Whether you’re an aspiring Gordon Ramsey or just learning how to cook, meal prep can be a boring task. Unless you have a gifted prep chef hanging around your kitchen you will likely be prepping all the food for your creative recipes. Whilst the task is necessary, it can be super boring and time-consuming. Fear not, we’ve collated some of the best ways to speed up the process and make it a little less mundane. Read on to find out how.
- Invest In A Great Knife Set
Chopping, slicing, and dicing. It’s virtually impossible to create a meal without a knife. A great quality blade doesn’t always come cheap but is worthy of a little splurge. A comfortable handle is a must. Look for one with grooves for the best possible grip. Don’t forget to keep your knives sharp. A dull blade will cause you to push harder with the knife, making it more likely to injure yourself. Plus, it will slow down your prep if you’re having to continually saw backward and forwards with every slice. Purchase a good-quality sharpening stone to keep your knives in good shape. A good knife should last you years and a sharpening stone will make that even longer. Always wash your knife as soon as you’ve finished using it and dry it (carefully!) to avoid any rusting.
- Batch Prepare Sauces
Rather than prepping and cooking sauces for each individual meal, make your go-to dressings in advance. If you’re a big fan of pesto make enough for around several portions and keep a jar in the fridge for up to a week.
- Add A Mandolin To Your Tools
Although a great knife should be able to do most of the prep leg work, a mandolin is perfect for creating super thin slices without the risk of cutting yourself. Make your own healthy chips by slicing potatoes, beetroot, and parsnips into small slivers and popping them in your oven or air fryer.
- Use A Hand Blender
If you love sauces, soups and purees a hand blender is a great cost-effective tool to add to your kitchen. Forget huge, heavy blenders that spill and cause a mess, a hand blender whizzes up fruit, veg, and chunky liquids to create smooth sauces in seconds – plus it will make you feel super fancy and professional!
- Speed Up Breakfast With An Egg Cooker
Poached, hard-boiled, or scrambled? However you like your eggs in the morning, a specialist cooker will slash prep time in half. Super healthy and filling they are a fantastic option for a meal or snack but waiting around for them to cook can be a bore. Popping them into a cooker will leave you time to prep the rest of your meal and reduce clean up, just look for one with dishwasher-safe plates and you’ll have delicious, effortless eggs with no hard work required!
What’s your meal prep savior? Share in the comments for other budding chefs!