Cooking is hard.
Like, honestly, so hard sometimes. Not even because we can’t do it, but because we are lazy and don’t want to after a long day of work, amirite?
If this is how you feel, then you could probably use some serious cooking hacks.
These hacks will make the prep, cooking, and cleaning process so much easier. With these, you may actually look forward to cooking!
1. Don’t worry about chopping every individual piece — just cut it all in one go!
With the help of the rubber bands, your asparagus won’t roll all over the place when you are trying to cut the ends off. No more slicing frustrations with this trick.
2. Have a sauce that’s way to salty? Don’t fret! You can save it.
According to one reader of Halaal Recipes, throwing a small ball of dough into your sauce will absorb it. Just remember to remove the dough ball before serving! This hack is unexpected but effective.
3. Out of brown sugar? No problem!
All Recipes says you can just add molasses into your white sugar to DIY your own version. Don’t let the midnight baking stop just because you forgot one ingredient at the store!
4. Cocoa powder is your new baking bestie! Bye-bye flour.
When baking a cake, especially a nice chocolate one, dust the pan with cocoa powderinstead of flour. This will ensure there are no dry, floury patches, and it’ll give you a small chocolate layer!
5. Cutting board stains? Here’s a hack to clean it easily!
5 Dollar Dinners says to sprinkle kosher salt over the cutting board, give it a squirt of fresh lemon juice, and then use the flat side of the lemon to scrub! It’s a chemical-free clean option.
6. Are you seriously obsessed with picture perfect egg sandwiches?
Then this hack by In The Kitchen With Matt is just what you need! Just use a mason jar lidto cook your egg in. It’ll keep your egg safely together in a perfect circle!
7. It’s so frustrating when breadcrumbs get on your floor and stick to your feet. So, try a cafeteria tray!
By putting a tray under your toaster, the breadcrumbs collect in one easy to clean place. Just pick it up and dump it when need be!
8. Look, you aren’t some pro master chef, so mistakes will happen. Thankfully, there are hacks to deal with said mistakes.
Everyone deals with a burnt something on their pan. To combat it, try a dryer sheet! Fill the pan with water, add soap, and drop a dryer sheet over. It’s so easy to do this now thanks to YouTuber 4b1g’s trick.
9. Slicing your fruit or small vegetables has never been easier!
Using an egg slicer will save you so much time. Making that fresh salad instead of a pre-made one actually sounds appealing now! Thanks for this hack, DaveHax. Happy chopping!
10. Trying to spread cold butter on soft toast is a task no one wants to take on.
Thankfully, this hack from How To Make Sushi will really save the day. Just grate your butter with a cheese grater. With these thin, stringy butter pieces, it’ll spread way easier!
11. Fluffy pancakes are the best pancakes.
Apparently, the trick is to add vinegar. At least, that’s what Spoon University says. The added vinegar will create air pockets when cooking to make a perfect, fluffy pancake for your breaky!
12. You want to make a smoothie, but you know cleaning the blender is a brutal process.
Here’s the ultimate blender cleaning hack from Taras Kul: instead of scrubbing away at it, just fill it with soapy water and start the blender! Watch that yucky mess turn into a clean bubble blast!
13. With iced coffee, granulated sugar doesn’t dissolve. Do this to get your sugar fix!
Before pouring the coffee in, dissolve the sugar in the cup with a tiny bit of boiling water. Pour your iced coffee in after doing this. No more sugar trapped at the bottom of your cup!
14. Want to know how to make the best potato wedges right at home? Just grab an apple slicer.
Handimania shows you how you can use an apple slicer on a potato. Don’t worry about trying to cut them yourself. Yay for apple slicer magic!
15. Instead of letting herbs go to waste, save them for later!
Put different herbs into each section of an ice cube tray and pour oil over top. Then, just freeze! All you have to do is pull it out, place the cube in your pan, and cook away! This trick from Instructables saves time and money.
16. Don’t give up on getting that freshly squeezed lemon juice quite yet.
I know it’s painful to do one lemon after the other, but there’s a hack to help! W4Dinner says stab your lemon a few times, then microwave for 10 seconds. Squeezing lemons will be way easier now!