Rachael Ray Brings Back '30 Minute Meals' and Breaks Guinness Records

Southampton resident Rachael Ray is bringing back a food lover’s favorite: 30 Minute Meals. On January 25, Ray announced in an Instagram video that her classic show will be returning to the Food Network for a run of 30 new episodes.

In the video, Ray explains that she’s already written 15 episodes with new recipes that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less—perfect for the busy modern worker. The show will follow the same format as it did from 2001–2012. Ray will give real-time, step by step cooking instructions, from ingredient prep to getting a meal on the table, with easy-to-follow, time-saving tips.

30 Minute Meals was Ray’s first show on the Food Network, and while her skills as a chef have since evolved, she’s glad to bring this accessible show back to fans. Food Network president Courtney White says, “Her time-saving and creative ideas for whipping up delicious meals at home are perfect for the home cook of any level, while her infectious energy and enthusiasm make viewers feel like they are right there cooking along with her in the kitchen. We can’t wait to deliver more time with Rachael for her fans.”

The only one more thrilled about the comeback than her fans may be Ray herself. “I couldn’t be more excited to bring 30 Minute Meals to a whole new generation of fans,” she says. In adapting the show to modern “binge-culture,” the network will provide the episodes on demand via Facebook as well as on television. Across Food Network’s digital and social extensions, viewers will also be able to access a robust, 360 degree content offering enabling multiple, convenient touch points for fans to connect, and enjoy new recipes.

30 Minute Meals premieres on the Food Network on Monday, April 1.

In the meantime,The Rachael Ray Show will continue to break records, literally. On February 4, the show was visited by Guinness World Records Adjudicator Casey DeSantis to judge as Ray’s friends attempted to break some world records.

Her staffer Joey Kola used the audience outside the studio to break the “most fist-bumps in under a minute record with a final total of 123. Ray presented TV legend and fellow Hamptonite Regis Philbin with a certificate for “most hours on US television,” and she was visited by zoologist Jarod Miller to show off some record-breaking animals such as a sloth, a giant tortoise and a capybara. On the show, Buddy “Cake Boss” Valastro also broke the individual record for “most cupcakes iced/frosted in one minute.”