My meal planning facilities round a continuing battle between desirous to cook dinner extra meals at residence and debating whether or not I’ve sufficient time to make one thing from scratch. Even with out kids, a canine, or many commitments past work and socializing, I regularly discover myself brief on time within the kitchen, so I can’t think about how individuals with extra obligations should really feel.

From pre-marinated proteins to jarred pasta sauces, I rely closely on shortcuts to cook dinner scrumptious meals shortly. Don’t get me fallacious; when I’ve a full day to arrange for a cocktail party, I like dicing a mountain of mirepoix and slowly simmering one thing based on precise recipe directions, however that’s not lifelike on many weeknights. As an alternative, I usually flip to TikTok hacks.

The prevalence of cooking content material on social media has given us tens of millions of concepts for what to cook dinner and put together it. Many are horrible, however some are surprisingly good, and a choose few solutions have even develop into an everyday a part of my meal prep technique. Listed below are 5 of my favourite hacks for saving time whereas cooking, all courtesy of TikTok.

Shred your rotisserie hen in a bag

Choosing up a rotisserie hen from the grocery retailer is already a simple method to lower down on cooking time, however you’ll be able to pace issues up much more. As an alternative of painstakingly slicing the meat off the hen, many content material creators have showcased their favourite method to shortly debone it: placing the rotisserie hen in a Ziploc bag.

Squeeze any air out of the bag, shut it tightly, then roll the hen in your countertop whereas urgent down on it. The meat ought to separate from the bones pretty shortly; as soon as all of the meat has come free, switch it to a bowl and take away the bones. As an added bonus, this system will enable you get extra meat off the hen, so none of it goes to waste.

Cease peeling shells when making egg salad

To me, few make-ahead meals are higher than egg salad. It’s high-protein, good on a sandwich or scooped with chips and veggies, and it’s simply plain scrumptious. On the similar time, the prospect of peeling a complete carton of eggs has traditionally saved me from making a giant batch each week — till I discovered this trick.

In lieu of boiling entire eggs, content material creators have demonstrated bake eggs with out their shells, so that they needn’t peel them later. Crack the eggs right into a well-greased, oven-safe container, comparable to a cake or loaf pan. Set that container in a bigger pan and add water to the larger vessel, making a water tub that surrounds the eggs. (The water tub is non-compulsory, however it yields a softer texture that comes nearer to boiled eggs.)

Bake the eggs till they’re agency all through, then take away them from the pan. You’ll be able to chop the protein with out spending half-hour on tedious peeling.

Core a head of iceberg lettuce simply

This hack will solely prevent a couple of seconds, however whenever you’re prepping dinner in a rush, each second issues. Most significantly, this trick for shortly coring a head of iceberg lettuce will make breaking down the leafy inexperienced slightly simpler.

It’s not a brand new approach, however it’s throughout social media, and it truly works. As dozens of influencers have demonstrated, after banging a head of iceberg lettuce on the counter — with the core going through down and hitting the exhausting floor — you’ll be able to merely twist and take away the core; no quartering or carving out is required.

Give your self the reward of minced garlic at any time

If you happen to hate peeling and mincing garlic cloves each time you want them, or end up usually skipping garlic in a dish since you’re in a rush, this technique will enable you add extra taste to meals with out having to cut an allium each time you cook dinner. It does require slightly preparation prematurely, however utilizing a weekend afternoon to set your self up for fulfillment later is price it.

To start out, you’ll have to snag a big container of pre-peeled garlic cloves; you will discover these at bulk shops like Costco and Sam’s Membership, or choose up a number of smaller containers of peeled garlic from most different main grocery chains. Pulse the garlic in a meals processor till finely minced, then switch it to a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Take away as a lot air as you’ll be able to from the bag, seal it tightly, then flatten the garlic into a skinny layer. 

Subsequent, use a chopstick or the again of an extended knife to attain indented strains via the garlic, dividing it into sections of about two sq. inches every. This makes the garlic squares simple to separate later, so you’ll be able to retailer the bag in your freezer and break off a single serving of the allium everytime you want it.

Use your rice cooker for extra than simply rice

This isn’t a suggestion for one particular rice cooker meal, however slightly an endorsement of the equipment’s capacity to cook dinner greater than only a grain. TikTok is filled with simple rice cooker recipes that use the software as a set-it-and-forget-it methodology for making dinner in a single pot. Most rice cooker meals are additionally customizable, so in case you don’t have time to cut greens, you should utilize frozen ones as an alternative. Use the time it takes to cook dinner the meal to get one thing else in your to-do checklist finished, then eat dinner straight from the rice cooker to cut back cleanup.