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Jesse Szewczyk head shot - Epicurious

Jesse Szewczyk

Senior Test Kitchen Editor

Jesse Szewczyk is a food editor based in New York. He holds a degree from The Culinary Institute of America and has been a staff editor at The Kitchn and BuzzFeed Food prior to joining Epicurious as Food Editor. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Food Network, TODAY, Food52, The Washington Post, King Arthur Baking, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Allrecipes, Simply Recipes, Bake from Scratch, and several other publications. He was named a Forbes 30 Under 30 of Food & Drink and is the author of Tasty Pride (Clarkson Potter, 2020), a collection of 75 recipes and stories from the queer food community that raised $50,000 for GLAAD, as well as Cookies: The New Classics (Clarkson Potter, 2021), which was named one of the best cookbooks of 2021 by The New York Times and The New Yorker.

Recipes & Menus

Cucumber-Lime Electrolyte Drink

Loosely based on the WHO’s rehydration formula, this DIY electrolyte drink with cucumber, lime, and mint is the perfect salve for hot summer days.

Recipes & Menus

Ruffled Galette With Stone Fruit

This peach, plum, and apricot galette recipe calls for easy phyllo pastry in lieu of pie crust.

Summer’s Best Tomato Sauce Isn’t Cooked; It’s Smashed

There’s a time and place for slowly simmering tomato sauces; but summer’s not it.

Recipes & Menus

Pasta With No-Cook Cherry Tomato Sauce

This no-cook cherry tomato sauce delivers bold flavor without the high heat—it’s the ideal easy summer pasta recipe.

Recipes & Menus

Kimchi-Bacon Shrimp

One jar of kimchi does a lot in this saucy, one-pan dinner. The chopped kimchi adds texture and tang while the brine from the jar bulks out the pan sauce.

Recipes & Menus

Soy-and-Cola-Marinated Steak

Upgrade your grilled skirt steak with this Coca-Cola-spiked marinade, which both tenderizes and caramelizes the meat.

Recipes & Menus

Sprite-Grilled Chicken Skewers

The secret to these tender, spicy-sweet chicken skewers? A splash of Sprite in the punchy marinade.

Recipes & Menus

Ginger Beer and Mustard Pork Chops

Quick-cooking, thin-cut pork chops can often get dry on the grill, but this ginger beer marinade keeps the lean cut moist and flavorful.

For the Glossiest, Sauciest Sheet-Pan Chicken, Grab a Jar of Jam

With the help of soy sauce, Dijon mustard, and vinegar, a jar of apricot jam transforms chicken legs into a gorgeous weeknight dinner.

Recipes & Menus

Sheet-Pan Sticky Apricot Chicken

Grab a jar of apricot jam to make these glossy, sticky-sweet sheet-pan chicken legs.

Lemon-Blueberry Quick Bread

A classic lemon-blueberry bread is a thing of beauty. Plush lemon cake studded with jammy, perfectly suspended blueberries gets coated in a glossy, dripping glaze.

Recipes & Menus

For Punchier Pantry Pasta, Add Peperoncini Brine

Using jarred peperoncini, brine and all, in your weeknight pasta is the pro move you didn’t know you needed.

Recipes & Menus

Peperoncini Pantry Pasta

This zesty pasta relies on a jar of peperoncini—including the brine—to do the heavy lifting.

The Secret to Level Cake Layers? Toothpicks

Build towering multilayer cakes with this stress-free technique.

Recipes & Menus

Smith Island Cake

This Smith Island Cake recipe boasts eight layers of yellow cake covered in a blanket of chocolate ganache.

Recipes & Menus

Crispy Fried Shrimp and Giardiniera

How do you make fried shrimp better? By adding giardiniera to the mix. Here the duo gets coated in a vodka-spiked batter to create a remarkably crisp exterior.

Recipes & Menus

Pecan Sandie Wedges

Tender, buttery, and pleasantly crumbly, these salty-sweet shortbread wedges studded with toasted pecans are a grownup version of the childhood favorite.

Recipes & Menus

Earl Grey Martini

Quickly infusing vodka with earl grey tea bags creates a distinct floral foundation for this fun (and caffeinated) take on a martini.

Recipes & Menus

Double Dark Chocolate No-Churn Ice Cream

This fuss-free ice cream doubles down on the chocolate flavor with a rich dark cocoa base and a glossy fudge ripple—no churning required.

Recipes & Menus

Dirty Martini Chicken Thighs

This cheeky chicken recipe crams all of the iconic flavors of a dirty martini—olive brine, vodka, vermouth, and all—into a savory one-pan meal.