r/52weeksofcooking • • Dec 08 '25

2026 Weekly Challenge List

106 Upvotes

/r/52weeksofcooking is a way for each participant to challenge themselves to cook something different each week. The technicalities of each week's theme are largely unimportant, and are always open to interpretation. Basically, if you can make an argument for your dish being relevant to the theme, then it's fine.

Join our Discord to get pinged whenever a new week is announced! (React to the stickied comment in the #planning channel!)


r/52weeksofcooking • • 2d ago

Week 42 Introduction Thread: Taro

9 Upvotes

This week’s cooking theme is taro, a starchy, earthy, and versatile tropical root that is one of the world's oldest cultivated crops.

Taro was an important food in South and Southeast Asia before spreading throughout the Pacific, where it became, and remains, a staple. It also traveled westward into Africa and later the Caribbean and Latin America, becoming an essential source of carbs and calories in many communities.

Taro goes by many names around the world: in Japan, it’s known as satoimo (and is a quintessential taste of autumn, associated with the moon); in Indian cooking, you may encounter arbi or arvi; in the Caribbean, dasheen and/or eddoe; in Portuguese-speaking countries, inhame can refer to taro or other tubers; and in parts of Africa and the Caribbean, cocoyam is used for taro and related aroids. If you're having trouble sourcing "taro", looking for it under its other names may yield results (especially if you look for it in Asian, South Asian, African, Caribbean, or Pacific Islander grocery stores, or online. It may be sold fresh, frozen, peeled, cut into chunks, or powdered.)

As an ingredient, taro is notable for its creamy texture when cooked, its ability to absorb surrounding flavors, and its usefulness in everything from savory stews to sweet desserts.

For example:

Taro boast an enviable nutrition profile, with water-soluble fiber (that's what makes it slimy) and more potassium than regular potatoes. Consider taking a potato-dish and swapping in taro as an experiment, like these taro fries or taro mashed potatoes.

If acquiring taro is a stretch, you can go the other direction and take a classic taro recipe from any culture and incorporate a replacement. For example, poi'uala (poi with sweet potatoes), calalloo with spinach leaves in place of dasheen, or cocoyam-less fufu with potato flakes and tapioca starch.

From fresh satoimo to frozen taro and creative substitutes, this week let's explore an ingredient whose culinary history spans continents, cultures, and thousands of years.


r/52weeksofcooking • • 5h ago

Week 42: Taro - Taro Chips

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22 Upvotes

My previous experiences with taro have been underwhelming. The only way I have really liked them is in chip form so I figured I would try making them at home. I found young taro which had a lighter flavor and cooked up well. They were good but not something I am going to make an effort to do again.

https://salimaskitchen.com/taro-chips/


r/52weeksofcooking • • 5h ago

Week 42: Taro - Taro Icecream with Toasted Coconut

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19 Upvotes

r/52weeksofcooking • • 2h ago

Week 41: Velveting- Maple Chicken With Brussels Sprouts

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8 Upvotes

r/52weeksofcooking • • 8h ago

Week 40: Cottagecore - Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

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23 Upvotes

I used the last of rosemary from my garden and served it with shakshuka for a cozy meal!


r/52weeksofcooking • • 5h ago

Week 42: Taro - Seafood in Sauce Souskaye

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11 Upvotes

r/52weeksofcooking • • 1h ago

Week 40: Cottagecore - Manicotti

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• Upvotes

It's pasta, with a core of cottage cheese! Get it? But to actually fit the theme, I made the cottage cheese from scratch.


r/52weeksofcooking • • 5h ago

Week 42: Taro - Tomato And Ricotta Orrechiette

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6 Upvotes

r/52weeksofcooking • • 3h ago

Week 42: Taro - Ancient Roman Taro

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5 Upvotes

I bought way more taro than I needed for my tacos, so I decided to try this out, too. I used this recipe, except I used Worcestershire instead of fish sauce. I also boiled the taro and then baked them instead of using a pressure cooker.

The sauce itself was really good and I’d make it again, but it didn’t pair well with the taro for some reason.

Here’s more pics.


r/52weeksofcooking • • 5h ago

Week 42: Taro- Taro and Corn Soup (Meta: Soups and Gloops)

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7 Upvotes

This was like a lovely creamy corn chowder with fresh herbs from my garden.


r/52weeksofcooking • • 18h ago

Week 41: Velveting- Pink velvet tres leches (Meta: Latin American 🇳🇮) NSFW

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64 Upvotes

So… my wife got her uterus removed last week. Said uterus had been causing her problems for more than two years and we have taken to calling it a “b*tch.” Hence the celebration cake 🤣🤣🤣


r/52weeksofcooking • • 3h ago

Week 42: Taro - Taro Tacos

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4 Upvotes

I used this recipe for these tacos, but made a few changes. I used pre-ground spices instead of whole, serranos instead of jalapeños, a shallot instead of one of the onions, and cumin instead of thyme for the yogurt sauce.

They were really good, I’d make them again (but maybe with potato since they’re easier to peel than taro).

Here’s more pictures.


r/52weeksofcooking • • 4h ago

Week 42: Taro - Taro fritters

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5 Upvotes

Based on https://www.rhiansrecipes.com/crispy-taro-fritters-vegan-gf/#recipe but the soy sauce made mine quite dark.


r/52weeksofcooking • • 4h ago

Week 42: Taro - TARO Dip (Tofu, Aubergine, Ras El Hanout, Onion)

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5 Upvotes

r/52weeksofcooking • • 17m ago

Week 41/52: Velveting - Sweet and Sour Chicken

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• Upvotes

Week 41/52: Velveting - Sweet and Sour Chicken

This year we’re doing the 52 weeks of cooking challenge and this weeks theme was Velveting and we made Sweet and Sour Chicken

I honestly wanted to do something with Velveeta but if I can share a secret with you all:

I’m a gross little troll and eat the shells and cheese all the time and this week I actually burnt myself out on them by eating like 3 boxes so unforttunnnatteellllyyy

I had to make something not with processed cheese product.

Velveting is a fantastic technique for tenderizing meat if you’ve ever wondered why Chinese food is so tender.

This chicken actually turned out TOO tender because I edited out the video but it was so soft I had to check to make sure it was even cooked all the way but it was awesome.

The sauce was perfect quintessential sweet and sour but I wish I had bigger chunks of pineapple and more peppers.

All in all it took about 30 mins and was maybe like $20 so you can’t really ask for more than that on a busy night in the big 26.

If you’ve never velveted anything I would definitely encourage it! All you need is 30 minutes in the fridge and a tsp of baking soda to make a really tender, easy and delicious stir fry with your meat and whatever stuff you want.

Thank you to my fans and thank you to the Chinese.


r/52weeksofcooking • • 10h ago

Week 42: Taro - Callaloo

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12 Upvotes

r/52weeksofcooking • • 14h ago

Week 41: Velveting - Broccoli Chicken Stir Fry

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12 Upvotes

r/52weeksofcooking • • 21h ago

Week 42: Taro- Taro Chips Cookies [Meta: Cookies]

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36 Upvotes

r/52weeksofcooking • • 19h ago

Week 41: Velveting - Velveted Pepper Steak

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16 Upvotes

r/52weeksofcooking • • 19h ago

Week 42: Taro - "All Living Things Eat, so..." : A Taro Gomi-Inspired Feast

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16 Upvotes

r/52weeksofcooking • • 1d ago

Week 40: cottagecore - tomato soup from the garden and grilled cheese

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43 Upvotes

r/52weeksofcooking • • 20h ago

Week 42: Taro - Chips

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16 Upvotes

Made my chips in the air fryer. Came out good. Wish more restaurants made them so I didn't have to. I liked the taste


r/52weeksofcooking • • 1d ago

Week 39: pears - pear and Gorgonzola salad with salty-sweet nori nuts

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29 Upvotes

r/52weeksofcooking • • 1d ago

Week 42: Taro - Tower.. er... leaning tower... er... pile of Taro Fudge

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67 Upvotes