Best of 2017 Reader’s Choice Award Winners

Thank you SO much to all of you who voted in my 7^th annual Reader’s Choice Awards – I love seeing which recipes you loved best! My site always gets new readers in January and it’s helpful to be able to point them to this post as a great starting place for my “greatest hits” of the year, so I really appreciate you taking the time to give input and share your thoughts. In case you missed it, you can look at past reader favorites (which are still popular recipes today!) by checking out the 2016 winners, 2015 winners, 2014 winners, 2013 winners, 2012 winners and 2011 winners.

Whether or not you voted, I really, genuinely want to thank YOU. Whether it’s your first time visiting my blog or you’ve been cooking along with me since the beginning, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for reading my posts and for cooking my recipes. Thank you for asking questions, leaving comments and giving your feedback. Thank you for sharing my site with friends, posting pictures of what you’ve made on Instagram, pinning the recipes you want to try and sharing my posts on Facebook. Thanks for emailing me your stories and ideas and for sharing your successes. You motivate and inspire me so much and I’m genuinely thrilled that you’re here. I am so grateful for you.

Seven years ago on Christmas Eve 2010, I decided to start a blog. I was on Weight Watchers and had just recently started cooking more (as opposed to microwaving most of my meals) and I was so excited to discover how delicious, fun and craveable lightened up meals could be. I couldn’t wait to share my findings, but I never imagined so many of you would find my site and cook along with me. This site is now such a big and important part of my life and who I am that it’s hard to remember what life was like before Emily Bites at this point! This blog is my passion and your presence here makes it possible for me to keep living my dream. Again, thank you!

I’m so excited to start 2018 with some fresh new recipes, but it’s also really fun for me 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 to check in every year and see how much we’ve grown. Here we go again: Seven years. 558 posts. 47 million blog pageviews (according to Google Analytics). 131,500+ of you like me on Facebook. 116,000 of you are my Instagram friends (my favorite!). 77,500 of you follow me on Pinterest. 19,800 of you subscribe to my recipes by email (if you haven’t done this yet, subscribing by email is a great way to make sure you don’t miss a recipe!).

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!! If you don’t already and you want to follow my site on social, here are the links: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Email Club.

Without further ado, 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).

1. Best Breakfast Recipe: Bacon, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Pastries

Runner Up: Sausage Apple Cheddar Frittata

Emily’s Pick: I’ve been in a frittata state of mind lately and the Sausage Apple Cheddar Frittata is one of my favorites so I’m going to go with that – plus it’s only 2 SmartPoints on the new Weight Watchers Freestyle program!

2. Best Salad Recipe: Asian Sesame Chicken Salad

Runner Up: Avocado BLT Pasta Salad (just one vote behind first place!)

Emily’s Pick: I have to go with the Southwest Steak Salad with Avocado Lime Dressing, I love those flavors!

3. Best Handheld Recipe: Apple Cheddar Turkey Wrap

Runner Up: Taco Puff Pockets (again, separated from first by just one vote!)

Emily’s Pick: This one is tough but I absolutely love my Greek Chicken Tacos, so they’ll get my vote

4. Best Muffin Tin Meal Recipe: Pizza Wonton Cups

Runner Up: Pizza Meatloaf Muffins

Emily’s Pick: I love the Chili Wonton Cups!

5. Best Chicken Recipe: Baked Chicken Tenders

Runner Up: This was a hotly contested category and the Easy Chicken Quesadillas actually tied for first, so I based the tie-breaker solely on which one I’d seen more people making on Instagram (highly scientific) 🙂

Emily’s Pick: Gah, I love chicken, this is hard. I’m torn between my Buffalo Chicken Dip and my Fiesta Stuffed Chicken, but I’ve made the Buffalo Chicken Dip so many times in the last few month that I think I’m going with that one.

6. Best One-Pot Meal Recipe: Lemon Chicken Orzo with Tomatoes and Asparagus

Runner Up: Rustic Sausage and Potato Skillet

Emily’s Pick: What an impossible choice! I am picking two, I can’t pick one, lol. I agree with you all about the Lemon Chicken Orzo and I also have to show my love for my Chicken Pot Pasta – it’s a favorite!

7. Best Casserole Recipe: Bubble Up Chicken Alfredo Bake

Runner Up: Bubble Up Lasagna Bake (y’all love bubble ups! I’ll have to make more in the new year)

Emily’s Pick: I think I’m going Meat and Potatoes Bake. Because I LOVE GRAVY.

8. Best Pizza Recipe: Taco Flatbread

Runner Up: Pepperoni and Sausage Pizzadillas

Emily’s Pick: I also loved the Pear Prosciutto Pizza, but I’m going to go with y’all on this one and vote for the Taco Flatbread. YUM.

9. Best Side Dish Recipe: Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

Runner Up: Roasted Delicata Squash

Emily’s Pick: I agree. Roasted Fingerling Potatoes for the win!

10. Best Dessert Recipe: Pumpkin Pie Bites

Runner Up: Apple Cinnamon Cheesecake Cups

Emily’s Pick: I love both of the ones you picked so I will just agree!

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 2018 and I hope you’ll stay tuned for more lightened up comfort food recipes in the new year!