Sometimes, a dish is just one ingredient away from perfection. Just ask your grandma – she probably honed the perfect family recipe for years before discovering the one thing that took it from delicious to heavenly scrumptious.
Yet not all things that we eat have to have such a rich history. Sometimes, we might just want to make that cup of hot cocoa taste a little bit better. We here at Bored Panda are foodies, too, so we’ve compiled a list of the best cooking hacks that rely on one secret ingredient. Want to know how you can improve your cooking game by adding just one thing? Scroll down and find out!
#1
Adding salt to hot chocolate. It doesn't make it salty at all, but it makes it somehow more chocolatey. Everyone always says my hot chocolate is the best, but I just use prepackaged with milk and a dash of salt! Pureed carrot if I'm trying to cut the acidity without sugar.MSG powder: a sprinkling can really elevate a dish. But people can be so afraid of it because they've been fed misinformation about its health effects. So unless a guest specifically mentions an allergy, I'll keep adding MSG to my food without telling anyone.Adding a splash of orange juice to pumpkin or banana bread. The acidity really adds some brightness against the spices.Espresso powder when baking with chocolate. It intensifies the chocolate flavor.Substitute some of the liquid in Belgian waffles with seltzer or some other benign-flavored carbonated beverage (like ginger ale). Result: super airy, fluffy waffles.When water is called for in a recipe, I use chicken broth instead. It has never not been way better.I add instant mashed potatoes to soup to thicken it up if it turns out too thin.I worked at Jimmy John's for a while and they had us use a little soy sauce in the tuna salad. I've been making it that way ever since (10 years)Baking powder on your chicken skin for extra crispness.I keep parmesan rinds in my freezer for stock, sauces, and stews. I just throw it in after everything else to simmer. It makes a remarkable difference especially in tomato sauces.Cook your rice in broth instead of plain water. Total game changer.Lemon zest in garlic butter, specifically for garlic bread. It's an absolute game changer, even just a little bit.I’ve replaced salt in 75% of my cooking with mushroom extract powder from the Asian market, it still seasons but bumps the umami.Try putting a decent amount of butter in a red sauce. It will taste twice as good and no one will be able to guess the secret.When you're making mashed potatoes boil garlic cloves with the potatoes.Nutmeg in white sauces or soups.I use olive brine/pickle brine to add flavour to a lot of dishes like casseroles, stews, etc. It adds a nice depth of flavourFriend of mine taught me to put herb and garlic cream cheese in my mashed potatoes. Tried dill pickle on my own and if you’ve never had dill pickle mashed you are in for a treatIf a cake recipe calls for milk and eggs; a can of 7-Up (soda) works equally well. The cake is extra moist and light.My friend introduced it to me as Newfie Cake. All you need is one box of Betty Crocker (or similar alternatives) and instead of eggs and milk, one can of 7-Up. I HAVE used it in a brownie and muffin mix, and have had good success.I save all the scraps of my vegetables — onions, garlic, bell peppers, carrots, celery, herb stems, tomatoes, mushrooms — and collect them in a freezer bag and when it’s full I turn it into stock and then use that stock to replace the water while cooking rice, quinoa, lentils, etc.I add sour cream to my boxed Mac n cheese. Makes it creamier and so rich.Worked In a very high end restaurant that locally became quite well known for its cheesecake. It was just cream cheese and marshmallow fluff blended together and put in store bought graham cracker crust.I never tried mixing butter and soy sauce in the same dish until I was in my late twenties, but once I tried it, it quickly became one of my favorite flavor combinations. It's excellent in just about any savory dish. It works especially well with mushrooms.I've recently discovered the wonderful world of anchovies! I've been adding them to nearly all of my savory dishes. Really takes the complexity up a notch by incorporating an umami-ness. My family doesn't know, cause if they did they wouldn't eat it. When I can't find the jarred ones, I settle for the paste. I'll usually add it when sautéing my garlic in butter. Unless you're allergic, you should give it a try!Kraft Mac & Cheese packets.You have to brown the butter, no one ever takes the time to brown the butter.Jello vanilla pudding powder substitutes half of my sugar in cookies! It keeps them super soft for days and gives them almost a cake interior.A tiny amount of tarragon in fries (frozen or homemade), not enough that you get flecks of green on every fry, just a bit enough to get the aroma but people usually have a hard time wondering why the fries taste so good.Adding mayonnaise to eggs when scrambled, omelet, or quiche. It increases their volume and makes them light and fluffy.
