If you were going to ever commit any sort of recipes to your memory -- if you were going to ever cook things so often that they become second nature -- you should look to these twenty. (Or, if they won't all fit in your brain, at least have them at the ready). Because while we're all into big parties and fun experiments and playing around in the kitchen, we've got our staples. We've got the things we turn to for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert -- all week long, when we're hungry or when we're tired or when the mood suddenly strikes. So here are Food52's most essential recipes: the things you really should know -- or strive to learn! -- how to cook.
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Written by: Brette Warshaw
Popular on Food52
53 Comments
cl
March 9, 2015
Rice and Beans, Pastas, soups/stews, salads, baked potato, stir-fry, meatballs/meatloaf, baked/sautéed fish, roasts, bacon, gravies/sauce, fruit crisp, cake, muffins, microwave cooking, omelets
arcane54
January 11, 2015
Simple pan sauce (so versatile); custard; Cook's Illustrated "almost no-stir risotto; shortbread... Endless variations for all of these!
Nancy P.
January 26, 2014
I, too, love this site! It has become my go to for many things.
You cover everything well! Yum!
You cover everything well! Yum!
nunya B.
January 22, 2014
I cant believe you added bread on top of mac and cheese,or carrots and stew beef in chili! yuk!
DianeT
January 18, 2014
Great list. I'd add chicken stock, some sort of braise, like a brisket, and cobbler - and skip the mac and cheese.
scott.finkelstein.5
January 15, 2014
Lost me at including macaroni and cheese and fritata (don't even know what that is) but not chicken-kneidle soup or white fish with a ritz crust.
Wendi
January 14, 2014
Meatloaf/meatballs. Same ingredients, with a variation on the meatballs for hors d'oeuvres
bonbonmarie
January 13, 2014
I would add a good fruit pie to this list. Something you don't need a recipe for, just luscious, just-picked goodness and a flaky crust or crumble to contain it. yum!
KitchenBeard
January 13, 2014
I'd add a good stew. Beef, pork, chicken, whatever, but the process of a one pot multihour braise is a good use of cheap ingredients to produce a complex flavor. B
Bryan P.
January 12, 2014
I actually wouldn't be NEARLY as specific as this list is. Every cook (home cook) should know how to make: 1)scrambled eggs, 2)some form of hot cereal, 3)some form of fried/BBQed meat (skill is generally transferrable), 4)at least one simple pasta dish, 5)at least one complex dish suitable for company, 6)a basic green salad, 7) steamed vegetables and 8)at least one sweet. Everything else is optional. Know these six things and you'll be able to keep yourself and even a family at least relatively happy and healthy. These things should be known BEFORE a person is old enough to drive a car.
Bryan P.
January 12, 2014
Doh, I forgot one....4a)at least one soup..preferably one that can be used as a base and varied.
Ketoko
January 12, 2014
I want to dedicate my life cooking pancakes. There is something mystical in it:)
Happy New Year
Happy New Year
Kitchen G.
January 12, 2014
Survival cooking should include a basic spaghetti, oatmeal cookies, and rice.
MrsPrincess07
January 12, 2014
I love this site!
I know most of my dishes, but it wasn't until I began coming here that they started to look as pictured!
I know most of my dishes, but it wasn't until I began coming here that they started to look as pictured!
Rebecca C.
January 11, 2014
I second Samuel's request for rice instructions. I can cook a lot of wonderful dishes but when it comes to a pot of rice, I always F it up.
Chickenfog
January 11, 2014
EVERY house in Asia, where rice is a daily eaten food, uses a rice cooker. It's bizarre to think that one is somehow 'relying' on it as if one is adding frozen waffles to a toaster. A rice cooker is how to make rice.
Bryan P.
January 12, 2014
I mostly use a rice cooker, but I CAN, at need, make rice using nothing more than rice, water, a pot, a lid, and a heat source. Never be completely dependent on ANY one thing if you can help it.
Bryan P.
January 12, 2014
Oh, and the key to rice without a rice cooker are 1)precision in measuring, 2)not rinsing your rice unless the package calls for it and 3)PATIENCE. Once the lid goes down, you don't lift it for ANYTHING until the time is up. Once the time is up, promptly fluff with a fork (never a spoon) and serve.
Samuel G.
January 12, 2014
I use a cuban method to cook rice. Rince the rice until the water runs clear. 1 cup of rice to 1.75 cups of water. Boil water, add a tablespoon of butter and some salt, then add rice. Simmer with the lid off over medium heat until most of the liquid evaporates and craters form. Turn heat to low and cook for 12 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Comes out perfect (not sticky) for me everytime with jasmine rice. The one thing I hated about living in Korea was the rice was always sticky, which would be borderline offensive in Latin America.
bonbonmarie
January 13, 2014
The type of rice is important to note. 2:1 water to rice ratio for puerto rican style rice, using short-grain pearl rice. Basmati is more like Samuel's recipe above.
shayma
February 26, 2014
Indeed, it is important to know how to make rice. Where I come from, we don't use rice cookers, Pakistanis pride themselves on knowing how to make rice dishes without rice cookers. There is a huge difference between the basmati rice which is made in a rice cooker and that which is made in a pot of water. We throw the water away and let the rice cook in its own steam. Saying that we can make rice in a rice cooker is like saying we can just buy some processed garbage in a box to make pancakes.
Tara O.
March 5, 2014
I must say I agree with Shayma and others, and disagree that a rice cooker is THE way to make rice. Growing up, we never had a rice cooker, my grandmother never used one, I don't remember them in the houses of my relatives in India, and I don't own one now. Honestly, making rice as easy as boiling potatoes. Rice also varies from batch to batch, so cooking in a pot allows for that.
myteachermsfleming
January 11, 2014
I'd add risotto. Butternut squash risotto with white truffle oil...mmmm.
Donata
January 11, 2014
Lentil soup, and a simple/reliable preparation for fish - like en papillote.
Kathy
January 11, 2014
Brownies and pie crust are two. Great list, the next step is to be able to prepare dinner with what is on hand.
A L.
January 11, 2014
I would add fruit pies or tarts, fried rice (my family's favorite way to re-purpose leftovers), and chicken soup
Samuel G.
January 10, 2014
I think really the two big ones are rice and stocks. I know far too many people that rely on rice cookers because they don't know how to make rice, and even more people who waste hours simmering stocks. The key to stock is to mince your aromatics as small as possible to maximize surface area, use parts with collagen (soup bones, necks), and do it in a pressure cooker. A pressure cooker can get you stock that tastes like a double or triple stock in an hour, and if you have an electric pressure cooker then it makes it that much more effortless.
xhille
January 10, 2014
Hrm... obviously not every cook. Stock, roasted veggies, salsa, guacamole, both a quick and a yeast bread (yeasted rolls are awesome), quick pickles, freezer jam, granola, simple syrup, fruit salad, rice.... essential dishes should be diverse and versatile.
That aside, everyone should have at least one knock-out dish they can make when they want to impress the people they're feeding. That's not always going to be hamburgers and chicken and chocolate chip cookies.
That aside, everyone should have at least one knock-out dish they can make when they want to impress the people they're feeding. That's not always going to be hamburgers and chicken and chocolate chip cookies.
Jamillah
January 10, 2014
If we're going for basics, I'd say how to fry an egg (my husband had to teach me how not to destroy it) and how to make rice.
cookinginvictoria
January 10, 2014
Great list. I would add an easy to prepare lentil soup (such as antoniajames's wonderful sausage and lentil version), meatballs (we love the genius version from Rao's restaurant), and pot roast (I am partial to Tom Hirschfeld's recipe with fennel, onions and carrots). I would also include an all-purpose quick bread or a muffin recipe. We find them indispensable to add to lunch boxes, and they are great to have around for quick on-the-go breakfasts and afternoon snacks.
Dennis B.
January 10, 2014
all stocks,,chicken,,beef,veal,fish,vegetable and my fav,,dark Roasted Chicken stock,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.Chef D
placidplaid
January 10, 2014
This may seem too simple but I can tell you from teaching my boys how to cook that they need to know the little things we take for granted too.
AntoniaJames
January 10, 2014
I'd add Quiche Lorraine (such a treat, much appreciated by my family whenever I make one), Boeuf Bourguignon (can't imagine not serving it at least one dinner party per year), Alice Medrich's best-ever-in-the-history-of-the-universe "Genius" brownies, and, of course, apple pie. (If you can make an apple pie, you can make any other pie worth eating.) I would not have mashed potatoes on my list, though, as I could easily live without them (and the hamburger, too). I would, however, include a classic potato leek soup. ;o)
ChefJune
January 10, 2014
I would add Chicken Soup, Boeuf Bourguignon/Coq au Vin, Mock Hollandaise and Chocolate Brownies to your list.
CHeeb
January 10, 2014
Fettucini Carbonara,Biscuits,Italian wedding soup w/tiny meatballs, grilled salmon,easy and quick blender hollandaise,just to add a few of my stand by favorites.
Nancy H.
January 10, 2014
hi - wow... you've nailed this list! & several I hadn't thought of - thanks! Only one I can think to add is stew. Stew is always based on, what do I have here at home rather than what do I need to go out and get, and always works (especially in this winter season)!
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