1.
“When making potato salad, add a little dill pickle juice as the final ingredient. My Polish grandmothers, both immigrants, taught me this trick.”
2.
“My grandmother made the best sugar cookies, and the trick is to use lard. Lard makes the best cookies, pastries and cookies. It adds a subtle flavor and distinct body to baked goods that shortening doesn’t. can’t touch. It also beats butter, because butter tends to make things a little tough. Save your butter for the frosting!
-Clear
3.
“Use seasoned rice vinegar instead of lime juice in your guacamole. You can thank me later.”
4.
“Three words: Lipton. Onion. Packets. Add one to dishes like meatloaf, beef stew or potatoes before roasting. I add it to so many recipes and people wonder always what’s the secret. A packet of Lipton onions is the game changing ingredient, passed down from my mother and aunt.
—Kara, Tennessee
5.
“I thicken my New England clam chowder with instant potatoes.”
6.
“When measuring sticky ingredients like honey, maple syrup or cornstarch, spray cooking spray into the measuring cup first to prevent the ingredient from sticking. It will flow immediately and you won’t leave none behind.”
—Meeesh
7.
“Always save your parmesan rinds! Store them in the freezer and throw them into soups before moving on to the simmering stage. It’s perfect in Italian soups like pasta and fagioli or tomato-based soups You can even add a rind to chicken noodle soup. It’s such a nice background flavor that will enhance your dish.
8.
“Adding any flavor of instant pudding mix to a sugar cookie recipe is a quick way to make delicious cookies. Additionally, always add more vanilla extract to cookies than needed. If a recipe calls for a teaspoon, I change it to a tablespoon!
—Joe, New Jersey
9.
“At my house, we marinate the meats we are going to grill (like steak, pork chops, or chicken) in Italian dressing or French dressing at least an hour before grilling. The dressing adds wonderful flavor .”
ten.
“We sharpen knives using the bottoms of ceramic bowls. My mother has done this my whole life, and I always thought it was common knowledge until I saw a YouTube video where people were shocked and excited to learn this trick.”
-Anonymous
11.
“When making sugar cookies, roll them out in sugar, not flour, to prevent sticking. The result is so much tastier.”
12.
“Save the water from the boiling potatoes to use in the gravy. It’s a great thickener and tastes amazing.”
—Elizabeth
13.
“Grating onions on an A-shaped cheese grater is easier and faster than chopping them (plus it keeps your eyes from getting burned). The onions “melt” into the recipe and mix better. Along the same lines, use your cheese grater for egg salad with a better mouth feel, it’s quick work, better consistency and a more attractive appearance.
14.
“Add a little Sprite or club soda to pancake batter. The carbonation makes them lighter and airier, and you can’t even taste the soda!”
-Anonymous
15.
“For fluffy rice, add a little vinegar, and for shiny rice, add a little sake before cooking the rice. Don’t worry, it won’t taste like vinegar or sake at all.”
16.
“Soak Cuban bread in warm water, squeeze out the excess and add it to your meatball recipe. You’ll get the softest, tastiest meatballs ever! »
-Anonymous
17.
“My sister taught me this quick egg salad recipe that I swear by. She scrambles a few eggs, and while they’re still pretty moist, she adds a little garlic powder. Then she finishes scrambling until the eggs are almost dry. She removes the pan from the heat, adds mayonnaise and mixes everything together. You can also add chopped ham, onions. , etc.
18.
“I make taco meat and sloppy Joe’s from scratch, but the problem is that they can sometimes get too watery (probably from cooking the onions). When I was a kid, my mom would thicken these recipes with instant mashed potato flakes from a can. Just a little bit will remove excess liquid.
—Brad, Ohio
19.
“My mother always made vinaigrette and her secret was to add an ice cube by shaking it. This allows the flavors to blend more harmoniously.”
20.
“My mother always put sugar in the cooking water when boiling fresh corn. The corn is always sweet and juicy.”
—Rose, Florida
21.
“Sear your meat before simmering or roasting it, especially in a slow cooker (and especially beef). This makes the difference between tough, relatively tasteless meat and meat that falls apart with a fork. too many years making mediocre beef stews and I was roasting and didn’t understand why.”
22.
“My husband’s grandmother always added a little oil to the pot of water when she made hard-boiled eggs. The shells peeled off immediately. It’s a real game changer!”
—Courtney, Oregon
23.
“My grandmother loved baking. She made the best cakes from a boxed mix. Her tip: replace the water with milk, add an extra minute of mixing time with an electric hand mixer and turn on the cake in the freezer for several hours before frosting. I’ve followed this advice for years and it works.”
24.
“Marinate chicken in pickle juice for great-tasting fried chicken.”
25.
“Using kitchen scissors to cut a chicken breast is much easier than using a knife. You have much more control and effectively cut away unwanted tissue without wasting the good parts of the chicken.”
—Meeesh
26.
“Instead of greasing and flouring a cake pan, butter it generously and coat it with white caster sugar. It never sticks and forms a thin crust on the outside of the cake to keep the inside moist.”
Do you have one to add? Tell me about a cooking tip or recipe that you learned from your family or that has been passed down from generation to generation. You can also submit your response via this anonymous form.