Kitchen Hacks to Make Your Meals Lighter, Healthier, and More Satisfying

Cooking at home is such a great experience. You can make healthier, tastier meals at a fraction of the cost of dining out and it can be a fun family activity too.

However, with all the extra cooking at home we’ve been doing I know sometimes you just want to cook a quick meal, make your favorite recipes healthier, or just get something on the table fast.

Since it has been non stop cooking at home lately and I know I personally have experienced some food fatigue, I thought what better time than now to spice things up and create a little cooking inspiration.

Here are some great tips and tricks you can use to make your home cooking healthier, easier, and have you feeling like a gourmet chef. 

One Pan Roasting

When many people think about eating healthier, they think of boiled veggies and chicken breast. Bland and boring! You can make a quick, easy and far tastier meal with the same ingredients just by roasting them in the oven. This easy cooking method makes for a great weeknight meal and it’s made in one pan which means simple clean up. So easy! 

There are a few tricks to creating the best one-pan roasted meal:

●      While preheating your oven, put your roasting pan inside so it can heat up too.

●      Cut quicker cooking vegetables like onions and peppers thick, and starchy vegetables like potatoes a bit thinner-- sweet potatoes if you want to stay paleo. 

●      Toss the veggies in just enough olive oil to coat. 

●      Butterfly your chicken or buy thin cutlets so it can cook at the same time as your vegetables. 

●      Add seasonings and salt before cooking, but wait until the end to add fresh herbs so they don’t burn. 

Seasonings and Umami Boosters

Seasonings are one of a healthy home cook’s best friends. They add so much impact and interest to dishes without adding calories. Dried herbs, while not as potent in flavor, can be a great way to bring a dish to life. Not to mention spices and herbs have many health benefits. Feel free to explore a variety of seasonings. 

Our recommendations: Curry powder is great to add that Indian spice to a variety of dishes, and herbs de provence is a unique alternative to Italian herb seasonings.

Umami is a savory flavor and is considered one of the five basic tastes like sweet, sour, and spicy. Many foods contain umami naturally, but some seasonings can achieve the same. Onion powder and garlic powder are staples to boost that lovely umami flavor in almost any dish. You can grind up dried porcini mushrooms into a powder and add it to dishes that could use a little mushroom umami--some stores sell this pre-ground lately. 

Nutritional Yeast Instead of Parmesan

This amazing diary-free trick can bring life into your dishes. Nutritional yeast is a flakey, dried yeast that has a tangy-cheesy flavor that’s packed with umami. You can easily substitute for parmesan and add it to many dishes where that cheesy tang is needed. Add it on top of pasta, on top of salads, or mix it into meals like meatballs. 

Bonus: kids love this flavor

Dashes of Brightness

While parsley and cilantro add visual contrast for those Instagram foodie photos, they can liven up a dish by adding a bright, earthy note. Heavier meals like vegetarian chili can use a little brightness to bring out the other flavors and make them more satisfying.

It’s best to add chopped parsley, basil, or cilantro near the end of cooking. For a brighter note, they’re great on top of any dish. Dried seasonings can work too, but their flavors can be less potent.

Add a Dash of Veggies

Many of our favorite meals can be very dense in calories and not very healthy. Maybe you’re craving a bowl of pasta, but the pasta would blow your calories or just be too heavy. You can swap the pasta completely for zucchini noodles or mix in half and half broccoli or cauliflower with the pasta to satisfy the craving while rounding out the meal with nutrients. The trick is to lightly cook the veggies so they have a little crunch and hold up against the sauce.

Spinach and kale are amazing superfoods to add to almost any dish without changing the overall flavor. A little frozen spinach into soup, ground turkey taco meat, scrambled eggs, and omelets. Of course, you can add fresh spinach into lettuce salads and sandwiches. 

Shop for Fruits and Veggies In-Season

One forgotten idea in our modern time is shopping for fruits and vegetables while they are in season. Fruits and vegetables that are in season contain higher amounts of nutrients and taste far better. They can also be cheaper as there’s a greater abundance. 

The best way to ensure your produce is in-season and ripe is to shop at local farmer’s markets. The farmers there will always be selling the best of their crop at the best times. 

Side Salads to Offset Heavy Foods

Sometimes we just crave something unhealthy but don’t want to throw out our healthy diet. Maybe a slice of pizza or lasagna without devouring the whole pie. A simple side salad can be a great accompaniment to keep you from going for too many slices and adds a bright contrast of flavor that can help satisfy you. Toss with a simple vinaigrette and feel good about any meal.

Lighten Up Creamy Salad Dressing

Homemade vinaigrettes can be amazing on salads, but sometimes we crave those not-so-good ranch dressings or creamy caesar dressings. The “lite” or low-fat versions can be packed with sugar and bad ingredients. 

A quick way to cut some of the calories is to add unsweetened Greek or cashew yogurt to the dressing. It’ll lighten the flavor, but make it healthier and easier to toss into the salad. You can also find dressing seasoning packets, like ranch dressing, and add that to plant based or greek yogurt for the ultimate healthy choice. 

Oat Flour

Oats and oat flour are a major staple in gluten-free cooking for many baked goods. It’s a great substitute in baked goods that don’t rely on gluten like cookies, pancakes, muffins, and waffles. Many stores sell oat flour already prepared, but if you have a high-powered blender, it can be much cheaper to grind it yourself from rolled oats. 

If you’re not gluten-free, but want to reduce refined wheat flour in your recipes, replace half the wheat flour with oat flour by weight to achieve great results. Oat flour is much finer, so it’s important to weigh it out when making recipes.

 To wrap things up

I totally know how daunting it can be to feed your family right now let alone making sure its toddler approved, follows any dietary restrictions and is somewhat healthy so I hope you found this article resourceful.

I have been passionately intrigued by healthy swaps and food hacks for as long as I can remember, and I could literally go on and on so let me know in the comments if you want me to keep sharing more kitchen tips, tricks and hacks.

Love, C