What began as a side project sharing recipes online became a full career after an unexpected turning point. While working in PR, Rachel Mansfield was fired because her food blog was considered a conflict of interest. Within months, she began to realize that the thing she had been building on the side could actually become something much bigger.
More than a decade later, she has grown a community of more than 1.5 million around approachable, healthyish recipes made for real life. Now a mom of three boys, Mansfield brings that same practical approach to More, Please!, her new cookbook inspired by the way busy families actually cook.
We caught up with Rachel to talk about building and sustaining her brand, the recipes she makes on repeat, and the kitchen staples, shortcuts and cooking advice she relies on most.
In the Kitchen with Rachel Mansfield
Your career took an unexpected turn when you were fired from your PR job because your recipe blog was considered a conflict of interest. At that point, did you have any sense that the blog could become a real career, or did that realization come later? How long did it take before you felt like, “Okay, this is actually working”? I never expected my passion for making healthy recipes would turn into a full fledged career - I just loved bringing people along as I tested and tinkered with the recipes I was making in my spare time to feed myself and my husband at the time. Being fired forced me to see where this thing could go, and where I’m at today definitely didn’t happen overnight. I hustled like crazy over the last 10+ years and have said yes to a lot to get me here today. I gave myself 6 months, and quickly realized - this wasn't just paying the bills, it was actually becoming a viable career. Looking back, getting fired was one of the best things that ever happened to me.
How has your own cooking philosophy changed as your life has changed from cooking and creating recipes for yourself to now feeding a family with three young boys? When I first started developing recipes, I was cooking for just myself and my husband. I could take all the time in the world to make dinner. And I didn’t need a larger portion. Now? Absolutely not. Between my three boys, multiple businesses and a husband with celiac, my recipes have to be realistic within our busy schedules, delicious AND ensure the kids are getting some extra nutrition in. My entire way of meal planning had to change. In making my weekly shopping list and recipe plan of action I ask myself: can I make this on a Tuesday after sports? Can I prep it ahead? Can I use fewer dishes for less clean-up? If it’s a meal from me - it has to be convenient and delicious.
You’ve created recipes through so many different eras of food and social media and built a community of more than 1.5 million people. What do you think actually makes a recipe worth sharing now? And is there a recipe you have posted that surprised you most by absolutely taking off? People don't need another pretty, photo-ready recipe. They need one that's going to make their life easier while still being deeply satisfying. If a recipe saves time, uses ingredients people already have, feels exciting but isn't intimidating, that's what I find resonates the most now. One recipe that took me by surprise was my Thai Turkey Meatballs with Coconut Curry. I knew my family loved it, but I had no idea it would blow up and become one of my signature recipes. Years later people still tell me they make it every week, which is the biggest compliment!
On the flip side, is there a recipe you personally think deserves far more attention than it ever got? My Crispy Gluten-free Chicken Cutlets with Mustard Sauce!!!! I’ll never stop talking about this recipe. It’s like a real deal chicken cutlet but a bit healthier. I even use my sea salt cadootz as “breadcrumbs” to make these cutlets GF. I love using our crackers as breadcrumbs. They add flavor, protein and you can’t beat the ingredients. These cutlets taste like something you'd get at a gourmet restaurant and even those who aren’t gluten free love it. They’re so good on top of a salad, in a pasta, however!
Your new cookbook, More, Please!, is really built around the way families actually cook rather than neatly separating everything into traditional meal categories. What were you seeing people struggle with that made you want to organize the book this way? The biggest thing I kept hearing from my community, my friends and honestly from myself was, "I have a box of pasta...now what?" or "I have ground meat in the fridge and only 30 minutes. What can I make?" They wanted real solutions for busy weeknights using ingredients they already had at home, and they wanted those meals to actually be nutritious too. That's really what inspired the organization of more, please!. Instead of traditional cookbook chapters, I wanted the book to help answer the questions people are actually asking after a busy day. SHOP THE BOOK HERE
Okay, we have to make you choose: What are the three recipes from the book you think everyone should make first, and why? The One-Pot Chicken Pot Pie Pasta because it's probably the recipe I make most in my own house. It's basically impossible to mess up and everyone loves it. And has protein, is easily made gluten-free and doesn’t require much effort.
My Kinda Thai-ish Steak Noodle Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing is a personal favorite of mine. I make it at least 2x month. The dressing makes the whole dish come together and I pretty much always have a batch of it in my fridge!! And I teach you how to make a tender and flavorful steak in this recipe too.
And the Chocolate Chip Cookie Granola!!! I always have this in my fridge (yes - I keep granola in my fridge as you’ll see in my book). It has the ultimate crunch and stays fresh longer - not like this recipe lasts more than a few days though.. It is addicting. It’s also much healthier and lower in sugar compared to a granola from the grocery store.
Is there one recipe in More, Please! that feels especially personal to you or that you connect with most deeply? What makes that dish so meaningful to you? My Mama’s Ooey Gooey Apple Blondies are probably the most personal recipe in the book. It brings me back to my childhood when we’d go apple picking in the Fall and my dad would beg my mom to bake these cozy bars. When Jordan and I started dating more than 15 years ago, he immediately fell in love with them too. And to this day, whether it’s Fall or not, no big family meal is complete without them! We made them gluten-free now so that Jordan can enjoy them too! It was the hardest recipe in my entire book..
Let’s open your refrigerator. What are five things we would almost always find inside?
+ Cottage cheese - is my go-to to give recipes like baked goods, pasta sauces (you’ll see in the book!) and even pancakes for a sneaky protein boost.
+ Some sort of healthy-ish dessert that I’ve made for my kids that I end up sneaking bites of all week long.
+ My sesame ginger dressing and either my caesar dressing or ranch from my book!! We love dressings here and they’re too easy not to DIY and much healthier at home.
+ DIY homemade ketchup (recipe is in the book!). My kids basically drink this…)
+ Apples… I am obsessed and eat honey every single day. I’m not biased on the kind. I just buy whatever is largest and organic…
What are the pantry staples that make you feel like you can always pull together some kind of meal?
+ Full fat coconut milk is a must to have on hand - it's one of my favorite ways to make a dish creamy without making it feel heavy.
+ Gluten-free pasta - I like brown rice base usually for my pastas.
+ A gluten-free cracker to make toasted cracker breadcrumbs - crushing up cadootz makes for some incredible breading for chicken cutlets!
+ Bone broth - I add this to rice, pastas and more as you’ll see in my book! It’s my secret weapon to make a meal healthier.
What is one piece of cookware that is genuinely worth investing in? A good set of sheet pans, without a doubt! I use them almost every day. Whether I'm roasting vegetables, baking salmon, making an easy sheet pan dinner, it's one of the most versatile staples in my kitchen. And it’s often overlooked! Most people will buy whatever sheet pans they can find, but I’m telling you it’s worth investing in high-quality ones. A sturdy sheet pan heats more evenly, helps ingredients roast better and won't warp after a few trips to the oven.
What are your favorite food storage containers? I love glass containers for meal prep storage and easy reheating, stainless steel containers for kid’s snacks and lunches, and reusable ziptop bags for a great plastic-free alternative to on-the-go snacking.
What do you always keep in your freezer for the nights when the day completely gets away from you? Homemade meatballs! They freeze well, are always satisfying, and go well with just about any side you want to include with them. And my breakfast sandwiches - we are 100% a breakfast-for-dinner kind of crew!
When you’re cooking just for yourself and your family, what kinds of dishes do you naturally find yourself making most often? One-pot meals, sheet pan dinners, bowls, pastas and big salads. Anything that doesn't create a mountain of dishes and that leaves us with leftovers for lunch the next day is a win.
You spent years recommending packaged foods and reading ingredient labels before creating cadootz. What did you keep looking for in the snack aisle that you ultimately realized you were going to have to create yourself? I wanted a snack that I would feel good about giving kids - something made with real organic ingredients, enough protein to actually keep kids full and none of the fillers or shortcuts that had become so common. I kept cringing at what I’d find out there (even snacks billed as healthy) and eventually my husband and I looked at each other and said, "I guess we're going to have to make this ourselves!”
And finally: What are you making when you want everyone at the table to say, “More, please”? To me, "more, please" is really a mindset! I hope this book gives people recipes they'll come back to again and again, but more than that, I hope it helps make feeding themselves and their families feel a little less overwhelming. If I can do that, then I've done what I set out to do.
The post In the Kitchen With Rachel Mansfield: On Family Cooking, Smart Shortcuts and More, Please! appeared first on The Chalkboard Mag.
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