Do you just have to have the secret recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken? Or would you like to make Cinnabon's Classic Cinnamon Roll at home? Then you need a great source for copycat recipes! Read on to learn how to find copycat recipes you can use to amaze your friends and family.
Introduction
Sometimes you develop a craving for a restaurant dish you just have to be able to make at home. Otr maybe your favorite restaurant went out of business years ago, taking their secret recipes with them. That's where copycat recipes can be useful.
Step 1: Try for the Original
Check With the Restaurant
Before beginning a search for a copycat recipe, check out the official website of the restaurant whose dish has you captivated. Many chain restaurants have posted the details for a few of their most asked for recipes on their official sites. If it's not there, you can use the contact form to email them and ask.
Use an Intermediary
If the restaurant won't revela the secret recipe directly to you, you may want to have a food writer ask. Even if a restaurant won't give their secrets to an individual, they may still respond to a request from a food writer, as they'll benefit from the publicity when the recipe is published.
- Many cooking magazines have columns devoted to asking restaurants for recipes. This may take a while, as you need to send in the request to the magazine, they need to decide to act on it, and then there's additional time while they make the request of the restaurant. Additionally, they may not notify you when the recipe is published, so you'll need to check monthly.
- You could ask the restaurant critic or food writer of your local paper to request the recipe for you. While they do not have as much clout as national publications, they'll generally act on the request sooner.
Step 2: Use a Search Engine
You can use Google to search for a copycat recipe. Combine both the name of the restaurant and the name of the dish as your search term. If that doesn't produces results, try just the name of the dish. You may need to vary the spelling to come up with results. Check the results carefully to be sure the recipes are close to what you're looking for.
Step 3: Check on Copycat Recipe Websites
There are a number of sites devoted to finding and publishing copycat and lost recipes. The detailed recipes on these sites may not show up on a general search, so you'll want to check them individually.
