Simple Ways To Make Home-Cooked Food Taste Better

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Do your home-cooked meals always seem to lack flavour? With a few of these cooking hacks, you may be able to turn this around. Here are just a few ways to make home-cooked meals taste much better.

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Buy fresh ingredients in season

Frozen ingredients tend to have reduced flavour (it’s the reason Gordon Ramsay hates them). Relying on fresh meats and vegetables can boost the taste of each meal. Relying on local produce that’s in season can further increase the flavour. Buying ingredients out of season means that they often have to imported from another country, which makes them less fresh. It’s why strawberries taste so much better in summer and sprouts taste better in winter.

Spice it up

Adding spices will immediately create added flavour. It’s not just curries that you can use spices in – there are many easy meals you can make yourself involving spices such as Cuban-style picadillo and seafood pasta. Spice is something that you want to use in moderation so that you don’t overpower food – add it in small doses and taste to check if more is needed.

Add salt AND sugar

Many of us use salt in cooking but steer clear of sugar (unless it’s a dessert). Browning foods with sugar can be a great way to add flavour – this can be done with vegetables and meats. Just make sure to go easy on these ingredients so that you’re not making every meal unhealthy.

Put a lid on it

When boiling and steaming food, try to keep the lid on as much as possible. Juices from the food will otherwise evaporate away – keeping a lid on encourages them to return into the food. A lid will also help food to cook faster, saving you time.

Marinate meat

If every time you cook meat it tastes dry and bland, it could be time to start marinating. This involves soaking it in oils and spices. There are lots of marinade recipes online that you can follow. For optimum flavor, always marinade meats the day before.

Try slow-cooking food

Slow-cooking is great for stews and casseroles. It will help all the flavors of each ingredient seep out and mix with one another. The easiest way to slow-cook foods is with a slow-cooker – you can simply throw in all the ingredients in the morning and leave it for the day to cook. This tends to also be a lot more energy-efficient than using a conventional oven.