Hack That Dish: Fantastic Famous Food Forgeries and Secret Tricks You Can Use to Copy Any Dish

by Todd Wilbur

Genres: Cookbooks

256 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication April 28, 2026

Reviews

[Bookaholic__Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Copy cat recipes are some of my absolute favorites! I hate going to a restaurant and loving something and not being able to recreate it, such a bummer! There are some great copy cats in here but the ones I am most excited to try are for Maggianos Little Italy, I love that restaurant but as a mom of 3 it's just not a place I have the time or patience to frequent often.... if you know, you know!!

Some other contenders that I can't wait to try are Applebee's Chicken Wonton Tacos, Zesty apple dressing Chickfila, Chipotle Tomatillo salsa and a few more!

I can't vouch for if these taste just as good yet, but they definitely look promising.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Netgalley ARC- Wilbur's stuff is typically good and this wasn't an exception. I had a couple issues, one there wasn't a lot about how he hacks the actual recipes. I think it would be interesting to read about his process for each recipe (plus there's plenty or white space on the page). Second, there wasn't nearly enough photos and I think for hacking purposes and for those who aren't familiar with the restaurant might want to see the finished dish. Overall there were some gems Applebees, Olive Garden) in there that I'll try for sure.

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has read Wilbur‘s and other copycat cookbooks for years, there are five good reasons to read them ––

1. To save money from buying them in restaurants.
2. To get favorite dishes that you can’t otherwise get, such as when you move away or the restaurant discontinues the item.
3. To make healthier versions of beloved dishes.
4. To make versions of beloved dishes that meet your dietary needs like a vegetarian or gluten free version.
5. Just for fun/bragging rights.

This, like all of his books, is great for those who want them for reasons 1, 2 and 5. Sadly, it falls short for those of us who want the recipes for health and dietary reasons. While he does give some recipes that use real foods instead of imitation ones, most of the recipes call for MSG and many of them call for buying ultraprocessed foods like pudding mix, energy drinks, artificial flavors and cake mix. It is ironic that he tells us how to make egg roll wrappers from scratch one minute and then calls for buying boxed and bottled products the next.

I was also hoping he would go into more of the promised tricks for hacking recipes yourself, and how to adapt recipes for special dietary needs. I do this myself all the time, but it would be great if I didn’t have to completely hack his hacks to feed my family.

Lastly, there are not nearly enough photos and there isn’t any nutritional information. If I didn’t love copycat recipes so much, I would have knocked off another star for those drawbacks.

This isn’t my favorite in the series, but there are some new recipes. Keep in mind that they are typically a lot of work, but if you enjoy this kind of hack it’s a good addition.

Read via netgalley.

[Karalee Shotola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hack That Dish includes 101 copycat recipes from a variety of restaurants and brands. The cookbook begins with a brief introduction and tips on how to hack your own recipes. Each recipe includes an introduction to the dish, an ingredient list, numbered directions, prep time, and difficulty level. The recipes also include a top secret hack, which I thought was great. However, only a third of the recipes have photos. I do think the lack of photos is a misstep because not everyone will be familiar with the dish from the restaurant or brand. Furthermore, photos let people see what the finished hacked version looks like and if they are on the right track when making the recipe. That said, I did find some recipes I would like to try, including the Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Crumbl, Five Cheese Ziti al Forno from Olive Garden, Creamy Italian Dressing from Pizza Hut, Raspberry Cheesecake Cookies from Subway, and the Meximelts from Taco Bell. Overall, I do think Hack That Dish is a good cookbook if you are looking for copycat recipes or inspiration on what to make, but the lack of photos does bring the cookbook down.

Thank you NetGalley for sending this book for review.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all Todd Wilbur's books it has tons of copycats of famous recipes. And you won't just find restaurant food here -- he includes recipes for copying Butterfinger bars, Bubble Pops, Fruit Roll-ups and more. One of the awesome aspects of his recipes is that he leaves out all the weird chemicals that show up in all processed (and most restaurant) food. When you're making the food for yourself you just don't need all those preservatives and shelf stabilizers, and your diet will be way healthier without them!

I knocked off a star because Wilbur didn't go into as much detail as I hoped on his overall hacking strategies. Based on the cover description I was expecting a substantial amount of info on how to hack recipes myself, but what I got was three pages describing his typical hacking process and a few clues sprinkled through the recipe pages.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my advance copy of this book.

[Penmouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hack That Dish by Todd Wilbur gives cooks the opportunity to whip up restaurant quality recipes thanks to Wilbur's faithful hacking of popular recipes. The reason why I love Wilbur's recipes is they give me the opportunity to eat well at home while saving money. I also live in the middle of a desert and there's few restaurants like the Cheesecake Factory, Applebee's, California Pizza Kitchen, Chick-fil-A, IHOP or Cracker Barrel. If we want to eat recipes like that, I'm the one using Wilbur's recipes to create those meals. I was not disappointed with Hack That Dish as the author included recipes from a lot of the places we'd like to eat at or would like to try. I plan to give his recipes a try as it's fun as we like eating out while eating in.

Review written after receiving an ARC from NetGalley and Adams Media

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hack That Dish is another fun cookbook by the copycat king, Todd Wilbur. He gives us his make at home versions of dishes from favorite restaurants plus some grocery store items that many people buy. You can find recipes for pizza, taco seasoning mix, lollipops, pasta, cake, hamburgers and more. Really, this is a great basic cookbook with breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack recipes. The recipes are easy to follow with basic instructions. The ingredients are mostly things found in common pantries. There are gorgeous full-color photographs of many of the dishes. I would recommend this cookbook for anyone who likes to cook and loves to eat.

I received a free advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Todd Wilbur’s name is synonymous with copycat recipes, so I knew this cookbook would be pretty good, and I was not disappointed. Wilbur has everything from the Cheesecake Factory’s Chicken Piccata and Panda Express’ Chow Mein to Starbuck’s Pink Drink and Cracker Barrel’s Country Fried Steak to Brach’s Candy Corn and Charms’ Blow Pop. Whew!

I also love how Wilbur tells cooks how to make dishes that are either being phased out (like Pizza Hut’s Creamy Italian Dressing) or already gone (Manwich’s Original Sloppy Joe recipe). A must-read!

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Adams Media in exchange for an honest review.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25*

A great resource for making copies of popular restaurant dishes at home. Not only does it feature a bevy of restaurant recipes, it also helps you experiment at home trying to recreate dishes. The recipes are well planned out with simple steps. Each recipe is given a difficulty rating as well as time required. I find these components helpful when planning. The pictures of the at home dishes are appetizing.

Thank you @netgalley and @adams_media for giving me access to a eARC. I really enjoyed it.

[Thebestdogmom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a nice book. So many fun recipes to try. I know I’ll be making a few of my restaurant favorites at home!