EPPYC: Smart Kitchen Recipes for Everyday Cooking

Everyday Recipes for Home Cooks, Sorted by How You Cook

EPPYC is a collection of home-cooking recipes written to be followed in a normal kitchen, on a normal weeknight. Each recipe lists ingredients, steps, realistic times and serving sizes, so you can decide in a minute whether a dish fits your evening. Below is a short tour of how the site is organized and how to get the most out of the recipes.

What You Will Find in Each Category

Recipes are grouped into five categories, so you can start from the kind of cooking you need rather than from a cuisine.

Smart Kitchen Basics

Smart Kitchen Basics is the largest section and the best place to begin. It covers the dishes most households cook again and again: Minestrone Soup for 6 Servings, Egg Salad, No Mayo Potato Salad, Pumpkin Pie, Chicken Spaghetti Casserole and Parmesan Herb Roasted Acorn Squash. Expect clear methods for soups, bakes, sides, breakfasts and desserts.

Global Fusion

Global Fusion mixes flavors and techniques from different kitchens. You will see dishes such as Aloo Gobi, a Punjabi dry curry, next to Sheet Pan Steak Fajitas and other recipes that borrow ideas across cuisines.

Quick Tech Meals

Quick Tech Meals is for short evenings: Iced Almond Milk Latte in 5 Minutes, Buffalo Chicken Dip in 30 Minutes, Tuna Melt Chaffle and similar dishes with brief prep and few pans.

Sustainable Smart Cooking

Sustainable Smart Cooking focuses on getting more from what you buy: one-pan dinners, vegetable-forward sides and recipes that make good use of pantry staples and leftovers.

Digital Meal Prep

Digital Meal Prep gathers recipes that suit cooking ahead, such as Baked Chicken Meal Prep Bowl for 4 and Best Overnight Oats, with portions and storage in mind.

Collections for Specific Needs

Beyond the categories, themed collections group recipes around a single idea. A few examples:

• Slow-cooker soups and freezer meals for busy weeknights
• Easy pasta recipes and pasta salads
• Quinoa bowls for meal prep
• Game-day food and party appetizers
• Peach crumbles, cookies, no-bake treats and Valentine's Day desserts
• Coffee drinks, egg breakfasts and salmon glazes

Each collection is one theme among many, so use them as shortcuts when you already know what you are in the mood for.

How to Use the Recipes Well

A few habits make any recipe turn out better.

Read the whole recipe first. Check the timing, the equipment and any resting or chilling steps before you turn on the stove. Prep time and cook time are listed separately for a reason.

Adjust times to your own kitchen. Ovens run hot or cool, and pans differ in thickness. Treat the times as a guide and rely on the visual cues in the steps: golden edges, a gentle simmer, a set center.

Substitute with care. Swapping one herb for another or using a different cheese usually works. Changing flour types, sweeteners or leavening in baking can change the texture, so make one change at a time. Where a swap is known to work, the recipe notes it.

Check allergens yourself. Always read the labels on packaged ingredients, since nuts, dairy, gluten, eggs and soy can turn up in sauces, broths and spice blends.

Storage and Food Safety Basics

• Refrigerate cooked food within two hours, or within one hour if the room is hot.
• Cool large pots of soup or chili in shallow containers so they chill quickly.
• Use a thermometer: poultry should reach 165°F (74°C) at the thickest part, and ground beef 160°F (71°C).
• Reheat leftovers until steaming hot throughout, and only reheat them once.
• Keep raw meat away from ready-to-eat foods, and use separate boards or wash them well between tasks.
• Label freezer meals with the date, and thaw them in the refrigerator rather than on the counter.

How the Recipes Are Prepared

Recipes on EPPYC are developed and then edited for clarity: steps are put in a logical order, times and temperatures are checked for realism, ingredient amounts are matched to the stated servings, and substitution and food-safety notes are added where they help. The recipes are written by our authors, each with a particular strength.

Maya Thorne writes fusion comfort food, Julian Ashcroft modern plant-based comfort dishes, Serena Holloway pastry and desserts, and Theo Nakamura Japanese home cooking. Every cook's kitchen is different, so use your own judgement, taste as you go and confirm doneness with a thermometer.

Questions, corrections or suggestions are welcome through the contact page, and you can learn more about the site on the About Us page.