Countdown: Tony Jackman's Personal Top 5 Recipes of 2025

Get ready for a culinary journey around the globe as we count down Tony Jackman's top 5 recipes of 2025. From Italy to Brazil, France, and Durban, these dishes will take you on a delicious adventure. But here's where it gets controversial... Are you ready to explore the best recipes of the year, or do you have a different take on what makes a dish truly exceptional? Let's dive in!

5: Italian Wedding Soup - A Delicious Happily-Ever-After

This soup is a delightful blend of vegetables, meatballs, and pasta, with a sofrito base that creates a unique marriage of flavors. Despite its name, it has nothing to do with weddings, but rather a saucy ménage à trois. It's a perfect comfort food for a chilly day, and a great way to warm up your taste buds.

4: Picadillo and Brazilian Rice - My Favorite Find of the Year

This dish is a savory mince recipe with a Latin American twist. It's a ground beef dish with plenty of spices, often with green olives and raisins. And the Brazilian rice that goes with it is simply sublime. It's a perfect blend of flavors and a great way to add some variety to your meat dishes.

3: Florentine Chicken - A French-Italian Hybrid

This classic dish is a chicken breast fillet cooked with spinach in a cream sauce, finished with Parmesan. The term Florentine refers to a dish made with spinach, and this recipe is a perfect example of a French-Italian fusion. It's a great way to add some elegance to your dinner table.

2: Seven-Hour Lamb Shank and Date Tagine

This luxurious dish is a slow-cooked lamb shank in a date tagine. It's a perfect blend of flavors and a great way to impress your guests. But be warned, this dish is not for the faint of heart, as it requires a bit of patience and care to prepare.

1: Curry-Butter Roast Chicken - A Melding of Two Favorites

This recipe is a perfect roast chicken with all the flavor of a good curry. It starts with mixing your own masala from equal quantities of a range of spices, then mixed into softened butter. Once the bird is cleaned and dried, this compound butter is smeared all over the skin, as well as underneath the breast skin. It's a fine way to treat your friends and family this festive season, and a great way to add some variety to your roast chicken routine.

So, there you have it! Tony Jackman's top 5 recipes of 2025. But what do you think? Do you agree with his picks, or do you have a different take on what makes a dish truly exceptional? Let us know in the comments below!