Have you ever wondered if the recipes you find online live up to the fame? 

Nowadays recipes we find online aren’t always trustworthy, often they provide misleading information, and lack specific measurements while also being full of ads making it hard to follow the instructions. 

Here two Journalism 10 students—Tess and Alma—reviewed three recipes: Caesar salad, tomato soup with grilled cheese, and chocolate chip cookies. The video documents the steps we took when following the chosen recipes, testing whether they live up to the fame or not. 

Caesar Salad (Natasha’s Kitchen)


This recipe definitely lived up to the fame. The Caesar salad we created was delicious and the easiest out of the three. This is an easy recipe that we are confident anyone could recreate. As far as the website goes, we enjoyed working with it as the instructions were presented as well as pictures of the final product and steps along the way making the recipe easy to navigate.

 We liked how Natasha’s Kitchen gave the option to use homemade croutons and homemade dressing while also providing specific and easy-to-find instructions on how to make them. We deem this website credible and reliable and recommend this recipe to all.

Recipe/Ingredients

  • 1 large or 2 small heads of romaine lettuce
  • Parmesan cheese, shredded or shaved
  • Crisp croutons – homemade can be made several days ahead. The recipe below makes enough for 2 salads.
  • Caesar salad dressing – homemade (Whisk together minced garlic, dijon, Worcestershire, lemon juice and red wine vinegar.Whisking while adding oil emulsifies the dressing for a smooth and creamy (not oily) consistency.Season with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste.)

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese (Inspired Taste)

The soup and sandwich were both really good. The recipe itself was pretty simple and easy to follow, which contributed to the overall success of the final meal. We both liked the format of the website as the instructions were easy to follow and the order of steps was easy to follow.  The ingredients needed were presented, this was very helpful as we could seamlessly have everything set up and organized before we started cooking. 

The instructions were clear and easy to follow. After each step, there was always a time stamp for how long we should be doing something, which was incredibly helpful (especially for new cooks). Inspired Taste’s was informative, and the recipe was delicious, so we definitely think this easy and simple meal lives up to its fame!

Recipe/Ingredients

Ingredients:

  • Canned tomatoes 
  • 1 large onion
  • Heavy cream

Instructions:

  • Combine everything into a pot with water or broth
  • Put the stove setting on one of the lowest settings so that the soup simmers, not bubbles
  • After this put it in a blender to ensure creaminess 
  • Sandwich Ingredients
  • Butter
  • Bread
  • Sliced cheese of choice
  • Instructions
  • Butter one side of each slice of bread
  • Place the bread on the pan and arrange the cheese to your liking
  • Make sure the stove is on a low setting
  • Flip every once in a while until both sides are crispy and the cheese is gooey

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Joy Food Sunshine)

Although a bit dry, the cookies tasted really good. Despite this, we were not very fond of the overall format of the website. Despite the numerous photos, the actual ingredients needed were not clearly presented at the beginning, middle, or end, which led to some confusion. The measurements needed for these ingredients were also not always shown, which caused some frustration. 

Regardless, we liked how many clear photos there were, so we recommend this recipe to anyone who may be more of a visual learner. Because of the website difficulty and overall taste, we might not recommend this to first-time chefs and more experienced bakers who are already good at making cookies.

Recipe/Ingredients

Ingredients

  •  Flour
  • Butter
  • Sugar
  • Brown sugar
  • Eggs
  • Vanilla extract
  • Chocolate chips

Instructions:

  • Combine all dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl
  • Mix softened butter and sugars
  • Add in eggs and vanilla extract 
  • Once the soft ingredients are creamy and mixed well, gradually add in the dry ingredients
  • Once both bowls are combined you should mix in the chocolate chips
  • Roll the batter into small circles and place on the pan
  • Put in the oven for about 10-15 minutes or until golden

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