The Most Popular Cook's Country Recipes of 2019

Get inspired for the year ahead and see if your favorite made the list. And once you check out our top six, make sure you check out the rest of top 25 in this collection.

Although this southeastern Connecticut dish calls for day-old cooked potatoes, we wanted to see if we could develop a version that didn't rely on leftovers. As it turned out, we could. We cooked starchy russet potatoes in light cream and butter and added a bit of baking soda to neutralize that potatoes' tannins (and aid in creating a velvety, unbroken sauce). After topping the potato mixture with buttery cheesy bread crumbs, we baked the dish until the potatoes were bubbling and the bread crumbs were golden brown. [GET THE RECIPE]

 A unique crust made with saltine crackers, melted butter, and light corn syrup set this pie apart from the competition. We use both lemon zest and juice in the custard filling for a bright pop of citrus flavor. [GET THE RECIPE]

 For a special side dish that serves a crowd, you can’t go wrong with barbecued beans. Instead of dealing with the fuss of soaking and simmering dried beans, we cut some corners by opting for a combination of canned baked beans, pinto beans, and cannellini beans. To enliven this trio, we combined supermarket barbecue sauce, spicy brown mustard, cider vinegar, liquid smoke, garlic, and cayenne pepper. To bump up the flavor even more, we turned to Ro-Tel Original Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, which also added welcome heat. A hefty amount bratwurst stirring into the beans and slices of bacon scattered over top gave us just the meaty flavor the dish needed to be complete. [GET THE RECIPE]

 Meat lasagna can take all day to make. We streamlined the process by whisking together a quick no-cook cheesy filling and shaving time off the meat sauce prep. Since the sauce continues to cook in the oven as the lasagna bakes, we skipped the traditional but unnecessary long simmer on the stovetop. We tweaked the ratios of the components until we had lasagna that lasted markedly more meaty, rather than just tomato- and cheese-packed. [GET THE RECIPE]

When cooking corned beef and cabbage in the slow cooker, placement of the ingredients was key. We put the meat in the slow cooker first, sprinkled the seasoning (pickling spice) over it, and placed the potatoes and carrots between the meat and the wall of the slow cooker. This arrangement gave us enough room to be able to add the cabbage at the get-go, rather than at the end of cooking. [GET THE RECIPE]

This hearty Southern take on chicken soup features tender shreds of chicken and chewy strips of pastry in an ultrasavory stock. Browning the chicken before simmering it in store-bought chicken broth provided a flavorful base. We opted for chicken thighs rather than lean breasts because they stayed tender throughout the long stewing process. Rolling the “pastry”—which we made from just flour, butter, milk, and baking powder—to ⅛ inch thick before adding it to boiling broth made it fluffy and soft. And cutting the dough into diamond shapes rather than squares added just a little flair to this homey dish. [GET THE RECIPE]

Want to see the rest of the top 25? Check out our Most Popular Cook's Country Recipes of 2019 collection.