Time-Saving Cooking Tips

For those of us who enjoy cooking, a lot of pleasure can be derived from pouring through our favorite recipes. Then choosing recipes, writing grocery lists, and then spending time in the kitchen making a delicious meal for our loved ones to enjoy.

Unfortunately, many of us simply do not have as much time as we would like to devote to cooking. But, that doesn’t mean we need to slack on cooking!

Below are some of the best time-saving cooking tips I have found to help me cook healthy, delicious meals regularly no matter how busy life may get. Whether you love to cook or find it a bit of a chore, these tips are sure to make your time in the kitchen more efficient, so why not check them out right now?

Meal plan

If you want to save time in the kitchen, then one of the best things you can do is to plan your meals in advance. You can work out everything you want to eat for the next week.  You can make your list and grocery shop to get everything you need in advance. And this means you won’t be scrambling for ingredients or having to hit the grocery store at the last minute.

And when you meal plan you can also batch cook various elements of your favorite recipes in advance and freeze until you need them, For example, you can cook up a big batch of rice at the beginning of the week to pair with stews, curries, and tacos or roast a whole chicken which can be used for tacos, soups, and sandwiches throughout the week too. This will save you a lot of time overall and ensure you always have something good to eat.

Invest in a slow cooker

Slow-cookers and crockpots are great time savers. 

If you take a look at these fabulous crockpot recipes from The Magical Slow Cooker, you will see that you can cook some pretty special dishes in your crockpot, and because you can quickly prep them in the morning and leave them cooking while you’re off at work or running errands, you can spend significantly less time in the kitchen each day too.

Cut your veggies in advance

Cutting up all of the fruits and veggies you plan to eat is an easy way to save time. Most fruits and vegetables can be stored safely in the fridge or freezer until you need them. It’s a great way to shave a few minutes off your cooking times. After a long day at work, dinner can still be on the table in a flash.

Invest in a food processor

If you don’t already have one, but you want to spend less time chopping, peeling, dicing, and kneading, then you really should invest in a food processor.  It will cut down the time it takes to chop, dice, and grate veggies, crush nuts or knead brad by a significant amount. You can do all of those things and more in a matter of seconds instead several minutes to do so.

Sharpen your knives

Sharpening your knives is a simple but very effective way to save time when you are cooking, When knives are properly sharpened, they will effortlessly cut, chop and fillet your ingredients, which means you can spend less time cooking and more time relaxing. I’ve found you don’t even realize how dull your knives might be until you work with really sharp ones. 

Investing in the highest quality set of knives you can afford will make a big difference to how much time you spend on food prep. That’s why professional chef’s have their own knife sets they carry with them from kitchen to kitchen. 

Pre-mix your spices

If you have spice blends that you use a lot, save yourself a lot of time by pre-mixing them. Be sure to store them in airtight containers to ensure that they maintain their freshness.

So are you ready to save some time? These tips will help you to get busy in the kitchen without needing to be chained to the stove. So let’s get cooking!