When I was growing up my mom cooked a lot of our meals. Eating out was a treat we had on special occasions. Our dinners at home together were enjoyable and they were a great way to spend extra time together. I enjoy my mom's cooking still today.
Some of the meals I cook for my family I cook from scratch. I am incorporating making these delicious meals more often. I enjoy continuing to learn how to make delicious recipes from scratch, but I also like easy recipes, saving time. Fortunately, you do not have to always spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking.
Learning to cook from scratch does not mean mastering it all at once. You can take it slow. It is important to not feel overwhelmed in hopes that cooking from scratch can become a habit.
Here, I am including 17 easy tips for beginners learning to cook from scratch
17 Easy Tips for Learning to Cook from Scratch
Tip 1: Look at the benefits
- When you cook from scratch, you know exactly what is in your food. There is no guessing. What a great thing. You have control over what you add and what you keep out of your recipes.
- Cooking from scratch can be a money saver. Rather than buying prepackaged foods, when I cook from scratch, it is often less expensive when I purchase specific ingredients.
- It can become a family bonding experience when cooking from scratch. I for example enjoy teaching my daughters these cooking skills in little time.
Tip 2: It is Healthy
Is cooking at home healthier?
When we make homemade meals, we can have control over making them healthier. We have control on the portion sizes that we use when cooking. We can use the amounts of ingredients that we know are healthy.
Tip 3: Have Pantry staples
It is a great idea to keep some items on hand for when you want to cook from scratch. This can help to prevent extra grocery shopping.
Below is a list of some pantry staples for when you cook from scratch.
- Flour
- Sugar
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Vanilla extract
- Assorted seasonings including salt, black pepper and chili powder.
- Olive oil
- Soy sauce
- Rice
- Beans
- Potatoes
- Onions
- Cinnamon
- Yeast for breads
Tip 4: Include Refrigerator staples
Here is a list of some refrigerator staples to keep on hand.
- Eggs including hard-boiled eggs
- Milk
- Butter
- Bell pepper
- Lemon
- Lime
Tip 5: Start small
When cooking, whether you are a beginner cook or have experience, you do not have to make everything from scratch. Unless of course you would like to. Start small when you cook from scratch. Perhaps starting with a condiment or one dish. As time goes on, you can build upon your cooking from scratch collection of recipes.
For some meal ideas when you may not want to100 percent of the time cook from scratch, please check out how to turn pantry staples into meals.
Tip 6: Meal plan
When thinking about what to eat, it is a great idea to plan out our meals ahead of time. This ensures that we have the ingredients that we need when we cook from scratch. You are also ensuring that you are making your families favorite meals.
It does not have to be a daunting task. Set a little bit of time aside to meal plan. If you are not sure what to cook on
particular days, it's a good idea to make a menu anyway. You can even choose each day as it comes what to make from your menu.
Tip 7: Read the recipe
I have found myself not reading through an entire recipe first, only to find that I missed something. Take the time to read through it. I find that when I read just the recipe, I can determine if it is something I will have time to make on certain days and of course what ingredients I need.
Doing this is an easy way to ensure that you are making the recipe correctly and completing the steps in the right order.
Tip 8: Organize your space
Keeping your pantry, cabinets and counters nicely organized, can help things to run smoothly. When things are cluttered, it may prevent us from even wanting to cook. Trying to find everything we need may then become stressful. Keep everything in its' right place so that you know just where to go to gather what you need.
Are you looking for some ways to organize your pantry? Please check out 10 Simple Tips to Organize Your Pantry on the Cheap!
Tip 9: Batch cook
Do you enjoy having a night or two off from cooking? Batch cooking can help with making that possible. When you are meal planning, consider what you wouldn't mind eating twice in one week. Then plan on having enough ingredients for two of a particular meal. The second one can be refrigerated if you plan on eating it soon after the first one or freeze for later.
Batch cooking extra meals and freezing them for when we just do not feel like cooking, saves time and money. Perhaps after a stressful day, all you have to do is take it out of the freezer and heat it up.
Tip 10: Use fresh produce in season
Buying fresh produce in season can add great flavoring to your recipes. In addition to that, buying in season can save money too.
Enjoy the refreshing tastes of the season. We can include them in everything from the main dish, sides and desserts.
Tip 11: Check out Cookbooks
Try checking out a cooking from scratch cookbook. You can choose several to use or simply pick one or two that you like the best. Remember that it is important to keep things simple to feel less overwhelmed. If you find one you like, stick with it. Maybe add a new recipe to try each week.
Tip 12: Make favorite Recipes
Do you have a favorite dish you like to eat? Keeping ingredients on hand for a few of your favorite recipes can come in handy. This is great for times you may not know what you want to make or don't have much time. You will have everything you need at your fingertips.
Tip 13: Have some kitchen tools
Some kitchen tools that are inexpensive can work really well. A couple of my favorite kitchen tools to use when I cook from scratch are a potato peeler, a whisk and a cutting board. They are simple and work well.
Some other kitchen tools to try are a food processor, a cheese grater and a pizza cutter.
Of course, a pizza cutter can be used to cut a pizza, but there are other uses for cooking from scratch it can be used for. One example is when making homemade egg noodles. To cut them into egg noodles, use a pizza cutter to save time.
Tip 14: Kitchen equipment
To cook from scratch, you do not need to have a bunch of equipment. Of course, they can come in handy but is not always necessary to have. If you do not have a piece of equipment that a recipe calls for using, check out a local thrift store. Or you could ask a family member or friend to borrow theirs. This can give you a chance to use one before investing money for long term use. One of my favorite things to use is a crock pot,
Tip 15: Involve loved ones
This would be a great time to spend with a loved one. You could learn to cook from scratch together or one teach the other how to cook from scratch. This could be a good time to not only spend together but to learn together as well. You both could learn meals to cook for years to come.
Tip 16: Clean up as you go
This easy tip can really be a time saver. Rather than allowing dishes to pile up and ingredients to sit around, simply put them away as you use them.
Once I am finished cooking, I know that it is always nice to not have to then clean a messy kitchen. My meal is cooked, and my kitchen is clean.
Tip 17: Enjoy the process
Our time that we spend cooking is what we make of it. Food is a necessity. Cooking our meals can take time. Why not enjoy the process rather than dreading it?
Conclusion
Cooking from scratch can takes patience. But it can be fun and rewarding. You are learning something new. When you cook from scratch you do not have to pick something difficult to make. Choose something that you like and that you have the kitchen tools or equipment to make it with. Do you have any favorite made from scratch recipes? Please share one in the comment section. Thanks!
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