10 Copycat Recipes That Taste Better Than the Originals

As a former pastry chef and self-professed food nerd, I love to tinker in the kitchen. Sometimes that means freestyling with nontraditional fillings for my mom’s mochi recipe. Other times, it means obsessively reverse-engineering a favorite dish to come up with a better version. Serious Eats editors and recipe developers know that impulse well—they’ve built a reputation for spot-on copycat recipes that recreate favorite comfort foods, from fast-food burgers, halal cart chicken and rice, pan pizza, and General Tso’s chicken to Oreo cookies and McDonald’s original fried apple pie. Some of these dupes are so good, one could argue they’re even better than the originals. The only way to find out is to try them yourself.

01 of 10

Many would argue that Kenji’s dupe of the Shake Shack burger is the very best at-home rendition of the iconic fast-food favorite. He absolutely nails the technique for creating ultra-thin burger patties with the requisite lacy, crispy edges and the chain’s signature burger flavor, an ideal ratio of ground sirloin, chuck, and brisket. Kenji also replicates the creamy, sour, spicy, and sweet burger sauce with a concoction of mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, garlic powder, cayenne, and dill pickle.

Get Recipe: Shake Shack Burger (The Fake Shack)

02 of 10

What makes this homemade version of In-N-Out’s double-double animal-style burger stand out is how accurately it replicates the textures and sweet, salty, tangy flavor profile of the original. It has the mustard-grilled thin burger patties, caramelized onions (arguably an upgrade), and the special sauce: the ideal ratio of mayonnaise, ketchup, and pickle relish. Of course, no double-double is complete without two slices of melty American cheese, crisp iceberg lettuce, beefsteak tomato slices, and four dill pickle slices (yes, we counted), all tucked into a soft, well-toasted potato bun.

Get Recipe: In-N-Out’s Double-Double Animal Style Burger

03 of 10

Anyone familiar with New York City has likely caught the scent of halal cart chicken and rice drifting through the streets. This spot-on rendition of the street-food classic starts with chicken thighs marinated in lemon juice, oregano, and coriander before they’re browned, chopped into chunks, and served over brightly hued rice scented with toasted turmeric and cumin. Iceberg lettuce, tomato wedges, and a generous drizzle of sweet-tangy yogurt white sauce complete the plate.

Get Recipe: Serious Eats’ Halal Cart-Style Chicken and Rice With White Sauce

04 of 10

Pizza Hut may have helped popularize pan pizza in the fast-food world, but our foolproof version takes it even further. A no-knead dough and a cast-iron skillet deliver a shatteringly crisp, fried crust with a soft, puffy interior and an impressive cheese pull. All you need is a cast-iron skillet to pull it off at home.

Get Recipe: Foolproof Pan Pizza

05 of 10

Step into almost any Chinese-American restaurant, and you’re likely to find General Tso’s chicken on the menu, some versions better than others. Our take hits all the right notes, with chunks of double-fried chicken glazed in a balanced sweet-savory sauce with tang and a spicy chile kick. Dribbling some of the marinade into the dry coating creates craggly bits that help the fried chicken stay remarkably crunchy even after it’s coated in sauce.

Get Recipe: The Best General Tso’s Chicken

06 of 10

While there’s no shortage of copycat Oreo recipes online, Stella Parks’ version remains the gold standard for a homemade Oreo that arguably surpasses the original. Dutch-process cocoa provides the cookies’ deep chocolate flavor and inky color, while golden syrup adds a subtle caramel note and keeps them crisp yet tender. Cooking off excess water in the butter creates a super smooth vanilla filling that stays firm at room temperature.

Get Recipe: Homemade Oreo Cookies

07 of 10

Those old enough to remember when McDonald’s apple pies were fried instead of baked tend to feel strongly about their signature shatteringly crisp crust. Baked crust is good, but once you’ve had the fried version, there’s really no going back. We reverse-engineered the original McDonald’s apple pie and nailed the three components that matter most: the dough, the filling, and the fry. Thin five-inch dough squares, apple juice thickened with cornstarch, and frying at 350°F recreate everything fans miss about the original.

Get Recipe: Copycat McDonald’s Hand Pies

08 of 10

Leave it to BraveTart herself (aka Stella Parks) to crack the code on the ever-popular Biscoff cookie. A combination of toasted sugar, Ceylon cinnamon, roasted soybean flour (kinako), and freshly grated nutmeg, along with trace amounts of clove, cardamom, and anise, recreates the cookie’s signature toasty sweetness and subtly floral aroma.

Get Recipe: Homemade Biscoff (Belgian Speculoos Cookies)

09 of 10

If you prefer Levain Bakery–style chocolate chip cookies that are thick, chunky, and fully loaded, this homemade version delivers. The cookies are rich and buttery, packed with chocolate chips and nuts, and baked up with the bakery’s signature heft. A lower ratio of sugar helps keep the dough from spreading too much in the oven, while an overnight rest gives the flour time to hydrate, helping the cookies stay especially thick. And of course, loading the dough with plenty of nuts and multiple types of chocolate doesn’t hurt either.

Get Recipe: Levain Bakery-Style Super-Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies

10 of 10

The problem with most Starbucks egg bite copycat recipes is that they never quite nail the creamy, custardy texture of the original, largely because they’re baked in muffin tins. This kale, mushroom, and Swiss cheese version gets much closer by using small mason jars and a sous vide immersion circulator, which gently cooks the egg bites into the silky, custard-like texture that made the café favorite so popular in the first place.

Get Recipe: Sous-Vide Kale and Mushroom Egg Bites

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