recipes

The 10 Most Popular Recipes of October 2020

Apple cider doughnut loaf, cheesy piñon, and more of our readers’ favorite recipes this month.
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Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Pearl Jones

With the election looming dark and heavy like a rain cloud, it’s no surprise our most popular recipes for the month prioritize comfort. In the words of Nigella Lawson: “I do think awful things may happen at any moment, so while they are not happening, you may as well be pleased.” Read: You may as well fill your days with scoops of Puerto Rican piñon, a cheesy casserole layered with ground beef, mozzarella, and fried sweet plantains. Start each morning right with a slice of apple cider doughnut loaf (a.k.a. the best kind of meal prep!). Or transform your leftover rice into this umami-laden Indonesian nasi goreng—described by some as the world’s greatest comfort food. To get you through these uncertain times, here are our most popular recipes from the last month, starting with No. 1.

  • Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by D'mytrek Brown, Ceramics by Meilen Ceramics
    3/10

    Khoresh Bademjan

    This Persian stew of tomatoes and spiced eggplant is just the warming dish you need on a cool, fall night.

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  • Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Pearl Jones
    4/10

    Piñon

    This cheesy layered casserole is the ultimate sweet-and-savory mash-up, thanks to ground beef simmered with sofrito and tomato, melty mozzarella, and fried plantains to top it all off. 

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  • Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by D'mytrek Brown
    5/10

    Glazed Sweet Potatoes With Lentils

    Tearing the sweet potatoes creates more surface area to char and glaze. (It’s also fun.)

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  • Photo by Chelsie Craig, food styling by Pearl Jones
    6/10

    Master Bread Dough

    The secret behind many great breads is something called a preferment, a portion of the dough that ferments separately from (and for more time than) the rest of the ingredients. A preferment increases the strength of your dough (improving its final crumb structure) and contributes to aroma and flavor. In baker Bryan Ford’s cookbook New World Sourdough, the preferment is a sourdough starter; in this recipe, however, his preferment is the lower-maintenance poolish—a mixture of flour, water, and active dry yeast that grows overnight. Mix the poolish with more flour, water, and yeast as well as a touch of olive oil, sugar, and salt, and you get a resilient, flavorful dough that can be used in a nearly infinite number of ways. This is an instance when you really do need a kitchen scale—Ford encourages all bakers, especially beginners, to use one. The master dough can also be scaled up or down as desired.

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  • Photo by Chelsie Craig, food styling by Pearl Jones
    7/10

    Simple Sandwich Loaf

    If you’re looking for a simple recipe for a tender sandwich bread—the kind of loaf that’d be great turned into a grilled cheese or crunchy croutons—this is it. This recipe from Bryan Ford is his Master Bread Dough, rolled into a tight log and baked until golden brown. We recommend slicing it and then freezing in a resealable plastic bag or airtight container for instant toast.

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  • Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Pearl Jones, Prop Styling by Nicole Louie
    8/10

    Cheesecake-Cake

    This cheesecake has a vanilla pound cake base, because why the hell not? You bake the cheesecake first, then the pound cake on top, and flip the whole thing over before decorating and serving. Room temperature eggs, cream cheese, and butter are vital to an evenly mixed cheesecake and fluffy pound cake. If you’re in a hurry, place the eggs in a bowl of hot tap water and zap the butter and cream cheese in the microwave in 10-second increments to quickly warm them up.

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  • Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    9/10

    Vegetable Nasi Goreng

    Lara Lee’s vegetable nasi goreng combines the beloved Indonesian fried rice dish with sambal matah and a citrusy relish fragrant with lemongrass, ginger, and makrut lime leaf.

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  • Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Pearl Jones, Prop Styling by Allie Wist
    10/10

    Chicharrones en Salsa Verde

    Crunchy chicharrones are ideal for soaking up bright tomatillo salsa, taking on an ultimate crispy-gone-soggy chewy texture. 

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Ali is a writer and editor at Bon Appétit whose culture and lifestyle work includes reporting on the health claims behind fake meats, interviews with opinionated chefs about the evolution of restaurants, personal essays on the intersection of work and identity, and subtle attempts to propagate her favorite Australian foods.... Read more
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