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.

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Comments

  • Stu Borken
    January 30, 2016

    My maternal grandmother and grandfather fled from the Ukraine in 1906 with 6 children. I grew up in the household with my mother, father and both my mother’s parents. My grandmother cooked in a Russian style which I now recognize as Ukrainian. It’s fun to see you recreate the foods of my childhood. I’m 75 and still make the same items I watched my grandmother make. My son has wanted to videotape me making some items so the techniques are not lost.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 30, 2016

      Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. I think it’s wonderful those techniques and recipes are being passed on to the next generation! That’s a big reason for why I started this blog initially. My children will always have my recipes 🙂 I think documenting them on video is a great idea! If you ever start a youtube channel, I want to hear about it! 🙂

      Reply

  • Mel
    January 27, 2016

    Hi Natasha,

    I’m from the UK and happy to say I plan consult your blog for recipe ideas. My husband is Russian and I’m from the Caribbean so finding this your blog will add that much more diversity to our kitchen. It was the avacado salad recipe on my fb timeline that led me here. Thanks to the pic I went dashing to the shops for avacado 🙂 My husband is a healthy eater, plov and all that good stuff. Excited to give abit more Russian / baltic food to my family.

    Mel

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 27, 2016

      Hi Mel and welcome to my blog! I’m so happy you’re here :). I hope you love every recipe you try.

      Reply

  • Mike McClure
    January 23, 2016

    What is the “Italian Seasoning” in your Roast Pork Tenderloin recipe.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 23, 2016

      Hi Mike, you can buy it in the seasonings isle in most grocery stores. It is a combination of a few Italian seasonings. It’s fairly simple and inexpensive to make if you don’t have it on hand. Here is a recipe for it: http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/italian-seasoning-recipe/

      Reply

  • Joanna
    January 23, 2016

    Hi, Natasha! I was so happy to find your blog. My husband and I work with partners in Ukraine, and I have wanted to find good Ukrainian recipes. Blessings from Texas!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 23, 2016

      That’s so great! Welcome to my blog. I’m so happy you’re here! 🙂

      Reply

  • Riva
    January 22, 2016

    This site is amazing! Out of all the places I’ve been, the best cuisine (and best-quality farm produce) by far was in the “breadbasket of Europe.” Okay, so my husband is from Ukraine and so were half my ancestors, but I’m not biased…

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 22, 2016

      Hi Rita! Thank you so much for the compliment :). I hope to return to Ukraine for a visit one day.

      Reply

  • AnnaA.
    January 19, 2016

    Dear Natasha,
    So wonderful to read about you and your family. I was wondering if you have a recipe for lepyoshka — the round loaves of bread that they sell at the bazaar in the Ukraine and Russia? The ingredients would be milk/water, flour, salt, and yeast. I was wondering more about the method and baking.
    Anna

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 19, 2016

      Hi Anna! Are you looking for the baked or fried version?

      Reply

      • AnnaA.
        January 20, 2016

        Thank you for your response! I am looking for the baked version. I believe the method would involve two cast iron skillets preheated in the oven, one put over the other. Have you ever tried it?
        Grace, Anna

        Reply

        • Natasha
          natashaskitchen
          January 20, 2016

          I haven’t tried that but it does sound interesting! I’ll put it on my list to research it more. Thank you for the idea! 🙂

          Reply

  • Yvonne
    January 14, 2016

    Hi Natasha. Looking at the pictures of you, your husband and kids I realize you could be my neighbors. In fact my neighbors Ilya and Larissa Z and their three children are Ukranian! They are young and accomplish so much it takes my breath away. They always share treats with us, especially a rounded cookie with a caramel in the center to hold it together. Delish! I’m sure you and your husband are industrious and good and God blesses you. We also go to their Christian Ukranian church this Easter as usual. We are issued an earpiece to hear the translation of the sermon. Both to English and Spanish! Anyway, when you get tired of Idaho…come to Oregon…Damascus, in fact. God Bless you.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 14, 2016

      Thank you so much for writing in! That is fantastic that their church provides a translation. God bless you also 🙂

      Reply

  • Lara
    January 11, 2016

    Hi Natacha – Do you have recipes for petahe or kapusta? TIA!

    Reply

  • Stephanie
    January 9, 2016

    I love your blog Natasha! So nice to be able to find someone who has the very same interests I do and living in my home state!! Great BBQ chicken recipe, I will be making plenty of things from your blog. Thanks again Natasha!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 10, 2016

      Hi Stephanie and welcome to my blog! I’m so happy you’re here 🙂 I hope you find many new favorite recipes!

      Reply

  • Roxanne (Oksana)
    January 6, 2016

    Strasdi Natasha –

    I too am from your original neck of the woods but have been in the US close to about 40 yrs and am a very clean eater (when necessary as im a bodybuilder) and came across your tomato/avoc/cucumb recipe on pinterest. Thanks for the share.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 6, 2016

      I’m so happy you liked it! 🙂 Thanks Oksana!

      Reply

  • Barbara
    January 5, 2016

    Hi Natasha. I just found your site and I am trying the Chicken and Mushroom Casserole right now.. it’s cooking in the oven and it smells delicious!!! My background is Mennonite and Ukranian cooking is somewhat like that. So I look forward to trying more of your recipes that might be similar to how I grew up. Thanks for your site and keep on cooking and sharing! God Bless. 🙂

    Barb

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 5, 2016

      Hi Barb :). Thank you so much for writing in! I hope you find many new favorite recipes!

      Reply

  • Pooja S
    December 30, 2015

    Liked your Blog…and loved Baklava Recipe 😉

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      December 30, 2015

      Thank you so much for the great feedback! 🙂

      Reply

  • Tatiana
    December 29, 2015

    As an ex-pat from Ukraine, I love my homeland’s food and your recipes for it. However, I also love your Chinese shrimp fried rice recipe – tested and approved by my almost 4-year-old son. Thank you! 🙂

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      December 29, 2015

      Oh I’m so happy to hear that! That’s the best when kids love what we make, eh? Thanks for sharing that with me 🙂

      Reply

  • Clair Karpenko
    December 29, 2015

    I’ve been making your okroshka recipe for about 3-4 years and it tasted just like home. Can’t wait to try more!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      December 29, 2015

      Thank you so much for the awesome review! I hope you find many more new favorite recipes on my blog.

      Reply

  • Katia
    December 26, 2015

    Natasha, I love you!!:-)I’ve used your recipes for quite a few family gatherings and I love how everything is so perfectly laid out for me. Easy peasy! Pictures are such a great help! The food is delicious! My American husband can’t get enough of your pelmeni. In fact, I’m making them for our New Years gathering 🙂 THANK YOU!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      December 26, 2015

      That is so great! Thanks for sharing that with me 🙂

      Reply

  • Dina Katko
    December 20, 2015

    What camera do you use for pictures?

    Reply

  • Ken Knox
    December 20, 2015

    Hi I have recently started to make my own bread and buns. I am however getting frustrated because I can’t seem find any bread recipes that just taste like good old bread like my mother use to make. All the recipes that I have tried so far always have a sweat taste which i am not fond of. Any recipe suggestions?

    Ken

    Reply

  • Larry
    December 18, 2015

    Hi – looking for recipes for haluski and for pierogie dough with yeast. The receptionist at my chiropractor is Russian, and gave me your website. I’m Ukranian on my mother’s side, and she was always cooking the fascinating dishes – poppy seed and nut rolls, potato sauerkraut pierogies, stuffed cabbage leaves, and haluski.

    Now trying to replicate those meals somewhat by memory but also with some internet advice 😉

    Thanks!

    Reply

  • Joan Williamson
    December 16, 2015

    My father came from Ukraine in 1913. So it’s nice to see another Ukrainian so successful! I love your Candied Walnuts recipe. In Oregon, we make a salad with field greens, fresh pear slices, blue cheese crumbles, candied walnuts and raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Wonderful!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      December 16, 2015

      Oh my goodness that sounds so good!! Do you make your own dressing?

      Reply

  • Roma
    December 15, 2015

    I am very happy I found this site! Just a few days ago I made kotlety coated in panko, and the recipes you have here will surely take my cooking to the next level! I have a similar life story, coming to Canada when I was 13. Yet now I temporarily live in Japan so I’ll submit a few recipes I have learned here sometime too. Веселого Різдва і з Новим Роком!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      December 15, 2015

      Japan sounds like quite an adventure! I’m so glad you found the site too and welcome! 🙂

      Reply

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