Simple ways to improve your cooking

Look at me giving cooking tips. ;p Spending time in the kitchen is great fun, especially when you are feeling inspired. There are so many different meals you can prepare and cook, and once you are done cooking you can then move into preparing desserts - this is especially useful when hosting guests, which I love doing. For a lot of people, they enjoy making new things and trying different recipes, for example, this African chakalaka recipe in an instant pot. Although it may look complicated, once you start breaking down the recipe, it’s easily done. 

My Instant Pot is my bestie

Are you looking for simple ways to improve your cooking? From making sure you use the correct ingredients to using sharper knives and pulling out the recipe book, below is our guide on simple ways to improve your cooking. 

Ingredients matter 

A rookie error a lot of cooks make when starting out is not realizing the importance of including every ingredient in a recipe. Each ingredient has its own characteristics, which add certain dynamics to a dish. Without it, you are essentially changing the flavor profile of the dish instantly. It’s also worth noting that good quality ingredients matter. If you haven’t got the budget, purchase affordable ones but in some instances, make sure you are buying good quality ingredients like fresh herbs or good quality meat - you can really tell the difference if not. 

Try when cooking 

When making a sauce for your spaghetti bolognese or making a creamy sauce for your carbonara, make sure you are trying the sauces as you are adding the ingredients to them. We’ve seen it happen many times, the chef just adds ingredients to their sauce without knowing how it tastes. By doing this, how do you know you need more salt or herbs? It could be that the sauce is perfect how it is but by you adding the new ingredients you change the flavor profile completely and ruin it. 

Prepare in advance 

Prep is key to a successful meal. If you know you’ve got guests coming round for dinner later, prepare the food now and then cook just before they arrive. By preparing in advance, you take away the stress of having to do it all when they are there - especially when all eyes are on you in the kitchen. You can cut up the vegetables, prepare the herbs, and get the meat ready, this way you just need to cook. Then you can spend more time catching up with your guests and entertaining than cooking. 

The above are three simple ways to improve your cooking. Combine all three methods in order to be more efficient when in the kitchen. Try to not stress and give yourself as much time as possible when cooking meals. 

What tips do you have for improving your cooking? Are there any tips that you think are more useful than the others? Is there something we have missed that you can share that our readers will benefit from? Let us know in the comment box below. We would love to hear from you. :)