The 25+ Recipes You Loved Most in 2021

This December at Kitchen Stories is all about feel-good festive food! No matter what you’re celebrating or with whom, our December recipes have something for every one and for every occasion. Best of all, they’re fun and unfussy, so you can focus on winding down for the year. Stay tuned throughout the month by bookmarking this article, where we’ll collect all our recipes and articles. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram for even more. Happy December!

Wrapping up any year just wouldn’t be complete without a look back at what has been, and one of our favorite ways is to take a peek at our most-cooked, most-loved recipes. We all remember 2020 as an out-of-the ordinary, exhausting year, and 2021 seemed to kick it up another notch. My undisputed favorite way to get a dose of self care is to cook up and eat a delicious, comforting meal. The preparation itself becomes a welcome hands-on distraction, and by the first bite I’ve usually been able to forget the wild tumult of these times, at least for a moment, and be grateful for the little things.

Over the past year at Kitchen Stories, in an effort to get both us, and you, through the difficult year, we dedicated ourselves to an exciting new theme every month. Let's review it together and go on a little culinary journey through 2021!

In January, we started by revitalizing our favorite recipes with a new twist. In February, we focused on breakfast and offered sometimes sweet, sometimes savory, but always delicious ways to start the day. We took a closer look at what inspires and motivates us to expand our culinary horizons in our March issue, All That Inspires.

April was a highlight for us all, as we spent the month exploring a universal favorite food—none other than pizza—which made us (and you!) into real pizza dough pros. We also dedicated the entire month of May to you, our fabulous community. We took a trip to “flavortown” in June and celebrated our Big Veggie Summer issue with you in July. Although it was not quite Too Hot To Cook this past August, we kept our kitchen almost entirely cold with no-cook recipes. By September, we happily slurped up all the noodles and pasta we could.

With our Big Taste, Low Budget issue in October, we proved that you don’t need to suffer in taste to save on cost, and then in November, we turned to timeless comfort foods. Finally, we found ourselves here in December: This year, we wanted to celebrate in the spirit of feel-good self-care, with great food to wind down with for the year.

Without further ado, here are our, and your, favorite recipes from 2021!

6 Perfect Pastas

30 min

27.3k

One-pot creamy Cajun chicken pasta

Go to recipe

— Quick, creamy Tortellini alla Panna
— TikTok’s viral baked feta pasta
— 5-ingredient creamy orecchiette with peas and crispy Parma ham
— Burst cherry tomato and miso pasta with sesame crunch
— 5-ingredient stovetop mac and cheese

4 Recipes Fresh From the Oven

10 min

vegetarian

16.6k

Neapolitan-style pizza with Lisa

Go to recipe

— Red lentil and eggplant moussaka
— Butternut squash and mushroom lasagna
— 5-ingredient sticky hoisin-roasted broccoli wedges

5 Favorite Tofu and Chicken Recipes

40 min

6.8k

Chicken cordon bleu with creamy white asparagus

Go to recipe

— Chicken tikka masala
— Japanese chicken tarragon
— Sweet and sour tofu
— 5-ingredient balsamic roasted tofu and vegetables

5 Slurp-able Soups

45 min

12.7k

Feel good vegetarian miso ramen

Go to recipe

— Easy chicken udon soup
— Weeknight chicken laksa (Malaysian curry noodle soup)
— Tomato and egg noodle soup
— Creamy chicken and vegetable soup

4 Salads and Bowls We Fell For

15 min

11k

Antipasto salad

Go to recipe

— Tangy marinated lentil salad with feta
— Veggie burrito bowl
— Spring potato and asparagus salad

3 Ways to Start the Morning

15 min

vegan

9.2k

Make banana bread granola with Lisa

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— The perfect breakfast burger
— German-style pancakes

3 Snack-y Recipes You Loved

15 min

vegetarian

8.8k

Baked popcorn cauliflower with hot honey

Go to recipe

— Cheesy pizza rolls
— Apple and cinnamon French toast roll-ups

*As a final note, although you can usually find various vegetables all year-round, you can swap vegetables with a similar taste and consistency for recipes using seasonal ingredients. Instead of asparagus, you can use vegetables like salsify, zucchini, or kohlrabi; instead of pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, or parsnip are good alternatives.

Which Kitchen Stories recipe was your personal highlight from 2021? Let us know in the comments below!