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 Heritage

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 they worked hard and achieved the American dream. Watch the TV News Segment about our incredible story. My parents’ 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. 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 editing, 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 in my own Kitchen in Idaho (elevation about 2,600 feet).

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.

Community Guidelines: I love how this food blog has grown into a supportive cooking community – your comments, questions, tips, and success stories make every recipe better. Review my Comment Policy, then join the conversation.

Disclaimer: Per my Nutrition 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. Please talk to your Doctor or nutritionist for medical or dietary advice. I am not liable if you eat too many Hamburgers.

Leave a Comment

Comments

  • Laura
    October 11, 2014

    Dear Natasha:

    I have a cake question. My Polish Gramma made a cake years ago, which she called “King Edward Cake” She also named recipes whatever she wanted to; so I don’t know if that is the real name of the cake? Anyway, I can’t find a cake like hers. I will try to explain it to you. Maybe this cake sounds familiar to you.

    1. It was a layer cake, 2 or 3 layers.
    2. The batter was yellow, and the cake very firm, heavy.
    3. The batter had chopped nuts in it. It was full of nuts, it seemed the batter held the nuts together.
    4. Frosting, it looked and tasted like whipped cream.
    5. It was delicious!!!

    Thank you so much.

    Reply

  • Chris in Spokane Valley
    October 8, 2014

    You have no idea how glad I am to have found your site today! I did a search to find a good looking recipe for some coho salmon and stumbled onto your site…and of course I used your recipe for dejon mustard salmon. It was fantastic! But there is more to the story. I can’t believe you have so many recipes for Russian and Ukrainian foods!!! I lost my Russian mother-in-law in my divorce from her daughter and have missed her cooking for several years. Now, thanks to you, I can cook a lot of the old recipes! JOY! I may even tackle pelmini someday. Definitely going to try each and every one of your recipes in the coming years. Keep up the fantastic work and thank you, thank you, thank you!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      October 8, 2014

      Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment. Welcome to the blog and I hope you find many new favorite recipes! 🙂

      Reply

      • Tamilla
        October 10, 2014

        Privet, Natasha, you have a great blog! It is a pleasure to see your photos and read recipes. Thank you, and good luck to you!
        P.S.Do you speak Russian ? Greetings from Moscow 🙂

        Reply

        • Natasha
          natashaskitchen
          October 10, 2014

          I am from Ukraine, but I can speak and understand Russian :). Hello from Idaho! 🙂

          Reply

  • Tomekia Williams
    October 6, 2014

    Totally inspired by your blog content. I just kinda started my blogging and cooking journey. Can’t wait to try some of your recipes.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      October 6, 2014

      I’m so happy to be a source of inspiration! I wish you loads of success and blessings in your blogging journey 🙂

      Reply

  • Barbara Moran
    October 2, 2014

    My husband discovered your Baked Salmon with Garlic and Dijon recipe. It was fabulous! Thank you. Blessings to you.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      October 2, 2014

      Barbara, thank you so much and blessings to you as well 🙂 I’m so happy you liked the salmon 🙂

      Reply

  • Jessica W.G.
    September 30, 2014

    Natasha,
    I found this recipe and site because I loved your idea of no peel, no pectin Satsuma Plum jam. Now I am excited to learn more from you & enjoyed reading your personal story. It makes me want to read & cook more! Thank you. The jam is wonderful!
    Jessica

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 30, 2014

      I’m so glad you enjoyed the jam and thank your for your sweet comment. Welcome to the blog! I hope you find many new favorite recipes 🙂

      Reply

  • solange
    September 27, 2014

    Dobre vetcher,discovered your blog and spent hours enjoying your cooking recipes.you are so amazing in everything : fresh personality,being so professional ,precise and easy recipes with clear photos+step by steps, the ukranian-russian cooking legacy,i really loved it all and then some. I love cooking-am half lebanese/half italian..so u can imagine..-was looking for plov and piroshki..but will try plenty other recipes.thank you soooooo much/ p.s all my co-workers in crete-greece are russian ,ukranian,belarus,moldavia..who know all about beauty-healthy tips!!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 27, 2014

      I’m so glad you are enjoying the site and thank you for taking the time to write :-). I sure appreciate all of your thoughtful compliments!

      Reply

  • halyna
    September 26, 2014

    i just discover your blog and already full in love with it , can not stop reading , thanks

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 26, 2014

      I’m so happy to read your comment. Welcome to the blog 🙂 And thank you for your sweet comment 🙂

      Reply

  • Michelle
    September 13, 2014

    I love your blog! I have been wanting to make Russian food for essentially my whole life! I bought a Russian cookbook, but your recipes are much tastier, and more genuine (according to my son who lived in Russia for a couple of years). Thank you!!!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 14, 2014

      I’m so happy to hear that. What a compliment and thank you! 🙂

      Reply

  • Anne Marie
    September 4, 2014

    I’m so happy to have come across your blog! I was looking for a not-so-heavy mushroom Alfredo and yours is just perfect! Thank you for sharing your recipes and your life story. Sounds like you have realized your life’s purpose after much trial and error. Very inspiring. All the best to you, will now be following Natasha’s Kitchen : )

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 4, 2014

      I’m so happy you found my blog too 🙂 it’s awesome to meet you and welcome to the site!

      Reply

  • Nancy Hennessy
    August 31, 2014

    I am looking forward to using your recipes. I just made Blueberry Crumble & took it to friends house it was a hit. My friend asked me why the blueberrys were not mushy I told her to keep them frozen
    I also love to cook & try new recipes thanks for your new website I will b following u

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 31, 2014

      I’m so happy you are enjoying the blog 🙂 Did you use frozen blueberries in the crumble? I’m so happy you enjoyed it!

      Reply

  • Susan DuCharme
    August 31, 2014

    I discovered your site from my sister when she shared your sweet corn recipe with me. I am really loving it. I love the way you share the whole step by step process but still have just the recipe itself to print or download. I like many of your recipes. I find them easy to make with good ingredients
    which is the way I cook. I also have Russian in my ethnic history which makes it very cool to learn some good Russian inspired recipes. Thank you for your site. It is great.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 31, 2014

      That’s so cool! Which sister should I be thanking? 🙂 I’m so glad you are enjoying the blog. Thank you so much for the great feedback 🙂

      Reply

  • Andrea Zozulya
    August 29, 2014

    Greetings, Natasha! I am an American missionary living in eastern Ukraine. Presently, I am baking for the Ukrainian soldiers who are stationed in our small town. We have an abundance of honey so I got online to find a cake recipe that calls for honey. Lo and behold, I found your blog! I’m so glad I did, not just for the honey cake recipe but because you have so many nice recipes that are in English. My Russian is not that great and I sometimes struggle with understanding all the recipes my friends here give me. So finding your blog is a real blessing. I will be trying many of your recipes. Thank you so much.
    Andrea Zozulya

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 29, 2014

      I hope you love everything you try and we are praying for Ukraine!

      Reply

  • Anastasia
    August 24, 2014

    I absolutely love your blog. I lived in Russia for enough time to remember all the yummy food that I ate but I never learned to make. Now that I am on your blog I can’t wait to cook everything I fallen in love with as a kid. Thank you. You are bringing back very happy memories.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 24, 2014

      Anastasia, It brings me much joy to know that you are being reminded of very happy memories. I hope that you will find many new favorites :).

      Reply

      • Monica
        August 26, 2014

        Hi Natasha! Congrats for the blog! it really looks nice and all the recipes look very appealing and healthy! Also I would like to say I really enjoyed your story about yourself, which tells a little bit of every cook’s background ( family, origins, hobbies, how she/he started cooking) which is really great to learn about! All the recipes you posted here are a real inspiration for me as I can really see the real connection betw. all these and cooking as a way to bring family together, socialize and really bond! Congrats again and wish you lots of success! Monica

        Reply

        • Natasha
          natashaskitchen
          August 26, 2014

          Monica thanks so much! I’m so happy you wrote it 🙂

          Reply

  • Yasha
    August 21, 2014

    I came to this site to relive Russian food. The borscht is very good and authentic. Just like my family makes. I also want to say that I appreciate your work and that I hope you have success in increasing the popularity of Slavic cuisine.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 21, 2014

      Thank you Yasha for your great feedback, comments like these are very much appreciated :).

      Reply

  • Swati
    August 15, 2014

    Hi Natasha, it’s was good reading up about u. I came to ur site for the potato wedges recipe, I’m gonna try it today. Thanks & Best wishes, Swati.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 15, 2014

      Thank you 🙂 And it’s nice to meet you also! I hope you love the potato wedges and find many more new favorites!

      Reply

  • Julianne Trimble
    August 14, 2014

    what a beautiful family you have ! Can not wait to start making some of your receipes. I love to try different foods. I am English and Hungarian my husband is Irish we have 4 children all grow with there own children . I have 4 grandchildren 3 boys and one girl. can not wait to hear about your family and more about the food you like to cook . Sincerely julie

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 14, 2014

      Thank you Julie! I hope you find lots of new favorite recipes here 🙂

      Reply

  • Lev
    August 11, 2014

    Lovely borsch recipe, ochen vkusna! by the way its “beets” 😉

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 11, 2014

      Thanks Lev! Where did I miss-spell it? I’d love to fix it quick! 🙂 Thank you!

      Reply

  • Halyna Bregovic
    August 4, 2014

    Hi Natasha, Please could you help me ?When I first saw your recipes a couple of months back I saw a recipe for gooseberries and walnuts varenye.
    Today I have frantically searched your website ,sadly found nothing
    Please can you tell me how to locate this recipe please.
    Love your recipes!
    Thanks in advance, Halyna

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 4, 2014

      I wish I had a link to share with you but I’ve never made a varenye with gooseberries or walnuts. I wonder if it was on a different blog?

      Reply

  • Kate
    August 2, 2014

    I stumbled onto your blog and I’m so excited! My husband served a religious mission in Russia and he’s been wanting me to find some recipes and cook Russian/Ukrainian food for him but even though I’m a good cook, the recipes seemed inaccessible to me. These look awesome, I can’t wait to try them! Also, I was excited t see that you live in Idaho, me too!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 3, 2014

      Thank you so much for sharing your story with me. It’s awesome that you also live in Idaho. I hope you find many more new favorite recipes on this blog.

      Reply

  • Beth Yodis
    July 30, 2014

    Hi Natasha! I love your site and use it often and direct my friends to this site also! My question is, do you make the “Liver Cake” recipe? It is one of my favorites to eat when at a Ukrainian holiday table. But I’m not sure if it is really a Ukrainian dish, or if it was “imported” and has now become “Ukrainian”. Whatever the case, my recipes are in Donetsk Ukraine right now, and we are Stateside at the moment, awaiting a hopeful return to a unified Ukraine. 🙁 So, I was wondering if you had that recipe, so I can make it here? Thanks for any help you can give!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      July 30, 2014

      I’ve actually never made that before because I am not a fan of liver, but one of my friends who runs a Russian/Ukrainian food blog has a recipe for something like what you are describing: http://letthebakingbeginblog.com/2014/05/skewered-chicken-pate-stacks/

      Reply

      • Beth
        July 30, 2014

        Thanks for your quick reply! Yes, that recipe is close enough for me to
        figure out my own way of doing it. (that filling looks excellent too! I
        only use mayo and garlic, but will try it with the carrot!) The reason I
        like my recipe is that is the ONLY way I can tolerate liver! That way I
        can serve it to appease my Ukrainian guests who can’t understand why I
        don’t like it! 🙂 (it helps them to assume I am actually feeding my family
        in a health way!) I hope that doesn’t sound rude, but in my limited
        observations of Ukrainian/Russian culture is that women are very concerned
        about what kinds of food everyone around them is eating -or not eating, and
        very opinionated about it! 🙂 lol I make mine into a layered cake, with
        the filling between each thin layer. With the top decorated beautifully
        with chopped hard boiled egg and grated cheese. Then at the table we cut
        it into thin wedges, like a cake would be served. It’s very eye appealing
        and “showy” for the Праздничный стол!

        Reply

        • Natasha
          natashaskitchen
          July 30, 2014

          I definitely see your point, I just have never liked liver. It’s too strong in flavor for me 🙂 I did post selyodka you know which I thought was a brave post, but I sure love the stuff ;). Thanks for writing! I hope that recipe works well for you. https://natashaskitchen.com/2013/10/21/selyodka-recipe/

          Reply

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