Thank you for the opportunity to review this cookbook. Thoughts are my own.

I enjoyed reading through this collection of recipes with “secret ingredients” that top off the flavors and methods for a variety of meals. There are plenty of dishes to choose from in the typical breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack etc fashion. Each recipe contains a “secret ingredient” which the author uses to enhance the dish. Some are common and some are unique!

Some reasons why I liked this cookbook:

1. the recipes are reasonable. I can see myself making a majority of these and would, in fact, like to do so.

2. The photography is crisp, appetizing, and modern design. Food looks great.

3. Recipes include ingredients I am familiar with and can afford.

4. Tips are very useful. I learned quite a bit even from the very start.

Highly recommended. This is a cookbook I see myself owning and trying dishes from.

Author Kelly Senyei invites you into her kitchen and shares her love of cooking with family friendly recipes that have a little extra “secret ingredient” will elevate your dish to the next level of goodness!
This cookbook is great for beginners with the addition of “ Essentials for the pantry and refrigerator ingredients” that all cooks should have on hand and seasoned cooks who need some fresh ideas.
Breakfast,lunch, dinner or snacks recipes, The Secret Ingredient Cookbook has it all.

SusanWillams

Beautifully photographed and expertly written, "The Secret Ingredient Cookbook" is chock full of fun recipes you will actually make.

There are recipes from appetizers to drinks, desserts to entrees to pastas. I found so many that I already want to make. The Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe with its secret ingredient (spoiler: it's cream cheese) is apparently the author's most-pinned recipe on Pinterest and the one that made her an internet sensation. However, it's her unique use of other ingredients in the main dishes that really sets her apart and made me want to dive in. In fact, might have to make her Simple Skillet Lasagna tonight!

As an expert home cook, I can verify that this is a sensational cookbook to be given as a gift to all levels of cooks, or to treat yourself to a lovely book to browse through and pick up something fun to make.

I received a e-copy ARC as a reviewer for NetGalley.

**I received and voluntarily read an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

I've experimented in my kitchen for years, playing around with recipes and flavors to find what suits me best, so of course I was excited when I saw this book up for a chance to read and review.

The photography is great, but I would have liked a picture of every dish to be included.

Overall, the recipes were nice, but for me these recipes felt like more work went into them than they were worth. At times, I couldn't find a secret ingredient within the recipe, or the recipes were so overloaded with ingredients that it felt overwhelming.

I think this book would work best for those just starting to experiment with their cooking and who haven't really strayed from their recipes before.

A great cookbook with some beautiful and yet very easy recipes.

I love the use of the special ingredient, I feel it adds to the recipe to make it extra enjoyable. I will get much use out of this book!

The only con would be not having picture representation on all recipes.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is an interesting cook book!

Each recipe lists the secret ingredient, which is often something you didn't expect to include in the recipe. I wish pictures of each recipe was included since some of the instructions are a bit general for people just starting out.

There's a good variety of recipes and some that don't seem too time intensive!

This book has some very interesting recipes. Most require only a handful of store cupboard staples and the methods are quick and easy to follow. The dessert section is my favourite but then it always is 🤣

The photography in this book is also very good although not every recipe is illustrated which is sometimes a let down. I'm sure i'm not the only one who flicks though recipe books looking at pictures to decide what i'd like to make for dinner.

The secret ingredients contained in the book are not that shocking really, maybe a little odd from time to time but I won't judge until I've tried some of the recipes. I have bookmarked quite a few I want to try.

Overall I recommend this book for its sheer simplicity and interesting little twists.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy of this title in exchange for an unbiased review.

What a fun idea for a cookbook! The Secret Ingredient Cookbook by Kelly Senyei is all about taking some delicious recipes and elevating them with one ingredient.

This book is packed with so many recipes. Some of them are pretty common recipes, so that secret ingredient really helps to make it special. There were other recipes, I have never tried or heard of. It is fun to know when I try them, they will be made superior by that secret ingredient.

Each recipe tells you what the secret ingredient is, so there is no guessing. With the secret ingredients, I would say about half of them are items I keep in my house. So, while I love playing with new ingredients I don’t normally use, that is a lot of extra ingredients to buy.

Overall, this is a really dense recipe book full of some classic favourites, along with some fun, new recipes. If you like a twist on recipes you already love, this recipe book is for you.

I received an electronic advanced reader copy from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

I enjoyed leafing through this charming cookbook by Kelly Senyei and preparing some of the dishes. Kelly’s recipes are easy to prepare and enjoyable to eat. She calls her cookbook The Secret Ingredient Cookbook because she likes to be create surprises in her dishes. Thus, Kelly encourages her readers to experiment with ingredients that are often out of the ordinary for a particular recipe. I like this approach to cooking.
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While I don’t always feel that Kelly's secret ingredients improve dishes, many of them do--- if you are careful in judging how much of secret ingredient is a “good thing” to add. For example I liked very much the idea of having Champagne with breakfast and even prepared a Champagne breakfast for my family this week. I was less inclined to add Coconut Milk to Blueberry French-Toast Muffins. Yet, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Brie Cheese was a knockout as were some other soup dishes.
I could share many of my other impressions of the secret ingredients offered by Kelly’s book.

I think home cooks who like to experiment, should add this book to their cookbooks and try some of Kelly’s ideas. I suspect kids might be more inclined to experiment than adults, although this is debatable.

Mike Potashnik
McLean, VA

September 6, 2020

The recipes in this book look delicious. I would absolutely buy/recommend/gift this cookbook. The 'Breakfast' section in particular stood out to me, which offers several fun and interesting, yet fairly approachable recipes that I personally can't wait to try. I will say, based on the title of the book I expected the recipes to be perhaps a bit more... unique? I didn't find anything in this book that really differentiated it from other fun, approachable cookbooks in the same vain.

The Layout and design is nice: breezy and clean, allowing the focus to be on the recipes. The photos were beautiful and a clear indication of what the end result of each recipe should be. Overall it seems to be a great cookbook. I look forward to the release!

I read a LOT of cookbooks and I really liked this one. Some of the 'secret ingredients' are so interesting and surprising and the tips that are included are very helpful. This made me look at some old favorites in a new way and excited to put a spin on some classics.

This is a great cookbook! Overall, it has a little bit of everything, the ingredients are simple and some you can find in your pantry, almost all the recipes have photos and the photos are gorgeous! Plus, the premise of the book is that it has a secret ingredient that elevates the dish.

The secret ingredient novelty ran out pretty fast and in some recipes I felt like it was there because that was the premise of the book. But the recipes seem great and I saved a lot of them. They are very American, so I am reticent to try some, but you never know what might surprise you.

Great cookbook!

Very nice cookbook with lots of visuals (my favorite thing for cookbooks to implement; my brain seems to function better in the kitchen when I have a photo to work from). Plentiful variety among the recipes, and easy to follow instructions.

This book has some great recipes. I like that each one has a little something that you think "what is it that is different?" There are quite a few recipes that I can't wait to try.
This was an ARC copy from netgalley.

I loved this cookbook with a difference! It’s packed full of classic recipes but the secret ingredient in each one has opened up a world of new flavours and textures.

The pictures are beautiful and the recipes are clear and easy to follow.

I made my family several recipes from this cookbook and they were all well received. I’ll definitely be using this book as inspiration for my further cooking adventures.

ARC received from Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the concept of this book, who doesn't love a little suspense in cooking. My husband had fun trying to guess the secret ingredient in the recipes we tried, though occasionally the secret was something that we already used in the recipe or was so minimal it was hardly noticeable and didn't seem to make much of a difference. The book is well organized and the pictures were great (always want more photos in cookbooks). The cooking tips were also helpful (never would have thought to proof dough in the dryer!)

My main issues with the book were the secrets that seemed pretty obvious or the ingredients that needed to be purchased that I wouldn't use for much else. Some recipes we tried were just average and others were really good---though a lot of that comes down to personal taste preferences and is not a fault of the author.

Overall this is a sold cookbook with a fun twist and I look forward to using her tips in the kitchen and spicing up my routine meals with twists.

Thank you to the publisher and author for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I thought this would be a cookbook similar to Jessica Seinfeld's with tips on how to include healthy ingredients into your family meals. This was different but I was pleasantly surprised. Kelly Senyei has taken familiar recipes and found a certain secret ingredient that takes the old to a new, higher level. Her cookbook is beautiful, easy to use, and full of recipes I actually want to make. I started flipping through it one night to see what the cookbook was about and ended up reading through the entire book, marking several recipes that I want to try soon. I loved the simple changes to kick dinner up a notch.

This book is great. Lovingly illustrated the recipes are appealing and the instructions are clear. I look forward to trying out the recipes.

This certainly had some tasty twists inside.
Not all of them had pictures, but a large chunk of them did which always makes life easier.
I tried a bunch of recipes and was pleasantly surprised to find my favourite one was...
The Cheesy Corn Chowder.
I normally am not a big fan of soup and only really make it to appease my husband.
That is what this book is; happy recipes you didn't know you wanted.
Thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for my DRC.

I will definitely be buying the hard cover edition of this cookbook! The recipes sound so amazing and fairly easy to make!

The pictures are beautiful and the books are broken down into Breakfast, Snacks, Soups & Salads, Pastas, Entrees, Side, Desserts, and Drinks. There are also some quick tips included in the beginning of the book.

Some of the recipes that I will definitely be trying are Vanilla Bean Drop Doughnuts, Caramel-Apple Cinnamon Rolls , Berry Breakfast Pastries, Skillet Sweet Potato Hash, Pumpkin Waffles with Maple Whipped Cream, Noni's Soft Pretzel Knots, Crispy Crab Rangoon, Rotisserie-Chicken Tortilla Soup, Caesar Pasta Salad, 30-Minute Macaroni and Cheese, Simple Skillet Lasagna, French Onion Steak Sandwiches, Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie, and Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

I received a free copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review from NetGalley and the publisher.