Get to Know Us

About The Spruce Eats

Food happens to us—every single day. It bumps up against everything else we care about: family, health, budget, schedule…and our happiness. 

Fellow cooks, we see you because we’re not just food editors, we are you. Sure, we’ve worked in publishing, restaurant kitchens, TV studios, grocery stores, and meal kit companies. But we’re also parents, dog-walkers, commuters, shoppers, homeowners—people who love food as much as we need it, just like you.

We are that reliable friend who cooks with you by your side, showing you exactly how a recipe plays out, step by step. We’re answering your questions. We’re here when you need a soft boiled egg, when you’re perfecting pilau, when you’re on a budget and throwing a party anyways, when you’re 11 and you need a snack, when you’ve just moved in with vegans, when someone gives you an Instant Pot, and when you’re pledging to eat less of this and more of that. We want you to be the first one invited to the potluck.

Listen, we’ve been at this for a while. The Spruce Eats evolved from a 25-year archive of recipes generated by chefs, teachers, cookbook writers, home cooks, food makers, and more. And all that content? It’s alive. We’re constantly updating and testing it. And, we’re constantly adding to it. We have well over 10,000 recipes. But right now you only need one. One that works. The one you’re looking for—maybe the one you didn’t even know you wanted.

Our mission is to turn curiosity into confidence. We’re all beginners at something, so let's step into the kitchen and get started.

Awards

  • 2023 Webby Award, Winner, Food & Drink Category
  • 2018 Communicator Award, Winner, General Lifestyle
  • 2018 W3 Award, Silver Winner, Website Features, Visual Appeal - Experience
  • 2018 Davey Award, Silver Winner, Websites - Lifestyle

Meet the Editorial Team

Emma Christensen

General Manager
Emma Christensen Emma Christensen

Emma has over 15 years of experience creating food and cooking content for both web and print and another 5 years within the print publishing industry. She still remembers what it felt like to be a new cook fumbling around the kitchen. This is what has driven both her career and her passion for empowering home cooks with dependable recipes, practical cooking know-how, and a love for good food.

She joined the Simply Recipes team in 2016 and the Spruce Eats team in 2022, and is the former Recipe Editor for Kitchn. In her career, she has been an editor, a writer, a recipe developer, a photographer, and a video producer.

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Ariel Knutson

Editorial Director, News & Features
Ariel Knutson for The Spruce Eats Ariel Knutson for The Spruce Eats

Arie is the Editorial Director for The Spruce Eats, Simply Recipes, and Allrecipes where she manages news and features. Before joining Dotdash Meredith in 2021, Arie spent eight years working at Kitchn where she launched and led their news and features program. In addition to editing, Arie has worked as a freelance writer, recipe developer, social media editor, and was once the maître d' at a three-star Michelin restaurant in New York.

She’s also a graduate of the culinary techniques program at the International Culinary Center. 

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Victoria Heydt

Editorial Director
Victoria Heydt Victoria Heydt
Victoria is the Editorial Operations Director for The Spruce Eats. She is also an experienced recipe developer, tester, and food photographer. She is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education, during which time, she was a recipe tester with chef Sara Moulton. Victoria has also worked as a prep cook at Huertas, a Spanish tapas restaurant in New York City's East Village.  Victoria was a writer, contributing Editor, and recipe Tester with The Spruce Eats since 2017 before becoming the team's Editorial Director.
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Brooke Schuldt

Associate Social Director
Brooke Schuldt Brooke Schuldt

​Brooke is the Associate Social Director at The Spruce Eats and Simply Recipes, where she manages brand growth across Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Flipboard, as well as big picture strategy and influencer marketing. 

Prior to joining The Spruce Eats team in 2019, Brooke spent nearly two years as the Social Media Editor at Real Simple. She has worked as a writer, print and digital editor, social media manager, and production assistant at various other brands, including SHAPE, Fitness Magazine, BRIDES, Thrillist, and Parents.

Brooke received her Bachelor of Communications from William Paterson University, where she specialized in print journalism and public relations.

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Megan Scott

Senior Food Editor
Meg Scott Meg Scott
Megan was the Senior Editor at The Spruce Eats for about two years. She is an experienced recipe developer and cookbook author. In her 12-year culinary career she has been a cheesemaker's apprentice, a baker turned bakery owner, an assistant pastry chef at a fine dining restaurant, and a culinary director at a marketing agency. Her wide-ranging experience has given her a deep respect for the work that goes into the food that ends up on our plates.
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Mariana Gonzalez

Email Editor, Food and Drink
Mariana Gonzalez head shot Mariana Gonzalez head shot

Mariana's introduction to digital publishing was through writing, primarily in the form of culture criticism and essays. Naturally, she's most drawn to all the places where the world of food intersects with larger social and political trends. She spends a lot of time thinking about the ways our cultures and identities inform the way we cook, eat, and share food. You can find her writing all over the internet.

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Alison Mango

Associate Product Director, Dotdash Meredith Food + Drink
Alison Mango Alison Mango

Alison is the Associate Product Director for Dotdash Meredith Food + Drink and joined the company in 2018.

Prior to joining Dotdash Meredith, Alison worked as product manager at MyRecipes.com and CookingLight.com.

She first began her career in product management at Time Inc. in the lifestyle media group working on Health.com.

She studied at Lehigh University, graduating with a B.A. in journalism and global studies.

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Eric Handelsman

General Manager & Vice President
Eric Handelsman Eric Handelsman

Before joining The Spruce Eats in 2013, Eric spent 10 years working in lifestyle media at Condé Nast, where he led operations and finance for various brands including Epicurious, Gourmet, and Brides.com.

Prior to Conde Nast, he worked in the business department at the New York Press, as well as in commercial and TV production.

Eric is an avid home cook and lover of all things food-related. Although not professionally trained as a chef, he has taken dozens of recreational cooking classes.

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Meet Our Medical Reviewers

All of our medical reviewers were carefully chosen for extensive experience in nutrition and health, and review our recipes and articles for health and nutrition claims.

Tamara Melton, MS, RDN, LD

Tamara Melton, MS, RDN, LD Tamara Melton, MS, RDN, LD

Tamara Melton, MS, RDN, LD is a registered dietitian and educator with over 15 years of experience in nutrition communications and program development. Tamara owns TSM Nutrition Consultants, where she works with organizations to create evidence-based nutrition and health education content for consumers. She is a former Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics media spokesperson, and has been featured in dozens of print and digital media spots, including NPR, CNN, and more. Tamara has written articles on food and nutrition-related topics for Self and Health magazines. Tamara also speaks frequently on nutrition-related topics.

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Elizabeth Ward, MS, RDN

Elizabeth Ward, MS, RDN Elizabeth Ward, MS, RDN

Elizabeth Ward, MS, RDN is a registered dietitian and experienced nutrition communicator who has educated people about nutrition for nearly 15 years. Her counseling experience prepared her to translate the science of nutrition into practical advice in her career as a writer, consultant, and public speaker. She is the author of several books about nutrition and health, and has been writing for magazines and online sites for nearly two decades.

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Meet Some of Our Writers

All of our writers were carefully chosen for extensive experience in their subject areas.

Diana Rattray

Cookbook Author and Photographer
Diana Rattray Diana Rattray

Diana has a passion for Southern and regional cooking and food history. She has been writing for The Spruce Eats since 2017, but has been developing new recipes and writing about food since 1996. She’s the author of two cookbooks, "Guide to Southern Cooking" and "The Everything Southern Cookbook."


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Danilo Alfaro

Danlio Alfaro Danlio Alfaro

Danilo was a professional chef for over 15 years. He has written about food and cooking over a decade. He has been writing for The Spruce Eats since its launch in 2017.

After graduating from culinary school at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, Danilo honed his skills cooking in upscale restaurants and a high-end catering company before launching his personal chef business—which specialized in gourmet dinner parties—in 2004.

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Vidya Rao

Vidya Rao Bio Photo Vidya Rao Bio Photo

Vidya Rao is a freelance writer and culinary enthusiast with over a decade of experience.

She was previously the editorial lead for Uber Eats, where she developed a series about immigrant chefs that received over 40 million video views. Prior to that, she was the senior food editor at The TODAY Show, where she interviewed chefs, developed the food vertical, and produced videos, leading her to attend culinary school. After culinary school, she spent a year working in New York City restaurants.

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Colleen Graham

Cocktail Book Author and Mixologist
Photo of Colleen Graham Photo of Colleen Graham

Colleen Graham is a cookbook author with over 10 years of experience in the food writing and recipe development world. She is a cocktail expert and professional bartender. She has been writing for The Spruce Eats since it launched in 2017, and has been with About.com since 2006.

In her 12 years of professional cookbook writing and recipe development experience, she has published over 900 recipes and two books about cocktails. 

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Editorial Guidelines

At The Spruce Eats, we take great pride in the quality of our content. Our writers create original, accurate, engaging content that is free of ethical concerns or conflicts. Additionally, at The Spruce Eats, we aspire to provide the highest quality content produced by humans, for humans. It is against our guidelines to publish automatically generated content using AI (artificial intelligence) writing tools such as ChatGPT.

If you ever come across an article that you think needs to be improved, please reach out by emailing contact@thespruceeats.com.

Diversity & Inclusion

At The Spruce Eats, our mission is to help everyone make their best meal. We are committed to helping all people—regardless of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, culture, geography, body type, ability, or experience.  

We are invested in working with diverse writers, recipe developers and testers, expert sources, illustrators, photographers, on-screen talent, and more to create, edit, and enhance our content—not just on isolated topics of race, but across our brands’ coverage. 

Read Our Diversity Pledge to learn more about our promise of equality, inclusion, and anti-racism.

Comments

The Spruce Eats partnered with Disqus to add a comment section to our recipes. Through comments, The Spruce Eats is looking to foster a safe place for readers to share feedback, tips, and thoughts about recipes they have tried. Comments are moderated. Our comment guidelines are simple: If a comment is respectful and relevant, it will be published. If a comment is disrespectful, not relevant to the article, from an untrustworthy source, or spammy, it will not be published.

Recipe Badges

We know that finding the right recipe for weeknight dinners or holiday feasts can be tricky. Some recipes look great on paper, but the proof is in the pudding. To help make picking the perfect recipe a little bit easier, we launched Recipe Badges. You’ll find these badges on our top recipes—as voted by our community or selected by our editors. These tried-and-true dishes are ones we return to over and over again, and we know you’ll love them, too.

editor's choice and community pick badges for the spruce eats editor's choice and community pick badges for the spruce eats

Editor's Choice

These recipes have been recently updated with brand new step-by-step images and have been tested by staff members or trusted partners. Our community members have rated these recipes an average of 4 stars or higher.

Community Pick

These recipes are ones that our community loves! They have been made over and over again by our readers and have received over 10 ratings from site visitors. Our community members have rated these recipes an average of 4.5 stars or higher.

Product Reviews

Our product reviews are independent and based on research and product testing—if you visit links within our content, we may receive commissions from your purchases, but we never receive any compensation or consideration for the content of our recommendations. Learn more about our review process.

About Dotdash Meredith

Dotdash Meredith is the largest digital and print publisher in America. From mobile to magazines, nearly 200 million people trust us to help them make decisions, take action, and find inspiration. Dotdash Meredith's over 50 iconic brands include PEOPLE, Better Homes & Gardens, Verywell, FOOD & WINE, The Spruce, Allrecipes, Byrdie, REAL SIMPLE, Investopedia, Southern Living and more.

Dotdash Meredith Press

Read about Dotdash Meredith and our family of brands in the news.