About

Welcome to Natasha’s Kitchen! I’m Natasha Kravchuk, and together with my husband, Vadim, we’ve been passionately developing and sharing tried-and-true recipes since 2009. Over the years, we have created a trusted recipe resource beloved by millions.

In 2023, I published my debut cookbook – Natasha’s Kitchen Cookbook, which quickly became a New York Times Best-Seller for three consecutive weeks. The book is an extension of our blog with top-quality recipes you can trust.

I come from a family of fantastic cooks, and I’m here to share generations of recipes that are homey, fresh, healthy, family-friendly, authentic, and adventurous. Most importantly, our recipes are meticulously tested and guaranteed to be delicious and reliable.

Natasha holding a lasagna casserole

My Family and Faith

My culinary journey is deeply rooted in my family’s story. My family came to the U.S. as refugees from Ukraine when I was 4 years old. They brought 5 tiny girls and had nothing but a stack of suitcases. They didn’t know the language, but worked hard and achieved the American dream. Watch the TV News Segment about our incredible story. My parent’s resilience and passion for food inspire every recipe I create.

Natasha with family posing on steps next to a house
Natasha with her parents and 4 sisters (Natasha is the middle child)

Growing up, I was so shy that I thought no one would marry me until my husband came along and swept me off my feet (true story). Over 20 years ago, I married my wonderful husband, Vadim (who is also Ukrainian). We are blessed with two children. Every recipe that I develop is thoroughly tested and approved by each of us and is often critiqued by relatives and friends. We only post the recipes we love and make over and over.

We live in Idaho (famous for its potatoes) and we love the quieter pace of our beautiful state. Our family attends Life Church Boise. We strive to walk in love and live our lives by the word of God and the life of Jesus.

Natasha and Vadim slicing vegetables in the kitchen

Professional Background

We’re so thankful to be full-time foodies and recipe developers. We’re living our dream because of you and I can’t thank you enough! My heritage and diverse professional background, including years in business and nursing, have uniquely equipped me to be the recipe developer, video creator, photographer, writer, and business owner that I am today. We set the bar high so you can expect great recipes and videos here.

The Resume

  • 2003-2007: I worked for 7 years as a business intern, which I consider my most valuable education. My boss and mentor taught me the importance of excellence in business and meticulous attention to detail, which has served me well.
  • 2007 Earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Business with a double major in human resource management
  • 2007-2012 – Worked as a Realtor for 4 years. Fun fact: it was during my realtor days that I learned about blogging (although blogging about real estate was undeniably more boring than food)
  • 2012 Earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing and worked as a Registered Nurse in Telemetry. The courses I took in nutrition, as well as being in a caring profession, made for a natural transition into serving my audience with recipes and connections that nurture body and soul.
  • Blogging since 2009 – What started as a way to share my family’s recipes and culinary journey, has turned into a vibrant community of millions of home cooks.

To summarize all of the many hats I wear – I am a wife, mom, food blogger, cookbook author, recipe developer, video creator, photographer, writer, influencer, social media boss, and entrepreneur, and I love to sing in my church choir. If I were a sandwich, I’d be a Chicken Bacon Avocado on Focaccia.

Natasha with family serving food

How I Got Started Cooking

To be completely honest, I wasn’t always excited about cooking. When I got married in 2003, it became a necessity – “must eat to live” and Mom wasn’t doing the cooking anymore. We had a lot of frozen meals and ate-out too much in the first year of our marriage. I had a free summer (and decided I would improve my cooking skills so we could live and eat healthier.

I dove into cookbook after cookbook and plundered my mom’s recipe books. I was at the library all the time bringing home piles of cookbooks; I was hooked! I even read my mother’s cooking textbook from her college days (Mom completed her culinary program when we moved to the US). I had discovered the joy of cooking. Within a few months, my husband and I each lost weight just from cooking more at home. Now I can’t stop cooking and thinking about cooking and dreaming about cooking… I was born for this!

My recipe collection continues to grow. I love to try new recipes and will share my favorites with you (like our internet-famous Meatloaf and beloved Banana Bread Recipe). I hope you enjoy this blog and find recipes that will become your family favorites as well.

Natasha with mom and daughter making pierogi

Natasha’s Kitchen Today

I started this food and family blog in 2009 as a way to share favorite recipes and events with family and friends. It has grown much larger than I could have imagined with about 1,300 recipes and about 19 million hungry visitors per month. In 2024, we passed 3,500,000 subscribers on YouTube and our channel is growing fast. We’ve been featured on:

  • Forbes
  • Good Morning America
  • ABC News
  • New York Times
  • Associated Press
  • USA Today
  • And hundreds more (see Press page for more)

My goal with Natasha’s Kitchen is for you to really discover and fall in love with cooking and find many new favorite recipes your family will love. The ingredients we use are simple and easily accessible, not overly hoity-toity. My motto: if you can read (a well-written, tested, and trusted recipe), you can cook.

Most of the recipes I share come from my mom and mother-in-law, family, friends, and my own experience in the kitchen. I am so thankful to have such amazing people in my life who generously share their rich knowledge of cooking.

It Takes a Village! I’m so blessed to partner with an incredible group of specialists who share their talents to support Natasha’s Kitchen. Whether it’s social media, email marketing, content editing, or video production, their expertise helps everything run smoothly so I can focus on creating delicious recipes and fun videos for you. I’m so grateful for their contributions and for YOU, our amazing readers, who make it all possible.

Natasha's family prepping food in the kitchen

Natasha’s Kitchen Recipes

It’s very important to me to share trusted recipes that are reliable and work well in every kitchen and for every cooking skill level. This is why I develop and perfect all of my recipes through careful research and several rounds of testing.

Every recipe is tested and approved by my family, and often friends, relatives, and even neighbors. All of the photography is done by myself, and I’m the one showing up in our videos. My husband edits the photos and videos (and he’s the videographer single-handedly running 3 cameras at once).

Get Featured: If you would like your recipe featured on this site, email it to me by clicking here (warning: spammers will get hit in the face with unripe avocados).

Disclaimer: This blog includes only my own opinions and is not professional advice. It is not intended to be dietary advice or a diet plan, although I try to post healthy-ish recipes, please talk to your Doctor or nutritionist for medical or dietary advice. I am not liable if you eat too many Cheeseburgers.

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Comments

  • Ruby
    March 20, 2025

    Hi Natasha its really amazing your dish and your family story..Honestly happy for you.
    Actually i was goggle for banana bread recipe and found out yours. And noticing more great way of cooking and recipe. Love it !! Thank you .
    With love Ruby.

    Reply

  • Nellie
    March 17, 2025

    I loved reading your story. Amazing! You have a beautiful family. I haven’t tried any of your recipes but look delicious. I am an 80 year old wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. I will be making some of your recipe. 🤗

    Reply

  • Karen Elliott
    March 17, 2025

    Natasha, I’ve always loved to cook, but coming from a different ethnic background than my husband, I had to learn American cooking from scratch. I didn’t even know how to use an oven when I first came to America! The ingredients were different, too. Living here has expanded my culinary horizons and introduced me to various ethnic cuisines. Your YouTube channel, website, and recently your book, which I purchased, have taught me so much. My family’s favorite recipe is your Beef Stroganoff!

    I’m a director of an assisted living facility, and I often share your recipes with our executive chef. We also have a restaurant here in Vancouver, Washington, called Twigs, and I recently tried their Moroccan Steak Bites and Gorgonzola Cheese Fondue—delicious!

    I’ve commented before on your YouTube videos that you always give us an assignment! Every time you post a recipe, I feel like I must make it, like it’s a task that has to be done. It’s so motivating, and I really appreciate that about your content.

    The reason I’m leaving this comment now is that I’ve been searching for a cheese fondue recipe on your site and can’t find one. Would you please consider making a video showing how to make cheese fondue? Pretty please! Thank you so much for all your amazing content!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      March 17, 2025

      Hi Karen, I’m so happy you love my recipes. Thank you for your encouraging message! If I come up with a delicious fondue, I will be sure to share it. I’m adding it to my ever expanding list of recipes to test.

      Reply

  • Pat
    March 14, 2025

    I follow your site and use your recipes whenever I can. I love the simple list of ingredients that I usually have in my fridge, freezer or pantry. We are a cook at home family 80% of the time. Your blog and videos are the best.

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      March 14, 2025

      Thank you, Pat! That makes me very happy to hear.

      Reply

  • Linda Johnston
    March 13, 2025

    Yours is the first cooking site I go to when looking for recipes. Everything I’ve tried is marvelous. I was so pleased to see we live in the same valley and share our faith in Jesus. That is an extra bonus for me. God bless you and keep the recipes coming!

    Reply

  • Sarah Christensen
    March 8, 2025

    Hi! Today I had the opportunity to share my knowledge with others teaching a Sourdough 101 class. I don’t know much, so am so grateful that I discovered you about a month ago. You improved many of my Sourdough practices and brought me success in baking sourdough. For that your name website and videos were shared all day today at this event as a huge help and one who has fantastic explanations, recipes and videos. I wanted you to know that you have inspired many. I was also delighted to discover we are Idaho neighbors! Thank you!

    Reply

  • Christine
    March 6, 2025

    Hi Natasha!
    I have been cooking mostly from your website for a few years now and I have rarely found a recipe I didn’t love. I just read your “about me” for the first time and found that we share similarities (Christian, mom, former nurse). Your recipes are awesome and thank you so much!

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      March 6, 2025

      I’m so happy you love my recipes! Thank you so much for the fantastic review and your encouraging words. I am smiling big reading your comment, Christine! God bless you!

      Reply

  • Mary Drozd
    March 5, 2025

    Natasha, I love each and every one of your recipes and I’m extremely proud that you are Ukrainian and a proud Ukrainian at that. I have a request, please do not use the Soviet spelling of our nation’s capital for your Chicken Kyiv (NOT Kiev) recipe. Can’t wait to try it. Slava Ukrayini!

    Reply

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