Ever spent time on Reddit scrolling through cooking threads? If you have, you’ll know it’s a goldmine of kitchen wisdom. So, we did some digging, and discovered a 400-plus comment thread full of “little-known” kitchen hacks that will up your cooking game.
These come straight from the pros of Reddit — professional chefs, home cooks, food service professionals, and so on — and so you can trust the advice.
Making a Sauce? Add Tomato Paste
Tomato paste is cheap — and it makes nearly every sauce taste better. Every little can (or tube) of tomato paste is magic, as Food and Wine Magazine puts it. The publication suggests caramelizing the paste in oil or fat to get rid of any lingering flavors from the metal can or tube.
Add Butter
“In the world of chefs,” Anthony Bourdain writes, “butter is in everything.” At the best restaurants, Bourdain adds that you might even be “putting away almost a stick of butter with every meal.” It’s no surprise, then, that one Redditor’s tip is simple: add more butter.
Related: Secret Ingredients That Made Grandma’s Food Amazing
Saute Your Onions
Properly cooking your onions will unlock their flavor, Redditors say. “Hated onions till I was a adult. Then I had properly caramelized onions,” a commenter writes. “I’ll eat them in damn near everything like that.”
Turn Down the Heat
As much as you might want to cook with a rip-roaring hot pan — who doesn’t like a good flambe, after all — one Redditor suggests turning down the heat. Not only will it keep your food from scorching, but your pans will last longer, too.
Related: 25 Kitchen Mistakes You’re Probably Still Making
Get Over Your Fear of Monosodium Glutamate
As my colleague points out in her article on MSG, the seasoning is relatively safe … not to mention delicious. Of course, there are other ways to enhance your dishes with that meaty, umami flavor, including soy-based foods, mushrooms, and cheese.
