We’ve all experienced this not-so-great cooking situation - you spend a ton of time following a recipe, creating a meal, and the end result is bland and boring. Over the years, we’ve picked up a few tricks to make sure we never end up in this situation. Even if a recipe has left a lot to be desired in the taste department, there are many things you can do to turn a meal from “meh” to “hot dang!"

Go from average cook to amazing cook.

To start learning how to flavor your cooking, we’ll share 3 small and easy tips. Once you apply these changes to your cooking, you’ll see a difference in the taste of your meals and also adopt the habits and mentality of a master cook!

It’s really hard to flavor a big chunk of meat or a big block of tofu. However, if you chop it up into smaller pieces, you have more area that gets exposed to seasoning and caramelization, which means a tastier piece of protein. It’s one reason why stir-fries are so good. Smaller pieces of chicken coated in sauce is usually tastier than a big chicken breast covered in sauce; there simply is more surface area for flavors to seep into and adhere to.

Unless you’ve been explicitly told by your doctors to lower your salt intake for medical reasons, don’t be afraid of salt. It’s a crucial part of cooking and truly enhances the natural flavor of your ingredients. Salt and tenderize a piece of protein a day before you cook it, and you’ll see a huge difference in the taste of it. If making a soup, saute, or stir-fry, add a dash of salt with each ingredient to give your meal more time to develop flavors.

Employing this last tip is how you go from an average cook to an amazing cook. We know it’s so much more comfortable to follow a recipe, but recipes are just guides. Regardless of what the recipe says, you have final control over the taste of your food, so never settle for a bland dish! If you’ve used the two tips above and your meal is still not super tasty, there are still plenty of ways to impart flavor into your finished product.

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