People Share the Cooking Hacks They Swear By

When it comes to learning a new hack to make life easier, we love hearing about anything that makes mealtimes easier! Recently people have been sharing the cooking hacks that they swear by in what one person has deemed ‘the best Reddit thread ever!’ There are literally thousands and thousands of comments on the thread, so we’ve picked out some of the best ones for you. To read the thread in its entirety though you can click here.

Revive veggies that have lost their water by cutting their edges and soaking them in cold water. Lettuce, carrots, celery will be crisp again. (Rosy180)

Old produce guy here. Luke warm water is best, then refrigerate. The warm water makes the plant cells open more to absorb more water; while the refrigerator makes them harden to retain water and crisp. (tjipa84)

When making stuffed shells by hand, mix the filling in a zip top bag, then cut a corner off and use it as a makeshift piping bag to fill the shells. (PApauper)

If your food is bland even though you’ve added salt then it’s missing acidity. Lemon juice, lime juice, or vinegar are easy additions. (PhreedomPhighter)

Not mine, but my wife browns the butter before she adds it to chocolate chip cookie dough and they’re the best freakin cookies I’ve ever eaten! (dcbluestar)

For box brownies I use Jack Daniels instead of water. Adds an awesome smoky taste.

I assume; but don’t know for sure, that the alcohol bakes away?

Or am i just bringing alcoholic brownies to work?! (larryeddy)

Put a damp paper towel under your cutting board to prevent it from sliding around when you are cutting. (LORDSPIDER1)

If a recipe says to sauté onions and garlic together at the same time, DON’T. Do the onions first, and then add the garlic when the onions are just about done. Garlic can be over sautéed and it takes on a bitter flavor. (dcbluestar)

Ice cube in the center of your leftover rice before you microwave it – makes the rice get soft and fluffy again (Getsome4000)

Add cacao powder to your beef stew for some extra depth (TremendoSlap)

Hard boiled eggs. Steam them in a veggie basket and they peel perfectly, no old eggs or new eggs trick or anything Steam for 13 min and put in cold water. 98% success rate. (musicpimp)

Cooking greasy foods? Bacon? Etc…get cheap oats and sprinkle in the pan after…let sit…they soak up the grease and you literally just wipe out…I put mine in containers to give to the birds (Almeeney2018)

Don’t use regular-ass water to make white rice.

Use chicken or beef broth, or coconut water. If the rice has to stand on its own on that plate, arm it with flavor. (gmtjr)

if you leave beans on water at least 12 hours before cooking will help release the gas, this will make them behave in your belly and not cause too much gas there🤣🙌 (Strict_Cartoonist324)

Someone at one point told me to try adding ginger to yeast while it’s doing its thing cause it gives it some other stuff to munch on. Tried it on a few different breads and it’s the most interesting fluffyness and no ginger flavor. (InkMaster59)

Wash berries in white vinegar, then, rinse them in water.

Greatly extends their shelf life, the vinegar does a good job of killing mold and such, without effecting the taste.

Wash in vinegar, not soak. And rinse in water immediately. (Eu Gravida Vendatur)

Wooden spoons stop pots from boiling over. I don’t understand it but I’ve done it for years and pots never boil over on me. (Chefpief)

Add baking soda to onions to break them down to have onion flavor without pieces of onions.

My wife can’t stand pieces of onion in food but if I put 1/8 teaspoons of baking powder on onions while cooking them it chemically breaks them down to a paste. They retain the flavor with no strange other flavors and no pieces. (JBagKY)

I put coconut oil in the water I use to make rice. After cooking, put the rice in the refrigerator or even the freezer afterward.

There was a study showing if you do this at least 25% of the carbs can’t be absorbed by the body. The higher quality of rice, the less carbs the rice will have. (21stCenturyAntiquity)

Freeze the parts of the veggies you usually throw out (carrot edges, peels, etc.). After a while, you’ll have enough ingredients to make an excellent broth. (7bj)

Boil water with the lid on, is amazing how many people don’t do this… (Danclim)

My mom used plain applesauce when a cake or cookies recipe said to use oil. It makes no difference in consistency, texture or flavor, and makes it at least a little healthier than the oil would have. (MysteryGirlWhite)

Put grapes in the freezer for a few hours before you eat them. It levels up the experience, and they are crunchy yet not hard. Easier to keep if you don’t want to eat them all at once too. 🙂 (Talwyn Wize)

Let meat come to room tempurature before you cook it. If you notice a dish is oversalted, put potatoes in to absorb the salt, then remove them before serving. When roasting a chicken, I cook right side up, then let rest breast down so the juices go to the breast and not run out over the pan. (Capable-Pepper-8608)

New one i learned recently. Making chili? Add mustard. Like, a lot. I don’t care what kind of chili or what kind of mustard (although a spicy mustard works really good). It will greatly enhance your chili eating experience. (WhiskyAndWitchcraft)

i swear by using mayo instead of butter for grilled cheese. sounds weird at first but it is LIFE CHANGING ! americanpr0blem

Make a little bit more food than you need, you be happy to have a pre-made one in the freezer when you’re lazy (Azuria_4)

Salt. It’s not used enough in sweet foods/pastries. A tiny bit of salt adds balance to a lot of sweet dishes.

Don’t get trapped by the idea of salt making things ‘salty’, it will usually bring out flavor in much smaller amounts, and stop before the dish becomes salty. (wolfpackTA)

A tiktokker recommended adding some cream of mushroom soup (2-3 tablespoons) to ramen and now I can’t eat it any other way. (ViCalZip)

I have a pair of swimming goggles in my utensils draw….they are my onion goggles. (withatee)

Reheating pizza? Don’t microwave it and make it all soggy and flimsy. Put it In a skillet with a lil olive oil for like 5 mins. It’ll be better than when it was first made (puzzlethread)

Do you have a cooking hack that you’d add to the list?