10 Food Blogs to Teach You How To Cook in 2014

What we like most about Kevin Lynch’s blog, Closet Cooking, is its imaginative approach to leftovers. He’ll show you how to roast some pork, and then he’ll show you a handful of dishes you can make to incorporate the leftovers. With recipes like bacon guacamole grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken enchilada stuffed spaghetti squash, and shrimp saltimbocca, it’s clear that Kevin has really good taste in food. Let him help you.

Image: Closet Cooking

Heidi Swanson’s landmark food blog, 101 Cookbooks, is a great place to find beautiful dishes made from fresh, seasonal, and real ingredients. Does miso tahini soup sound nice to you? How about pomelo green beans, or poached eggs in white wine? All these things (and so very much more) could be yours. Check out Heidi’s super awesome cookbooks, Super Natural Cooking and Super Natural Every Day, for still more good eats.

Gluten-free? Don’t despair. I always prescribe Nicole Hunn’s page, Gluten-Free On A Shoestring, for people suffering through the gluten-free Can’t-Eat-Anything Blues. Did you think you would never eat a croissant again? Did you say good-bye to your beloved cinnamon buns? This blog — and its brand new cookbook(!) — will bring the bread (and happiness) back into your life. Plus Nicole cooks up all sorts of things other than breads. These gluten-free meatballs have your name written all over them.

Image: Gluten-Free On A Shoestring

Jessica Merchant’s blog How Sweet It Is is one of our absolute favorites. Like, favorite-favorites. We love her for her genius recipes, her honest food crush testimonials, and the inimitable way that her photography makes us want to eat All The Things. Her blog is a great place for new cooks to get started because her food is approachable, unfussy, and always So Freaking Delicious. Plus, she confesses her food fails too, and that gives us hope that someday we, too, will be as great and mighty as she. Chocolate cream slab pie! Fried Brussels sprouts with smoky honey aioli! Whipped ricotta pancakes with bittersweet chocolate and lemon glaze! Read this blog. That’s a direct order.

Image: How Sweet It Is

Sonia of The Healthy Foodie blog was a self-described heavy drinker, chain smoker, and food junkie who, through the power of her kitchen, magically transformed into a veritable health and fitness nut. These days, Sonia cooks up Paleo-style dishes, including eats like chicken casserole with chanterelles and goat cheese, portable western omelettes, and extra dark chocolate mint thins. Sonia knows great ingredients, and she presents them with fantastic photo how-to’s and easy-to-follow instructions. Lost? She’ll show you the way.

Image: The Healthy Foodie

Joy Wilson of the acclaimed blog Joy The Baker is definitely one to watch. Not only does she whip up biscuits and loaves and pies a-plenty, her blog is also full of lots of satisfying savory dishes (like her recent bonkers awesome mushroom and cheddar shells and cheese), as well as fancy cocktails, brilliantly-imagined snacks, and all the sweet treats you could ever wish for. Her new series of posts, Baking 101, is a great primer for anybody who is looking to roll out some dough but doesn’t have the know-how. What’s best about Joy is that she writes to us as our girlfriends write to us — with honestly, kindness, and oh, so much excitement.

Image: Joy The Baker

Mexican beer-spiked churros with chocolate dulce de leche. Turkey, smashed avocado, cranberry, brie, and mashed potato waffle melts. Loaded peanut butter chocolate-covered potato chip fudge. Come a little bit closer, and step inside the food brain of Tieghan Gerard, the voice behind the food blog Half Baked Harvest. You know when you were a kid and you kind of wanted to put sprinkles on everything? Or cheese sauce? Or use waffles as bread? Remember how that was never ever allowed? Well, it’s all allowed here, where Tieghan reminds us that when we cook for ourselves, we can eat exactly what we want to eat — because we make the rules. Plus, not only are Tieghan’s dishes fun, imaginative, and crazy-tasty, her recipes are very easy to follow.

Image: Half Baked Harvest

Marla Meredith’s fun blog Family Fresh Cooking has caught our eye for a number of reasons. First and foremost: The woman knows how to bake a cookie. But her skill-set sure doesn’t stop there. She’s also given us crescent-wrapped brie, salmon scrambled eggs, and sweet potato cornbread cupcakes. Marla, a busy mom of two young children, knows how to keep it real in the kitchen — without sacrificing any family time — and she’s happy to show you the way too. Plus, she knows the value of a well-made cocktail from time to time. Kids or no kids, you could stand to learn a thing or two from her.

Image: Family Fresh Cooking

Erin, the voice of Naturally Ella, abides by this smart maxim: Live naturally, be healthy, eat delicious. Through her plant-based recipes, Erin shows us what’s to love about seasonal, whole foods made with real ingredients — and real love. Even though her site features vegetarian fare, her food philosophy is certainly not about deprivation — she offers up creamy polenta with roasted root vegetables, cacao nib and oat scones, and a beautiful roasted eggplant with cumin-scented spelt and fig chutney. Her recipes feature short ingredient lists, crush-worthy photographs, and sweet anecdotes. There is much to love about this great site.

Image: Naturally Ella