There are many ways to find joy in cooking —from keeping a clean kitchen to mastering your knife skills. Another way to make cooking more fun? Add flavor! The best home cooks love coming up with ways to layer more flavor into each and every dish.
If you’re looking for ways to give your next meal a flavor boost, try these five techniques.
1. Caramelize your veggies
Cook your veggies to bring out their natural sugars (and flavors). While most veggies are naturally rich in sugars, you can also add a bit of sugar to the pan to give it that extra oomph.
2. Add a little acidity
Nothing brightens up a dish like a squeeze of lime and lemon, or a dash of vinegar. It’s a simple yet significant way to transform a dish in a way that complements the other flavors.
3. Sauce it up
Keep a few homemade sauces on hand. You can easily add them to sandwiches, salads, bowls, and so many more dishes.
Here are some sauce recipes to add to your rotation:
4. Use a marinade
Add tons of flavor to tofu, veggies, and more by marinating them before you cook them. Check out this Malaysian Tofu Satay recipe for inspiration.
5. Upgrade your cooking liquids
When simmering foods like potatoes, add salt and herbs to the cooking liquid for a major boost in flavor (or even use a broth instead).
How is flavor part of the joyful process of cooking?
We value food for the nutrients, nourishment, and energy it provides us. But we also believe the food we eat should taste good! If something doesn’t appeal to your taste buds, it’s not going to be very fun to make. So experiment in the kitchen, explore new flavors, and add flavors that make you excited to enjoy what you cook. Wherever you are in your cooking journey, all of us at Swich are here to support you!
Find out more cooking tips like how to avoid undercooking vegetables and meal prep 101.
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Melinda K. ( 2yr ) – Thank you,
Going to give these tips a shot.
Swich C. ( 2yr ) – Great! Let us know what you think :)
Michele S. ( 2yr ) – I learned from Heidi Swanson’s book about eating with cancer about FASS. Fat acid salt sweet. Using those basic ingredients to up the flavor. And it works. Caramelize for sweet. A little fat to sauté. Add vinegar, lemon, wine for acid and a touch of salty. Simple additions to improve flavor
Swich C. ( 2yr ) – Sometimes simple additions make a world of difference :)
Rosa C. ( 2yr ) – I usually don’t like to cook food. most of the time I have to used frozen kulcha because of my busy tough routine. It is hard for me to spare a time for cooking.