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Texas salesman’s ‘World’s Best Lasagna’ has been Internet’s top recipe for a decade

In 2001, a Texas salesman posted a variation of his mother's lasagna recipe on AllRecipes.com.

John Chandler's "World's Best Lasagna," a three-plus hour, 21-ingredient dish, has been the top recipe on the site ever since. It boasts more than 12 million views over the past five years alone — and has collected more than 10,000 reviews, 7,500 of them being five stars.

The recipe has been liked on Facebook more than 11,000 times, and pinned to Pinterest more than 26,000 times.

AllRecipes receives more than 1 billion visits a year from home cooks around the world.

Also see: Fabio's ultimate veggie lasagna

"Given the wild popularity of AllRecipes.com, it's entirely possible that Chandler's lasagna is the most popular recipe on the English-speaking Internet," writes the Washington Post's Caitlin Dewey.

Chandler, 43, a father of two, has only posted one other recipe on the site and was startled to learn of his recipe's massive popularity.

"Most of them didn't know I had this recipe," he tells the Washington Post of the recipe he posted in 2001 at the suggestion of his then-girlfriend, an avid user of the site. "It's not something I go around beating my chest about. But it makes an interesting icebreaker, you know?"

Almost immediately after submitted the recipe to AllRecipes, Chandler's lasagna received a string of five-star reviews that catapulted it to the top of the AllRecipes ranking.

Also see: Shortcuts to a delicious lasagna dinner

In the years since he posted the recipe, the Internet has become the go-to spot for new recipes. Most of us turn to search engines and food blogs before we skim through cookbooks.

Last summer, Slate writer L.V. Anderson even dared to write that cookbooks will "go extinct. And that's okay."

"The Internet is far superior to cookbooks for helping readers suss out recipe quality (and, to a lesser extent, so are apps that allow users to rate recipes). Before the Internet, if you wanted to find out how good a recipe was, you had to make it yourself (or take the word of a friend whose palate may or may not be compatible with yours)," Anderson writes. "Now, you can Google the type of recipe you’re looking for, browse several versions (and readers’ comments on them), and choose the one with the highest user rating."

She adds that reader reviews can help home cooks make recipes better than their original versions — or customize them to specific dietary restrictions and preferences.

"For people who are interested primarily in cooking recipes that taste good, the Internet is a better resource than any cookbook ever was," Anderson concludes.

Also see: Healthy pasta makeover: Low-carb lasagna

While Anderson's statement sounds extreme — one cookbook-store owner argues there's room for the Internet and cookbooks to coexist — it does address the value we've placed on good recipes like Chandler's.

Still, Chandler insists he's no Jamie Oliver in the making.

"I'm definitely not a foodie," Chandler tells the Washington Post. "I don't have aspirations to be on 'MasterChef' or anything. But I love to cook."

Note: As of September 13, the recipe is No. 2 on AllRecipes, following Banana Crumb Muffins.

Have you tried Chandler's lasagna recipe? What's your favourite online recipe?