The Ultimate Kitchen Hacks For Smart Midweek Cooking

It's not just the recipe that determines your cooking time in the kitchen - there are a whole host of other factors that can help you avoid spending unnecessary, valuable minutes whipping up your food. We developed the Meal Packs meal subscription app to help you cheat your way to a tasty, speedy midweek meal every time.

Here's the lowdown from the Sorted chefs to provide you with some awesome tips on your kitchen, workspace layout and how to navigate as you cook. Making a few changes could save you a load of hassle and panic. Though the audio guides within the Meal Packs will teach you as you go, these tips will help you get your kitchen prepped beforehand so you can really make the most of the app and your Meal Packs!

1. Have a Kettle On Hand

To save time waiting for a pan of water to come up to the boil, use a kettle. Simples!

2. Fork, Knife + Spoon

Having a bowl of water to hand for a basic fork, knife and spoon means you can test stuff really easily and quickly once it's done. Is your sauce seasoned well? Is your rice fluffy enough? Prick a potato to see if it's cooked through. The water means you can keep the utensils clean for constant reuse.

3. Keep Utensils, Oils + Salt and Pepper Near The Hob

This tip speaks for itself. You don't want to be banging your head opening cupboards, or bending down to find the right bottle or spatula. Have the vitals to hand and grabbing these bits & bobs will become second. Also, a trendy utensil pot looks great but have you filled it with the practical items you 100% need in the kitchen? Get rid of the clutter!

4. Grab a Bowl Waste Bin

If you're able to have your bin super close to your work station - great! If not, grab a big bowl that you can use as an interim waste disposal container. Plonk all your peel and packaging in here (you can have two for recyclables!)

5. Double Up On Chopping Boards

So you don't have to keep washing up, we love having two choppers to hand. One for meat and one for veggies.

6. Ensure Your Knives Are Sharp

To keep up speed (and keep your fingertips!), make sure your knives are in tip-top condition. A blunt knife is just no good, not to mention dangerous.

7. Kitchen Cloth

Gone are the days of oven gloves - they're hard to clean, wear out quickly and cause more issues than solve when you're trying to quickly pull out hot stuff from the oven. Buy a few good quality thick cotton kitchen cloths as they have ten times more the utility.

8. Clean As You Go

Perhaps the most important tip of all! If you can train yourself to clean as you go, when you finish cooking, you'll be finished for good for the evening! It also reduces clutter around the kitchen and keeps your workspaces nice and free for ongoing prep.

Hopefully, now you can buy back some of your evenings, up your relaxation and spend more time with the family - after a delicious meal of course! And don't forget to try out some of the seriously speedy Meal Packs available.

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