All About Chef Savvy!

head shot of author Kelley Simmons in her chef savvy kitchen

Hi, I’m Kelley Simmons! Welcome to Chef Savvy! A food website filled with my most popular tried and tested recipes. With a culinary degree and years of experience in the food industry my goal is to make cooking easy and fun for my 1+ million monthly readers!

I started Chef Savvy back in 2014 as a way to provide delicious, easy, quick weeknight meals that your family will love. Every recipe is very clear, concise and easy to follow. All of my recipes include nutritional information as well as substitutions, tips and variations to take the guess work out of cooking! Some of my favorite recipes include my Best Chocolate Cake, 20 Minute Pasta Carbonara and The BEST Chicken Parmesan!

Meet the Team

  • Social Media
    Kim
  • Video Producers
    Yvonne and Steve
  • Writer / Editor
    Bethany

Where to start?

Fun Facts

Where are you from? I was born and raised in Newark, Delaware. I still live 10 miles from where I was born!

Favorite hobbies: I love anything that involves being outdoors. My favorite outdoor activities are riding bikes, walking, camping and going to the park with my daughters. If it’s a rainy day you’ll find me inside painting, testing new recipes or finding some new home project for my husband to do.

Favorite ingredients: I would have to say garlic! I love garlic so much and never think a recipe ever has too much garlic. I typically always add a couple extra cloves of garlic when I am cooking at home for my family.

Favorite recipe: My flourless peanut butter muffins are the recipe that’s made at least once or twice a week in my house. They are so easy to make (even my two year old likes making them with me). They are a perfect grab and go breakfast. You would never know these are gluten free!

Education: I received my Culinary Arts Degree from Delaware Technical Community College (I met my husband in food prep class!) After that I continued my education at Wilmington University and received a bachelors in Business. I always say that both my degrees help make this blog so successful. Learning how to cook professionally at culinary school as well as learning how to run a successful business from receiving my business degree. That accounting class really came in handy!

simple chocolate cake on white plate

My cooking style / philosophy

I believe that you can make easy, fast recipes from scratch using real ingredients. I love having fresh herbs on hand to add to dishes as well as citrus fruits and seasonal ingredients to add tons of fresh flavor.

FAQ

What if I am gluten free or vegetarian can I still make your recipes?

Yes of course! All of my recipes can be adapted to fit every lifestyle or diet. For easy gluten free recipes start here. And for meatless dinner options head over here.

Where have you been featured?

I have been so lucky to have been featured in tons of publications and websites! Including BuzzFeed, Msn, Good housekeeping, Shape, Women’s Day and Country Living just to name a few!

Is it just a one women show?

I couldn’t do everything without the help of my amazing team! I have assistants that help me post to social media, edit posts and do lots of the behind the scenes stuff! The beautiful videos you see are from my friends over at Tried and Tasty! And I can’t forget to give a shout out to my husband for helping me create and test recipes. As well as helping with my least favorite task: cleaning up after cooking all day.

My two year old daughter Adeline also likes to get in the kitchen and help me too! My husband and I call her “the littlest chef”

adeline scooping rice into a measuring cup

My Top 5 Kitchen Tips

1. How to measure flour correctly: This is often so overlooked and makes such a big difference when baking. To properly measure flour use the spoon and level method. Simply spoon the flour into your measuring cup and use a knife to level the flour. That’s it!

2. Under bake your cookies: I always bake my cookies for 2 minutes less than any recipe says. I also like to look at my cookies and not at the clock. When my cookies look set around the edges that is when I remove them. Letting them continue to cook as they cool on the cookie sheet ensures a soft and chewy cookie every time!

3. Keep fresh herbs around: They are an easy way to add so much flavor to a dish without adding extra calories! My rule of thumb is to use 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon of dried herbs.

4. When baking room temperature ingredients are key! Whenever I am making a batter I always start with room temperature ingredients. That includes butter, eggs and wet ingredients like yogurt or sour cream. This helps create a smooth lump free batter.

5. Start with a hot pan: If a recipe says to add something to a hot pan only add it when the oil or butter in the pan is sizzling. If you add protein or vegetables to a cold pan they will steam, not caramelize and will also stick to the bottom of the pan.

Italian chopped salad on white plate

Contact Kelley

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns or recipe ideas! You can reach me at [email protected] or on my contact page! I respond to all inquires and questions as soon as possible. Please feel free to reach out I love hearing from you! Thank you so much for reading Chef Savvy!

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