Best Recipes of 2015: Reader’s Choice Award Winners

The results are in! Thank you SO much to all of you who voted in my 5^th annual Reader’s Choice Awards, I love seeing which recipes were your favorite from the year! I always point new readers to the Reader’s Choice Award Winners as a great place to start when they discover my blog, so I really appreciate you taking the time to select your favorites and point everyone else toward my “greatest hits” from each year. In case you missed it, you can also look at the 2014 winners, 2013 winners, 2012 winners and 2011 winners.

Now that I’ve thanked everyone who voted, I really want to thank the rest of you as well. Everyone who is reading this or who has made one of my recipes or who follows me on social media, THANK YOU. Thank you for being here, for reading my blog and for cooking along with me. Thank you for commenting on posts, sharing the site with friends, posting your recipe pics on Instagram, pinning my photos, sharing the links on Facebook and writing me to let me know you tried a recipe. I love interacting with you on social media and seeing what you’ve made and I feel incredibly blessed and grateful that so many of you have tried my recipes and shared the site with friends. THANK YOU. Whether you’ve been here since I started blogging 5 years ago or this is the first post you’ve read of mine, I am genuinely thrilled that you’re here and I hope you come back again and again for years to come.

Five years ago on Christmas Eve 2010, I decided to start a blog. At the time I had no idea what a big and important and wonderful part of my life it would become. It’s hard to remember a time without it! I’m so excited to start 2016 with all new recipes, but it’s also fun to look back on how far my site has come. For the past few years I have recapped some readership, social media and posting stats, mostly for me to look back on. While I certainly don’t blog for the numbers, it’s fun for me to look back and see how much my blog has grown over the past year. Here we go again: Five years. 418 posts. 27 million+ blog page views (according to Google Analytics). 62,991 of you like me on Facebook. 42,784 of you follow me on Pinterest. 41,200 of you are my Instagram friends. 2,517 are my Twitter followers.

I can’t say this enough: It overwhelms me that so many of you out there read my blog, make my recipes and give me such great feedback, encouragement and inspiration. THANK YOU!

Without further ado (or mushy reflection), on to the Reader’s Choice Award Winners! The results are below and for each category I’ve pictured the winner and then listed the runner up along with my own vote (which didn’t count in the standings, I’m just listing it for fun). Here they are:

1. Best Appetizer Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Taquitos

Runner Up: Spicy Beef Taquitos (I’m sensing you all love taquitos!)

Emily’s Pick: I loved the Buffalo Chicken Taquitos too, but I’m also seriously in live with my BLT Dip, so it’s hard to choose. This is why I let you all decide!

2. Best Breakfast Recipe: Ham and Cheese Hash Brown Quiche

Runner Up: Bubble Up Breakfast Casserole

Emily’s Pick: I think I’m going to champion the 3^rd place winner and vote Blueberry Baked Oatmeal Singles. They’re so easy and delicious. I’m not surprised the quiche won though, people love that one!

3. Best Salad Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad

Runner Up: Cheeseburger Salad (this was actually tied for first but I broke the tie since I wanted one winner)

Emily’s Pick: For me, I have to go with the Hummus Chicken Salad. My husband and I devoured the leftovers.

4. Best Soup Recipe: Zuppa Toscana

Runner Up: Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Emily’s Pick: Broccoli Cheddar Soup. Because Cheese.

5. Best Pasta Recipe: Spicy Taco Gnocchi Skillet

Runner Up: Pumpkin Alfredo Tortellini Skillet

Emily’s Pick: I could not stop eating the Pumpkin Alfredo Tortellini Skillet

6. Best Muffin Tin Meal Recipe: Pepperoni Pull-Apart Muffins

Runner Up: Chicken Cordon Bleu Wonton Cupcakes

Emily’s Pick: I was really into the Turkey Club Wonton Cupcakes

7. Best Side Dish Recipe: Easy Garlic Knots

Runner Up: Sweet Potato Casserole Stacks

Emily’s Pick: I swoon for Spinach and Parmesan Orzo, so that wins it for me!

8. Best Casserole Recipe: Bubble Up Chicken Pot Pie Casserole (by a landslide!)

Runner Up: It’s a tie! Teriyaki Chicken and Rice Casserole and Beef Enchilada Quinoa Bake got the same number of votes

Emily’s Pick: I’m going rogue and picking my Eggplant Parmesan Casserole. Yum.

9. Best Meaty Main Dish Recipe: Cream Cheese Stuffed Everything Chicken (another landslide!)

Runner Up: Cheesy Bacon BBQ Chicken

Emily’s Pick: I absolutely loved both of the recipes you chose in this category, so I am going to ditto these results!

10. Best Handheld Recipe: Bacon BBQ Cheeseburger Quesadilla

Runner Up: It’s a tie! Equal votes were cast for Grilled Brie and Pear Sandwiches and Pizza Burger Sliders

Emily’s Pick: I think I’m going Black & Blue Burgers. I love anything with Cajun seasoning and the blue cheese coleslaw was a perfect complement.

11. Best Pizza Recipe: Pizza Pockets

Runner Up: Spinach Artichoke Flatbreads

Emily’s Pick: I agree with these standings! Pizza Pockets for the win.

12. Best Dessert Recipe: Cannoli Dip

Runner Up: Key Lime Cheesecake Cups

Emily’s Pick: I was actually torn between my Cannoli Dip and my Key Lime Cheesecake Cups (y’all have great taste), so I am cheating and putting both.

Thank you so much again for reading my blog, cooking my recipes and encouraging and inspiring me with your comments. I wish you all a happy and healthy 2016 and I hope you’ll stay tuned for more lightened up comfort food recipes in the new year!