Our Top 10 Most Popular Weeknight Recipes of All Time

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Baked flounder with lemon recipe — The Spruce Eats / Ulyana Verbytska

Recipes never seem to settle into a final collection, do they? New additions pop in all the time and favorites rotate in and out of, well, favor. (There’s a reason “flavor of the month” is a common colloquialism.) With all that flux, it might be daunting to pin down the very best recipes in any collection.

But thanks to the Internet, we have some proof.

For over 25 years, the team at The Spruce Eats has been writing, collecting, and testing thousands upon thousands of recipes for the home cook. Which ones did you love the most, bookmark to return to again and again, share with friends and family?

After taking a long and careful look back over the quarter century, and without further ado, here are the top 10 recipes at The Spruce Eats that you’ve showed us you loved the most by clicking on them again and again and again. From omelets to Southern fried chicken, these are the recipes that stayed in your rotations, kept you and your loved ones fed, and earned a place in your hearts.

And after reviewing these Top 10 juggernauts, we agree with you, readers: These classic recipes have indeed stood the test of time and we’re thrilled to celebrate them and share them again. Let the weeknight cooking begin!

READY: The 7 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Stepping Into the Kitchen

01 of 10

Risotto for Beginners

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Risotto is one of those dishes that always sounds and feels fancy. Rich and luxurious, creamy and toothsome, it’s versatile and easily enriched with add-ins suggested by commenters over the years like baby bella mushrooms, zucchini, asparagus, and shrimp. A side that can easily become an elegant entrée, a reliable risotto is a great recipe to have in your back pocket. And with this version, you now have exactly that.
02 of 10

5-Minute Omelet

The Spruce / Ahlam Raffii

While folks in the US may think of eggs as a breakfast-only food, many countries rely on them as a quick, easy protein source for any meal. France—where the word “omelet” was invented—is one such place. This French-influenced recipe has allowed countless readers to master “fluffy, decadent omelets” fit to be filled for dinner.
03 of 10

Traditional Brunswick Stew with Pork and Chicken

The Spruce

This Southern stew is an unforgettable one. Its sweet tomato base, pulled meats, satisfying beans, and layered flavors are fantastic as a saucy main and a thrifty use of leftover chicken, pork, and beef scraps and basic vegetables. While brand-specific barbecue sauce loyalists butt heads on that ingredient, they all agree it offers warmth and comfort that belie the mere hour-long investment.
04 of 10

Juicy Oven-Baked Burgers

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Who says you need a grill to make a gorgeous burger? Certainly not the hundreds of home cooks who have earmarked this recipe as a go-to for those days when their barbecue plans are rained or snowed out. This baked version starts with the neat trick of searing the patties first before fully cooking them in the oven, but the secret sauce behind its success is exactly that … and secret seasoning.

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05 of 10

Baked Flounder with Lemon and Butter

The Spruce Eats / Ulyana Verbytska

Flaky white fish is as healthy as it is delicious, leaving you the wiggle room for an elegant treatment such as a light bath of butter. This favorite recipe is simple and flavorful—a classic (and also classy) way to let the flavors of fresh fish shine through. A bonus recipe for garlic aioli has made bookmarking this recipe a two-fer for home cooks working on perfecting fish.
06 of 10

Baked Red Snapper with Garlic and Herbs

The Spruce / Sabrina Russo

If you prefer your fish with a little bit of a crunch, you’re clearly not alone! This reader favorite blends herbs and zippy Creole seasoning with bread crumbs to add texture with minimal fuss. Some home cooks opt for panko while others veer more Italian with their seasoning choices, but overall, everyone finds this quick and easy recipe a go-to for a restaurant-style snapper.
07 of 10

Easy Baked Chilean Sea Bass

The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

Speaking of restaurant-quality, this high-demand, gourmet fish is one pricey cut you don’t want to mess up, which is why so many readers have saved this simple recipe! The majority of the ingredient list is for the lemon beurre blanc sauce you’ll drizzle over the baked fillets, a touch that The Spruce Eats home cooks have raved about. You can also substitute more commonly available black cod for the same dazzling result.
08 of 10

Crispy Fried Chicken Drumsticks

The Spruce/Diana Chistruga

Affordable, fun to look at, and easy to handle and eat, drumsticks are a kid-friendly cut of meat that few really grow out of. Now make it golden brown, crispy, soaked in buttermilk, and juicy on the inside and you have a run-on sentence of why this recipe has remained irresistible. With a simple blend of spices and only 20 minutes of prep time, Southern cooking doesn’t get more accessible than this.

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09 of 10

Classic Southern Fried Chicken

The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

Ready to graduate onto the serious stuff? That’s what hundreds of readers decided when they moved on from drumsticks to this fried chicken recipe, which eliminates the marinating step and swaps it for the challenge of working with the different cook times required by using different cuts of meat. But we’re using the term “challenge” as loosely as its breading here—a good kitchen thermometer takes all the guesswork out.
10 of 10

Southern Oven-Fried Chicken

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Nothing says comfort quite like fried chicken, as this trio of all-time winning chicken recipes proves! But as people move away from deep-frying, this recipe has been a boon. It offers all the flavor, the crunch, and the on-the-bone satisfaction without having to submerge the meat in oil. The secret is melting butter in the baking dish … and the magic is in every bite.