15 Must-Know Secrets For Cooking Enthusiasts

Get ready to impress friends and family as you delve into these invaluable secrets and embark on a delicious adventure in the kitchen.

Put a little water in your leftovers before you put it in the microwave and cover it. Especially meat. It doesn’t dry out and it actually makes turkey more juicy. – SuperstitiousPigeon5

Vanilla pudding mix in chocolate cookie recipe. – ShaniquaStringfellow

Air is the secret ingredient in deli-style sandwiches. The same amount of meat, arranged loosely, rather than stacked tightly, not only seems more generous, but actually tastes (or at least smells) better, because more flavonoids reach your nose. – Bellsar_Ringing

If you’re measuring anything sticky like molasses or honey for a recipe use a pastry brush to coat the inside of the measuring cup with a small amount of cooking oil first. Reduces sticking on the inside of the measuring cup. – Imaginary-Ticket-805

I don’t know if this is a secret, I feel like every one does this, but when a recipe calls for a teaspoon of vanilla extract I add something closer to two tablespoons. The people making the recipes use higher quality vanilla, the cheap stuff at the store is extremely bland compared to the high quality stuff. – Godmorelikedog_666

The recipe on the back of the tollhouse chocolate chip bag, follow it to the letter. Everyone thinks I have the best of the best chocolate chip cookies. – CreepyButterscotch3

Don’t cook a new recipe if you want to impress people. Cook with the same recipe many times until you’re confident you can deliver good results, THEN use the recipe. – Cartossin

I reduce five pounds of sweet onions down to 2 cups of deeply caramelized onion. 1/4 cup supercharges any savory soup, stew, etc. – Thirty_Helens_Agree

People always say I’m a great baker – thing is that if you actually follow recipes to the letter, know if your oven runs a little hot/cold and know what some basic things like “hand warm” actually mean – it’s hard to get it wrong. – InternationalLimit40

Softened butter and melted butter are 2 different things that create 2 different results. Don’t sub real butter for country crock, – Cracktower

Butter. It’s not a new secret by any means, but I feel like people often forget how amazing even just the tiniest bit added to a dish can be. Some of your favorite restaurant meals probably use way more butter than you’d be comfortable knowing. – AmarettoOrWhat

Lots of people forget to add acid. Use acid to make flavors pop. – Zmirzlina

Cooking korean food? Get the salted shrimp and the fermented chile paste/soybean paste. Korean barbecue marinade? Blend an onion, an apple, garlic, green onion, and a couple pinches of salt together. That’s your base, then add the seasonings. The meat will be more tender with the puree and give you that extra depth that you might have been lacking from ready-made sauces. When I’m lazy I just add that puree to the jars of ready-made sauces. – notasianjim

A dash of vinegar livens up any soup/stew/chili – 02K30C1

Using Stock and Broth as a partial water replacement in certain dishes is a game changer. – yardslikeswisschard