Photos By: Adobe Stock Images

Because of this, you might want to consider learning essential cooking techniques that could help you prep and cook your meals faster than before.

Unfortunately, not all techniques can speed up meal preparation, particularly when it comes to braising, stewing, and reverse searing. Unlike other basic cooking techniques, these require more time, and they’re more difficult to process. For example, braising meats in red wine may require reduction and thorough cooking in the oven, which makes it extremely time-consuming.

However, the key to faster meal preparation and cooking isn’t just the techniques but how the heat is transferred into the food, such as how meat gets heated in a frying pan. If the heat is delivered evenly, it can cook your food much faster, cutting your cooking time in half.

Without further ado, here are the most efficient cooking techniques you need to know to quicken your meal preparation for stress-free eating time.

Sautéing

Sautéing is one of the most popular cooking methods used in many cultures all over the world. Usually, it’s done with only two kitchen essentials: a frying pan and a touch of oil. It can be used to cook most ingredients, such as seafood, meats, vegetables, and poultry, in a quick and easy way.

Also, sautéing uses direct heat to brown and sear different ingredients perfectly. This browning reaction (caramelization) is an indication of complex flavors and aromas being released in the food. Thus, it doesn’t just cook your meals faster, but it also gives you a pleasant dining experience.

Sautéing can also be a primary step when braising or stewing meats. In this process, the mirepoix (a mix of three different vegetables, usually onions, carrots, and celery) is sautéed before the other ingredients. But for the most part, it’s a great way to have shorter cooking time, especially when preparing meals for family and guests.

Don’t know what to sauté? You could start with ingredients that are quick to cook, such as seafood and vegetables. You could also cook your favorite steaks with this technique in just a few minutes.

Blanching

If you prefer crispy and partially cooked vegetables, you might want to try blanching them. Blanching is a cooking technique where an ingredient (usually a vegetable) is submerged in boiling water for a few minutes and then shocked in ice water to stop the cooking process. However, if you want to eat the veggies right after blanching, you may skip the shocking process.

If you’re looking for food to blanch, you may go for green beans, asparagus, and broccoli, all of which are flavorful and delicious, even if they’re partially cooked. For additional flavor, you may season them with salt and pepper after blanching, or you may season the water with salt in advance.

Grilling

Grilling is one of the easiest and fastest ways to cook food. It uses both direct and indirect heat to cook all kinds of meats and vegetables thoroughly in a matter of minutes.

However, prepping a grill can be time-consuming, especially if it’s a charcoal grill. Luckily, there are easy ways to do this without exerting too much effort. You can do this with a grill pan on top of your stove, a gas-operated grill, or an electric grill.

Also, most ingredients to be grilled don’t need many spices or other ingredients to amplify their flavor. Usually, salt, pepper, and good-quality olive oil are enough to elevate the food’s texture, juiciness, and characteristics.

For an even faster meal prep with grilling, choose ingredients that can be cooked in a matter of minutes. A good choice would be chicken, seafood, or vegetables. Red meat may also cook faster on a grill, but make sure you don’t slice them too thick so you can let the insides cook thoroughly.

Stir-Frying

Stir-frying and sautéing are similar in many cases, but the former is much faster when it comes to cooking food. Unlike sautéing, stir-frying uses intense heat and constant motion (stirring and tossing) to cook the food as quickly as possible. Usually, stir-frying involves using a rounded wok to easily shake up the food directly over high heat.

Also, it’s worth noting that butter is not applicable when stir-frying. Unlike other oils, butter burns easily because of the milk solids that quickly caramelize. But if you want to add the richness and creaminess of butter to your dishes, you may use clarified butter instead. Clarified butter has no milk solids and can withstand higher temperatures without burning, like other oils.

Roasting

Roasting may seem to take longer than other cooking techniques, but it’s worth mentioning because it’s pretty easy to do. Usually, roasting is done in an oven under controlled temperature conditions. It uses heat circulation to cook the food evenly without the food having to be constantly stirred.

When roasting, there are only two essential things you have to do: prepare the main ingredients (meat or vegetables) and season them with salt and pepper or a good-quality oil. After that, you can place it inside a preheated oven and let it cook, depending on the recipe.

Roasting typically takes 15 minutes or longer, depending on the type and size of the meat or vegetables you’re cooking. However, it allows you to exert minimal effort and do what you need to do while the food is cooking in the oven.

Need an idea of what to roast? You may go for asparagus seasoned with salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil. Or you could chop up some quarter leg of a chicken and do the same prep you did for your veggies.

Final Word

Quick and easy meal prep is essential for busy people who might not have the time to prepare many dishes for a group or for themselves. If that’s the case for you, you might want to consider the five cooking techniques discussed above. These will allow you to prepare your meals in just a couple of minutes. However, you should also consider other factors that could affect and prolong the cooking process, such as the amount of the ingredients and the size of the dish you’re planning to cook.

Photo: Huffington Post

If your Taco Tuesdays have morphed into Taco Thursdays, Taco Saturdays, and so on, you could be in a home cooking rut. And, hey, there’s nothing wrong with tacos (yum!), but sometimes we fall back on recipes or meals that we know by heart and are, thus, easier on our overworked brains. It’s not hard to become a better home cook, though—it just takes a bit of consistency in the kitchen and willingness to try new things. Read on for tips on how to become a better cook—your belly and your family members will thank you. If you’re seeking a resource to use on a regular basis, there’s always websites that teach you about the ingredients rather than simply giving you the recipes. Whatever route you go, there’s one thing we can all surely agree upon—there’s nothing better than a home cooked meal.

Start Out Simple

When it comes to fitness, if you shoot for the hardest routine the first week, you’re likely going to burn out and never return to the gym. The same goes for cooking—if you decide on making a three-cheese soufflé followed by Baked Alaska for your first home-cooked meal, you’re going to crash and burn … possibly literally. Cleaning your kitchen after meals like that is enough to make you scream, “I quit!” Start out with simple recipes, such as something made in the crockpot. The crockpot—or slow cooker—is like magic. You throw in a few ingredients, leave for work, and come back eight hours later to a gourmet meal. Okay, okay, so it might not go that perfectly but it’s pretty darn close. Charley’s Slow Cooker Mexican Style Meat from the website Allrecipes.com is a great option, as you can serve it so many ways. Whether you serve it over rice, over noodles, or in a taco, this one will get you rave reviews every time, and no one needs to know how easy it was to make.

Photo: Mother, Baby & Child Magazine

Use Recipes As a Guide

If you’re inexperienced in the kitchen, you can always visit places like Foodora restaurants in Brisbane for inspiration for your own recipes. Then, start with a cookbook or with online recipes. This will teach you what ingredients you enjoy and what you can do without. Once you become more versed in what works for you and the people you cook for, you can get a bit more adventurous as far as using your instincts. Instead of getting out your tablespoons and measuring cups you might begin to add a “dash of this” and a “taste of that.” This is particularly helpful when you’re making food that’s spicy; as you can cater to the palates of those you’re serving. Your buddy, Frank, might like his chili five-alarm-style while your daughter might need just a hint of spice.

Take a Class

When we hear the word “class”, most of us likely cringe, as it drums up images of cramming for final exams, brutally picky social groups, and long nights of studying. If you’re simply learning how to cook for fun, classes can actually be a blast. Grab a friend and take a class at your local college, take a class or two at a nearby store like Sur la Table, or hire a chef to come and teach you and your friends a few things from the comfort of your own kitchen. Whatever you choose, this can push you over the hump from nervous novice to a confident cook extraordinaire.

Photo: Fresher Am

Make it Social

Don’t be the kind of cook who makes everything before the guests get there. Sure, that works for some people but if you want to break out of your shell when it comes to cooking, have the courage to do so after the guests have arrived. This is particularly fun if you’ve got a kitchen that lends itself to cooking in unison with social interactions. Better yet, grab one of your guests and assign him as sous chef. You’ll get extra help chopping the veggies and you’ll find out the latest happenings in his life. It’s a true win/win!

Wondering how to become a better home cook? In the words of Nike, “Just do it!” With practice and a bit of courage, you’ll be confident in the kitchen in no time.