Hi, I’m Nyssa! 👋🏼
The founder, passionate home cook, recipe developer, and photographer behind Nyssa’s Kitchen, where I share gluten-free and dairy-free recipes inspired by Midwest classics and fresh PNW flavors.
My mission is simple: to create thoughtful, wholesome, and fresh-ingredient-focused recipes that are gluten-free and dairy-free, and just as enjoyable as the dishes that inspired them.
🌿 Where my love of food began
My passion for cooking began as a little girl, when I started learning from my grandma in her Wisconsin kitchen. She cooked daily for our family, and every holiday and celebration was hosted at my grandparents’ home.
She was tiny-but-mighty – stern and serious to most, yet endlessly kind and silly around her grandkids. From her, I learned that food is love in one of its purest forms – and that there’s real magic in transforming simple ingredients into something wonderful to share with friends and family.
That lesson has always been a core motivation behind why I do what I do.
✔️ Experience
I continued learning how to cook (mostly teaching myself with cookbooks) through middle school and into high school.
And although I never trained in a professional kitchen, I’ve worked in many restaurants and had an abundance of wonderful, informal teachers. Cooking has always been incredibly central to both my personal and professional life.
👉🏼 Since 2015, I’ve shared hundreds of gluten-free and dairy-free recipes inspired by comfort food of all kinds, using whole-food ingredients to recreate familiar flavors and textures, and turning a lifelong dream of doing what I love into a business rooted in creativity, care, and community.
Nyssa’s Kitchen now reaches over 2 million readers annually, and my work has been featured in Elle Magazine, MSN, Tasty, BuzzFeed, and The Feedfeed. In addition to sharing some of my favorite foods in this space, I also operate a professional food photography business.
Every recipe you’ll find here is made with intention, tested thoroughly, and created to be shared – just like the meals I grew up with.
Read more about Nyssa’s Kitchen here.
🌟 A few fun facts about me
When I’m not in the kitchen, you’ll probably find me:
- Reading or listening to audiobooks. Almost always: fiction centered on family, friendship, historical worlds, or a touch of magic ✨
- Going on walks and lifting weights. Movement makes me happy from the inside out.
- Seeing live music. All kinds! But some favorites are bluegrass and funk.
- Traveling. Even though I am quite the happy homebody 😌, I also love exploring new places and genuinely find so much inspiration through travel.
- Spending quality time with family or friends – and spoiling our sweet boy kitty 🐱
If you’re new to Nyssa’s Kitchen, head over to the recipe index to find something comforting to make today, or start by checking out some of my personal favorites below 👇🏼
Cozy soups
- Anti Inflammatory Turmeric Chicken Soup
- Seriously Good Chicken and Broccoli Soup
- Thick and Creamy Tomato and Red Pepper Soup
- Brothy Sausage and Potato Soup with Kale and Cabbage
Dairy-free pasta recipes
- Dairy-Free Beef Stroganoff with Ground Beef
- Fragrant Garlic Scallion Noodles with Ground Chicken
- Burst Cherry Tomato and Shrimp Pasta
- Creamy Dairy-Free Vodka Pasta Sauce – Made with Cashew Cream
Crave-worthy salads
- The Caesar Salad I’m Obsessed With
- A Perfect Spring Salad with Green Goddess Dressing
- Chopped Kale Salad with Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpeas
- Quinoa and Fresh Beet Salad with a Lemony Dressing
Dreamy dips
- Dairy-Free French Onion Dip – Made with Cashews
- Roasted Sweet Potato and Chickpea Hummus
- Cashew Cream Smoked Salmon Dip with Capers and Fresh Dill
- Dairy-Free Queso Fundido with Ground Beef
All recipes on this site are developed and tested by me, and opinions shared are always my own.
Thank you for being here and trusting my kitchen with yours!
