13 Of The Best Food Hacks That Will Make Your Life Easier

We could all do with some help in the kitchen, right? Whether you want to reduce kitchen waste, save money or get dinner on the table quicker, we’ve got it sorted…

Stop avocados going brown

It’s a well known fact that squeezing lemon or lime juice over the cut side of an avocado will keep it greener for longer. But The Family Cooks takes it one step further. Actually slice up a lemon and lay the slices over the cut avocado to keep it fresh, before wrapping it up. This way, you can unpack your salad and have bright-green avocado waiting for you at lunchtime.

Know when your steak is cooked

You don’t have to hack a steak to pieces in the pan to see how well it’s cooked inside - thanks to this graphic, from The Paper Mama, you can give it a prod with a clean fingertip and compare it to which part of your hand it’s most similar to as it cooks. You - and your non-stick pans - can be forever grateful.

Keep your drinks cold with frozen berries

Ice melts, so you can end up with a watered-down drink. So drop in frozen berries instead. Grapes work well, especially in wine - as well as blueberries and strawberries. Frozen raspberries defrost quite quickly in the glass, but they do look - and taste - lovely. Tip: eat the wine-soaked berries afterwards. Yum.

Cut lots of grapes with just one slice

Had enough of cutting individual grapes, pitted olives or cherry tomatoes in half? Takes ages, doesn’t it? Try this grape-slicing tip from My Mommy Style and spread them between a couple of tupperware lids, press the top one down gently and slice your knife between them.

Never cry again when cutting onions

Here’s a nifty trick for cutting onions without the need for swimming goggles, candles or a scuba mask. Just give your onions a quick chill in the fridge before you’re ready to cut them. The cold temperature helps stop the chemical reaction that causes the fumes (and the crying).

Replace eggs in baking with… bananas

So you’re making a cake. You’ve creamed your butter and sugar together and… where are the eggs? If you run out of eggs, don’t panic. Just use mashed bananas. One mashed banana is about equal to one egg in a baking recipe. You can also use them for making pancakes, too - just make sure you don’t run out of maple syrup, though.

Keep fresh cut herbs fresh for longer

Herbs can, if left in their plastic packets, turn black and soggy within a few days. Some of them, like basil, you can’t even keep in the fridge at all. Want to get a few more days’ wear out of your cut herbs? Then stand them up in a glass of water, just like you would a lovely bouquet of flowers. Have a look at this, and more ideas for keeping fresh herbs fresher on A Spicy Perspective.

Freeze red wine in ice cubes for chucking into stews

You just want to give that stew a little more richness. All you need is a little slosh of wine. But wait - don’t go out and buy a whole bottle - just trickle the last of a bottle of wine into an ice cube tray and freeze. You’ll have perfectly-portioned cubes of red wine that you can just drop into stews and sauces, whenever you need it - without buying a whole bottle every time.

Hull strawberries with a straw

Still cutting off half the strawberry to get that tough core out? Then check this out. Just slide a straw up through the middle of the strawberry and the core - and the leafy green top - will be removed, with a minimum of waste. This idea’s from Mary, at Barefeet In The Kitchen.

Make a cheese toasted sandwich - with a toaster

Well this changes everything. Thanks to Mackenzie at Grilled Cheese Social, you don’t even need a sandwich toaster to make a cheese toastie. Just a regular toaster flipped on its side. Check out the full instructions on her website.

Use a whole biscuit as the base for individual cheesecakes

I know, I know. Weighing biscuits and then smashing them up, melting butter, stirring it all together and pressing into a cake tin - all that and you haven’t even started with the filling. To save time, use a whole biscuit as the base for individual cheesecakes set in muffin cases. The Girl Who Ate Everything has used an Oreo for these gorgeous little cheesecakes but you could try whatever biscuits you like.

Peel a whole head of garlic in under 60 seconds

Peeling garlic by hand is a bit fiddly. And smashing it with the side of a big, sharp knife just squeezes out all its juice. Bonnie at The Pin Junkie shared this idea for peeling a whole bulb of garlic in under one minute. Just drop it into a tupperware tub and shake.

Turn unwanted sandwich crusts into fancy breadsticks

Always cutting the crusts off sandwiches? Wish you weren’t wasting so much bread? Then save them. Drizzle with a little olive oil, finely grate over some Parmesan, add a pinch of Italian herbs and a crushed garlic clove or two and bake for 15 minutes at 200ºC/gas mark 6. Golden, toasty breadsticks.

Any food hacks of your own you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter, now.