living. Yet, perhaps unsurprisingly, that culinary obsession rarely stops when they punch out for the day. Behind closed doors in their own home kitchens, the staff continues to experiment, troubleshoot weeknight dinners, entertain friends, and satisfy late-night sweet tooth cravings using a mix of clever shortcuts, trusted heritage recipes, and spontaneous refrigerator cleanouts.
Providing a rare glimpse into the personal kitchens of culinary experts, the team recently shared a snapshot of the exact dishes they are whipping up to get dinner on the table during busy autumn weeks. From emergency weeknight fixes utilizing grocery store rotisserie chickens to slow-simmered weekend comfort food projects, these real-world meals highlight how professional cooks approach home cooking when the pressure is off and hunger sets in.
Emergency Chicken Salad and Quick Breakfasts
For Carly Westerfield, manager of audience strategy, the perpetually versatile rotisserie chicken serves as the ultimate anchor for emergency dinners. When time is tight after a long workday, grabbing a hot bird on the commute home provides a blank canvas for transformation. Westerfield recently relied on the method found in Test Kitchen editor Rebecca Firkser’s Nuoc Cham Chicken Salad, which calls for tossing pulled meat with a rapid-fire mayonnaise and lime dressing before stuffing it into crisp lettuce leaves. Finished with sliced cucumber, fried shallots, and fresh herbs, the dish bypasses formal plating entirely, eaten straight from a communal platter by hand.
Meanwhile, mornings and brunch routines see a different kind of speed and satisfaction. Joe Sevier, senior editor of cooking and SEO, champions the classic Dutch baby for mornings when he craves something substantial without the heavy labor. By blending a handful of pantry staples—eggs, flour, milk, and sugar—and pouring them into a butter-heated skillet, a decadent breakfast emerges within twenty minutes. Recently, Sevier elevated the routine by tossing reserved browned butter from a favorite Epicurious recipe with sliced Italian plums, a splash of maple syrup, and a pinch of salt, allowing the fruit to macerate while he tended to his morning coffee before crowning the puffed pastry.
Simmered Lentils and Long-Awaited Bolognese
As autumn temperatures begin to dip, comforting pots of legumes and slow-cooked sauces take center stage. Kelsey Jane Youngman, senior cooking editor, found herself pivoting away from her usual lentil soup routine after stumbling upon senior Test Kitchen editor Shilpa Uskokovic’s recipe for Soy-Braised Black Lentils. Simmered in a rice cooker alongside soy sauce and thin slices of garlic, the shiny Beluga lentils absorb a savory depth before being finished with agave nectar and additional sugar to create a loose, syrupy glaze. Served tucked into toasted seaweed snacks with white rice, or repurposed the next morning with crusty bread and fried eggs, the dish offers a masterclass in versatile comfort food.
For Nina Moskowitz, associate editor of cooking, tackling a legendary project became an irresistible weekend pursuit. Having watched a single recipe for BA’s Best Bolognese top the publication’s charts with hundreds of enthusiastic comments, Moskowitz finally set aside three hours to hunker down in the kitchen with a record playing. While the traditional slow-simmered sauce demands patience, the kitchen is filled within minutes with the aromas of browning beef and pancetta. Following the gradual addition of wine, stock, and milk, the rich, meaty sauce was ultimately tossed with wide ribbons of pappardelle and blanketed in a generous shower of Parmesan cheese.
Cheesy Leeks, Solo Omelets, and Roast Chicken Revelations
As the culinary calendar moves into October, seasonal produce and intimate solo dining inspire creative approaches to weeknight cooking. Emma Laperruque, cooking director, welcomed the arrival of crisp farmers market leeks by turning to Rebecca Firkser’s baked cheddar and leek pasta. The minimalist yet dramatic dish utilizes a cup of white wine in the sauce, leaving the remainder of the bottle open to be enjoyed alongside the meal by visiting friends.
For solo dining nights, Firkser herself leans heavily into the art of the omelet. While her signature version features fried shallots, apples, and Fontina cheese—a combination detailed in her writing for the publication’s solo dining series—refrigerator cleanouts frequently yield improvisational triumphs. Recent successful variations have paired chopped kimchi with yellow cheddar, spinach and feta with dill, or black beans and avocado with salsa macha.
Laperruque also experienced a home-cooking revelation by roasting a whole chicken for the first time in years, inspired by a method from Kitty Cowles’s cookbook. After a dry brine in the refrigerator, the bird was rubbed with olive oil, stuffed with lemon and garlic, and roasted at maximum oven heat with convection. The resulting crackling skin and pan-juice gravy paired with a simple salad made for an unexpectedly romantic supper amid the sounds of a cooing toddler. The aftermath yielded days of culinary dividends: a collagen-rich broth simmered from the carcass with onion and ginger, and surplus meat repurposed into rice bowls, towering sandwiches, and afternoon snacks.
Repeat-Worthy Salmon Bowls and Spicy Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Efficiency remains paramount for busy editors seeking protein-rich weeknight dinners that avoid monotony. Senior editor Sam Stone turned to customizable soy-glazed salmon bowls, relying on cubed fish cooked quickly in a salty-sweet soy and honey glaze. Served over rice alongside shredded carrots, cucumbers, and crispy sheets of nori for scooping, the dish exemplifies the kind of reliable weeknight formula worth repeating for days on end.
Nina Moskowitz also returned to a favorite technique courtesy of Shilpa Uskokovic, utilizing a pinch of baking soda as a meat tenderizer for ground chicken. The method creates uniquely bouncy clusters of meat that absorb a sweet and fiery sauce made from sriracha, brown sugar, soy sauce, and fish sauce. Piled high into butter lettuce leaves with a squeeze of fresh lime and torn mint, the spicy wraps offer a vibrant, texture-rich finale to another week of exceptional home cooking.