Best Recipes 2023: Allrecipes asked our readers and a panel of judges to help us find the best recipe in five different categories: bacon, chicken, potatoes, cheese, and chocolate. See the full list of winners here, and read more about the best potato recipe below.
Fried, baked, mashed, or puréed, the shape-shifting potato is one of our kitchen heroes. So when we set out to find the best potato recipe of 2023, it felt close to impossible. But we accepted the challenge. Back in June, our editors chose 10 potato recipes that were popular amongst our readers and also felt important to the zeitgeist. Our readers then whittled down the list to the top two recipes, and our judges—Carrie Boyd, Elizabeth Heiskell, and Dakari Akorede—got the final say in our Best Recipes 2023 Cook-Off in Birmingham in July. Let’s see what they had to say about these taters!
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Meet the Two Contenders
- Ultimate Twice-Baked Potatoes: This recipe comes from PONYGIRL64, and was originally published on December 2, 2000. It has over 2,500 reviews with a 4.7-star rating—it’s one of our top 10 potato recipes of all time. Test kitchen pro, Amanda Stanfield, described this dish as “one of those can’t-be-upset kind of meals.” The potatoes are loaded with bacon, cheddar cheese, green onions, and sour cream.
- Creamy au Gratin Potatoes: This recipe comes from Cathy Martin, and was originally published on February 6, 2000. It was over 4,500 reviews with a 4.6-star rating. It’s one of our top five potato recipes of all time. Our test kitchen pro, Catherine Jesse, says this is definitely comfort food. It’s almost like a lasagna with its many layers—you have thinly-sliced potatoes and onions, and then the whole thing is covered in a cheesy sauce.
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What the Judges Had to Say
- Ultimate Twice-Baked Potatoes: “I love the use of the green onion in the actual potato,” Akorede says. “The sharpness of the onions really plays off the saltiness of the bacon.” All of the judges said this dish felt very nostalgic for them. “This makes me think about home,” Akorede says, mentioning football games and Friday nights at TGIFridays. “I grew up eating these, this recipe is a big treat,” Heiskell says. “It’s exactly what I want in a twice-baked potato,” Boyd agrees.
- Creamy au Gratin Potatoes: “The potatoes are perfectly cooked,” says Heiskell. She also commented that oftentimes gratin can feel like mashed potatoes with cheese, but this one maintains those perfect layers. But while she thought the onions were perfectly balanced with the potatoes and sauce, Akorede disagreed. “Onions were too sharp,” he noted.
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And the Winner Is…
After gathering their notes and discussing the merits of each dish, the judges chose the Ultimate Twice-Baked Potatoes as their best potato recipe for 2023. Each of the judges rated the dish 5 out of 5 in their reviews, with Heiskell saying the only “bad” thing about the recipe is that she wanted more.