Whether you enjoy cooking or not, not everyone has the time to spend the day in the kitchen. Most parents are too busy working, taking care of household chores and keeping an eye on their children.
If you’re in the same boat, you need as many shortcuts as possible to get a home-cooked meal on time.
Here are nine dinner shortcuts you can try out yourself.
Grab the Crockpot
Make the most of your crockpot when creating an effortless meal. Most people love the crockpot since all you do is dump your ingredients into the pot and let it cook for you.
However, you should avoid waiting until dinner time is here. While some recipes only take three hours to cook. Other recipes take up to eight hours to make.
One quick tip is to gather all the ingredients in the morning. Throw it into the slow cooker and let it simmer all day until it’s time to eat.
Use a Mixer for Shredded Chicken
Instead of using your hands to shred chicken manually, why not try a mixer? Whether you have a hand mixer or stand mixer, these cooking devices save you time shredding chicken.
Before you start the shredding process, boil your chicken first. Then while it’s still hot, add the chicken to a bowl and use your mixer to shred.
It’s so easy that you won’t ever go back to manual shredding again.
Use Parchment Paper
Parchment paper will always be a life-saver when it comes to cleaning.
Consider lining the pan with parchment paper when you bake or roast your meal. Using this to line your pans will save you from having to scrub them during clean-up time.
Parchment paper is oven-safe. Plus, it makes your meals easier to transfer into a container if you need to save the rest for later.
Grab Takeout
One of the most obvious dinner shortcuts is to save yourself the hassle and grab takeout.
Yes, you might be spending extra money. However, you have no reason to feel guilty about it, especially when cooking for a family is always challenging.
Whether you love savory Asian cuisine meals or want to keep it simple and order a pizza, there’s no shame. It’s better than standing in front of the fridge for twenty minutes trying to figure out what to cook for dinner.
Batch Cook and Freeze
Batch cooking and freezing are perfect for those meals that take a good while to cook. For instance, quinoa takes around 25 minutes to cook fully.
You can save time by cooking large batches and placing them in the freezer. This is the perfect dinner shortcut if you have limited time and little energy like many others.
Now you won’t have to consider what to make for dinner. You have quinoa ready to cook in the microwave.
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Make Salads
The easiest way to save time on dinner is to go with a simple salad. Salads are quick and easy to make. Plus, if you need to add some protein, here’s a quick tip.
On Sundays, cook a batch of chicken on the grill. That way, you have healthy and delicious-tasting chicken salads for the entire week.
Buy Prepped Packs of Veggies
Freshly chopped veggies are great and everything. However, sometimes it’s worth it to buy the prepped vegetables that come in a package.
If you go to your local grocery store, they should have packaged veggies washed and chopped near the produce section.
You can also get the same packages that have ready-to-cook meats. For example, they have cooked, frozen chicken strips ready to heat up. You can practically make an instant stir-fry by mixing the two types of packages.
Marinate Meat and Freeze
Have you ever grabbed chicken out of the fridge and realized it needs to marinate for several hours beforehand?
Whenever you freeze your chicken or any other meat, make sure to freeze it with the marinade. While it’s thawing, you save a step in the process.
Plus, the meat marinating while freezing and defrosting will still taste just as good as marinating in the fridge.
Buy a Rotisserie Chicken
Rotisserie chickens are perfect because they’re already made. They taste delicious and you get a ton of meat cheaper than an entire meal at McDonald’s.
Once you get home, grab a fork and shred the chicken. As soon as you have your shredded chicken, you can use it as a base protein for practically any meal.
For example, you can make shredded chicken tacos in such a small amount of time.
Make Cooking Dinner Easy
Your schedule is busy, and who has the time to make dinner every night these days? Instead of wasting precious time cooking an entire meal, use these tricks above to cook your favorite meals fast.
Start by planning your meals first, so you’re not stuck figuring out what’s for dinner.
About The Author
Ava Roman (she/her) is the Managing Editor of Revivalist, a women’s lifestyle magazine that empowers women to live their most authentic life. When Ava is not writing you’ll find her in a yoga class, advocating for body positivity, whipping up something delicious in the kitchen, or smashing the patriarchy.