America’s Test Kitchen’s tastemakers—Lan Lam, Bryan Roof, Lidey Heuck, and Nik Sharma—take you behind the scenes of our bustling test kitchen in this food-nerd's must-watch.
Our test cook hosts dive deep into their favorite dishes, taste recipes that are still works in progress, and talk about how culture, history, and science influence the foods we love to eat. Discover the messy, fun, and (mostly) delicious work that goes into creating America’s favorite recipes. Watch or listen, and check back here to find everything they cover in each episode.
How to Watch and Listen
- Premieres: Thursday, February 26, 2026 (new episodes drop every other week)
- Where to watch: Netflix
- How to listen: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows
2/26/26, Episode 1: Chocolate Chip Cookies
In this premiere episode, the crew dive into all things chocolate chip cookies. They chat about texture, size, and cookie thickness, and ask: What makes the best chocolate chip cookie? Along the way, the quad taste tests three chocolate chip cookie recipes while dissecting the history, science, and all the nerdy aspects that go into recipe development in the test kitchen.
Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
We created a cookie that was crisp at the edges, chewy in the middle, and full of rich toffee flavor.
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Thin and Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies are a classic, but their thin, crunchy, butterscotch-y cousins deserve a spot in the cookie jar, too.
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Levain-Style Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
The Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie from Levain Bakery is hugely popular. Here’s how to make this style of recipe at home.
Get the Recipe3/12/26, Episode 2: Burgers
In this episode of In the Test Kitchen, we're diving deep into one of America's favorite dishes: the humble hamburger. Lan, Bryan, Nik, and Lidey debate which burger type—smash, pub, or meatloaf burger—reins supreme. Plus, what are the best burger fixings? Is it better to use high-end meats, or can you get away with cheaper ones (and what science-y perks might these bargain cuts offer)? Anything you ever wanted to know about this fast food staple is tasted, discussed, and dissected right in the thick of the action of the test kitchen.
Smashed Burgers
“I love these burgers because they cook so fast!” Lan says of the recipe she developed.
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Juicy Pub-Style Burgers with Crispy Shallots and Blue Cheese
Bryan loves these “big boy burgers,” inspired by one of his favorite New York restaurants.
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Meatloaf Burgers
Inspired by Ernest Hemingway's personal recipe, this unconventional burger got a thumbs-up from all our hosts.
Get the Recipe3/26/26, Episode 3: Fried Chicken
Can you make truly good fried chicken that taste restaurant-quality at home? Lan, Bryan, Nik and Lidey say yes as they deconstruct three different recipes that represent different styles of fried chicken. Plus, the quad reveals some fun KFC history, and discuss the scientific difference between crunchy and crispy fried chicken.
One-Batch Fried Chicken
With an iconic American entrepreneur as inspiration, we created a playbook for first-time fryers and old pros alike.
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Supercrunchy Buttermilk Fried Chicken
Some styles are battered, others are dredged. For the crispiest, crunchiest, all-around yummiest fried chicken, do both.
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4/9/26, Episode 4: Pizza
Ask 10 people what their favorite kind of pizza is, and you’ll probably get 10 different answers. This week on In the Test Kitchen, Lan, Bryan, Nik, and Lidey dive into the regional differences of this popular food, their preferences between Italian vs. American slices, and the elements that go into making a really great pie.
4/23/26, Episode 5: Muffins
Making muffins used to be a rite of passage for test cooks and those who applied to be a test cook at America’s Test Kitchen. So we’ve eaten a lot of them; sweet, savory, and everything in between. In this episode, Lan, Bryan, Nik, and Lidey take on the debate: What is a muffin, and what makes one really great?
Best Blueberry Muffins
The crew discuss what makes this iconic muffin so popular, and how we perfected it in the test kitchen.
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Browned Butter Chocolate Chunk Muffins
These chocolaty, oversized muffins impressed the In The Test Kitchen cast.
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Sausage-Herb Stuffing Muffins
Bryan questions whether this crisp and custardy delight is really muffin at all.
Get the RecipeDon’t miss our other Netflix podcasts! Catch up with more of your favorite ATK cast members and tastemakers in The Side Dish and I Changed My Mind with Dan Souza.
