HOUSTON — From chain restaurants to local eateries, you can copy their recipes from the comfort of your own home.
Food blogger Stephanie Manley has created nearly 2,000 knockoff recipes.
“The most popular recipe is the Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup,” she says.
Other popular searches are Raising Cane’s dipping sauce, Wendy’s chili and the sous vide egg bites from Starbucks.
“The traffic really started increasing about mid-March and it’s never really dropped off,” Manley said.
Manley doesn’t have someone spilling the beans at the restaurant. She recreates the flavor by trial and error and posts the recipe on her website www.copykat.com.
Someone who did get restaurants and chefs to spill the beans is Francie Spiering. She wrote Houston Cooks. It’s packed with secret recipes from 40 local favorites.
“Each one has two recipes,” she said. “Some are complicated. Some are easy to follow.”
From the queso asado at the Original Ninfa’s to smoked lamb chops at Harlem Road BBQ, it’s a sample of Houston’s rich cuisine.
“Yeah, it took my passion for food really up there,” she said.
You can read more about Houston Cooks here. You can buy a copy at Brazos Bookstore and Amazon.
No matter what restaurant flavor you’re craving, you can make it at home.
Some cooking skills are required!