Save time and keep your health with these easy to follow, quick tips for cooking.

We all have a different method for staying away from stress and desperately trying to avoid a last-minute trip to the grocery store or a takeaway, and quick tips about food preparation can be the solution. Some things are small time savers, and some are the difference between a meal on the table and a sobbing puddle on the floor.

The first step is to work out where help is most needed. Anything you do in advance is a help, and 10 minutes saved can make a huge difference on a busy morning or a late night. If you’re looking to ensure you have healthy meals, lower stress and are more in control, check out what some of our expert planners suggest.

Here are ten quick tips for food you should follow.

quick tips

Plan meals and shopping

Decide which recipes you will make for lunch and dinner and make a list of the items that you will need from the grocery store.

Have the storage options ready

An organized fridge, freezer and pantry can save a lot of time. As can well-labelled storage jars or pots. There is nothing worse than defrosting a salsa only to discover it’s something else.

Set up the kitchen to bulk cook

If you are doing a big cook, then make things easy for yourself. Figure out meals (or parts of meals) that will freeze well and make in large quantities when you cook. There are many dishes that you can cook in advance and then pull out to provide all or most of a family meal. If you’re making something that will freeze, then double the quantity so you’re cooking once and serving twice (or more).

This is one of the best quick tips for food, as many foods can be cooked at the weekend and then stored for later in the week. Even better if you have versatile base ingredients that can be served multiple ways as grains that can all be pre-cooked and then used either as a side, as part of a main dish or baked again, for example, in a muffin.

Cook-off

Getting a few things done at the weekend can make a big difference during the week. It doesn’t have to be a big cook-off, it can be some simple, time-saving actions like washing fruit and veg. Having fruit to grab and go saves a few minutes. Similarly, if vegetables are cleaned and ready to chop, it shaves time off the preparation.

Pre-chop vegetables

 Many veg can be chopped ready to use. Imagine how quick the stir fry is if you have all the veg ready in a sealed bag and just have to cook. Or brassicas ready to steam, or salads ready to chuck in a bowl. One of the quick tips to follow is about salads. The trendy mason jar method is a good way to have a salad all ready for when you need it. Or wash greens and then store against a paper towel to absorb moisture ready to use later in the week.

Pre-chop fruits, however, is one of the quick tips to easily make smoothies in the morning. If you like an early smoothie you can always bag up the ingredients so it’s blitz and go in the morning. Or freeze bags of ingredients for use later.

Slow cooker recipes

Prepare the ingredients and then tip into the slow cooker of a morning so you have a meal ready for the evening.

Easy eggs

This is one of our favorite quick tips for food, as boiled eggs keep super well. You can whip up a batch at the beginning of the week (did you know you can cook in muffin trays in the oven?) and they are perfect for lunch, as sandwich fillers or in salads.

Portion snacks

If you have nuts or dried fruit as a snack or splitting up cracker packets for your kids lunches, then doing that in one session saves heaps of time later.

Bulk cook

If you’re roasting one chicken, why not do two? It makes a lot of sense when you realize you then have plenty of leftovers for sandwich fillings, a quiche and a gourmet pizza. This applies to many other foods. Roast pumpkin to have with the beef, on skewers with the lamb, whizzed up to make soup and then combined with chickpeas for a hummus. You can also think at multi-purpose recipes to save time.

Bake mini versions

This is one of the quick tips about food that may sound counter-intuitive but you can often bake frittata, muffins, quiches etc. in mini muffin tins. You can then freeze and use for lunches or serve several as part of dinner. Making smaller ones means rotating and providing variety is easy.