20-Minute Dumpling Soup and More Recipes We Made This Week

The Bon Appétit and Epicurious Staffs
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Photograph by Isa Zapata, food styling by Kendra Vaculin, prop styling by Emma Ringness

It’s no secret that BA editors cook a lot for work. So it should come as no surprise that we cook a lot during our off hours too. Here are the recipes we’re whipping up this month to get dinner on the table, entertain our friends, satisfy a sweet tooth, use up leftovers, and everything in between. For even more staff favorites, click here.

April 26

Sunday-morning madeleines

Among the joys of going to chef Daniel Boulud’s eponymous French palace Daniel is ending the meal with a warm batch of madeleines with crispy edges and a generous dusting of powdered sugar. The table captain will box the pastries to go if you don’t finish them, but they are unlikely to make it out of the revolving door. Chef Boulud shared a recipe with us back in 2015, which I use often, baking them fresh to go with coffee on Sunday mornings. The batter takes minutes to prepare, but you’ll want to chill it for at least a couple of hours. The cold batter baked hot is what gives that nice bump on the bottom. —Jamila Robinson, editor in chief

Daniel Boulud’s Madeleines

Daniel Boulud

Forgiving carrot salad

Whenever I visit my parents, I base our dinner on whatever produce in their refrigerator is going to rot. Last night that was a clamshell of arugula, some carrots, and half a fennel bulb that delightfully transformed into this Roasted Carrot Salad With Arugula and Pomegranate. I must admit we didn’t have any fresh pomegranate seeds, but between the cumin-roasted carrots, fruity-tart dressing, bright herbs, and peppery arugula, this salad didn’t lack in any way. There are lots of ways to customize the recipe too, whether you add in toasted walnuts and crumbled pita chips for extra crunch or opt for rainbow carrots for color. It reminded me how much I love arugula after a long hiatus without the bitter green. —Kate Kassin, editorial operations manager

20-minute dumpling soup

I’m almost embarrassed at how many times I’ve made deputy food editor Hana Asbrink’s Egg Drop Dumpling Soup. After trying it in the test kitchen, I snuck into our top secret Bon Appétit folders (just kidding, it’s a Google Drive), and found the recipe to make at home. I couldn’t wait until it was published; I’m not strong enough. The ingredient list is all staples: frozen dumplings, frozen spinach, eggs, scallions. Hana’s genius move is fortifying store-bought stock (I use vegetable Better Than Bouillon) with soy sauce, fish sauce, and sesame oil—a triple threat that makes the soup taste like it's been simmering all day. —Emma Laperruque, senior cooking editor

Egg Drop Dumpling Soup

Hana Asbrink

Grilled salmon (without a grill)

This week I had friends coming over for dinner on less than 24 hours’ notice, so I knew I had to keep things simple. When considering something worthy of company, I thought of recipe developer Rachel Gurjar’s incredibly easy Grilled Salmon in Foil With Lemon-Garlic-Herb Butter. As a Manhattanite without a grill, I prepared the recipe as directed but threw the foil pack in the oven at 425° for about 15 minutes, as one commenter suggested. Aside from being completely delicious, the ingredient list is almost entirely in the title of the recipe. Truly a revelation. —Carly Westerfield, recipe copy and production assistant

No-churn chocolate ice cream

Chocolate ice cream is not good—or at least that’s what I thought for years. Then I tried senior test kitchen editor Jesse Szewczyk’s Double Dark Chocolate No-Churn Ice Cream. While the other scoops of my life tasted dull and powdery, like a shadow of chocolate instead of the ingredient itself, this version is vibrant and intense. That’s thanks to a heavy dose of cocoa powder in the base, which comes together in a blender, and a fudgy ripple throughout. To gild the lily, I shook up some cream in a jar (no whisk needed) for a fluffy topping. —E.L.

Double Dark Chocolate No-Churn Ice Cream

Jesse Szewczyk

April 19

Feel-better chicken soup

When I had a stomach bug a couple weeks ago, I searched the Epicurious app for recipes that would combat my aversion to food. I landed on this appropriately named Feel-Better Chicken and Rice Soup, a quick and simple soup chock-full of ginger. I ended up not making it at the time—the aversion won out—so I revisited it this week, when my husband was stuck in bed with a migraine. I added spinach at the end and handed my baby the sweet potato for her own meal. —Serena Dai, editorial director

Feel-Better Chicken and Rice Soup

Andy Baraghani

Kid-friendly mac and cheese

My seven-year-old son somehow doesn’t like macaroni and cheese (“boxed macaroni and cheese,” he likes to clarify, but in reality he doesn’t like any version of it). In my Sisyphean struggle to change his mind, I turned to Jesse Szewczyk’s One-Pot Broccoli Mac and Cheese, which I’ve had my eyes on since I first saw it in our March 2024 print issue. Mission accomplished: He loved it. We had enough leftovers for two, so the next night my wife and I popped it in the oven for 15 minutes for a delightfully cheesy pasta bake that was even better than night one. —Nick Traverse, editorial operations director

Purposefully chipless cookies

What is a chocolate chip cookie without the chips? Senior test kitchen editor Shilpa Uskokovic bravely set out to find the answer. And while I knew she would land on something good, what she accomplished was something so good, I had to make a batch at home immediately. Shilpa’s Chocolate Chipless Cookies are for all the people obsessed with this oddball flavor (there is a fervent fanbase, as writer Ali Francis found out). But they’re also for the rest of us—like me and perhaps you—the chocolate lovers, the chipless skeptics, the people happy to be proven wrong. —Emma Laperruque, senior cooking editor

Chocolate Chipless Cookies

Shilpa Uskokovic

Grilled swordfish with olives

I’ve been sleeping on tarragon. This swordfish recipe from BA alum Andy Baraghani reminded me how good it can be—earthy, anise-y, romantic. Chopped tarragon, plus crushed olives, roasted pistachios, lemon zest and juice, and a lot of olive oil, morphs into a spectacularly easy sauce to spoon on fish. Instead of roasting, I grilled to take advantage of some good weather. And in addition to the boiled potatoes called for in the recipe, I grilled asparagus. Eaten outside, with the squirrels scurrying and birds chirping and trees swaying, it was just the meal to convince me it’s finally spring. —E.L.

Repeat-worthy pozole

I am on a Pozole Blanco kick—I’ve made this recipe from associate test kitchen manager Inés Anguiano two times in the past week. Imagine sipping on the most soothing, savory-bodied broth, built from pork shoulder renderings, Mexican oregano, and bay leaves. I topped mine with buttery avocado, peppery cilantro, and vegetal watermelon radishes and cabbage. —Nina Moskowitz, editorial assistant

Posole Blanco

Inés Anguiano

April 12

Perfect-for-spring pasta

Every time I make this Spiced Lamb and Dill Yogurt Pasta from Sohla El-Waylly, I vow to cook it more often. It offers a blast of springy freshness thanks to three full cups of dill fronds, some of which are whirred into a tangy kefir sauce. While the recipe calls for ground lamb and cumin, I sometimes amp up the spice factor by starting with lamb merguez. —Maggie Hoffman, contributing editor

Spiced Lamb and Dill Yogurt Pasta

Sohla El-Waylly

Za’atar Halloumi with matbucha

I love New York Shuk’s products—the heady harissa, versatile shawarma spice, sunshiny preserved lemon paste. This week, inspired by a recipe I saw on their site, I put two of their items to good use in one meal: seared Halloumi sprinkled with za’atar and plopped on top of matbucha. I ate it with some warmed pita and a tahini-drenched Little Gem salad with cucumber, onion, and olives, and together, it was a surprisingly special Wednesday dinner, even though it only took 20-ish minutes to come together. —Emma Laperruque, senior cooking editor

Anytime-anywhere matzo brei

When Emma made her Cheesy Matzo Brei in the test kitchen, I pounced. The matzo brei I’m used to is scrambled, so Emma’s was a lovely surprise—a big disk of just-set egg and sogged-out matzo that still retained the tiniest bite, like al dente pasta. I made it at home right away. A box of matzo keeps for an eternity in the pantry, a reliable soldier for those times you’ve run out of bread. And the formula is simple: one sheet of matzo, two eggs, two slices of cheese, salt, pepper, butter. I’ve made it with the prescribed American cheese, and I’ve made it with Swiss and cheddar and Monterey Jack. I’ve added scallions, cilantro, and jalapeño. I’ve had it with a salad, with curry ketchup, with hot sauce, with mixed vegetable achar. I’ve had it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The convenience is unparalleled. —Shilpa Uskokovic, senior test kitchen editor

Of Course Cheese Makes Matzo Brei Even Better

Flipped like a pancake, this is like matzo brei and an egg sandwich in one.

Milan-inspired venison ragù

In March, while dining at Trattoria Del Ciumbia in Milan, I had an incredible venison ragù pappardelle pasta. Coming from a deer-hunting family, I love discovering different ways to prepare venison. This week I made a version inspired by that dish from Milan. I used Marcella Hazan’s Bolognese sauce recipe and swapped out the beef for venison. It worked so well, no overpowering gamey flavor. I used tomatoes from the family garden, threw in a parm rind, and paired it with gemelli pasta because that’s what I had on hand. Next time I make it I’ll definitely go out of my way to make some fresh pasta. It also sent me down a rabbit hole to learn there is indeed a difference between Bolognese and ragù. —Kelly Janke, director of culinary production

Baked tofu nuggets

I’m in an extremely serious relationship with Zoe Denenberg’s Crispy Tofu Nuggets. I’ve made the recipe at least a dozen times since it was published late last year. This week, inspired by katsu, I served my nuggs with steamed rice, a tangle of salted cabbage, lemon wedges, and Kendra Vaculin’s three-ingredient Okonomiyaki Sauce. Next time (because of course there will be a next time), I want to squish them on a sub roll with some mayo and giardiniera. —E.L.

Crispy Baked Tofu Nuggets

Zoe Denenberg

April 5

Simple saffron rice

This video of former Bon Appétit staffer Andy Baraghani popped up when I was working on a story earlier this week. I was immediately drawn in as I watched him make this Persian saffron rice, and I realized how easy the recipe is: Mix parboiled rice with yogurt and eggs. Layer it with some dried fruit that gets a quick sauté in butter (Andy uses barberries, but I had Turkish apricots and mango on hand, so I swapped them in). Bake. That’s it. Assembly takes all of 10 minutes. And sure, it bakes for an hour, but in that time I took my dog for a walk and sautéed some cabbage (in the same pan I cooked the fruit) to eat on the side. It was the most satisfying Monday night meal I’ve had in a long time. —Joe Sevier, senior SEO editor

Crunchy Baked Saffron Rice with Barberries (*Tachin*)

Andy Baraghani

Shrimp and charred green beans

When I see an Ali Slagle byline on a recipe, I’ll likely check it out. So I was delighted to see her name when my husband suggested that we make this Chile-Crisp Shrimp and Green Beans. Shrimp defrosts quickly, then requires only a short soak in the marinade for big flavor. I cooked the green beans at a higher heat to get some nice char like in a Sichuan dry-fried dish. If you’re a spice fiend, you may want to up the spice level on the marinade, but I was pleased with it in this combo of crunchy beans and bulbous shrimp. I’ve already made it a second time. —Serena Dai, editorial director

Chili crisp salmon

To the salmon I bought on sale, then forgot in the freezer for months, I am sorry. It wasn’t on purpose. When this icy package made itself known, I knew I needed to act fast. And this salmon bowl from test kitchen editor Kendra Vaculin came through. I played around with the ingredients—brown rice instead of white, frilly greens instead of avocado—based on what I had. But two components I wouldn't dare touch: the quick-broiled salmon cubes and the chili crisp mayo. Wild salmon cooks differently than farmed, but it still worked great in this simple recipe. —E.L.

Spicy Salmon Roll Bowl

Kendra Vaculin

Extra-chocolaty cake

If you don’t love chocolate, scroll on by. Still reading? Good. Because the Double-Chocolate Layer Cake from the Gourmet archives (available on Epicurious) is so cocoa-licious, it may ruin you for all other chocolate cakes. I made it for our Easter dessert; as my brother-in-law, an avowed cake fanatic, sat eating his slice, he kept muttering “wow” under his breath with every bite. The frosting is a souped-up ganache made with a full pound of semisweet bars, cream, and corn syrup, which gives it a stunning sheen. The mixture melts together on the stove, then rests at room temperature until thick enough to spread. Try not to eat it as you periodically stir—there’s only just enough to cover the two layers. —J.S.

Not-grilled carrots with avocado

My curious little six-month-old recently began the journey into real human food, and I’ve been scouring the Bon Appétit archives for recipes that work for adults and babies alike. Andy Baraghani’s Grilled Carrots With Avocado and Mint is one I whipped up this past week. It was perfect for me and perfect for my little one. Since we’re far from grilling season, I roasted the carrots in the oven, sans the salt to make it baby-friendly. For her, she had roasted carrots and sliced avocado for dinner; for my husband and me, we finished the carrots and avocado in Andy’s spicy cumin dressing and served it alongside some lamb meatballs. —June Kim, head of video

Grilled Carrots With Avocado and Mint

Andy Baraghani

Originally Appeared on Bon Appétit

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