Enter Our Recipe Contest for a Chance to Win a $450 Vita-Mix Blender

By , SparkPeople Blogger
Chain restaurants are convenient, and their large menus are full of tasty temptations that try to veer us off our healthy path. Salt, sugar and fat are their ingredients of choice.

You've learned how to maneuver the calorie jungle and avoid chain restaurants' fat bombs and salt-laden landmines. Now we want you to share your secrets!

Introducing the SparkRecipes Un-Chained Recipe Contest.

Entering the contest is easy.

  • Choose a dish from your favorite chain restaurant and make it over. Then share the recipe with us. (Need inspiration? Check out Tanya's Food on the Run and Diet-Friendly Dining series.)
  • Upload your recipe--and at least one photo of your creation--to SparkRecipes.com. The title must include the name of your recipe and the words "Unchained Recipe Contest."
  • Your recipe must be original--not from a cookbook or website.
  • One recipe per person per category (fast food and casual dining).
  • The recipe must be created specifically for the contest.
  • In the description of the recipe, tell us what dish you're making over, what restaurant it came from, and why you chose that particular dish.
  • Be sure to include all the nutritional info for your dish (recipes that have incomplete or false nutritional info will be disqualified) and give a complete list of ingredients and directions.
  • Each member may submit one recipe in each category: Fast Food and Casual Dining.


Members can make and vote on the recipes, helping SparkPeople will choose 10 semi-finalists. Our tasting panel will make all the semifinalist recipes, and we will choose a winner.



All semifinalists will win a $25 Spark Certificate for merchandise at SparkPeopleStore.com, and the two winners will receive a high-performance Vita-Mix 5200 blender, worth $450.



Click here to see the official rules and terms for the contest.

Don't miss your chance to enter. Below is the timeline for the contest!

Saturday, Oct. 31: deadline to enter recipes

Nov. 2-7: SparkPeople chooses the top 10 recipes.

Nov. 9-13: SparkPeople's taste panel will test the top 10 recipes.

Nov. 2-13: Members will vote on their favorite recipes by rating them at SparkRecipes.com.

Friday, Nov. 20: Winners will be announced on dailySpark and the SparkRecipes homepage!

Are you going to enter the contest? Have questions? Ask them in the comments below. I'll be happy to answer them!