46 Cool Cooking Tips and DIY Kitchen Hacks

Why does it seem like I am always the last one to know? After cooking for 20 years, I sure wish I had known a little bit more about these simple but amazing shortcuts and cooking tips. Thanks, Mom.. Fortunately for you, I’ve culled my favorite new cooking hacks and tips I found online so you no longer have to be in the dark about all the things you are doing wrong or not doing at all when it comes to easy, quick and awesome food preparation. Cooking does not have to be an all day affair or a laborious task, and if you use some of these tips, it can even be a lot of fun! Don’t believe me? Have you ever tried separating eggs with a plastic water bottle or hulling strawberries with a straw?

These tips plus 44 more will have you quickly speeding through your next recipe and looking forward to spending more time cooking in the kitchen, you may even have some of your friends in awe over your amazingly brilliant ways. (We promise we won’t tell, either!)

1. Secret Trick To Perfect Rice

thewanderlustkitchen

Fluffy white rice heaped in a black bowl with chopsticks, and a glass pot lid over a towel, with a title banner

Afraid of ever cooking rice again after too many failed attempts to get something that even resembled the rice everyone else manages to serve? So was I until I tried this cool cooking tip. Perfect rice every time. Unbelievable but true. Simply use a kitchen towel to help evenly distribute the moisture and your rice will never turn out in sticky globs or become a dried out inedible failure. You can really quit serving pasta and start serving rice again!

2. Freeze Wine Cubes For Cooking

budgetsavvydiva

Bottle of red wine beside a red stockpot with a glass lid and an empty white ice cube tray, with a title banner

Some of the best ideas are simple, and this holds true when it comes to cooking, too.If you are a food snob like me and a purist when it comes to the kitchen, you will not find yourself ever using cooking wine in your recipes. Cooking wine is far too salty, and generally speaking just an all around a bad idea. However, buying a whole bottle of wine only to use a small portion makes no sense, either.This kitchen tip is so simple I am embarrassed not to have thought of it myself. Have left over wine you purchased for cooking? Freeze it so you can use the individual cubes in sauces, stews and marinades.

3. Make Perfect Crispy Bacon in the Oven

thefrugalgirls

Raw bacon strips on a foil-lined baking sheet going into the oven, then six crispy cooked strips on a white plate

M-m-m-m, bacon. If you love bacon, but dread the amount of time it takes to cook, the mess it makes and the difficulty in getting it evenly cooked, you will absolutely love this cooking method for bacon.Just like grandma used to make but about 100 times easier. This bacon is flatter and prettier, too, if you are into that sort of thing. Although bacon is just never going to be good for you, I like to believe this method is a lit a tiny bit healthier than traditional pan fried version.

4. Keep Lemons Fresh Longer

thehappierhomemaker

Tall glass jar of whole lemons with a metal lid, two loose lemons and two limes on a blue towel, with a title banner

5. Separate Egg Yolks With A Water Bottle

7. Make Hard Boiled Eggs In The Oven

creeklinehouse

Muffin tin with whole white eggs set in the cups, under a How to make hard-boiled eggs in the oven title

9. Prevent Fruit From Browning

10. Make Easy to Peel Hard-Boiled Eggs

sistersraisingsisters

Deviled eggs on a blue and white plate above a pile of smooth peeled hard-boiled eggs, with a title banner

11. Make Easy Homemade Buttermilk

yummyhealthyeasy

Glass jar of milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice poured in, shown in three steps with a buttermilk title

12. Make DIY Frozen Pizzas

intentionalbygrace

Pepperoni pizza wrapped in plastic above a stack of three foil-wrapped pizzas, with a homemade frozen pizzas title

13. Slice Cherry Tomatoes The Easy Way

food52

Hands slicing cherry tomatoes trapped between two plastic deli lids, then halved tomatoes on the lid

14. Clean your Grill with an Onion

grillersspot

Fork pressing a halved onion onto hot smoking grill grates under an orange Clean Your Cooking Grates title

15. Peel Garlic The Easy Way

listotic

Garlic cloves crushed under a bowl, shaken in a lidded plastic container, then separated from their skins

16. Grate Cheese Without the Mess

thriftyjinxy

Close-up of metal box grater holes above a pile of shredded cheddar cheese, under an orange No Mess title

17. Preserve Fresh Herbs

rodalesorganiclife

Parsley frozen in a clear ice block above an ice cube tray packed with chopped green herbs

18. Learn How To Make a Homemade Cherry Pitter

barefeetinthekitchen

Glass bowl of dark red cherries with a fork-style pitter, and loose cherries with the pitter on a stone surface

19. Make and Freeze Pancakes

homecookingmemories

Zip bag of cooked pancakes labeled with a date on a black background under a How to Freeze Pancakes title

20. Grill Fish on Lemons to Prevent Sticking

lifeasmama

Seasoned salmon fillet set on lemon slices over a charcoal grill, held in place with metal tongs

21. Try Mini Bacon and Egg Cups

recipebyphoto

Bacon strips curled into muffin tin cups, filled with egg, then three baked bacon egg cups beside a pink polka dot mug

22. Freeze Your Broth, Never Run Out

giallozafferano

Golden broth pouring into a white ice cube tray with the cubes already filled, on a butcher block board

23. Keep Brown Sugar Fresh

thisweekfordinner

Square plastic container of soft brown sugar with a slice of bread pressed on top, on a red cloth

24. Hull a Strawberry with a Straw

barefeetinthekitchen

Drinking straw pushed up through a red strawberry to pop out the green top, with a title banner

27. Make 30 Second Homemade Mayo

theviewfromgreatisland

Glass jar of creamy homemade mayo with a spoon, plus four photos of an egg and oil blended with a stick blender

28. Make Fastest Cooking Pasta Ever

ideasinfood

Plate of cooked linguine above uncooked spaghetti soaking in water in a plastic bag, with a Fast Way title

29. Make Easy Tortilla Bowls

theyummylife

Tortilla bowls baked in star-shaped pans, stacked on a rack, folded in muffin tins and draped over glass jars

30. Microwave Lemons and Limes to Get Two Times the Juice

tarynwilliford

Whole and halved green limes with a tip card about microwaving them, above squeezed lime wedges on a cutting board

31. Grate Frozen Butter for Easy Mixing

olgasflavorfactory

Hands grating a stick of frozen butter on a metal box grater straight into a glass bowl of flour

32. Peel Oranges The Easy Way

jewelpie

Five step photos of a mandarin orange cut at the ends and unrolled into a strip of segments on green

33. Cut Watermelon The Easy Way

adventuresofdandv

Hands cutting watermelon cubes out of a wedge into a glass bowl, with half a watermelon and a houseplant nearby

34. Poach Eggs Perfectly Every Time

cookthestory

Raw egg in a mesh strainer over a pot of water, then a smooth poached egg held in a palm, with a title banner

35. Cook Butternut Squash Without Cutting It

biteofdelight

Glass bowl of bright orange butternut squash puree above a whole squash on a foil-lined pan, with a title banner

36. Quickly Defrost Meat Without A Microwave

foodrenegade

Thick raw ribeye steak with rich marbling on parchment under a How to Defrost Meat Quickly title

37. Freeze Grapes To Keep Wine Cold

vanillaextract

Glass of white wine chilled with frozen green grapes beside a bowl of grapes and a bottle of pinot grigio

38. Peel Ginger With A Spoon

chicaandjo

Knob of fresh ginger on a wood cutting board with a spoon, a peeled piece and a pile of scraped skin

39. Try The Best Non stick Method Ever

veronicascornucopia

Empty round cake pan with a light flour coating above a red velvet cake layer turned out clean on a wire rack

40. Ripen Bananas In The Oven

cleangreensimple

Four yellow bananas on a baking sheet, then the oven-blackened bananas split open on a plate, with a title banner

41. Best Way To Peel Potatoes

huffingtonpost

Five photos of scoring a potato, boiling small potatoes, cooling them under the tap and slipping off the skins

42. Cut An Onion Without Crying

willcookforfriends

Chef's knife standing upright in a whole yellow onion under a How To Cut An Onion without the tears title

43. Measure Sticky Ingredients Without Mess

thehungrytravelerblog

Hand pouring honey from a purple measuring cup into a small blue bowl, with a sticky ingredients tip card

44. Keep Your Pots From Boiling Over

melissasloveoffood

Wooden spoon laid across the top of a black pot of foamy boiling water on a stovetop

45. Fry Perfect Eggs In Mason Jar Lids

46. Grow Herbs in A Jar

consumercrafts

Four mason jars of mint, rosemary and other herbs growing in soil in a black wire caddy, with a title banner

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Coolest Cooking Hacks, Tips and Tricks for Easy Meal Prep, Recipe Shortcuts and Quick Ideas for Food | Make Fastest Cooking Pasta Ever |