5 Essential Cooking Tips for Beginners

About 36 percent of Americans cook meals at home regularly with an increasing number eager to learn more about cooking. Having more time at home has helped spur interest along with a desire for more healthy eating.

But before you roll up your sleeves to tackle your first meal, you should know some basic things to make life in the kitchen easier. (And while meant for cooking for beginners, they’re good reminders for experienced cooks too!) The cooking tips collected here can improve your chances of making something you’ll love the first time out.

1. Read The Entire Recipe

It sounds basic, but take time to read through the entire recipe before you start. You can identify (and look up) instructions you don’t understand before you need to execute them. Even easy recipes can call for a cooking technique you might not be familiar with.

It’s also the time to confirm that everything in the instructions was included in the ingredient list. Pull out all your cooking supplies and ingredients to ensure you have everything called for as well.

Reading through also gives you a sense of the order and timing of the dish so you know how to pace yourself.

2. Prep Everything

The recipe likely doesn’t just call for an onion. It’s going to require that onion be chopped or sliced.

Take time to do all the prep steps before you start the cooking process. (That means ignore the “while that is happening, do this” instructions.) You won’t be scrambling to get ingredients together, and the cooking part will go much faster.

3. Give Food Space

If you’re just learning how to cook, choosing the right pan for the dish can be a little tricky. Sometimes it’s about choosing between a non-stick pan or a cast-iron one like the Barebones skillet, but more often it’s about size. Make sure it’s big enough that you can give the ingredients space to cook, and you don’t overcrowd the pan.

Food releases moisture as it cooks, which can cause it to steam instead of saute or roast if there’s no room for moisture to escape. Especially for things that need to be browned or crispy, leave plenty of room in the pan.

4. Stay In The Kitchen

Yes, the recipe says to cover the dish and leave it for 10 minutes. And while it’s tempting to leave for that 10 minutes to check the laundry or get the mail, it’s too easy to get distracted and forget that you’re cooking something. Instead of a yummy dish, you end up with a boiled dry pot or burned food stuck in your pan.

5. Improvise Later

Cooking can be a creative process, but the first time making a dish, follow the recipe. Make notes on what you liked or didn’t like, and you can alter it the second time around. As you gain more experience, you’ll be able to read a recipe and get cooking ideas to change it up to be more to your taste the first time.

Looking For More Cooking Tips?

All cooks can use a little help in the kitchen, but for beginners, some basic guidance can make the experience more pleasant. Use the cooking tips listed here to avoid some frustrations that make cooking and baking less fun and more challenging than it needs to be.

Did you find this article helpful? Check out others on our site with more cooking tips and ideas for healthy eating.