10 Of Anne Burrell's Favorite Foods

It was easy to get Anne Burrell's charm; she was a food lover through and through. From overseeing mishaps on competitive cooking shows like "Worst Cooks in America," to bopping around the Food Network on shows like "Iron Chef America,"  to penning two cookbooks, she was knowledgeable on kitchen matters across the board. So, when asked to name a specific meal she'd hop on a plane to acquire, surprisingly, she drew a blank. "The dish that I would travel for is a dish I feel like I haven't met yet," Burrell told The Travel Addict in 2024. "I feel like that's the reason why I travel."

Burrell's unbridled curiosity led her on a constant hunt for exciting flavors, and fans could expect her enthusiastic show-and-tell on TV and social media. While you could find her dispensing no-nonsense cooking techniques to audiences, she wouldn't stray from sharing personal details from time to time, either. And when you're a professional cook who loved food like Anne Burrell, there are inevitably dishes you jones for on your off-hours. From dishes as illustrious as a bowl of Roman pasta to those as humble as family-style soup, these ten dishes offer a glimpse into the fare that fueled the late chef's life. 

Journeying through the culinary joys of Anne Burrell has to start with a giant bowl of Bolognese. "It's my go-to comfort food," she told Restaurant Hospitality in 2015. The dish even marked a professional milestone for her early in her career, as it was the recipe that kicked off her debut series "Secrets of a Restaurant Chef," according to an interview with Mashed.

Recipes for Pasta Bolognese don't always follow an identical path. In Burrell's rendition, according to YouTube, she sautées her aromatics and builds the sauce primarily with tomato paste and glugs of red wine. Her rationale, she explained, is that the tomato paste helps the sauce develop more of a tomato flavor. Burrell also advised pouring in water, but only a little bit at a time — this ensures the mixture simmers evenly, and gains its luxurious mouthfeel.

"This dish really is like a hug from the inside," Burrell said of her own Bolognese recipe on Food Network. "It's comforting, it's warming and it just feeds your soul." She adored the process too, savoring the solitude and the amazing smell that wafted through her kitchen. We could picture her stirring a big, bubbling pot during a chilly fall evening.

Nutrient-dense foods like eggs boast countless benefits, whether it's staving off hunger or energizing the body with healthy fats and antioxidants. So it's no surprise that such a wholesome ingredient was a workhorse in Anne Burrell's cooking space. In terms of preparation, Burrell seemed to eat them in all forms. But as a recipe demo that aired on "The Today Show" revealed, the chef really fancied a runny poached egg. She declared the protein one of her all-time favorites, and served the plump orbs on avocado toast with feta cheese and diced tomatoes. 

Eggs are a simple food; in the grand scheme of things. However, the number of folks who came to Burrell for advice showed the market for basic culinary teachings. One pointer she gave for poaching eggs was spiking the water with vinegar. This step is crucial for helping the white and yolk stay solidified as they cook in the pot. 

Poached eggs seem best eaten immediately, yet Burrell blew our minds once again by suggesting a cold water bath to store the eggs just before serving. Simply plop them in the ice water and revive them in boiling water to plate them up, she also recommended. But if runny yolks cause you to panic, feel free to scramble or fry them instead. You'll find neither is out of place where a crusty plank of sourdough is concerned.

Pasta, regardless of the shape, was an absolute staple in Anne Burrell's kitchen. Though in terms of specific concoctions, she couldn't get enough of Bucatini all'Amatriciana. This is a Roman dish, and one that is quite simple at its core. It features bucatini, which is like a thicker spaghetti with hollow centers, and Amatriciana, a classic Italian pasta sauce melding tomatoes, Pecorino Romano, and guanciale (a cut of cured pork cheek). 

Burrell felt she had mastered this exquisite dish, according to a sit-down interview with Potluck Video on YouTube. She seemed never to get tired of eating it. Photos on her Instagram also attest that the specialty was a regular in her Brooklyn home that she shared with her husband, Stuart Claxton. 

The chef always emphasized approachability in her recipes, utilizing ingredients that many people could access at the supermarket. This is why, when attempting the dish at home, you can make necessary swaps that honor the original without sacrificing any of its smoky, rich goodness. Per Burrell herself, you could trade in the guanciale for pancetta or bacon, and boil a pot of standard spaghetti if bucatini isn't on hand. As for serving, you should not slop the sauce onto the noodles. Instead, twirl them in the pot together to unify the aromas and flavors.

World-famous cooks are busy people, spending massive amounts of time away from home while they jet off from place to place. When Anne Burrell took a much-needed reprieve from instructing in kitchens on-set and off, she liked winding down with something effortless and warming. She told Syracuse.com that she enjoyed slurping up chicken soup while watching tv claiming: "It feeds my soul." It helped that she implemented a restaurant meal prep hack to save time and cut down on stress: batch-cooking her soup in advance and stashing it in the freezer.

Like with many of her recipes, Burrell's chicken noodle soup was featured on "Secrets of a Restaurant Chef," Season 5, Episode 3 – albeit with her tell-tale zeal for shaking up a classic. The "super-secret flavor weapons" she used to elevate the cozy broth included dumping in bundled thyme leaves with cinnamon, lemon halves, and a touch of grated nutmeg. She recommended adding beans to make the mixture more filling, and preferred using dark meat chicken for its tenderness and sumptuous taste. Noodles often get mushy in soup, and Burrell had a trick for that which was actually quite ingenious: boiling the noodles separately from the broth. Spooning the rich, meaty broth onto the noodles once it was time to eat would preserve the al dente "bite" that's so yummy in a pasta. 

Judging by the list so far, Anne Burrell clearly never met a hearty red sauce she didn't like. Her background studying in Italy and pursuing jobs at acclaimed restaurants is a testament to the country's influence on her. So in many ways, having an affection for unpretentious fare like meatballs was far from the least surprising fact about her dining habits. The way she twirled spaghetti on a regular basis, basically demanding it. Her default rendition, admittedly, didn't reinvent the wheel as she candidly expressed to Potluck Video, yet it's often in traditional recipes where chefs can fine-tune basic formulas to craft something extraordinary. Just look at how it's accrued over 700 reviews, most of them glowing. 

To make "Excellent Meatballs" like Burrell's, frankly, doesn't require much more than a few common-sense techniques if you're a novice. One thing you'll notice right off the bat is how Burrell adored a toothsome, melt-in-your-mouth meatball you could split in half using just your fork. It explains one of her tips, which is adding water to the meat. The breadcrumb binding can dry out homemade meatballs very easily, and this additional wetness prevents them from a fate of sandpaper-y toughness. Her personal recipe instructs blending pork, veal, and beef, but for those who either can't get them all or prefer one meat over another, there's no reason why you can't flex the mix to your own ratio.

The "Worst Cooks in America" host harbored a weakness for starchy eats, as we've seen with her joyful exclamations over a filling Ragu or Carbonara. Asked about her junk food of choice, she admitted to her love of "anything potato" on HSN's Dish it Up segment (via YouTube), but elaborated on the bliss of diving into a basket of French fries. Not just any style pleased her taste buds, though. In a "This or That" questionnaire posed by Food Network, her preferences favored a happy medium of sorts, as she explained that the shape must be "medium-thick" with the proper texture — soft on the inside, with a crackly outer skin. 

Presumably, like many of us, she wolfed them down with a good old-fashioned cheeseburger (keep reading for more information). However, French fries can be served in some pretty gourmet situations, as seen from a meal the chef savored at a Soho spot commonly hailed as one of the best French spots in New York City. An Instagram post documenting her night out at acclaimed bistro Raoul's Restaurant showed off a gravy-soaked plate of steak au poivre, with sautéed greens and — you guessed it — a large heap of golden fries. When followers commented, it was to rave over the plate's mouthwatering decadence. 

For any dish to be your "last meal" indicates that you have to like it a whole lot, no? While we would have expected some type of bold noodle to rank number one, Anne Burrell's pick — a BLT — was surprisingly unassuming as her parting plate of choice. This sandwich is cool and refreshing thanks to chopped lettuce and tomato, but nestles in bacon as the filling between slices of toasted bread. It's a variant of the turkey club, and an absolute breeze to assemble. We could easily envision the chef slapping one together after a tiring day cooking for other people. 

Simplicity is at the heart of a BLT sandwich, and as Burrell described to the blog Eating in South Jersey, the ideal handheld needed to be executed with the finest ingredients around. Using veggies that are in-season, regardless of the meal, ensures boldness in every bite, which is particularly important in sandwiches with minimal toppings. Another simple trick Burrell swore by to make her BLT sing loud and proud? Sprinkling a little salt on the tomatoes — this draws out the produce's natural essence, not to mention unlocks extra deliciousness. Try it Anne's way by whipping up your mayonnaise from scratch, or smear on a store-bought spread — some mayo brands get a seal of approval from professional chefs, after all.

We all have that one snack we yearn for, especially once the cupboards are in need of a restock. Anne Burrell was a self-professed grazer, telling HuffPost in 2013: "I like my snacks and I like to keep life crunchy." When push came to shove, no cheese plate she assembled was complete without salty crackers. Triscuits were reportedly a must in her household, and to say she was outspoken about her obsession was an understatement. Those curious about which box she snagged on supermarket runs will discover she liked playing things safe, opting for the original, reduced-fat version.

Manufactured by Nabisco, these crackers have been on the market since the turn of the century, although fast-forwarding to the Great Depression, the morsels saw a boost since they were a frugal treat to carry financially-burdened folks during that period. And if you ever wondered why they sorta look — and taste — like shredded mini wheat cereal, that's intentional: Henry Perky masterminded both foods.In an old Facebook post, the chef delighted in sharing a picture of her charcuterie board, which included items like moist, creamy cheeses, cured meats, and Triscuit crackers.

Viewers appreciated Anne Burrell's straight-talking attitude, especially as it pertained to her fearless advocacy for the heartiest of foods. Professing her love of hearty, stick-to-the-ribs creature comforts resonated with fans, and no sentiment from her career rang truer than her personal "holy trinity" in the kitchen: olive oil, salt, and bacon. "My motto is, 'bacon makes everything better'," as she quipped to Reuters in 2008, which seemed to live up to her daily dining. In fact, she was humorously prone to autographing readers' cookbooks with the word "bacon" whenever she popped up for book signings. The love ran deep. 

Burrell wasn't lying when she praised bacon's holiness — she found any excuse to sizzle up the pork strips any chance she could. Her beloved BLT sammie touts the cured meat front-and-center, and eggs, another one of her go-tos, naturally acts as partner to a satisfying breakfast — in one tasty snapshot Burrell posted on Instagram online, bacon topped a delightful biscuit breakfast sandwich with fried eggs and an oozy layer of American cheese. The cured specialty could have an extensive range, as seen in her flair for unique appetizers like these bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with Manchego, a Spanish sheep's cheese.

To our surprise, Anne Burrell didn't exactly pine for fast food. But as is the case with many famous cooks, she made an exception to indulge every so often — a chaotic schedule won't permit scratch cooking quite as easily as takeout. Whenever her travels found her in California, you could count on her swinging through an In-N-Out for a convenient bite. Burger orders widely vary among celebrity chefs, and while loads of culinary stars flock to the regional chain for their fix, how Burrell enjoyed hers unquestionably strayed from the standard options.

Burrell's go-to was an animal-style Double-Double, which consists of the In-N-Out cheeseburger with two patties and extra toppings. Her burger arrived with a few tweaks — per her admission on MSG Networks, she also liked leaving off the tomatoes. Fries obviously rounded out her meal, but she embraced one of the best In-N-Out secret menu hacks by ordering them "well-done." Her affinity for the burger chain attracted headlines; she was spied stopping by a location back in 2016, and afterward, went the more discreet route when visiting (the drive-thru).