Delish Homemade Recipes

When you want to cook to impress, few dinners can top homemade ramen. That being said, we’re not going to lie: making ramen from scratch requires time, patience, and a fair amount of effort. It can be a multi-day affair, and if you simply don’t have time for it, it can seem very intimidating. Our shoyu ramen recipe calls for making four important components: dashi and tare for the soup base, and nitamago and chashu as showstopping toppings. You can certainly eat a decent bowl of noodles without one or two of these players, but man oh man, magic happens when they all come together in one bite. Trust us: Your patience will be thoroughly rewarded after one spoonful of this homemade ramen. Here’s everything you need to know:

This is simple, clear stock usually made with kombu (kelp) and katsuobushi (dried fish shavings, aka bonito flakes). Making this takes just minutes because we don’t want to over-extract the intense flavors of these umami-rich ingredients, but if you need an even quicker version, many stores today carry an instant powder variety called Hon Dashi: Just add it to hot broth or water, and you’re good to go.

Called the soul of ramen by some, tare is essentially a flavored, concentrated soy sauce. We will be making this once and using it three different ways: as braising liquid for the pork belly, as marinade for the eggs, and as seasoning for the soup.—

Best Mashed Potatoes Recipe

There is nothing more awe-inspiring than an egg done well. In this case, the eggs are soft-boiled, peeled, and left to chill in our tare marinade overnight, for 6 to 12 hours.

 This is braised pork belly, aka a little slice of heaven for my non-kosher friends. Seared then cooked gently and slowly in our tare mix, it might quite possibly be the most melt-in-your-mouth pork experience you’ll ever have. Pork belly with skin on is the best cut to use, but if you can’t find that at your local butcher, pork shoulder will do just fine.

This ingredient is a bonus for my garlic-loving spice heads and it’s totally optional. Inspired by my favorite ramen condiment, found at Chuko in Brooklyn, this is a take on Japanese chili oil with savory pieces of garlic confit gummies and tiny pops of sesame. Just when you thought it couldn’t get better!

Homemade Strawberry Pudding

While we love this recipe as is, feel free to experiment to make it your own! Craving a meatless ramen? Try out our vegan ramen recipe, loaded with roasted veggies. When it comes to the toppings, go as crazy as you’d like. In addition to all of our toppings here, feel free to add on some sriracha, soy sauce, mirin, sesame seeds, or any veggies your heart desires. 

This recipe makes enough broth and toppings for 4 servings and keeps well in the fridge for a week, so if you're cooking for one, it's the perfect thing to make on a Sunday and heat up throughout the week.

June Xie is the former Senior Food Producer for , where she hosted recipe videos and the wildly popular YouTube show, Budget Eats. She previously worked in numerous restaurant kitchens throughout NYC before first joining as our Test Kitchen Assistant and chief baking expert with a passion for bread dough, peanut butter, whipped cream, and gluten free cookies. She also loves staring at alpacas.Here at , we believe that no matter the season, no holiday spread is complete without creamy, buttery mashed potatoes—this comfort food deserves to be celebrated all year long! With that in mind, you deserve to have the best mashed potatoes possible, whether you’re pairing them with your weeknight meals or a centerpiece roast dinner. If you’ve ever wondered what actually separates amazing mashed potatoes from subpar ones, read on for all of our top tips on making yours the best they can possibly be:

Burrata With Homemade Pesto

The best potatoes to use for mashed potatoes. Russet potatoes are the classic go-to for mashed potatoes, but you don't have to stick to those alone. We like using a

Of russet and Yukon golds, which have a super-creamy texture. Russets cook slightly faster, are starchier and fluffier, and taste less sweet; Yukons are a little more moist, a little waxier, and they hold their shape better. Put 'em together, and you’ve got the perfect combo.

Should I peel my potatoes? Many of us in the kitchen fall into the camp of people who happen to love the texture that the skin adds, but it's entirely up to you. Keeping the skins on will make for a more textured mash with a little more fiber and nutrients. Eliminate the skin (like we did here) for the creamiest, smoothest mash possible. 

Homemade Vanilla Pudding (easy & Delicious)

Add all the mix-ins. We're obsessed with loaded mashed potatoes, so we totally encourage you to stir in shredded cheddar or grated Parmesan, cooked bacon bits, and chives right after you add the melted butter-milk mixture. But your options don’t stop there! Any addition of fresh herbs (we love parsley), cheese, or lots of garlic (à la garlic mashed potatoes) will only help your mashed potatoes taste even more amazing.

Storing mashed potatoes. If you have any leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for a max of 3 to 4 days. With all of our recipes to transform your creamy leftover mashed potatoes—like fried mashed potato balls, potato rolls, waffles... we doubt they'll even last that long.

Lindsay Funston is the former Executive Editor at , where she managed all food, culture, video and social content. She had worn many hats at the brand over the years: traveling the country in pursuit of pickles, creating gravity-defying cheese pulls, and almost burning down the kitchen with marshmallow cupcakes.Looking for a fun, easy twist on homemade pizza? Skip the dough and use frozen garlic bread instead. Taking advantage of a grocery store staple, this playful mash-up promises the saucy cheesy goodness of your favorite pizza, all atop a super-soft, garlic buttery base. Crusts will never be thrown out again.

Delish By Dash Donut Maker

Baking the garlic bread before adding the pizza toppings ensures a crispy base and maximum garlicky flavor from the bread’s signature topping, while broiling the topped pizza mimics the high heat of a professional pizza oven, producing crispy pepperoni and bubbling caramelized cheese.

Read on for more tips and information on this fun pizza hack. Hungry for more garlic butter? Check out our garlic knots.

Quite honestly, most store-bought pizza sauce isn’t great, and when a dish is primarily composed of three things (garlic bread, sauce, and cheese), it’s worth a little extra effort to be sure all three components are as delicious as possible. This pizza sauce recipe takes 30 minutes, and while it makes more sauce that you’ll need for this recipe, you can store the extra in the refrigerator for up to a week ('til the next pizza night!) or freeze it for future use.

Best Homemade Sloppy Joes Recipe

We tested this recipe with a 10-ounce loaf of frozen garlic bread, but you can absolutely use a fresh deli-made garlic bread loaf. You’ll probably want to adjust the initial cooking time on the garlic bread—it should be crispy on the bottom and sides but not tough before you top it. And if your loaf is a full pound, you’ll need closer to 3/4 cup pizza sauce and 1 2/3 cups mozzarella to give your pizzas that perfect even topping. 

Taylor Ann Spencer is the assistant food editor at , where she develops recipes, creates recipe videos, and styles food. With a background in writing and theater as well as professional cooking, she enjoys sharing her love for global flavors and all things baking through informational posts, hosted videos, and just plain everyday conversations. When she's not cooking, she's brainstorming her next culinary mash-up. Mac 'n' cheese chili rellenos, anyone?Nothing beats a fresh-out-of-the-oven pizza, and once you see how easy it is to make for yourself, you'll never order delivery again. Switch up the toppings and add your favorites to make it your own. Pepperoni, mushrooms, bell peppers,

First things first, make your dough. You can read the easy step-by-step guide, here. Then, get topping. For the perfect margherita-style base, don't skip the following.

Easy Desserts (+recipes)

When you're perusing the aisle for sauce, we say skip anything labeled pizza sauce. Usually, that stuff ends up being too thick or cloyingly sweet (or both). Stick to marinara here, either homemade or store-bought. 

The way to go here is fresh, thinly sliced mozzarella. Sometimes it comes packed in water, so be sure to dry it off before slicing to avoid a watery pizza! If you've only got pre-shredded mozz on hand, that'll work in a pinch.

Our pizza cooks at the very high temp of 500°. We're essentially trying to recreate a pizza oven, which can reach 1, 000°, in a more realistic, at-home way. Because the dough is so thin, you really just want to crisp up the outside and keep it soft and chewy on the inside, versus baking it all the way through until it's cracker crisp. High temp is perfect for this. If your oven goes higher, feel

Homemade Pizza Recipes To Have Your Own Pizza Night At Home