Do you find yourself arguing with your partner regularly about what to make for dinner? You two go back and forth and then ultimately decide on that one food that you seem to make every single week. For some people that may be tacos, for others it may be grilling hamburgers. Regardless of what those go-to foods are, we want to stop that train of thought.

There are thousands of different variations to make one single dish. We’re here to help you figure out new cooking techniques that you may not have even realized existed. For example, did you know you can deep fry sweets or grill vegetables? While it’s not traditional for many, the results can be delicious! Here are 6 different cooking methods you should try and spice up your kitchen with.

The 6 cooking methods you should try next

Grilling

For many people, grilling is already a staple, or at the very least a viable option. Grilling is a quick heating technique used for cooking many types of food. Although it’s one of the most renowned methods to cook meat.

Benefits

  • It’s healthier because grilling is usually done on grates, which help drip fats into the flames as the food cooks. Additionally, there’s no need for adding butter when grilling compared to trying to fry something.
  • Grilling is usually done outside, so it’s a great way to get outdoors, which is tough for some people these days. Because you’re outdoors, it can be great for socializing as well, whether you’re with family or friends.
  • Grilling can be done with charcoal, propane, or electrically. A lot of people love the distinct flavor from charcoal grills.

Food to Grill

  • Meats such as hamburgers, chicken, hot dogs, and more
  • Vegetables such as corn on the cob and asparagus can be great on the grill
  • If you want to get real creative, you can even grill fruits such as pineapple or peaches

Steaming

The steaming cooking is a moist-heat styled technique. It involves boiling water at a high enough temperature to vaporize into steam. The steam is actually what cooks the food. That being said, it’s different from boiling, as that is simply putting the food into the boiling method. In the steaming method, you’ll be keeping the boiling water and food separate.

Benefits

  • Steaming is healthy because it helps hold the food’s vitamins and minerals. Other methods may find these nutrients seep into cooking water or oil.
  • Additionally, steaming helps loosen up the fibers in foods, making it easy for your body to digest.
  • Lastly, it’s a very versatile cooking method. It can be great for vegetables and meats. There’s nothing quite like tenderized meat.

Food to Steam

  • Vegetables
  • Seafood such as shrimp or fish

Deep Frying

Deep frying consists of encasing food in hot oil. The oil crisps the outside of the food while the steam from the heat cooks through the interior of the food. Deep frying can be done via deep fryer or over the stove in a deep pot. Many people eat deep fried foods from restaurants and fast-food chains but never try it from home.

Benefits

  • One of the quickest methods of cooking
  • Provides a juicy interior with a crisp exterior

Food to Deep Fry

  • From chicken wings to traditional fried chicken, there are a million ways to deep fry chicken.
  • Sweets from deep fried Oreos, donuts, and funnel cakes have been an increasingly popular deep fried dish.

Baking

Baking food is one of the easiest cooking methods because it simply involves putting something into the oven and letting the oven do the work. On some dishes, you may need to flip foods halfway through, but for the most part, it’s a pain-free experience.

Benefits

  • The easiest method to cook as it doesn’t require any additional work outside of food prep.
  • It’s also fairly healthy because you can avoid using many different kinds of oils compared to having to fry something over the stove.
  • The number of dishes you can make is vast. Baking is one of the methods that can produce almost any kind of food easily.

Food to Bake

  • Everybody loves baking sweets. Cakes, brownies, and cookies are just some of the most popular sweets to bake.
  • If you’re ever looking for a way to make meat that requires little effort, bake it. From bacon to hamburgers, simply throw some meat on a grated tray over a cookie sheet, and you can cook just about any kind of meat.
  • Lasagna and other related dishes bake extremely well and offer delicious results

Air Frying

Air frying came around as an appliance very similar to the deep fryer. However, its greatly grown in popularity in recent years due to the fact it tries to emulate the deep fryer without the use of oil. An air fryer works by simply providing enough steam to thoroughly cook the food. In a sense, it’s very similar to the steaming method of cooking.

Benefits

  • It’s much healthier than a deep fryer has you can use as little as no oil to get the job done.
  • It’s one of the most versatile smaller appliances because it can cook food with or without oil or steam food slowly. It has some functionalities of an oven, deep fryer, and steamer all in one appliance.

Food to Air Fry

  • Many people enjoy making entrees such as chicken with their air fryers.
  • Steamed vegetables are a staple for air fryer users.

Sauteing

Sauteing a dry-heat cooking method that consists of using a little bit of oil at high heat to quickly brown and cook foods. It works great with vegetables and thin slices of meat.

Benefits

  • Compared to pan frying, it uses much less oil, so it offers better results for our health.
  • Because high heat is used, the time to cook decreases significantly.
  • Additionally, the lower cook time prevents the food from becoming too mushy over time.

Food to Saute

  • All vegetables are capable of being sauteed.
  • Thinly sliced meat makes for a great choice as you can add so many additional ingredients to spice up flavors with ease.

Final Thoughts

Regardless of how you prefer to cook, there’s a method or two that you should try more often. The kitchen offers endless possibilities, and it’s up to you to try something new. From grilling to baking, and deep frying to air frying, there’s likely a delicious dish waiting for you to try.