The Most Popular Pinch of Nom Recipes of 2023

It’s been another year of cooking up lots of delicious, slimming-friendly recipes at Pinch of Nom, and we have to say…it’s been extra special! Thanks to all of your incredible support, we brought out a fantastic brand-new cookbook jam-packed with speedy recipes you’ll love: Pinch of Nom: Express (and we’re so happy to see that you’re already loving it!).

We can’t wait to share what we have in store for you in 2024! In the meantime, we’re stopping to appreciate the go-to website favourites you’ve been making time and time again. Inspired by your photos and comments in our Facebook group, on our Instagram and in our web Gallery, we’ve rounded up the most popular Pinch of Nom dishes of the year in one place. 

Take a scroll through and you’re sure to land on something you’ll want to make for dinner tonight…and beyond!

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10. KFC Zinger Burger Fakeaway

Inspired by a certain fast food restaurant, it’s no wonder our KFC Zinger Burger Fakeaway recipe has been hugely-popular from the day it was added to our website. Just as crispy, spicy and succulent as the real deal, we’ve recreated the restaurant’s famously ‘secret’ recipe using a surprise ingredient: crushed tortilla chips.

Chilli Heatwave flavoured Doritos give our crunchy patties their fiery kick, but there’s nothing to stop you using a milder flavour or salted versions, if you’d prefer.

Ready in well under an hour, these burgers are sure to be an instant hit with the whole family (lucky they’re freezer-friendly too!).

You’ll find even more inspiration for your next family burger night in this blog.

9. Creamy Butter Chicken

While traditional recipes are typically made with lashings of butter, our slimming-friendly take on Creamy Butter Chicken keeps things irresistibly silky using nifty reduced-fat swaps. 

With low-fat spread, fat-free natural yoghurt and a handful of store cupboard herbs and spices, you can rustle up a sauce that tastes like it was delivered from your local takeaway, for a fraction of the calories you’d expect.

A food processor comes in really handy for mixing homemade sauces in a heartbeat, and it minimises mess. This model from Amazon will puree your ingredients in minutes, ready to add to the pan.

Serve your colourful curry over a fluffy portion of boiled rice, or brighten things up even more with a selection of Indian-style side dishes, like our Onion Bhajis or Saag Aloo.

8. Crispy Chilli Beef

Crispy Chilli Beef is the perfect main dish to have at the centre of a Chinese-inspired fakeaway night feast. The full recipe is available to follow step-by-step from our website, or you can turn to pages 74-75 of our third cookbook, Pinch of Nom: Quick and Easy.

The key with this dish is not to be put off by the number of ingredients. The list might be fairly long, but the results are so worth it.

To get the beef strips delightfully crispy and flavoursome, evenly coat them in flour and egg, ready to bake to perfection in the oven (or you can use your air fryer, if you’d prefer). 

Once they’re done, pop them in a large wok with lots of shredded colourful veggies and our homemade fiery Sriracha-infused sauce. 

It tastes just like a takeaway, but it’s far better for you, your family and your budget!

7. One Pot Mediterranean Style Chicken Orzo

This One Pot Mediterranean Style Chicken Orzo has been a favourite in our house since the very beginning of the Pinch of Nom journey. To get the best from the chicken thighs, cover them in a simple blend of paprika, allspice, turmeric and salt, and leave them to marinate while you get on with the rest of the prep.

When the flavours have mingled, they’re ready to simmer until succulent on a bed of soft, chopped veggies with tomatoes, lemon juice and chicken stock.

We wanted this one-pot to be silky and filling, so we’ve added orzo. It’s a rice-shaped pasta that’s great for adding the velvety luxuriousness of a risotto to any dish, without anywhere near as much fuss.

Our top tip for this recipe? Make more than you need! You’ll be grateful to have leftover portions to reheat on a rainy day.

6. Diet Coke/Pepsi Max Chicken

If anything is clear from this list of top recipes, it’s that our brilliant Pinch of Nom community loves a good fakeaway! Our Diet Coke/Pepsi Max Chicken is no exception, serving up aromatic, takeaway-style flavours for just 217 calories per portion.

While using fizzy pop might seem like an unusual ingredient, we can promise that it thickens the sauce with an irresistible sticky sweetness.

This dish is also packed with lots of veggies, so it’s a great place to hide finely-chopped leftovers from the fussiest eaters at the table.

It’s scrumptious over plain rice or noodles, or you can take things up a notch with a side portion of Salt and Pepper Chips.

5. Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole

Add everything to the slow cooker in the morning, and you’ll come home to a warming pot of Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole. A hearty combination of lower-calorie chicken sausages, lots of veg, herbs and spices, chances are you’ve already got the full list of simple ingredients you need to make this recipe at home.

If you’re feeling extra creative, top the leftovers with mashed potatoes next time around, and use them as the silky-rich filling for a sausage pie (thank you to Sarah from Hampshire for the tip!).

January is the season of the slow cooker! If you’re polishing off a brand-new one or looking to dust yours off from the cupboard, these 10 slow cooker recipes will help you get started.

4. Campfire Stew

Our Campfire Stew is so tasty, it’s always best to organise your freezer before you start cooking – let’s face it, you’re going to want room for those extra batches!

A slimming-friendly hug in a bowl, you’ll begin by slow-cooking a fatless gammon joint until fall-off-the-fork shreddable in a pot full of veg, spices and tinned staples.

The best part about this cheap and cheerful recipe is that it tastes luxurious, and it doesn’t break the bank at all.

Don’t worry if you don’t have the time to wait hours and hours for your dinner – our recipe includes how to rustle it up in an oven or Instant Pot too.

If you’re already a fan of Campfire Stew, try looking through our roundup of yummy dinner ideas you can make next.

3. Cajun-Style Dirty Rice

A medley of colourful veggies, lean mince, bacon, herbs and spices, our Cajun-Style Dirty Rice is one of those recipes that feels like it should be high in calories, when it’s far from it.

You’ll find a rainbow of different vegetables on our ingredients list, but there’s nothing to stop you using leftovers from your fridge – baby corn, courgette, celery, broccoli or cauliflower will all work a treat.

A smash hit from our first cookbook, you can have the full recipe at your fingertips by turning to pages 120-121 (or follow it from start to finish on our website).

Don’t worry if you forgot to pick up readymade Cajun seasoning from the supermarket (or Amazon), instructions you can follow on how to make your own are here.

2. Sausage Traybake

If you’ve got your copy of Pinch of Nom: Budget within reach, you’ll find our second most popular website recipe of the year on pages 92-93…our trusty Sausage Traybake. Easy to throw together and bursting with flavour, it’s just the ticket for busy ‘no time to cook’ days.

Add reduced-fat pork sausages to an ovenproof dish, and bake until juicy on a bed of filling potatoes and roasted root vegetables.

To ramp up the comfort, we’ve coated our veg in a lip-smacking honey and mustard glaze, and nestled in apple slices to cook until syrupy sweet.

While pork and apple is a match made in heaven, this recipe’s just as delicious with a plant-based alternative – so there’s no need to miss out if it’s your New Year’s resolution to eat less meat.

1. Creamy Garlic Chicken

Our Creamy Garlic Chicken has never been far from the number one spot, ever since it made an appearance in our first-ever Pinch of Nom cookbook (on pages 118-119).

A batch-cook friendly dish that has inspired countless other creamy chicken recipes, its mild, silky flavours make it perfect for a family-friendly midweek dinner.

With tender chicken chunks lathered in an indulgent-tasting, garlic rich sauce, it’s also one of our most versatile recipes ever, pairing nicely with rice, chips, steamed vegetables, mashed potatoes and pasta. 

While this garlicky, cheesy classic never gets boring, there are lots of dishes you can try that have similar scrummy flavours to keep your meal plan fresh in the new year.

Which of our top recipes will you be making in 2024?

We’d love to know if you’ve made one, some or all of the recipes on our list of hit recipes from 2023. Don’t forget that you can tag us in your story on Instagram (@pinchofnom), or share snaps of your creations in our friendly Facebook group (there’s almost 1 million community members waiting to answer any questions you might have).

Visiting our Gallery is a great way to find out what everyone else is adding to their January meal plan. You’ll want to sign up to a free website account to add your pictures, hints and tips (it’s really simple, and we’ve got a step-by-step guide you can follow here).

If you liked this article, there’s more where that came from. Explore our blog to browse for recipe ideas, kitchen equipment recommendations, money-saving tips and more.