11 tips on how to prepare meals faster
Learn 11 tips on how to cook faster. In this article, you will find out which accessories are worth having in your kitchen, which products and culinary practices will streamline meal preparation. And at the end, check out our quick meal suggestions.
Does cooking have to take several hours every day? Definitely not! Learn the secrets of fast meal preparation. And use the time you save to do what you enjoy.
1. Cook more portions
When preparing a meal, don’t cook just one portion, make more and use the ready meal for the following days. This way of organizing cooking will save you time spent on meal preparation. Portion the finished dish so it’s easy to reheat. You can store ready meals in the fridge or freezer. Freezing extends the shelf life of meals for even months. It’s a convenient way to store food and also helps prevent food waste.
2. Plan meals
When you go grocery shopping, always bring a shopping list with you. With it, you can plan your entire week of meals. The list will save you time in the store because you’ll know exactly what products to buy. And after shopping, you won’t have to wonder what dishes to prepare since you’ll already have all the necessary ingredients. Thanks to meal planning, you’ll spend your time only on cooking, not wondering “What should I eat today?”. And if you don’t know what to do with food leftovers, be sure to check the fridge feature in the Fitatu® app.
3. Use frozen food
Don’t be afraid to buy frozen food. Frozen products have nutritional values similar to raw products. These solutions work well when cooking soups, preparing oatmeal, or as a vegetable side dish for lunch. Ready frozen vegetables save time on preparing a vegetable side dish for lunch – just cook them or throw them in a pan. Before purchasing frozen products, check the ingredients. Choose those with the least food additives.
4. Kitchen equipment
Using kitchen equipment will help shorten meal preparation time. A very convenient tool is a blender, with which you can prepare a smoothie, sauce, sandwich spread, or cream soup in just a few seconds. Another useful tool is the oven. Dishes cooked in the oven are healthier than those fried in a pan, and they usually require less fat. Furthermore, once you place the dish in the oven, you don’t need to focus on cooking and can do other tasks. An alternative to the oven could be an Air fryer, which allows for even faster cooking and frying without using fat. Cutting vegetables and fruits for salads often takes a lot of time, but a food processor can cut that time down. With such equipment, you can quickly chop nuts or herbs as well. Multi-functional food processors can become your friend in the kitchen, minimizing manual labor. Many of them contain software that shows cooking tips and includes recipes.
5. Use lids
If you don’t cover the pot with water or soup while cooking, the time it takes to bring it to a boil will significantly increase. This simple trick can shorten your meal preparation time by even a few minutes.
6. Soak legumes or use ready products
Legume seeds require thermal processing before consumption. This is why many people exclude them from their diet. However, this is not a good solution. Legumes provide valuable vitamins and minerals, and they are also a source of fiber and protein in the diet. To prepare them faster, soak the legumes in water before going to bed and leave them covered. The next day, change the water and bring it to a boil. Soaking legumes reduces cooking time and makes them easier to digest. If you forget to soak the legumes, get ready-made legume products in jars or cans. Before choosing such a product, check the label – the shorter the ingredient list and the lower the salt content, the better.
7. Boil water in a kettle
When preparing pasta, rice, groats, or potatoes, you need to boil them first. Don’t waste time heating water on the stove. Boil water in an electric kettle, then pour it into a pot, keep it warm, and cook your product. With this simple trick, you’ll save a few minutes, and during that time, you can prepare the other ingredients.
8. Cut products into smaller pieces
Smaller pieces of vegetables or meat will cook faster. The time spent cutting is definitely shorter than the cooking time. Meat will cook faster when placed on the pan or in the oven, especially if it is stirred in between. Vegetables like potatoes will also cook faster if you cut them into small pieces. This simple step can shorten cooking time by up to 15 minutes.
9. Not every meal requires cooking
Not all meals require cooking. If you have an active day, for a second breakfast or snack, eat a fruit, a handful of nuts, and natural yogurt. These simple meals don’t require preparation and allow you to use valuable time for other activities. Always have healthy snacks with you and remember about them when making your shopping list. When hunger strikes and you don’t have healthy products on hand, you might end up buying an unhealthy snack impulsively. It’s better to eat tasty, healthy, and nutritious food.
10. How to put the tips into practice?
It’s best to apply all the tips together while cooking. To shorten the meal preparation time to a minimum, cook several dishes at once. You can bake meat or fish in the oven along with vegetables. At the same time, you can prepare a soup from vegetables cut with a food processor or from ready frozen products. For the next meal, you can cook it on the pan by frying meat with chopped vegetables and adding grains cooking at the same time. If you have multi-functional kitchen robots like Thermomix, you can create another dish simultaneously. When preparing multiple dishes at once, it’s worth having a timer or an alarm to make sure you don’t exceed the cooking time. With this method, you can prepare meals for the entire week in 2-3 hours. And use the saved time for more interesting activities.
11. Use recipes from the Fitatu app
Don’t waste time coming up with meals. You can find recipes in the Fitatu® app. Be sure to check out our quick meal suggestions.
- Homemade instant soup
- Baked tomatoes with feta
- Nighttime nut porridge
- Wrap with smoked salmon, spinach, mozzarella, and tomato
Fitatu® app
Download the app from the Google Play Store or Apple Store and start tracking your macros with us!
Prefer the web version? No problem. A basic web version is available for our subscribers.
What else is included in Fitatu® Premium?
- over 2000 recipes, plus dozens of new ones every month,
- additional intermittent fasting plans,
- the ability to create shopping lists,
- 7 ready-made meal plans,
- filtering products and recipes,
- more sync options with fitness apps,
- access to the web version of the app,
- no ads!
Fitatu Support Group
Join our Facebook community! Discover inspiring recipes daily, receive support from other healthy eating enthusiasts, and benefit from professional dietitian advice from Fitatu. Get inspired and take care of your health in the best company!
