No matter how experienced you are in the kitchen, mistakes happen. As frustrating as it may be, those mistakes help you become a better home cook (and teach you what to do the next time around). Here are a few simple tricks for fixing common cooking mistakes.
If it’s too spicy. If there's a little too much heat, there are a few things you can do:
If it’s too salty. When it comes to salt, a little goes a long way. While you can’t take out the salt, there are a couple of tricks to try and salvage your dish:
If it’s too thin. Is the consistency of your sauce, stew or soup way off? Luckily, this is one of the simplest cooking mistakes to fix:
If it’s too thick. Like a sauce that is too thin, a dish that is too thick is a simple fix! All you need to do is add more of the recipe’s cooking liquid — such as wine, broth or cream.
If it’s bland. Sometimes a dish might look perfect, but it tastes bland and you’re not quite sure what to do about it. This can be the most frustrating mistake, but don’t stress – there are a couple of things to try before dumping it in the garbage.
Three things you can do to try and avoid making these mistakes:
1. Carefully reading recipes start to finish before beginning
2. Watching your food as you cook
3. Tasting as you go.
Originally published April 2015. Updated May 2017.
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