Nikelle Murphy

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Location
Lancaster, PA
School
Syracuse University
Expertise
Cooking Competition Shows, Homemade Soups, Picking Fresh Produce
  • In 2017, Nikelle traveled for work to experience the culture and food scene in Dubai. The week's agenda included having brunch at a traditional Emirati tea house, visiting spice markets, and eating at Nusr-Et Dubai, one of Salt Bae's original steakhouses.
  • The best Thanksgiving meal Nikelle ever cooked was a from-scratch beef Wellington, made with recipes and videos from Gordon Ramsay. Who needs turkey?
  • Nikelle has been saving (some) money on her family's (enormous) Costco bills by cooking and canning her own tomato sauce. This year, she and her husband are planning for 12 tomato plants in their backyard garden.

Experience

Nikelle has worked in journalism for more than 15 years, but her passion for great food started as a child when her produce manager father taught her how to select the ripest, juiciest watermelons each summer. She got her professional start at the Syracuse New Times in college, a weekly paper focused on the city's culture. That led to becoming an education reporter at the York Dispatch — one of two competing daily papers in York, Pennsylvania. In 2015, she started as a writer and associate editor for The Cheat Sheet, an Endgame360 website. She became the site's first senior editor for the Food, Drink & Travel section in 2017. Within the year, she became the managing editor and worked with company leadership to rebrand as an entertainment-focused site in 2018. She held numerous editorial leadership roles, including the editor-in-chief and vice president of product, during which time Endgame360 launched new websites dedicated to other areas of expertise. In 2022, Nikelle moved to freelance editing and writing roles while raising her young children. This includes a focus on the food-centric writing she came to adore during her early days at The Cheat Sheet: She never misses a chance to cover a "Top Chef" alum or research the perfect method for scrambled eggs. She began writing for the Mashed brand in 2024.

Education

Nikelle has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. While at Syracuse, she also double majored in political science.

Mashed Editorial Policies

Mashed’s industry-leading coverage is created by qualified and experienced writers, and is reviewed and fact-checked by our editorial team to ensure everything is accurate and timely. Outside experts are also consulted to help deliver factual, up-to-date information.

Our mission is to inform and engage our readers, telling them things they need to know, things they want to know, and things they didn't know they wanted to know about food. We strive to always provide a well-rounded reading experience, whether that’s the news of the day or a new original recipe you can try making at home. In an effort to provide the most comprehensive, current, and accurate content, our editorial team constantly reviews and updates articles as necessary. Additional information on our editorial process available here.

Stories By Nikelle Murphy