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

  • aly y
    June 2, 2015

    love your blog ;D totally love the last part “I am not liable if you eat too many piroshki” good one 🙂

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      June 2, 2015

      Lol, just want to make sure people eat responsibly :D.

      Reply

  • tracy
    May 29, 2015

    I loved reading your blog, I’d love to learn other foods to cook besides southern. Its almost always beans, fried tators and corn bread.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      May 29, 2015

      But you have to admit southern food is pretty fantastic! What are your favorite southern foods?

      Reply

  • Tamiko
    May 13, 2015

    Ahhh I’m so excited to have found d your page. I cannot wait to try some recipes out I can’t sleep and it’s 1 in the morning. I was on pinterest and stumbled upon a shrimp pasta recipe. Just by watching a tutorial on how to make the dish made me so hungry. Thank you for your delicious recipes, I will soon try some out.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      May 13, 2015

      Welcome to the site Tamiko, I hope you’ll find many new favorites :).

      Reply

  • Gene Szostak
    May 4, 2015

    Hi Natasha,
    I was wondering. Do you have a recipe for making Uzvar (the traditional Ukrainian fruit drink)? I hope to make this soon and I’ve been combing the web for possible recipes to use.

    Reply

  • Deborah
    May 3, 2015

    Please subscribe me to your blog. Sounds wonderful!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      May 3, 2015

      Done! Please check your email to confirm your subscription and thanks for subscribing! 🙂

      Reply

  • Roxanne
    April 30, 2015

    Hi Natasha,
    The food you speak of reminds me of a wonderful Ukrainian woman I knew many years ago. She and her family were refugees and lived in my apartment in Leesburg, VA many years ago. We became very close even though there was a language difference…our hearts spoke to each other as sisters in Christ. She had three young boys who were so sweet. Her name was Slava Mulyar and she was a wonderful cook. I lost touch with her when she and her family moved to Washington state. I never forgot her lovely Christian heart, nor her delicious food. I will be checking out your site for yummy recipes, and remembering a long lost friend in the process. God bless you and your lovely family. Roxanne

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      May 1, 2015

      That’s awesome! I know A Slava Mulyar. She goes to my church and she has three grown boys now. Two are married (one has 2 kids and the other has 1 kiddo). I’m pretty certain we’re talking about the same person. And she’s a fantastic cook! God bless you Roxanne!

      Reply

      • Roxanne
        May 1, 2015

        That is amazing. What a small world. If you would pass on my warmest regards to Slava, it would be appreciated. Have a blessed day!

        Reply

        • Natasha
          natashaskitchen
          May 3, 2015

          I sure will next time I see her 🙂

          Reply

  • Brenda
    April 28, 2015

    This was my first time looking at your website. I wanted to make pretzal jello and I ask my Aunt and she sent me over here. I’m Russian so Im happy that I can make resipies from her . Thank yo .

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      April 28, 2015

      You’re so welcome! I hope you love everything you try! 🙂

      Reply

  • Natalia
    April 20, 2015

    Спасибо,очень вкусно птичье молоко,медовик торт…,

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      April 20, 2015

      Спасибо Наталия 🙂

      Reply

      • Deepika
        April 23, 2015

        Hey nice work.I also cook and want to cook new things everyday.I loved ypur website…i wan to share my website too,that might be useful for you. http://preply.com/en/ukrainian-by-skype

        Reply

  • Cindy
    April 18, 2015

    I am so grateful to have found your recipe for classic borscht. My husband was down for two weeks with the flu. I tried feeding him healthful recovery foods, but until I listened to his craving for borscht (which he had eaten as a child), his improvement was slow. The borscht really seemed to give him strength and helped him get back on his feet, and it was so delicious. Thank you for the wonderful recipe! Just the right balance of tart/sour and sweet. Fantastic! I am sharing with all the family. Yours is now our go-to ‘get better soup’!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      April 19, 2015

      I’m so happy to hear that the borscht helped with your husband’s recovery! That’s wonderful. Thank you so much for your sweet comment. It is so encouraging 🙂

      Reply

  • viola shubin
    April 17, 2015

    Your website seriously saved my life!! I’m so grateful! For as long as I can remember I hated cooking and I used to always say I will marry a guy that will do the cooking in the family. That sure didn’t happen. haha I learned pretty much everything I know about cooking from your website, and I even enjoy the cooking part, not just the eating 🙂 I also love how you share about Jesus!! God bless you and your family!!!!!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      April 17, 2015

      Your comment just made my evening :). Thank you so much for writing in and sharing your story with me 🙂

      Reply

  • Rev. Fr. Tom Gilles
    April 14, 2015

    A friend of mind who has an abundance of beets asked me if I could find her a recipe for borscht, which she has heard of but never made or eaten. I went on line and am so happy I skrolled down to your blog. Your name and the Russian script caught my attention! It was delightful to share the recipe, text and audio with my friend over the phone.

    Just by coincidence, Earlier today I attended the wake of a dear 94 year old Ukranian Orthodox lady named Nadia in our Cleveland suburb of Parma’s Ukranian Village neighborhood. Stumbling upon your wonderful blog brought my day to a pleasant end.

    (I am a retired Roman Catholic priest.)

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      April 15, 2015

      Welcome to my blog! I’m so happy you found it and I hope you find many new favorite recipes here :). Thank you so much for sharing my borscht recipe with your friend 🙂

      Reply

  • Darie
    April 13, 2015

    Love, love, love your blog! I can’t wait to try your recipes! My son spent part of a Summer in Odessa a couple years back,, he learned a great deal about the Ukraine,,,I would love to cook a traditional Ukranian meal, comparable to meatloaf here in the U.S., what would you recommend?

    Reply

  • La.
    April 11, 2015

    Ooooooooohhhhhhhhh I’m so excited!!! I used to live in Russia and I would LOVE to learn to cook Russian food better!!!! Yay!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      April 11, 2015

      I hope you love every recipe you try! 🙂

      Reply

  • STAN PETTIGREW
    April 3, 2015

    FINALLY AT LAST I HAVE FOUND YOUR COOKING SITE THAT GIVES ME
    EVERYTHING THAT I NEED TO CREATE SOME WONDERFUL MEALS. SO THANK YOU FOR SUCH A VARIETY OF RECIPES,
    THE BEST ADVANTAGE OF YOUR SITE IS THAT EVERYTHING IS AT MY FINGERTIPS AND I DON’T HAVE TO GO SPENDING HOURS SEARCHING ON THE NET.
    AS I’M A SWEET TOOTH YOUR RECIPES FOR DESSERTS AND CAKES ARE A DELIGHT.
    YOURS SINCERELY
    STAN PETTIGREW

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      April 3, 2015

      Hi Stan! I’m so happy you found my blog and welcome!! 🙂 Thank you for your nice comment 🙂

      Reply

  • Ruslan
    April 2, 2015

    Просматривая наминантов Saveur, было очень неожиданно и очень приятно натыкнуться на кулинарный блог украинцев (пусть и жевущих в Сша)! отличный блог, красивые фото! просто супер! вы молодцы!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      April 2, 2015

      Большое спасибо за комплименты Руслан :). Мне также очень нравиться стиль вашего блога, очень чистый дизайн и отличные фотографии. Приятно познакомиться.

      Reply

  • Donna Sahlin
    March 30, 2015

    Loved reading about you. I have been involved in a organization called Love Lift for Ukraine for over 20 years. Love Ukrainian food. In April. I’m having a bridal shower for a Ukrainian woman, and want to serve Ukrainian food. What would you suggest? It will be all women, and a lunch.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      March 30, 2015

      That’s wonderful!! Are you thinking about having a full menu like a dinner (meat, potatoes, salad, etc) or finger foods? There are so many options – maybe you could help to narrow down how elaborate of a menu you are planning?

      Reply

  • Jessica
    March 30, 2015

    Molodtsi! I am an American married to a Ukrainian – just stumbled on this site when I was trying to figure out how long to cook my sharlotka. Its great!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      March 30, 2015

      I’m so glad you are enjoying the blog and welcome! 🙂

      Reply

  • Natasha
    March 27, 2015

    Hi Natasha,
    I love your website I’ve pinned and made several of your recipes and look forward to make even more. I ran across your website because I was interested in Russian/Ukrainian cooking. I’m Serbian and find that some of the recipes are quite similar, especially the biksvit(sponge cake) for the many cakes.
    Your family is adorable, I wish you all the best.

    Natasha <3

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      March 27, 2015

      Welcome to the site Natasha :). I hope that you’ll find many new favorites and thank you for your sweet comment.

      Reply

  • ANn Gertz
    March 26, 2015

    I’m looking at your Ceasar Sald Dressing recipe, but there are no anchovies in the recipe. Is that a typo? I thought Ceasar Dressing is all about the anchovies. If it is a mistake, would you let me know how much to add & where In the recipe? It looks wonderful & I hoped to make it today, but want to add the anchovies. Thank you !

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      March 26, 2015

      Hi Ann, I did not add anchovies to this recipe because of personal preference but you can add them in if you like :). You can add 2-4 whole anchovy filets in step 1, but keep in mind you might want to cut back on the salt somewhat to accommodate the anchovies and not end up with an overly salty dressing.

      Reply

  • trudie
    March 23, 2015

    <3 loving your stuff and your awesome attitude. i'm digging it thankyou.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      March 23, 2015

      Thanks so much Trudie 🙂

      Reply

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