Every home chef has a dream kitchen in mind. It might include a butcher block countertop, farmhouse sink, a prepping station, or clever and abundant storage options. However, for many people who do their cooking at home, they are confined to small kitchens with not too many amenities to offer. Luckily, a small kitchen doesn’t have to hold you back from cooking gourmet meals or trying out complex recipes. Here are some helpful tips for cooking in a small kitchen:
Creative Prep Space
One of the biggest challenges of having a small kitchen is not having enough room to cut your fruits and vegetables. Prep is a very important step to cooking and can often be enjoyable, but not having enough space makes it a hassle. A great way to make more prep space is by getting a burner cover or an over-the-sink cutting board. You either buy one of these online or make it yourself.
One-Pot, Sheet pan, or Skillet Meals
With a small kitchen, chances are you don’t have enough space for multiple pots, pans, and other cooking equipment. To avoid using multiple pots and pans while cooking, find a one-pot, sheet pan, or skillet meal. These kinds of all-in-one style recipes require a lot fewer dishes which makes it easy to prepare in small spaces and it cuts down on clean-up time.
Rinse and Reuse Utensils
Before reaching for a new spoon to stir the pasta after stirring the sauce, rinse off the same spoon you used instead. This simple hack can save you a lot of clean-up time and will give you more space to cook without dirty utensils laying around. Simply rinse off and reuse bowls, tools, and utensils that are already out instead of opting for the one you haven’t used yet.
Go Outside the Kitchen
All the prep work of slicing and dicing doesn’t all have to be done in the kitchen, especially if yours is too small. If you have more room in your living room or dining room, utilize that space. Set up your prep station in the living room before you start cooking and transfer everything to your pots and pans when it’s time to execute the recipe.
Organize Up, Not Out
To make cooking in a small kitchen easier, the organization of the kitchen is a major factor. When organizing your kitchen, it’s essential to go up, not out. This simply means utilizing the unused space on top of your cabinets. That is the perfect place to store the large and bulky cookware that takes up a lot of space. You can also use a big bowl to hold smaller items, attach racks to the inside of cabinet doors for storing spices, and use your counter space in a vertical manner by using stackable cooling racks to hold plates, bakeware, and cutting boards.