Whether you're looking for easy weeknight dinners, quick breakfast ideas, or planning an extravagant holiday feast, you want recipes that are simultaneously stunning, delicious and reliable. (No one wants to spend time and money on a recipe that won't work!) That's where the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen comes in.
Our team of food and culinary experts — including chefs, cooks, bakers, recipe editors, culinary producers, registered dietitians and food stylists — work together to create the thousands of tested-til-perfect recipes you find in our magazines, cookbooks and online. We aim to make sure that every recipe that comes from our kitchen will work in yours, with whatever tools, equipment and ingredients you have.
Why You Should Trust Us
In our mission to create dishes that are both tasty and achievable for the average home cook, we actually make each recipe at least three times in our professional test kitchen. Located in the heart of the Good Housekeeping Institute, the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen consists of four complete kitchens, each equipped with different appliances and cookware — think gas, electric and induction ranges; nonstick, cast-iron and stainless steel pans. Led by Chief Food Director Kate Merker, the team works to test each recipe until perfect (more on that below), as well as conduct blind side-by-side taste tests and evaluate new grocery store products plus wine and spirits.
How We Develop Recipes
Our team of culinary pros get inspiration from everywhere. The Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen team is constantly thinking — and talking! — about food. You will find at least one of us at the grocery store almost every single day. We lean into comfort and familiarity, sharing dishes from our childhoods and recipes from our own weekly rotations. We also love to experiment and learn. We’re always tasting new cuisines and embracing a range of flavor combinations and ingredients, whether we’re on vacation, diving into new cookbooks or out to dinner with friends. Our recipe developers leverage what they learned while attending culinary school and working in restaurants. We’re also constantly asking ourselves: Is there a better (easier, tastier, simpler) way of making this?
We work closely with the folks in the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances Lab, which features a team of cooks and analysts who work tirelessly to identify the latest kitchen innovations and share useful tips for getting the best results with any kitchen tool, as well as the registered dietitians in our Good Housekeeping Institute Nutrition Lab, who provide insights on how to create the healthiest options without sacrificing flavor. We put our heads and stomachs together to come up with recipes that are delicious, innovative, smart and that resonate with our audiences.
How We Test Recipes
After a recipe developer creates a brand-new recipe, it is tasted by the entire team, then adjusted based on tasting notes and technique fixes (sometimes it takes multiple times to get the formula exactly right). The recipe is then written and edited as it will appear in the magazine. Then, a recipe tester follows and cooks the recipe, while using a different set of appliances and ingredients. Recipe testers will flag if there’s an easier way to make the dish, whether that’s introducing a shortcut or identifying a way to eliminate using an extra pan. The recipe is then sometimes adjusted even further and cooked another time. At last, it’s cooked again by a food stylist for a photo shoot.
Dozens of people taste each dish along the way and we’ll make adjustments based on feedback, whether that’s adding more salt or acid or dialing down the spice level. Throughout the entire process, a recipe editor tweaks the language of the recipe along the way — to make sure it’s easy to read (and follow along!).
Meet Our Team of Experts
Everyone on the team brings a unique set of experiences and taste buds to the table. Some attended culinary school, while others studied food science, nutrition and food policy and/or spent time working in cafes and restaurants. One thing unites us all: a love of eating, drinking, cooking and thinking about food.
Kate Merker
Chief Food Director, Hearst Lifestyle Group
Kate Merker (she/her) oversees the team that produces food content for several Hearst titles, including Good Housekeeping, Women’s Health, Prevention, Woman’s Day and Country Living. After earning a B.A. in anthropology from Yale University, she graduated first in her class at the Culinary Institute of America. She has worked at Bayard's, a classic French restaurant in lower Manhattan, and New York City's famed Gotham Bar and Grill.
Trish Clasen Marsanico
Trish (she/her) covers all things food, from cooking trends and delicious recipes to top-tested kitchen products and grocery finds. She has over a decade of experience writing about food for GH, Women’s Health, Prevention, Redbook, Woman’s Day, the Daily Meal and Food Network. When she’s not at the supermarket or trying out a new recipe, you can find her at the beach, in her backyard or on the couch — typically with a glass of wine in hand.
Susan Choung
Susan (she/her) pitches ideas, parses words and produces food content for GH. In the Test Kitchen, she cooks (and samples!) recipes, working with developers to deliver the best versions possible. A graduate of Brown University and a collaborator on several cookbooks, her previous experience includes stints at Food & Wine, Food Network, three meal kit companies, a wine shop in Brooklyn and Chez Panisse, the pioneering restaurant in Berkeley, California. She enjoys playing tennis, drinking natural wines and watching reality competition shows.
Tina Martinez
Tina (she/her) comes to the Hearst Lifestyle Group with 10 years' experience in the world of food, including styling for editorial, digital and television platforms. When she’s not cooking in her tiny Brooklyn kitchen, she can be found enjoying a beer at a local brewery, hiking in a national park or enjoying an afternoon at the beach.
