30 of the Best Recipes of 2016 | The Bewitchin' Kitchen (2024)

posted by The Bewitchin Kitchen on December 27, 2016

What a year it has been! I’m thrilled and exhausted at the same time, I’m incredibly proud of what The Bewitchin’ Kitchen has become. I wanted to share the best recipesthat showed up on the blog this year.

As I was going through my analytics, along with counting posts and was surprised to see I wrote 197 posts this year. That’s not including a few resources pages created, including the new blogging resources area and the free recipe binder download.

Out of those 198 blog posts were 93 recipes. I used my Google Analytics to find out what “new” recipes did the best and cut it to 30. Naturally, that took a few pages as I have a few a lot of older, successful posts (like the highly populargreek vinaigrette recipe or this homemade detox bath).

Best Recipes of 2016

Starting with the most popular (as of December 26th).

1. Crockpot Beef StewThis post was first published in 2009, but I only had the recipe – no photos, no story, nothing. So I revamped it and had instant traffic success this past September.
2. One Pot Perogie Casserole
3. Rainbow Swirl Buttercream
4. Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscana
5. Homemade Stuffing Another recipe from the early days of 2009, I had the same issue as the previous recipe and jazzed it up with some updates.
6. BBQ Tex-Mex Chicken Breasts
7. Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
8. Mediterranean Vinaigrette
9. Sweet Sriracha Easy Chicken Stir Fry
10. Tomato Pesto Spaghetti Squash Bake
11. Nanaimo Balls
12. Sweet n Smoky Rib Rub
13. Bailey’s ButtercreamFrosting
14. Spicy Thai Chicken Wings
15. Chicken Breakfast Muffins
16. Southwestern Chicken Stuffed Peppers
17. Clean Eating Chicken Chili
18. Healthy Chicken Vegetable Soup
19. Christmas Meringues with Eggnog Buttercream Filling
20. Gluten Free Buttermilk Pancakes
21. Easy Apple Turnovers
22. Almond Butter Balls
23. Healthy Steak Stirfry
24. Irish Onion Soup
25. Slow Cooker Honey Sriracha Chicken (Gluten Free)
26. Pesto Pasta SaladOne of my favorites of the year
27. Gluten Free Lasagne Soup
28. Penne Jambalaya This was another recipe that I revamped. It was originally shared on TBK in 2009 and the photo was awful (I think I kept it on there if you want to take a peak).
29. Avocado Ranch Dip
30. Coconut Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

What This Tells Me

The last two months I’ve been doing some “blog soul searching” and after going through my top 2016 posts (along with all of TBK’s popular posts) I hear you loud and clear: you like recipes to be on the healthier side the majority of the time with some treats here and there (just like how life should be). The second half of 2016, I switched to include more indulgent recipes on the blog and although I enjoyed them, I felt as though it wasn’t what I should be doing. My gut was telling me that I was doing too much of that (and so were my pants – they don’t fit haha).

So you can expect more everyday, healthy recipes on The Bewitchin’ Kitchen in 2017 and I’m so excited about it. The excitement is what tells me this is the right choice. Don’t get me wrong, there will still be sugar and the odd decadentrecipe showing up. I firmly believe life is short and we should eat the odd cupcake, just not the whole batch 😘

Thank you for an incredible year <3

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11 comments on “30 of the Best Recipes of 2016”

1. Victoria Ess —December 28, 2016 @ 5:23 am Reply

   I’ve bookmarked over half of these already, with plans to make them! I love your recipes — they are always delicious and often made with a concern for health, which is right up my alley! Hope 2017 brings you just as much success!

2. jan —December 28, 2016 @ 1:32 pm Reply

   See Also

   The Best Natto Recipe

   Too funny. I was searching for a beef stew recipe for my slow cooker and what pops up as your number one recipe? One just for me!

   • Randa —December 28, 2016 @ 3:11 pm

     It’s the recipe I grew up on, I hope you like it. The red wine one is also REALLY good.

3. AD —December 29, 2016 @ 10:37 am Reply

   I actually made your Gluten Free Buttermilk Pancakes this morning and OMG, so delicious!!!!! Loved them!

   • Randa —December 29, 2016 @ 12:27 pm

     YAY! SO glad you liked them 🙂

4. Calvin F. —December 29, 2016 @ 5:38 pm Reply

   Haven’t had beef stew in so long. That PESTO pasta salad looks bomb. What a great idea!

   • Randa —December 29, 2016 @ 7:19 pm

     I loved that salad! I will be making it again soon, but in a half batch. This made a lot!

5. Debbie White Beattie —December 30, 2016 @ 6:45 pm Reply

   What a great list you’ve done. I can’t believe you’ve cooked or made so many great recipes

   • Randa —January 2, 2017 @ 7:27 am

     I can’t believe it either, cooking is one thing but blogging them? I’m a little bit proud. When I do a recipe it takes me roughly 4 hours (with photos, writing), sometimes more depending if its sponsored and if there are certain things I need to include. It’s worth the time and effort though 🙂

6. Cheryl MacPhail —January 2, 2017 @ 6:56 am Reply

   Thanks for the list!! I so need to refresh my “menu” for the family and the new year is a great time to do that!! 🙂

   • Randa —January 2, 2017 @ 7:26 am

     We all get stuck in those humps where we only know one flavour for dinner haha. I checked my meal plan for next week and it looks like we’re having a lot of curry haha.

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