Eggland's Best Names 'America's Best Recipe' Contest Winner

After reviewing thousands of recipes and two rounds of consumer voting, Eggland's Best (EB) revealed the Grand Prize winner in the 2016 "America's Best Recipe" Contest. Taking home the $10,000 Grand Prize is Valerie Szlatenyi of Wakefield, Rhode Island whose  Johnny Cakes and Lobster Eggs Benedict recipe impressed the judges and public. 

"Creating my Johnny Cakes and Lobster Eggs Benedict recipe for the Eggland's Best 'America's Best Recipe' Contest has been so much fun, and I'm extremely excited to be selected as the Grand Prize Winner," Szlatenyi says. "I'm a huge fan of Eggland's Best, and I always make sure my family's meals are nutritious by only including Eggland's Best eggs."

The Eggland's Best "America's Best Recipe" Contest challenged consumers to create unique dishes that combined great tasting and nutritious EB eggs with their favorite state-inspired ingredients.

Szlatenyi's Johnny Cakes and Lobster Eggs Benedict recipe was inspired by Rhode Island summertime lobster bakes, which typically include corn on the cob, baked lobster, and butter. Her recipe combines four Eggland's Best Large Eggs with fresh lobster served on top of Rhode Island's classic Johnny Cakes, which are crispy on the outside and slightly creamy inside. Grand Prize Winner Szlatenyi uses white stone ground cornmeal, a popular local item made by the state's gristmills to make the authentic version of the Rhode Island Johnny Cake.

"The number of top-quality recipes received in this year's contest made it our most competitive recipe contest yet, so we are extremely pleased to congratulate Valerie Szlatenyi's on earning the title of 'America's Best Recipe'," says Charlie Lanktree, president and CEO of Eggland's Best. "The contest showed how unique local ingredients and culinary traditions combined with the better taste, better nutrition, and better freshness of Eggland's Best eggs can make any recipe better."

As the Grand Prize winner, Szlatenyi will be awarded $10,000 and a year supply of Eggland's Best eggs. The first thing Szlatenyi plans to do with her Grand Prize is take her husband to their favorite Rhode Island restaurant to celebrate with an elegant dinner.

Recipes were judged based on taste, creativity and the inspiration behind the local recipe ingredients. Semi-Finalist "Best in State" winners were first selected, and then narrowed down to the top five "Best in Region" Finalists through consumer voting on the Eggland's Best website.  Eggland's Best then called on fans again to help determine which of the five "Best in Region" recipes would earn the title of "America's Best Recipe" and receive the Grand Prize.