Food Cooking Tips & Techniques 24 Genius Kitchen Shortcuts Real Simple Food Editors Swear By Our time-saving tips and kitchen hacks will help you speed up dinner. By Ananda Eidelstein Ananda Eidelstein Instagram Website Ananda Eidelstein is a vegetable-loving food writer, recipe developer, and editor with nearly a decade of culinary and food media experience. Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines and Real Simple Editors Real Simple Editors Facebook Instagram Twitter An article attributed to "Real Simple Editors" indicates a collaborative effort from our in-house team. Sometimes, several writers and editors have contributed to an article over the years. These collaborations allow us to provide you with the most accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive information available.The REAL SIMPLE team strives to make life easier for you. They are experts in their fields who research, test and clearly explain the best recipes, strategies, trends and products. They have worked for some of the most prestigious brands in lifestyle journalism, including Apartment Therapy, Better Homes & Gardens, Food & Wine, the Food Network, Good Housekeeping, InStyle, Martha Stewart Living, O: The Oprah Magazine, Parents, POPSUGAR, Rachel Ray Every Day, and Vogue. Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines Published on January 23, 2020 Share Tweet Pin Email Some people love cooking: They love the steps and procedures, the instructions and measurements (or taste-tests). Other people love the food they’re making and would like to fast-forward to the fresh home-cooked meal. Chefs of either group will likely appreciate a few smart kitchen hacks and kitchen tips, though. However much you like the process of cooking (and/or the final result), you’d likely be happy to cut down on the time it all takes, especially if you’re cooking for the whole household every night. These smart kitchen hacks from Real Simple food editors do just that: They cut down on the unnecessary steps of food prep, so you can cook faster—and start eating sooner—without missing out on any of the joys of chopping and stirring. Some of these hacks focus on the process, while others help maximize your food stores and transform leftovers into tasty soups and stews. Whether you’re just starting to cook regularly or you’re ready to shake your routine up a bit, these kitchen shortcuts have you covered. 01 of 24 Order dry staples online. Keep your pantry stocked and you can bypass entire aisles at the grocery store. Load up your virtual shopping cart with the items you reach for often—pasta, snack bars, canned tomatoes, and beans. Choose a service that offers free or at-rate delivery (think FreshDirect, Brandless, or Amazon Prime) so this time-saver doesn’t become cost prohibitive. 02 of 24 Buy precut fresh or frozen produce. Not all chopped veggies are worth the added expense, but in a pinch, go for vegetable mixes (great for soups), peeled garlic, and cubed butternut squash. 03 of 24 Grab the roasted, unsalted nuts. Find them in the bulk or baking section. When a recipe calls for toasting nuts in the skillet or oven, you can skip that step. 04 of 24 Grate instead of mincing. Rather than finely chopping garlic and ginger, slide them along a Microplane. This must-have tool is also essential for quickly zesting citrus or grating Parmesan. 05 of 24 Toss scraps into a bowl. Trips to the trash can waste more time than you think. Put those scraps, peels, and wrappers in a bowl next to the cutting board, then dump them into the garbage or compost all at once. 06 of 24 Freeze meat in a marinade. Stash meal-size portions in freezer bags with a simple marinade (we like grated ginger with some toasted sesame oil and soy sauce). Thaw in the fridge in the a.m. so dinner is ready to cook when you get home. For an easy meal, roast with vegetables on a baking sheet at 400°F. 07 of 24 Make all-in-one foil packets. Place a handful of leafy greens on a large piece of foil. Top with peeled shrimp or fish fillets and lemon slices. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and fold foil to seal. Bake on a baking sheet at 400°F for about 15 minutes. 08 of 24 Roast double, every time. There’s no need to fire up the oven more than once a week when leftovers from a roasted vegetable side dish can bulk up a salad. To really caramelize the veggies, use two baking sheets and two oven racks. (Crowding them on one pan will simply steam them.) 09 of 24 Skip the extra pot. Add torn kale to a pot of grains and cover to steam, or stir broccoli florets into a pot of pasta in the last few minutes of cooking. 10 of 24 Label leftovers. Have masking tape and a marker nearby when storing food. Jot down the name and date of the dish and stick the label to the container. You’ll avoid the “What is this frozen thing?” guessing game later. (You can also transfer leftovers directly to lunch containers.) 11 of 24 Clean as you go. This habit makes after-meal cleanup a lot quicker. Wipe down the counter, cutting board, and stove while things cook, and wash tools or load the dishwasher between recipe steps. 12 of 24 Line pans with parchment. This nonstick, heat-resistant, reusable standby puts an end to baked-on bits of brownies or chicken. To save even more time, use precut sheets. 13 of 24 Freeze (and retrieve) ground meat quickly. Fill a zippered plastic bag with raw meat, press it flat, and seal. Score the meat into equal sections by pressing a chopstick over the bag, tic-tac-toe–style, then freeze the grid flat. The next time you need ground beef, simply break off enough for your recipe. 14 of 24 Test if eggs are fresh. Toss Humpty Dumpty, gently, into a bowl of water. If the egg sinks to the bottom and lies on its side, it’s fresh. If it sinks and stands large-end up, get crackin’ in a few days, since it’s on the verge of going bad. If it floats, toss it. (Subsequently notifying all the king’s horses is optional.) 15 of 24 Save the thick rind of a block of Parmesan. Throw it into a pot of simmering beans or a brothy soup for richness. 16 of 24 Finely chop a couple of fillets of anchovies packed in olive oil. Melt in hot olive oil, then sauté with kale or Swiss chard leaves. 17 of 24 Mix white miso into creamy soup or mashed potatoes. This will add depth. You can also puree white miso with herbs and nuts to make a plant-based pesto. 18 of 24 Stir harissa or gochujang into yogurt for a creamy condiment. This mixture pairs well with fish and beef. 19 of 24 Whisk together Dijon mustard, lime juice, and olive oil. Try it with shredded rotisserie chicken. 20 of 24 Combine apple cider vinegar with maple syrup and cayenne. This mixture is great brushed on to pork chops and even better when cooked on the grill. 21 of 24 Season sauces with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Never underestimate the power of salt and pepper but be sure to go high en with kosher sea salt and cracked black pepper. 22 of 24 Wake up any dish with a squeeze of lemon juice. Lemon juice adds brightness and acidity to any dish. 23 of 24 Jarred Calabrian chiles add bright heat to eggs and pasta. If you want to perk up some of your standard dishes, the light heat from Calabrian chiles does the trick. 24 of 24 Giardiniera gives vibrant crunch to grain bowls and salads. This Italian relish of pickled vegetables in oil and vinegar can add acidity and crunch to lots of dishes, like grains and salads. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit