Lemon Orzo Soup

I love to make this lemon orzo soup on busy weeknights! A cozy, healthy one-pot meal, it has a lemony broth filled with tender orzo and veggies.

Let’s make lemon orzo soup! This recipe has quickly become a favorite in our house this winter, a new go-to dinner for busy weeknights. I love that it’s cozy enough to feel warming and satisfying on a cold day, but that it’s still healthy and fresh. A bright lemon broth surrounds tender orzo pasta, flavorful vegetables, and creamy white beans. A sprinkle of dill or parsley takes it over the top. Like all the best weeknight dinners, this lemon orzo soup is easy to make. It comes together in one pot with simple ingredients and cooks up in about 30 minutes. I…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brown butter fills these chocolate chip cookies with rich, caramelized flavor. With crisp edges and chewy centers, they're a bakery-worthy treat!

These brown butter chocolate chip cookies are insanely delicious. They have lightly crisp edges, perfect chewy middles, and melty chocolate in every bite. Best of all, brown butter (plus an extra dose of brown sugar) fills them with toffee-like flavor. I went through a bit of a browned butter phase last year, after I started making these blondies and couldn’t get enough them. Around that time, I tried using brown butter in my classic chocolate chip cookie recipe. We devoured every last one of those cookies, but they didn’t have the toasty, nutty brown butter flavor I was after… Many…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

These lemon ricotta pancakes are bright, moist, and wonderfully fluffy. Easy to make with 10 ingredients, they're a delicious breakfast or brunch!

It’s official: these lemon ricotta pancakes are my favorite weekend breakfast. They’re gloriously light and fluffy, like bouncy pancake pillows, and they have a wonderful zesty flavor. Topped with blueberry compote or a drizzle of maple syrup, they’re lightly sweet, bright, and delicious. You know you’re going to have a good day when it starts with these lemon ricotta pancakes. 🙂 Ok, if you’re thinking, “Cheese? In pancakes?!” I hear you. But you don’t actually taste the ricotta here. It acts like Greek yogurt and sour cream do in many sweet recipes, making these pancakes exceptionally moist and tender. It also…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Best Guacamole Recipe

The BEST guacamole recipe! It's easy to make with simple, fresh ingredients like ripe avocados, onion, and lime juice. Great with chips, tacos, and more!

If you don’t already have a go-to guacamole recipe, let me introduce you to mine. This guacamole recipe is easy to make. You can whip it up in 10 minutes or less! It calls for simple, fresh ingredients. Think ripe avocados, onion, cilantro, and lime. It’s DELICIOUS. This homemade guacamole is creamy, zesty, and bright. I developed the recipe after years of living in Austin, Texas. The city has incredible Tex Mex and Mexican food, and I’ve eaten a TON of great guac at local restaurants there. Eventually, it inspired me to learn how to make guacamole at home. With…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Homemade Soft Pretzels

This homemade soft pretzels recipe has been one of our favorite snacks for years! The pretzels are chewy, flavorful, and easy to make with 8 ingredients.

This easy soft pretzel recipe has been a favorite in our house for years now. These homemade soft pretzels have a delicious chewy texture and a perfect pretzel flavor thanks to a quick baking soda boil. They’re a fun cooking project anytime, but we especially love to make them for parties and game days—they’re always a crowd-pleasing snack! Jack and I shared the first version of this recipe way back in 2014. We’ve since updated it to yield a larger batch (these pretzels go quick!) and a smoother dough that’s easier to work with. Whether you take your pretzels with…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Tiramisu

This easy tiramisu recipe has delicious layers of espresso-dipped ladyfingers and creamy mascarpone. It's a show-stopping no-bake dessert!

Is there anything more delicious than tiramisu? This Italian dessert consists of decadent layers of espresso-dipped ladyfingers and plush mascarpone cream. It’s perfectly creamy and only lightly sweet, with a rich dusting of cocoa powder on top. On our first trip to Italy, I ordered it at every restaurant Jack and I went to. It’s just that good. After I shared this strawberry tiramisu last summer and this pumpkin tiramisu in the fall, I couldn’t resist developing a classic tiramisu recipe too. I’m so happy with how this one came out. It’s impressive and indulgent, but deceptively easy. This tiramisu…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

This homemade blue cheese dressing recipe is so much better than store-bought! Creamy, thick, and tangy, it's a delicious dip or salad dressing.

Meet my go-to blue cheese dressing recipe! Easy to make with 9 simple ingredients, it’s creamy, tangy, and flecked with tender crumbles of blue cheese. I’ve been getting requests for a blue cheese dressing recipe ever since I shared these buffalo cauliflower wings a few years ago. After testing and tweaking this one with various ratios of mayo, buttermilk, and sour cream, I’m happy to report that it works perfectly as a dip for wings or veggies. With a little more buttermilk (or regular milk) stirred in, it becomes a flavorful, pourable salad dressing too. I’ve never been a fan…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

White Bean Chili

This zesty white bean chili is one of my favorite game day recipes! Creamy, hearty, and easy to make, it's also a perfect dinner for busy weeknights.

Meet my favorite white bean chili recipe! A plant-based spin on white chicken chili, this creamy vegan recipe is a perfect meal for busy weeknights and game day alike. It’s easy to make with basic ingredients (and minimal chopping!), and the flavor is oh-so-good. Spices like cumin and coriander add earthy depth, and canned green chiles and fresh lime juice make it zesty and bright. Load up your bowl with toppings like avocado, jalapeños, and cilantro for a hearty, healthy, and delicious meal! White Bean Chili Ingredients Here’s what you’ll need to make this white bean chili: White beans, of…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Baked Japanese Sweet Potato

Learn how to bake Japanese sweet potatoes! They have puffy skins and sweet, fluffy, creamy flesh. A nutritious, delicious side dish or light meal!

A Japanese sweet potato is one of my favorite winter vegetables. I first tried one on a trip to Japan years ago, sliced and fried to perfection on a plate of vegetable tempura. Each slice’s crisp exterior gave way to a pale interior that was fluffy and lightly sweet, with a flavor that reminded me of chestnuts. I was hooked immediately. This baked Japanese sweet potato recipe is how I like to prepare them at home. It’s inspired by yaki imo, the baked Japanese sweet potatoes that are sold as a street snack in Japan. In this recipe, the potatoes come…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Miso Butter

This 2-ingredient miso butter is rich, nutty, and packed with umami flavor. It instantly upgrades baked potatoes, roasted vegetables, pasta, and more!

This miso butter recipe is 2-ingredient magic. A simple mixture of softened butter and white miso paste, it’s rich, creamy, and bursting with umami. I love keeping it on hand (or whipping it up at the last minute) to give simple meals an instant flavor upgrade. I’m currently obsessed with miso butter on a baked sweet potato, but it’s also wonderful on roasted vegetables, noodles, and more. If you’re used to eating miso in miso soup, the combination of miso and butter might surprise you. But trust me—once you try this recipe, it’ll make perfect sense. The lightly sweet, savory miso…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>

Vegetable Soup

This easy vegetable soup recipe is a healthy, warming meal for cold days. It's flavorful and flexible—make it with whatever veggies you have on hand!

This vegetable soup recipe is nourishing, warming, and flavorful. It’s a perfect cozy meal for cold nights, days when you’re craving a healthy reset, or any time you’re feeling under the weather. I first started making it years ago, when I was bouncing back from a cold and had a ton of random veggies in the fridge. Using the ingredients I had in my pantry—vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, dried herbs, and vinegar—I transformed this jumble of vegetables into an amazing soup! Since then, I’ve made this recipe again and again, each time with a different mix of veggies. I add…

TO THE RECIPE >>>>
A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Welcome to Love & Lemons!

I'm Jeanine Donofrio, a New York Times bestselling cookbook author and recipe developer. I share fresh, delicious vegetarian recipes that celebrate seasonal ingredients and flavors.

More about us...