Time-Saving Tips: 5 Easy Ways to Save Time While Cooking

While some people will always prefer to grab takeout meals from fast-food restaurants, cooking is a no-brainer for those who love the taste of homemade food. The passion they put into every dish makes cooking a labor of love. However, the amount of time spent in the kitchen can be daunting. Chopping veggies, kneading dough, cleaning up, and repeating the whole process for the next meal can rob you of valuable free time.

Cooking should not be a task that takes forever and leaves you feeling spent. So below, we’ve compiled some of the best time-saving kitchen tips to help you make delicious meals faster.

1. Use the Right Cookware

Cooking with the wrong pots and pans can cost you more than just time in the kitchen. You may be left with an undercooked, sloppy mess or a burnt disaster that just will not budge from the bottom of the pan. We know how exasperating both outcomes can be.

Thankfully, using the best induction cookware can save you precious cooking time. Induction pots and pans trap the heat and spread it evenly, ensuring your meal is perfectly and speedily cooked.

2. Organize the Kitchen

Sometimes, there is just so much to do in the kitchen that you can’t track where you keep certain utensils. Looking for the colander when you need to strain pasta is time-consuming and frustrating. Worse still, it can lead to your pasta getting overcooked. Here is a tip: have all tools arranged in specific drawers, and you’ll never face such dilemmas again.

If you can, label containers and have them beautifully organized in the correct drawers. Keep pots, pans, and cutlery in the right places. Also, make it a rule to return every item after use. Remember, “for every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.”

3. Chop Veggies Ahead of Time

Chopping vegetables while cooking can be cumbersome. You often spend minutes making sure you get them to the right sizes, which is just one aspect of the whole cooking process.

Try chopping vegetables and storing them in airtight containers or Ziploc bags during your free time. This is a nice activity to do when you’re winding down for the day as you can easily throw on some music or a podcast to keep you company. Store your veggies in the fridge, and you’ll be ready to start cooking the next time you step into the kitchen.

4. Prepare a Meal Plan

There’s nothing like stepping into the kitchen and knowing exactly what you want to cook. Of course, our appetites aren’t always upfront with us. Sometimes, you just can’t quite put your finger on what you want or what you can create with the ingredients you have.

Here is a simple solution: create a weekly meal plan. Rather than thinking about what to cook, your meal plan will be there to save the day. The best approach is to cover your breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks for a week. That way, you can switch things up the following week to keep things interesting.

5. Make Extras and Save Leftovers

Making extras while you cook is a great way to save time. You can store freshly made meals and left-overs in the freezer for many months, and then when you’re in the mood for that pasta or stew again, simply heat it up. It’ll offer the same delectable flavors it did the first time you cooked it.

Cooking delicious meals doesn’t have to be a long and drawn-out experience. Apply the time-saving tips above, and you can ensure every minute spent in the kitchen is used wisely.