Food Network’s Most Saved 50 Recipes Of All Time

Plus MY Favorite Recipe In The Entire Universe

PLUS A Shoutout To Paula 

You can thank me later. The Food Network website does NOT make it easy to take a quick look at their list of top Fifty Most-Saved Recipes. In fact, they make it IMPOSSIBLE to see it all at the same time. Soooo, I went through the tortuous process of clicking through a FIFTY PAGE slideshow to make this list of recipes with links for you to peruse.

I’m a sucker for stuff like this. I like to compare other people’s favorites to my own. That’s also the fun thing about thumbing through recipes - the next great one is just around the corner. (AND with the online equivalent, hardly any thumbs are necessary.)  Go to the end of this post for MY favorite recipes of all time.

Without further ado, here are the Food Network’s top recipes. (AND I won’t be annoying like they are. I’ll list the top one first!)

No. 1 Ina Garten's Lemon Chicken Breasts

No. 2 Giada De Laurentiis's Chicken Piccata

No. 3 Ina's Linguine With Shrimp Scampi

No. 4 Food Network's Lemon-Garlic Shrimp And Grits

No. 5 Giada's Roman Style Chicken

No. 6 Ellie Krieger’s Zucchini Parmesan Crisps

No. 7 Tyler Florence's Chicken Enchiladas

No. 8 Ina's Garlic Roasted Potatoes

No. 9 Ree Drummond's Twice-Baked Potatoes

No. 10 Ree's Best Tomato Soup Ever

No. 11 Giada's Salmon Baked In Foil

No. 12 Ina's Baked Shrimp Scampi

No. 13. Ree's Baked Ziti

No. 14 Ree's Chicken-Fried Steak with Gravy

No. 15 Alton Brown's Guacamole

No. 16 Food Network Magazine's Skillet Rosemary Chicken

No. 17 Ree's Perfect Pot Roast

No. 18 Tyler's Smothered Pork Chops

No. 19 Ina's Lemon Yogurt Cake

No. 20 Food Network Kitchen's Low-Cal Fettuccine Alfredo

No. 21 Ree's Simple Perfect Enchiladas

No. 22 Ree's Chicken Spaghetti

No. 23 Giada's Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables

No. 24 Ree's Twice Baked Potato Casserole

No. 25 Trisha Yearwood's Chicken Tortilla Casserole

No. 26 Giada's Lasagna Rolls

No. 27 Giada's Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze

No. 28. Ina's Roasted Brussels Sprouts

No. 29. Ree’s Knock-You-Naked Brownies

No. 30 Trisha's Charleston Cheese Dip

No. 31 Giada's Chicken Parmesan

No. 32 Beatty's Chocolate Cake (from Ina)

No. 33 Giada's Chicken Tetrazzini

No. 34 Ree's Broccoli Cheese Soup

No. 35 Giada's Parmesan-Crusted Pork Chops

No. 36 Tyler's Shrimp Scampi With Linguini

No. 37 Ree's Restaurant Style Salsa

No. 38 Trisha's Slow Cooker Macaroni And Cheese

No. 39 Alton's Stovetop Mac-N-Cheese

No. 40 Ina's Perfect Roast Chicken

No. 41 Ree's Blackberry Cobbler

No. 42 Trisha's No-Bake Chocolate-Pretzel-Peanut Butter Squares

No. 43 Ree's Salisbury Steak

No. 44 The Best Cauliflower Ever from Daphne Brogdon

No. 45 Giada's Chicken Cacciatore (858 Reviews)

No. 46 Ina's Chicken Pot Pie

No. 47 Ree's Macaroni And Cheese

No. 48 Ina's Mac and Cheese2

No. 49 Tyler's Chicken Parmesan

No. 50 Ina’s Asian Grilled Salmon

YAY! An Ina recipe is NUMBER ONE, although she doesn’t have the most recipes on this list. Pioneer Woman is in first place with 14 recipes.

Number Of Recipes By Chef (or host)

Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond – 14

Ina - 11

Giada - 10

Trisha and Tyler - 4 each

Alton - 2

Ellie Krieger - 1

(I know that doesn’t add up to 50. There were a few random ones thrown in for fun.)

Here’s the breakdown by type of recipe:

14 Chicken recipes

12 Pasta recipes (with 4 Mac and Cheese recipes)

6 Seafood recipes – 4 Shrimp, 2 Fish

6 Dessert recipes

5 Meat recipes

I guess this tells us that, most often, people are searching the Food Network website for what to make for dinner and chicken is at the top of their list.

Notice anything else? Obviously this is a list of CURRENT Food Network chefs and hosts, but it does seem a little strange that there isn’t ONE Paula Deen recipe here. In the past, she had always dominated lists like these. In 2007, she had the top recipe, Creamy Macaroni and Cheese, plus 46 others out of the top 100. In 2009, her Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup was the second most popular recipe. And she had the second and seventh most popular “Main Course” recipe in 2011. (Just saying, she was a pretty glorious part of the Food Network’s past.)

If I had to choose my favorite Food Network recipe, it wouldn’t even be close. I don’t follow it exactly or even closely anymore, but it gave me the inspiration to make such a delicious, always popular and never routine dish that I love it AND its creator. Ina’s Roasted Vegetables with Orzo takes top billing for me.

If I were to pick my all-time favorite recipe from anywhere or anyone, I could do that easily too. And I know there are thousands (millions?) of people who would agree with me. The Silver Palate’s Chicken Marbella wins hands down for best recipe. It has everything – It’s salty and sweet, easy to prepare, can be done ahead of time, great for every day and excellent for company. What else could anyone need?

What’s on the top of your list of best recipes – from the Food Network or otherwise?

Super Bowl Food - Paula Grabs The Gusto With A Steak Sandwich; Tyler Enriches Us With A Shrimp And Oyster Po'Boy Plus My Surprising Chicken Wing Guru

I took a look at Paula and Tyler's shows this week to see what football food they were making. Either menu would be pretty amazing. I think I'll concentrate on their sandwich offerings.

Tyler’s Ultimate with Tyler Florence

Ultimate Po' Boys

Shrimp and Oyster Po' Boys

Sweet Potato Matchsticks

Sweet Potato and Praline Pie

Tyler didn’t mention football specifically, but his tribute to New Orleans IS very appropriate for this year’s Super Bowl. His Ultimate Po’Boy would be a great addition to a Super Bowl party feast. In fact, it would BE the feast. He also made sweet potatoes two ways – as skinny, skinny fries and a pie (no store bought crust for him), but today I’m focusing on his po’ boy.

Tyler starts with his sauce - a rémoulade. He mixes together two cups of mayo, 1 cup of sour cream and some “good Creole” mustard He adds hot sauce, “Not enough to blow your head off”, with some cornichons that have been chopped with parsley. He mixes it all together with salt and pepper. Yum. (Add some julienned celery root to that and you have a pretty great version of a céleri rémoulade. That’s reason enough to party...as far as I’m concerned.)

Tyler says peanut oil is his “frying fat of choice”, but first, to flavor the oil, he adds some “woody” herbs to the COLD OIL – sage, rosemary and thyme. Fantastic idea!!! But, Tyler, tell the folks that if they wash those herbs (which I wouldn’t bother with), they HAVE to be dry before you can even THINK of deep frying them!

Tyler also adds an entire head of garlic, with the cloves separated but the papery skin still on. He doesn’t really say on the show, but the recipe tells us to heat the oil up to 365ºF and then remove the herbs.

Tyler fries up his sweet potato matchsticks first. Then he turns his attention to the shucked oysters and peeled shrimp. He adds buttermilk to the seafood with some hot sauce. Again, he says don't add not enough to blow your head off. He puts them back in the fridge.

Tyler is making it really hard for me NOT to talk about the Sweet Potato and Praline Pie. Take a look at it, it’s easy and completely fabulous. And frankly, even though I wouldn’t tell a Southerner, you could sneak some pumpkin in place of the potato and it would be awesome too.

Back to the oysters and shrimp. Tyler pours some spice mix into a shallow bowl and mixes in 2½ cups of cornmeal. He drains the seafood with a sieve to get rid of the extra buttermilk. He gets the oil read as he tosses a few shrimp and oysters in the cornmeal mixture. He turns them over and over to be coated nicely. Tyler drops them carefully into the oil and cooks them for 4 minutes “tops”.

(Oh gosh, praline sugar is going over the pie. Really check THIS out. It looks like a pecan pie now.)

During the commercial, Tyler finished frying all the seafood. The good thing about making this into a sandwich is that the oysters and shrimp don’t have to be super hot.

Tyler slices the French long(ish) roll open, leaving a “hinge” at the back. He smears on a generous amount of rémoulade before piling on the shrimp and oysters. He tops that with lettuce – “the official vegetable of New Orleans” – and tomato slices. He folds the whole thing over and gives it a SLIGHT press. He cuts it in the middle, slightly diagonally and voila. Awesome.

The “killer” sweet potato fries look amazing too and that pie…that pie.

At the end of the show, Tyler does acknowledge the coming football game. He says “I hope your team wins. Have a great game.” But I think his choice of menu leaves no doubt as to whom he’ll be rooting for.

I need to take a run around the block, before tackling Paula’s grilled steak sandwiches, because I have a feeling they’ll be suitable for a league of linebackers. Okay, let’s see.

Paula’s Best Dishes with Paula Deen

Company's Coming

Michael's Grilled Steak Sandwiches

Peppery Coleslaw with Orange Chili Vinaigrette

Crunch Onion Rings

Cherry-Chocolate Coffee Float

Oh goodie, Paula’s in the kitchen with hubbie Michael. They're cute together. She starts with onion rings. Oh, how I love those, but we’ll go right to the steak sandwiches. (Her recipe is a good one, though. The batter has “a sleeve” of saltine crackers and Michael is wearing pink onion goggles.)

I love how Paula says YISS (for yes). And EET (for it).

Jimmy Sikes, Michael’s friend from Vie-Day-Yuh, (Vidalia) is coming over (down? up?) to help him grill. Seriously, can foreigners understand Paula?

Michael sets about marinating the flank steak. Paula and he mix together 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon Dijon, 1 1/2 teaspoons of oregano, a teaspoon of Lady and Sons seasoning and ¾ cup of vegetable oil. They pour it over the flank steak and marinate it for a minimum of an hour or overnight. (I would completely leave out the oil and add a tablespoon or two of red wine vinegar.)

Paula rubs the marinade over the steak, while telling us all about Michael’s muscle car - a 1969 GTO Judge. (WHAT IS a muscle car?)

They’re serving the steak sandwich with a cole slaw. Take a look, but let’s get on to the steak sandwich.

Jimmy has arrived. I wonder if he has a muscle car too. Oh, Jimmy isn’t just a weekend barbecuer. He’s the owner and grill master of Sikes Cookers. I’m guessing that gorgeous grill they’re cooking on is one of those.

This is funny. The Food Network put the directions up on the screen: “For a flank steak 1– 1½ inches thick, grill 4-5 minutes on each side.” I wonder if the FN thought we needed subtitles to understand these Southerners. 


Jimmy and Michael put the meat on the barbecue and a huge flame spurts up. ­­

The rolls for the sandwiches also go on the barbecue. (I always forget to do that.) The guys bring in the steak and the rolls to be assembled in the kitchen.

Paula finishes mixing up the cole slaw. Michael says he loves it when Jimmy visits, so Jimmy can show him how to cook on his new grill, which he absolutely loves. (Probably not as much as that car, though.)

They spread chipotle sauce on the toasted bread. I forgot to mention that, here it is. They pile the meat on, add some thickly sliced tomatoes and fold it over. The onion rings and cole slaw look really good with it.

Dessert didn’t look half bad either – a cherry, coffee and chocolate float, y’all. (Each serving had about a pint of ice cream, along with the espresso, cherry syrup, chocolate syrup and whipped cream.) It doesn’t have to be espresso, y’all, it can be regular coffee. Paula signs off with, "Best dishes and love to y’all."

Okay, WHO DOESN’T LOVE PAULA??! Nobody says we have to cook her food, but what a complete doll she is!

More Food Network Game Day recipes that look good:

Sunny’s Interstate Chili

Baked Tortilla Chips - I only saw the first few minutes on the first Mexican Made Easy, but I liked how Marcella made these. Her Guacamole looked good too, but I would use a red onion instead of a white.

The January/February Food Network magazine has TONS of great snack recipes. Believe me, I didn’t think I needed another food magazine either.

Bobby Flay has an amazing sounding Blue Cheese Sauce.

And Alton Brown has a fantastic method for making chicken wings. (Yup, that’s right, he’s not my favorite.) All of you Alton Brown fans have seen this before (from The Wing and I Good Eats episode), but it’s new to me. Alton STEAMS the wings first, sets them uncovered in the fridge to dry out the skin and then roasts them in a hot oven. Sounds like a plan to me.

Have a great Super Bowl. Enjoy the snacks and the commercials. The game? I don’t even know who the Saints are playing, but do you think it would help my football comprehension if I made Gina’s punch?

Anne Exclaims Over Her (Duck) Breasts; Tyler’s Pears Kiss The Baking Sheet And I’m Convinced That (Part Of) Garlic Is Evil

The Food Network’s ratings really only started taking off when they introduced competition shows into primetime; "stand-and-stir" demonstrations were sidelined in favor of competition shows. I prefer to watch chefs cook, but it's okay, because I’m happy not to have Must-See Food TV on weeknight evenings.

And as much as I complain about the Food Network, there is still some very credible teaching that goes on. I saved a couple of not-so-recent shows of Tyler’s and Anne’s on cooking duck breasts. I wanted to see if there really was more than one way to sear a duck breast.

Anne Burrell's Duck Breast with Clementines and Tuscan Kale

Tyler Florence's Duck Breasts with Roasted Pears and Cold Sesame Noodles

I started with Anne. I loved it when she said (repeatedly), as she was scoring the fat, “We go down TO the flesh, but not THROUGH the flesh.”

That’s a great way to remember that you have to cut through ALL the fat, but stop when you get to the meat – TO the flesh, but not THROUGH the flesh.

Anne SHOULD watch what she says, though. She exclaimed, “I have HUGE breasts here.” And that wasn’t her only reference to breasts that sounded as if she were bragging.

Now this is interesting. Anne starts the duck breasts in a COLD pan and cooks them LOW AND SLOW. That way she renders all the fat without an explosion of fat globules covering the stove, chef and floor. I love that!

I adore duck breasts, but I usually have to gear myself up for the clean up, so cooking them without a lot of high-heat spattering appeals to me. Anne isn’t kidding when she says LOW and SLOW. Her method has the duck on the stove for 30(!) minutes and THEN in the oven for about 8.

Anne makes sure the fat side is browned after the low and slow part. Then she turns it over and quickly browns the flesh side before it goes into the oven.

Her duck came out beautifully rare, so she obviously wasn’t kidding about the LOW part. And it had a beautiful color. “Brown food tastes good,” she chirps. More about her sauce later.

On to Tyler’s duck searing…First, he’s getting little seckel pears ready to roast as an accompaniment. He rubs the pears around in sesame oil and salt and pepper and puts them cut side down to cook. He says they’ll get great color from “KISSING” the baking sheet. Don’t talk like that, Tyler. It gets me distracted, although this IS a show about what to cook on a first date.

Then he moves on to a sesame sauce for noodles, which will be served with the duck. Talking about the ginger, Tyler says you don’t have to cut it super-sexy, because it’s going to be puréed anyway. BTW, he peels his ginger with a teaspoon. Excellent trick.

For the sauce, Tyler smashes and peels the garlic cloves and they go into oil.

I’m sorry, but I would have to do my garlic thingie of removing the center, often-green stem from the garlic clove. I just can’t help myself. I’m convinced that center stem is evil and has to be removed to ensure there are no ill effects from garlic. It IS a pain, I know, but I never skip this step anymore.

This next step in the duck preparation is important, although Tyler doesn’t make a big deal of it. Tyler scores the skin in one direction. (His scoring is much more delicate than Anne’s.) THEN instead of making the second row of scoring at a 90 degree angle, he does it at a 45 degree angle. This makes diamond shapes instead of little squares. SO much more attractive.

I also use that rule for any kind of lattice, whether I’m piping a whipped cream lattice or weaving a pastry lattice on top of a pie. The first line goes on straight across. The second one goes on at a 45 degree angle. This is even nice when you’re slicing brownies.

Before Tyler even takes the duck breasts out of the fridge, he turns his pan on to medium low. (Anne’s pan was cold, remember.) He looks at the yellowish fat on the breasts and tells us that this indicates that they’ve had a good grain diet.

Tyler also says to cook them “low and slow”, but his “low and slow” duck will only be in the pan for half the time of Anne’s “low and slow” - about 15 minutes.

Here's another good point from Tyler. He pours out the oil that’s building up in the pan, because he doesn’t want the duck to boil and he wants it to have really good contact with the pan.

Take my advice that BEFORE you pour out the fat, take out the duck first or you may have splashing duck breasts skidding across your stove (or floor). Just dedicate a dinner plate to setting the duck breasts on while you pour out the fat.

I’m leaving Tyler now, because although his sesame sauce sounds good, I’m going back to Anne’s Clementine Sauce recipe, because I have a boatload of clementines.

Three more points:

1. Clementines make the most awesome juice. Really, really terrific. Squeeze extra to have as a treat. SO GOOD.
2. I didn't have the patience to do Anne’s 30 minute “low and slow” cooking, but I didn’t cook them as quite as fast as Tyler did. I took the middle road.
3. I skipped Tyler’s noodles. It looks like a great recipe, but I HAVE to have Forbidden Rice when I cook duck breasts. To me, it’s a match made in heaven. To go with the rice, I like to make much more sauce than Anne does. Anne’s sauce is more of an accent to the dish than something to be served separately.

Seared Duck With Clementine Sauce (serves 4)
Printable recipe here

(With a shoutout to Anne Burrell because I love her idea of using clementines and to Tyler Florence, because he’s so cute and cooks duck so well)

4 duck breasts

1 cup fresh clementine juice

4 clementines, sectioned and each section cut into half

2 cups stock

1 tsp. dried thyme

2 tbls. cream

For garnish:

2 clementines, peeled with a knive and sectioned without pith

Score the duck breasts. Place them in a cold sauté pan. Turn heat to low. After 5 minutes, turn up to medium low and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Whenever the fat builds up in the pan, remove the duck to a plate and pour out the fat. Return duck to pan.

Raise heat to medium and cook until fat side is nice and browned, maybe another 4 minutes. Turn over and cook on medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes until browned. Remove from pan and cover with foil. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

Deglaze pan over high heat with clementine juice. Boil for a minute, then add clementines, stock and thyme. Bring to boil and simmer gently for 4 minutes. Add cream, if using. Bring to boil and taste for seasoning. If not adding cream, boil a bit more to thicken slightly. Taste clementine sauce for seasoning.

Slice duck. Spoon over a bit of the sauce. Garnish with clementine sections. Serve with Forbidden Rice and remaining clementine sauce.

Note: Here’s another duck recipe that I love with (ah!) fresh cherries.