John Kanell: Founder, Author, and Culinary Innovator
Welcome! I’m John Kanell, the founder of Preppy Kitchen, where my background in teaching and my work as a recipe developer come together to help home cooks understand not just what to do, but why it works. My culinary journey began in my mother’s kitchen, where I learned how to cook from scratch — and where I started paying attention to the details that separate a recipe that works from one that doesn’t.
Before founding Preppy Kitchen in 2015, I spent over a decade teaching middle school math and science. That teaching background, combined with a Fine Arts degree from UCLA, shapes how I approach every recipe and video on this site. I think about cooking the same way I taught: the why behind the how is what makes a technique reproducible across kitchens. That principle is the foundation of The Preppy Kitchen Academy, where I document the tested techniques behind the recipes — measurement, oven behavior, ingredient choices, and the small decisions that determine whether a recipe lands the way it should.
I chose the name “Preppy Kitchen” because I believe being prep-ared in the kitchen is what turns a recipe into a reliable result.
Books, Media, and Community
My work at Preppy Kitchen has led to some incredible opportunities to share what I’ve learned. I am a two-time New York Times Bestselling author, with cookbooks including Preppy Kitchen: Recipes for Seasonal Dishes and Simple Pleasures and Preppy Kitchen: Super Easy. My third cookbook Preppy Kitchen: Everyday Baking will launch October 13th, 2026. My recipes and techniques have been featured on Live with Kelly and Mark, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The View, Good Morning America, The Drew Barrymore Show, Watch What Happens Live, The Today Show, and The Kelly Clarkson Show. I’ve also had the privilege of judging Food Network’s Chopped: Sweets and Disney’s Magic Bake-Off. View more details and clips on my Press page and IMDB page.
Preppy Kitchen has grown into a community of over 9 million across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms. I also run a baking-focused Substack called Everyday Baking, where nearly 250,000 readers and I work through recipes, techniques, and the questions that come up along the way.
Beyond the Kitchen
I live on a farm in rural Connecticut with my husband, Brian, and our twin sons, Lachlan and George. The farm shapes how I think about seasonal cooking and family meals. My goal is to give you recipes that work — and to show you the reasoning behind them, so you can adapt and improve as your own cooking grows.
Head over to my Contact page if you have any questions — drop me a line.
