20 people share their go-to cooking hack that everyone should know.

Cooking can either be a romantic endeavor of pouring yourself a glass of wine as you delicately test your sauce with the stirring spoon or a messy disaster of burning everything and ignoring the recipe...

So, when a Reddit user asked, 'What are some cooking hacks you swear by?' home cooks everywhere were ready to share their favorite kitchen tip.

1.

If a recipe says to sauté onions and garlic together at the same time, DON'T. Do the onions first, and then add the garlic when the onions are just about done. Garlic can be over sautéed and it takes on a bitter flavor. - dcbluestar

2.

Ice cube in the center of your leftover rice before you microwave it - makes the rice get soft and fluffy again - Getsome4000

3.

Adding cacao powder to your beef stew for some extra depth - TremendoSlap

4.

You can add green onions to almost everything. - Brolegario

5.

Butter. That’s it. That’s the whole tip. Use more butter. - jd46149

6.

- use an ice cream scoop with a sharp edge to spoon seeds out of a squash

- rub a raw clove of garlic on a piece of frozen bread to make quick garlic bread (the frozen texture of the bread kind of acts as a grater on the garlic)

- freeze left over tomato paste from a can into 1 table spoon chunks to use later - I also do this with freshly grated ginger to have it ready to go later

- keep grounded flax seeds in the freezer to use as an egg replacer in muffins (mix 1 table spoon of ground flax seeds with 3 table spoons of water)

- use a vege peeler to cut thin ribbons of vegetable (cucumber, carrots, etc.)

- use kitchen scissors to cut pizza

- get a bit more green onions out of your green onions if you don't need the bottom part, put the roots in water an the green part will regrow - Rosy180

7.

Put a damp paper towel under your cutting board to prevent it from sliding around when you are cutting. - LORDSPIDEY1

8.

Boxed chocolate cake - use cooled brewed coffee instead of the water. Richens the flavor so much. I do it with boxed brownies too. - wanderingstorm

9.

Do you not like vegetables but want to learn to love them? Roast.That.Sh*t. Roasted veggies are like ambrosia of the gods. They taste amazing, require virtually no prep, and go with everything. - Tumblrhoe

10.

Have a 'cheat sheet' for times things go in the oven and how long it takes so you can prepare side dishes to go with the entree. - _jump_yossarian

11.

I always take my cookies out of the oven a couple minutes or so before they're supposed to come out. They still cook a little bit when they're cooling on the pan, and as a result they come out nice and soft. - MegaGrimer

12.

Prep everything first. Have all of your veggies cut and ingredients ready. You will be more relaxed. Clean as you go. Wash your dishes while waiting for your food to finish cooking. Less dishes to deal with at the end of the night. Draginia

13.

Try letting the finished cookie dough sit covered in the fridge for three days before making the cookies. It's even BETTER. We have a batch in there now that we'll pull out on Wednesday. - DoubleSurreal

14.

Try a little powdered MSG. It will make any stew better. Chili and gumbo in particular really benefit IMHO - Red_Spork

15.

If your food is bland even though you've added salt then it's missing acidity. Lemon juice, lime juice, or vinegar are easy additions. - PhreedomPhighter

16.

Hard boiled eggs. Steam them in a veggie basket and they peel perfectly, no old eggs or new eggs trick or anything. Steam for 13 min and put in cold water. 98% success rate. - musicpimp

17.

Take the time to learn how to cook from scratch or raw ingredients. Learn this as early as you can. You will eat better food and enjoy it far more by knowing exactly what’s in it and how it was made.

As an added bonus it’s far cheaper in terms of monetary output. You still pay with your time but your overall quality of life will greatly improve. - Limp_Distribution

18.

Clean as you cook, trust me, it's better than a mountain of dishes and utensils at the end. Marinade your meats. No seriously, marinade your meats in SOMETHING it plays a double team of making your meats both tender and flavorful.

No matter what I'm making, be it stew, grilled chicken, or pasta, I like to marinade for anywhere between 30 minutes to 2 days depending on the type of meat and the time I have to do prep.

Need to taste the sauce/soup? Ladle some into a small spoon, it's easier and cleaner than slurping from your larger cooking utensil. Refrigerate your onions before cutting, I've found the eye watering effect is greatly reduced this way.

Speaking of onions, saute your onions/mushrooms, it brings a much richer flavor to the food. Recipe calls for water? Consider replacing some or all with broth, it adds more flavor, especially with rice. - Ivana_Dragmire

19.

Whatever amount of garlic is in the recipe, double it. - Smitty15

20.

Revive veggies that have lost their water by cutting their edges and soaking them in cold water. Lettuce, carrots, celery will be crisp again. - Rosy180