We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, where we’ve picked up countless cooking tips and tools over the years. Our readers are also full of kitchen wisdom after spending so much time cooking our thousands of recipes. So we took to Instagram to ask our followers: What’s the most life-changing cooking tip you’ve ever learned?

We received loads of insightful responses. Even chef Tyler Florence replied with some advice: “Spicy, sour, salty, sweet.” Here, we’ve rounded up some of the best pieces of cooking advice our followers shared so they’re all in one place. Do you agree with these, and do you have any more? Please let us know in the comments.

Always Add Pasta Water To Your Sauce

Several people shared this classic tip on our Instagram post. Before you drain all the starchy water from your pasta, keep some to the side to add to your pasta sauce. It’ll make for a better, silkier sauce.

Let Meat Rest Before Slicing

This one takes patience, but allowing a chicken breast or steak to rest for about 10 minutes is key to a juicy piece of meat. Cut into it too soon and the juices will spill out onto the cutting board.

grilled medium rare top sirloin beef steak or rump steak on a steel tray dark background top viewpinterest

Vladimir Mironov//Getty Images

Use A Kitchen Scale When Baking

Baking calls for precise measurements. Being just a little bit off could be the difference between a moist, fluffy cake and a less-than-desirable one. Weighing ingredients allows you to get the exact amount for the perfect baked goods. Plus, food scales are pretty small so they’re easy to fit in the pantry.

Garlic And Seasoning Are Crucial

Several people commented that the more garlic and seasoning, the better. Need some recipe inspiration? Start with our garlic mashed potatoes and creamy garlic chicken.

Clean As You Go

After you prepare an elaborate meal, it’s always a bummer to have a sink full of dirty dishes. A comment tip from the comments section is to clean as you go. Waiting for the pasta water to boil? Instead of scrolling on your phone, wash a few pans.

Read The Entire Recipe Before Cooking

We know you want to get started on that layer cake, but giving the entire recipe and ingredient list is well-worth the cost of missing a key step or ingredient that involves some extra time, like marinating.

peruvian spatchcock chickenpinterest

LUCY SCHAEFFER PHOTOGRAPHY

Spatchcock Your Poultry

When you spatchcock turkey or chicken, you remove the backbone and press it down. This allows the bird to lay flat and cook evenly—and, trust us, it’s so worth it.

Invest In Good, Sharp Kitchen Knives

No matter how much you invest in kitchen knives, taking care of them is key to their longevity. Good knives that are regularly sharpened can last a long time. Our guide on how to sharpen a knife will show you everything you need to know.

Headshot of Allison Arnold

As the Associate Editor at Delish, Allie is a writer, reporter, and producer of features at the intersection of food and culture. Before Delish, Allie worked for publications including Apartment Therapy and Insider. She even spent time working in restaurants and breweries. Allie has dumpster-dived in NYC to expose food waste, reported on the invasive lionfish you can eat, and wrote about the growing trend of weed weddings. Her health and nutrition stories on hydration culture, bananas, and coffee have generated nearly 2M combined views. She loves traveling, running, and eating her way through new places and even has a thorough Google Maps ranking system for her favorite restaurants and bars! When not writing about food, she’s planning her next trip, lifting weights, or training for a race.  

Expertise: food & culture (Sustainability, Health, Travel) 

Education: M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University, B.S. in Information Science (User Experience Design) from the University of Michigan 


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *