Real Recipes, Real Life.
Welcome to LynnRecipes. We’re Lynn and Clara, two home cooks on a mission to make your time in the kitchen easier.
Our Story
LynnRecipes started on a Tuesday night in early 2024. Lynn was standing in front of her open fridge, exhausted after a long day at work, with two hungry kids pulling at her sleeve and no idea what to make for dinner. The internet was full of recipes, but they all seemed to require ingredients she didn’t have, techniques she’d never learned, or time she simply didn’t possess.
Clara’s frustration came from a different angle. She loved cooking and had spent years making notes in the margins of cookbooks—adjusting timings that were always too optimistic, substituting ingredients that were impossible to find, and rewriting vague instructions that left out crucial steps.
We met through a local cooking group in Portland, Oregon, and quickly discovered we shared the same goal: recipes that actually work for people with busy lives. By mid-2024, we’d pooled our notes, tested our favorites, and launched LynnRecipes.
Meet the Team
Lynn
Co-Founder & Recipe Developer
Weeknight Dinners & Meal Planning
Yes, that’s a chef’s hat—a gift from her kids who insisted “Mom cooks like a real chef.” In reality, Lynn is a working mother of two (ages 7 and 11) who needs dinner on the table by 6 PM most nights. Her recipes focus on one-pan meals, 30-minute dinners, and dishes that even picky eaters will finish. After 15 years of feeding a family on a budget, she’s learned every shortcut in the book.
Clara
Co-Founder & Recipe Developer
Creative Flavors & Comfort Food
Clara is the experimenter of the duo. She spends her weekends testing new flavor combinations and perfecting comfort food classics. With a knack for balancing textures and making simple ingredients shine, she’s the one who turns a basic Tuesday dinner into something you’ll actually look forward to eating.
What Makes Us Different
We’re home cooks who take cooking seriously—but we never forget what it’s like to stand in front of the fridge at 5:30 PM with no plan. Lynn brings the practical constraints of cooking for a family with limited time and budget. Clara brings creativity and an eye for making simple dishes special. Every recipe we publish has been tested in both of our kitchens to make sure it actually works on a busy weeknight.
We made a promise when we started this site: no recipe gets published unless we’d actually make it ourselves on a regular Tuesday. That means no complicated techniques just for the sake of it, no rare ingredients that require a trip to specialty stores, and no misleading prep times. When we say a recipe takes 30 minutes, it takes 30 minutes.
Our Cooking Philosophy
Keep It Simple
Most of our recipes use 10 ingredients or fewer. We focus on techniques that work in any kitchen, with equipment you already own. If something can be done in one pan instead of three, we’ll show you how.
Test Everything
Every recipe is tested at least three times before publication—once in Clara’s kitchen, once in Lynn’s, and once by a volunteer from our reader community. We cook in regular ovens, use standard grocery store ingredients, and follow our own instructions exactly as written.
Budget-Friendly Always
We develop recipes with real-world grocery budgets in mind. Most of our dinners cost under $15 for a family of four. When we do use pricier ingredients, we always suggest affordable alternatives.
Family-Tested
Lynn’s kids are our toughest critics. If they won’t eat it, we either revise it or label it clearly as “adults only.” We include honest notes about what worked with kids and what didn’t.
How We Organize Our Recipes
We’ve organized our recipes by meal type so you can find what you need quickly, whether you’re planning breakfast for tomorrow or figuring out what to make for dinner tonight.
Breakfast
Quick weekday options you can prep the night before, plus weekend favorites worth the extra time. From five-minute smoothie bowls to slow Saturday pancakes.
Lunch
Packable meals for work and school, plus satisfying options for eating at home. Most recipes are designed to be made ahead or assembled quickly from leftovers.
Dinner
Our largest category, organized by cooking time. Filter by 20-minute meals for the busiest nights, 30-minute standards for regular weekdays, or weekend projects when you have more time.
Our Promise to You
When you’re standing in your kitchen with one of our recipes on your phone, you’re trusting us to help you get a good meal on the table. We take that seriously. We promise accurate timing, clear instructions, and honest assessments of difficulty. If a recipe is tricky, we’ll tell you upfront. If it’s truly simple, we won’t overcomplicate it.
We also keep our recipe pages clean. The recipe and instructions appear at the top, with tips and variations below for those who want them. No scrolling through pages of text to find what you need.
Let’s Stay Connected
We share new recipes weekly and answer reader questions about substitutions, techniques, and meal planning. Join our community of home cooks who believe good food doesn’t have to be complicated.
Connect with us
Or reach out anytime at [email protected]
Happy cooking,
– Lynn & Clara
