You came, you cooked and two of you conquered!

We received some seriously fantastic and creative submissions to our Ready, Set, Cook! special edition recipe contest – 325 of them to be exact! And now we’re pleased to announce our winners.

Drum roll, please….

Grand Prize Winner: Spinach & Goat Cheese Hashbrown Nests | Photo: May I Have That Recipe

GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Congrats to newcomer member and food blogger, May I Have That Recipe! Her Spinach & Goat Cheese Hashbrown Nests appetizer was our judge’s top pick for our Grand Prize of $2,000!

PEOPLE’S CHOICE WINNER: A second congrats to mcollins316, who won our People’s Choice Prize of $750 for Breakfast Shepherd’s Pie! This dish got a whopping 80+ glowing reviews from its fans during our rating period!

See the official contest page & all recipe submissions HERE »

About the Contest:

The backstory:  Our competitors accepted a basic recipe challenge:
Create an original recipe that featured one of three special branded products from Simply Potatoes® and at least four other official contest ingredients. (You can see the full rules and list of contest ingredients here.)

Competitors had two weeks to cook and serve their dishes to friends and family, share their recipes with others to make and review, and see what ratings they received. The dish our community members rated highest would ultimately land a $750 People’s Choice prize, and our special guest judge, personal chef and food blogger Kristy Bernardo of TheWickedNoodle.com, came in to help us pick our big $2,000 Grand Prize winner!

Our Judge’s Notes:

How did Kristy pick our winner? Kristy tasted and tested a selection of some popular recipes and judged them on their creativity, flavor and the overall presentation. She graciously shared some of her feedback (and AWESOME photos!) from her testing sessions.

Our Grand Prize Winner, Spinach & Goat Cheese Hashbrowns Nests, was a clear frontrunner. Kristy rated it highly for creativity, taste AND presentation, saying: “I loved the flavor of the nests! The spinach and creamy goat cheese complemented each other nicely and the sundried tomatoes brought it all together. I also loved the versatility — they could be served for brunch or made into bite-sized version for a delicious appetizer!”

Company's Coming Mashed Potatoes Photo: Breezermom

While the Hashbrowns Nests were her favorite, Kristy also wanted to give a shout-out to another five-star dish: Breezermom’s Company’s Coming Mashed Potatoes.

“These mashed potatoes were a close second. At first glance, I didn’t think simple mashed potatoes could be a serious contender but the flavor won me over. I would serve this on my table anytime,” says Kristy.

You all agreed, too – Breezermom’s decadent mashers were also a close second for our People’s Choice Prize. Since the end of the contest review period, her dish has gotten even more glowing feedback.

There’s another honorable mention from Kristy: Rita~’s Crispy Shrimp Bundles With Smoky Dipping Sauce. She says, “This dish looked so good and is so creative!” We agree!

Our Judge’s Photos:

Kristy also took some super gorgeous shots of some dishes she tested in her kitchen, and she’s adding them to the contest recipes as we speak. Here’s a sneak peek…

Who’s hungry!?

More Contests Soon? You Betcha!
Look for announcements for another special edition of Ready, Set, Cook! this summer. In the meantime, join fellow members for the next round of their original RSC recipe game, starting at the end of April, and other fun community-run events – get details in our Contests & Games Forum here.

Thanks so much for creating so many great recipes and tasting and rating your favorites. We hope you had as much fun making and trying them as we did seeing the entries roll in! In the end, the contest recipes got more than 1,600+ reviews!

Happy cooking!
Kristine, Liza & the rest of the Food.com team