Grocery Shop Like A Professional With These Genius Tips And Tricks
Grocery shopping can be overwhelming, especially with so many options and increasing prices. Thankfully, chefs are sharing their pro tips to make meal planning, budgeting and grocery shopping so much easier.
Here are five practical tips from real chefs to simplify your shopping and get you excited about what's in your fridge.
Be flexible with your list
Creating a list ahead of time will improve the efficiency of your grocery shopping experience, but it's also important to maintain some flexibility.
Chef Glenn Rolnick emphasizes the importance of substituting a pre-planned meal if something else is on sale or looks particularly fresh.
Shop and cook seasonally
Chef Amitzur Mor recommends planning shopping trips and meals around seasonl produce. According to Mor, "In-season vegetables means local vegetables—produce that hasn't traveled so much. Vegetables that are in season are going to be sweeter and crunchier, because they’ve been grown more recently and closer to home."
Seasonal produce promises better quality and flavor, and it ensures that you get the most value for what you're paying.
Don't forget to stop at the farmer's market
Many chefs prefer to buy locally-grown produce at the farmer's market whenever possible. The farmer's market offers high-quality, fresh-tasting products that are grown locally and sustainably.
According to culinary-chef-turned-farmer Brett Ellis, "The difference in quality is apparent, and fresh produce transforms your culinary experience."
Order certain products online
When you want to work with particularly high-quality ingredients, it's often best to order online.
According to Chef Nick DiGiovanni, author of Knife Drop, "If you love salmon and know you eat it often at home, consider going online and finding a high-quality, sustainable salmon purveyor and shipping yourself several whole filets. You can portion them out and freeze them."
Be open to trying new things
The most important step towards cooking like a professional chef is an openness to trying new things. Whether it's attempting a new recipe or cooking with an ingredient you've never used before, experimentation is the key to creating exciting, bold meals.
Chef DiGiovanni suggests buying one new thing you've never tried or cooked with before every time you visit the grocery store. "Sometimes, shopping or cooking a regular weeknight dinner can feel difficult, but this practice will help to keep things feeling fresh," says DiGiovanni.
Grocery shopping doesn't have to feel like a chore. With a few practical, chef-approved adjustments to your routine, you can get excited about the food you're buying and the meals you're cooking.
These simple tips make meal planning and shopping faster and easier, and your time in the kitchen more exciting. You'll be cooking like a pro in no time!