Cooking doesn’t need to be complicated. A few clever shortcuts can save time, reduce mess and make preparing everyday meals much easier.
These 20 easy cooking and food prep hacks cover simple ways to speed up preparation, make ingredients easier to work with and take some of the hassle out of time spent in the kitchen.
Easy Cooking & Food Prep Hacks
- Read the recipe before you start. Take a minute to read the entire recipe before cooking. You’ll know what needs chopping, preheating or preparing ahead of time and avoid surprises halfway through.
- Use a damp cloth under your chopping board. Place a damp tea towel or cloth underneath your chopping board to help stop it sliding around while you work.
- Prep ingredients before you start cooking. Chop vegetables, measure ingredients and open packets before turning on the heat. It makes cooking faster and much less stressful.
- Use a bowl for scraps while you cook. Keep a small bowl beside your chopping board for peelings, packaging and food scraps. It saves repeated trips to the bin and keeps your workspace tidy.
- Chop extra vegetables while the chopping board is out. If you’ll need the same vegetables for another meal soon, prepare a little extra and store them in the fridge for later.
- Freeze leftover herbs before they go to waste. Chop fresh herbs and freeze them in small portions. Depending on how you plan to use them, you can freeze them with a little water or oil in an ice cube tray.
- Roll citrus fruit before juicing it. Firmly roll lemons, limes or oranges against the bench with your palm before cutting them. This helps break down the segments inside and can make them easier to juice.
- Use kitchen scissors for quick food prep. Clean kitchen scissors can make quick work of cutting herbs, spring onions, leafy greens and some other ingredients without needing a chopping board.
- Peel ginger with a spoon. Use the edge of a teaspoon to scrape the thin skin from fresh ginger. It works particularly well around the awkward bumps and curves.
- Grate cold butter when you need it to soften quickly. If a recipe calls for softened butter and you forgot to take it out of the fridge, grate it. The smaller pieces will soften much faster than a whole block.
Clever Cooking Shortcuts
- Use an ice-cream scoop for evenly sized portions. A scoop is useful for portioning biscuit dough, muffin mixture, meatballs and other foods where consistent sizing helps them cook evenly.
- Crack eggs on a flat surface. Tapping an egg against the bench rather than the edge of a bowl can help produce a cleaner break and reduce the chance of shell fragments ending up in your food.
- Use eggshell to retrieve stray eggshell. If a piece of shell falls into your bowl, use a larger piece of eggshell to scoop it out. The broken shell is often easier to catch this way than with your fingers.
- Keep a mug nearby for greasy cooking utensils. Rest spoons, spatulas and other utensils in a mug while cooking to keep drips and sauces off the bench.
- Use a large bowl when mixing. Choose a bowl slightly larger than you think you need. Extra room makes stirring and tossing easier and helps prevent ingredients ending up all over the bench.
- Keep frequently used seasonings together. Store the herbs, spices, oils and seasonings you reach for most often in one convenient spot near your food-preparation area.
- Taste as you cook. When it’s safe to do so, taste food throughout the cooking process rather than waiting until it reaches the table. It gives you a chance to adjust seasoning along the way.
- Cook once and make extra. When preparing meals that freeze or reheat well, make a larger batch. The extra portions can become an easy lunch or dinner on a busy day.
- Label food before putting it in the freezer. Write the name and date on containers or freezer bags before filling them. It’s much easier than trying to identify a frozen mystery meal weeks later.
- Clean while food cooks. Use small pockets of waiting time to wash a chopping board, put ingredients away or wipe the bench. By the time dinner is ready, much of the clean-up may already be finished.
Small Tricks Can Make Cooking Easier
You don’t need a kitchen full of gadgets or complicated techniques to make cooking easier. Small habits that save a minute here, prevent a mess there or make ingredients easier to prepare can quickly add up.
Try a few of these cooking and food prep hacks the next time you’re in the kitchen and keep the ones that genuinely make your routine easier.
Looking for more simple ideas? Explore more Life Hacks from The Thought Hive.
