Spending time in the kitchen preparing a meal isn’t a task everyone wants to take on, yet the vast majority of people go through that process daily. Others choose to order takeout because they don’t enjoy cooking, need specific ingredients that won’t be used for other meals, or want to avoid a messy cleanup afterward. Here are some popular foods to order options that people choose for delivery, simply because making them at home involves too much work and it’s annoying!
Fried Chicken
Cooking fried chicken involves cutting up the bird, breading the pieces, heating a pot of oil, and carefully monitoring the temperature. However, even after doing all that, achieving the kind of crispy crust found at many restaurants takes a lot of practice. Fried chicken is one of the convenient foods to order because delivery saves your home from smelling like oil for days.
Sushi
Preparing sushi requires not only rice, nori, raw ingredients, sauces, and garnishes, along with careful knife work, but also involves buying a large number of ingredients to make just a couple of rolls, often leading to waste. Even though sushi rolls are the simplest form, they call for ingredients not typically used in other dishes. Furthermore, handling raw seafood can pose potential risks, which is another reason why sushi is one of the popular foods to order.
Pho
Making pho at home can result in a deeply flavorful dish, but it requires bones, spices, aromatics, skimming, and hours of simmering, making it a labor-intensive process. On top of that, you have to add noodles, herbs, lime, sprouts, sauces, and meat, which is often prepared separately before being added to the bowl. For many people, pho is one of the ideal foods to order because restaurants are accustomed to preparing the broth and can make it much more conveniently.
Ramen
Ramen is another dish that requires broth, a process demanding significant time for cooking, temperature control, and constant attention to avoid errors, such as overcooking, that could ruin the flavor. Furthermore, you have to prepare noodles, marinated eggs, pork, seasoned oil, and tare, all of which also take time to make. This is about an elaborate ramen dish, not the instant noodles bought at supermarkets that lack the same flavor. Because of the preparation involved, ramen can be one of the satisfying foods to order.
Dim Sum
Dim sum is a variety of small Chinese dishes, including dumplings, buns, rolls, and other bites, that require distinct fillings, wrappers, shaping techniques, and sauces. Since variety is the goal of dim sum, the meal involves diverse flavors and, consequently, separate preparation methods, making it one of the convenient foods to order. By ordering dim sum for delivery, you can enjoy several different dishes without spending hours cooking or meticulously following recipes to avoid ruining the meal.
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Eggs Benedict
Eggs Benedict might be a common breakfast choice, but coordinating the timing is tricky. You have to ensure the eggs are hot alongside the toasted English muffins and meat, all while preparing the hollandaise sauce simultaneously. Things can easily go wrong, the hollandaise might split, the eggs could overcook, or the toast might get cold. While restaurants often have ingredients prepped and portioned out, making assembly easier, Eggs Benedict can be frustrating to prepare at home and is therefore one of the popular foods to order.
Fish and Chips
One of the most well-known dishes around the world is fish and chips. Preparing it involves making a batter and frying the fish and potatoes, a process requiring careful temperature control to avoid ruining the dish and the flavor of the seafood. When making it at home, the process may require soaking, drying, and sometimes double-frying. Restaurants, on the other hand, have mastered the frying temperature and keep the malt vinegar and tartar sauce ready to serve, making fish and chips one of the easiest foods to order.
Chicken Parmesan
As discussed with the fried chicken, making chicken parmesan involves pounding, breading, frying, saucing, topping with cheese, and baking the meat. You also have to add pasta, meaning you end up using multiple pans and bowls, and going through several cooking stages, for just one entrée. Italian restaurants have streamlined these steps and have everything ready for assembly, making chicken parmesan one of the convenient foods to order when you want to avoid the work.
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Birria Tacos
When making birria tacos and aiming to follow the traditional recipe, the chili and spice sauce requires hours of preparation before the tacos are even assembled. The tortillas must be dipped in fat, filled, griddled, and served with consommé, a flavorful broth that requires a substantial amount of liquid. Restaurants typically prepare birria in large batches, making birria tacos one of the practical foods to order for someone who only wants a few tacos.
Pad Thai
Sourcing all the Pad Thai ingredients and preparing them before combining them in the dish can be a lot of work. You need to prepare the noodles, sauce, egg, sprouts, peanuts, lime, herbs, and other ingredients before adding them to the wok. Furthermore, cooking at high heat and meticulous preparation are essential to ensure each ingredient is cooked perfectly and the entire dish captures the authentic Pad Thai flavor. In fact, cooking it for too long could ruin all those ingredients.
Lasagna
For many people, making lasagna can feel like a major undertaking. The sauce, meat, cheese filling, noodles, and the steps of layering, baking, and letting it rest can be too much work for those who cook simply to get a meal on the table. It also yields a large amount of food, often too much for just one or two people, so buying a slice at a restaurant can provide the same satisfaction without all the effort. That makes lasagna one of the convenient foods to order.
Barbecue Brisket
Cooking a brisket can take hours, requiring someone to stay by the barbecue to monitor the temperature, ensure there is enough charcoal, apply the seasoning at the right time, and manage the resting period, all while preventing it from burning or drying out. Barbecue restaurants are accustomed to this process, so it isn’t as tedious chore for them as it might be for a home cook. For many people, brisket is therefore one of the worthwhile foods to order when they want to avoid the time commitment.
Conclusion
There are various reasons why a particular meal might be too much of a hassle to cook at home, including extensive preparation, specialized equipment, or significant cleanup afterward. Consequently, a lack of cooking skills is not always the issue. Ultimately, people often choose these foods to order from restaurants for delivery because it is convenient in terms of portion sizes, time, ingredients, and more.
