People Are Sharing Small Changes They've Made In The Kitchen That Drastically Improved Their Cooking
"I'm a vegetarian, but adding this to my pasta convinced my husband I was cooking with bacon."
I love to cook, and one of my favorite things about cooking is that you can constantly learn new tricks and tips to elevate your craft. So redditor u/FeatherMom asked, "Any [cooking] changes you've made that blow your mind?" Here's what home cooks said.
1. "I've started using smoked cheeses in my pasta. I’m vegetarian, but my husband isn’t. He flat out asked me if I added bacon when all I used was smoked Gouda."
2. "Acid is so crucial for kicking any meal into high gear. A good slug of vinegar mixed in with the roasted vegetables or potatoes, a squeeze of lemon or lime over stir fry or fajita mix, or deglazing a pan with white wine or balsamic vinegar adds that little punch or zing into most dishes that was previously missing."
3. "Add fish sauce to anything that needs a savory kick. I used to use Worcestershire sauce, but I've switched to fish sauce, which adds good umami without Worcestershire's extra flavor notes (such as clove) that can taste off in certain dishes. The fish sauce is nice and light, while Worcestershire is considerably more pungent. It works in so many dishes like tomato-based pasta sauces, chicken soup, seafood stuffing, sauteed mushrooms, stir-fried rice, meatballs, baked beans, pulled pork, and chili, just to name a few."
4. "I've started adding garlic later in the cooking process rather than as one of the first steps. You can taste the flavor so much more."
5. "I make homemade stock with veggie scraps, but when I'm feeling ambitious, I'll even toss my veggie scraps in a bit of oil, lay them out on a sheet pan, and toast them a bit in the oven before making the stock. It adds huge flavor."
6. "I've started rendering my own fats. I used to toss so much fat when I trimmed my meat. Now when I pick up something like pork shoulder from Costco, I also get a bunch of lard from it. I also have a chicken fat jar and a beef tallow jar, which are liquid gold for cooking."
7. "Recently, I tried making a tomato sauce with actual San Marzano tomatoes instead of just generic Costco diced tomatoes, and the difference kind of blew my mind. The San Marzano sauce was so much better. It tasted like ripe, rich, summery deliciousness."
8. "Preheating the baking tray for roasted veggies. I still forget to do it a lot of the time, but especially when you're roasting a lot of vegetables, it can really help the cooking process. Preheating the tray is the difference between beautiful roasted veggies and half-steamed sadness."
9. "Quick pickling veggies is an amazing way to add an acidic hit to a dish. In its simplest form, I dice up a shallot and toss it with salt, sugar, and vinegar of some sort."
10. "When I make mac 'n' cheese, I boil the pasta in a mix of water and milk (just enough to cover the noodles). The liquid reduces and I use it as the base for the sauce. Also, when adding the shredded cheddar, I remove the pot from the heat, add the cheese, and cover. This allows it to melt slowly without the oils breaking apart. It's simple but incredibly creamy and miles better than what I used to make (and just as quick and easy)."
11. "I always pre-marinate my proteins the moment I get home from the grocery store. I marinate anything from hard-boiled eggs and tofu to tempeh and chicken. These pre-marinated proteins live in my fridge or freezer, ready to cook. Even a simple salt, garlic, and lemon marinade helps any protein taste better."
12. "I've started making garlic confit. It's incredible. Now I have a jar of it handy to use in all kinds of dishes. My favorite is toasted sourdough, goat cheese, garlic confit, and a little salt on top. So incredibly good and easy."
13. "Sous vide or low-temperature cooking. This revolutionized my ability to get all of my grilled proteins just right. Cooking food at a low temperatures helps with meal prep and portioning on a regular basis but it's also a complete game changer when it comes to large-scale cooking. My greatest success. All of my meat comes out perfectly cooked in 45 minutes, even when I'm cooking for a big group."
14. "I've started making my pasta dough in a food processor. I no longer spend 10-15 minutes kneading my dough by hand. The food processor achieves the same (if not better) result in less than a minute."
15. "Tossing raw shrimp with a bit of baking soda and salt before cooking gets the exterior so much crispier."
16. "Finishing oil is so vital. A light drizzle imparts a huge flavor to whatever I'm serving. I now have store-bought oils and I also make my own."
17. "After jumping on the cauliflower rice train, I just started ricing other veggies. My current favorite is riced broccoli, which has become a staple in my home cooking. Riced broccoli is great in quiche, omelets, sautéed with a little butter for a lower-carb rice alternative, and more. IMO it tastes more vegetal and satisfying than bland cauliflower rice."
18. "Refrigerating meatloaf before cooking it. I discovered this by accident. A couple of years ago I covered my prepared meatloaf with plastic wrap and stuck it into the fridge. The next day, I took the loaf out of the fridge, and an hour later, I put it into the oven. I realized that leaving the meatloaf in the fridge overnight was totally game-changing. It allowed all the ingredients to sit and infuse one another, and the end result tasted better than any meatloaf I'd made before."
19. "I now use sour cream in lieu of heavy cream in many dishes. For example, it gives mushroom sauce and gravy a nice tartness that you don't get from cream and thickens nicely as it simmers."
20. "I've started finishing my food with butter. I use less butter while my food is cooking at a high heat. Instead, once food has a moment to cool but is still hot, I add a pat of butter to finish the dish. I knew conceptually that butter cooked at different temperatures tastes different, but doing this in my own cooking has made all the difference."
So, what is a technique you've adopted, a trick you've learned, or a change you've made in the kitchen that has elevated your home cooking? Tell us in the comments or drop your responses into this Google form.
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.