Even a good cook will experience a cooking failure from time to time. But the next time you accidentally ruin your favourite dish, you could rescue it with one of our handy hints instead of throwing it in the trash. Whether you have an over-salty casserole or curdled cake batter, here are some smart tips and tricks to revive common kitchen fails.

Click or scroll through our gallery to discover easy fixes for common kitchen mistakes – counting down to our most valuable tip of all.

If you hate wasting food, burning your toast can be frustrating – but it doesn’t have to go straight in the bin. We’re not saying you should butter up a blackened slice and power through (though that’s always an option). Instead, grab a knife and gently scrape away the burnt layer to uncover a perfectly good piece of toast beneath. A little rescue effort can save your breakfast and cut down on waste. 

Custard curdles when it's overheated. Have a bowl of iced water to hand, and if you see it beginning to curdle, get the base of the pan in the water and keep beating. If it's still a bit lumpy, use a stick blender to remove the lumps, and it will be fine. Next time, mix two teaspoons of cornflour into the raw egg yolks to make your custard more stable.

Overcooked meat isn't nice on its own, so you'll need to add moisture to dry meat to save the dish. Try making chipotle mayo and shredding the meat into it to use in tacos. Alternatively, you could add the meat to laksa, a Malaysian noodle soup. With its rich, creamy coconut flavours, it'll make the meat taste much less dry.

Frying chicken in a pan can give you the crispiest, juiciest meat – but you also run the risk of searing the outside while leaving it raw in the middle. But if you've cut into the chicken to find it pink inside, you've also lost some of its moisture. To prevent it from drying out further, flip the offending chicken to sear the cut side, then transfer it to a hot oven to finish cooking. It could be worth investing in a meat thermometer, too.

Dry and crumbly cookie dough isn't the end of the world, but there are a couple of easy fixes. Firstly, the fridge dries out the dough, so allow it to come to room temperature before checking it. If it's still too dry, add a little milk, cream or softened butter to the mixture until you achieve the correct consistency.

Pork crackling is one of the best parts of roasting pork, but it can be frustrating when it doesn’t crisp up as expected. Luckily, there are ways to rescue uncracked crackling. Try cranking the grill to its highest setting and placing the pork directly underneath until it reaches the perfect crunch. Alternatively, remove the skin and fry it separately in a hot pan – or pop it into an air fryer for an effortless, evenly crisp finish. 

Over-whipping can quickly happen if you've taken your eye off the ball (or if your kitchen is too warm). If it hasn't gone too far, add a tablespoon of cold milk and whisk again. If it has gone too far, keep whisking to make butter. The cream will separate into butter and buttermilk. Drain off the liquid, then in a bowl of iced water, squeeze the butter through a cloth until all the buttermilk has been removed. The buttermilk can be used for cakes if you add a squeeze of lemon juice.

Lovingly boiled or steamed cauliflower makes a spectacular side dish. But just a few minutes of extra cooking can take the vegetable from perfectly cooked to sad and soggy. All is not lost, however, as overcooked cauliflower can be redeemed by mixing it up with butter, seasoning and herbs to make a respectable cauliflower mash.

To rescue curdled cake batter, add a further tablespoon or so of flour. It may make your cake a little more dense, but it's better than wasting it completely. It's also helpful to know why the cake curdled in the first place. Possibilities include eggs or milk that were too cold or incorporated too quickly. Next time, then, make sure ingredients are at room temperature and that eggs and milk are added slowly, with a spoon of flour between each addition.

If you realise your pasta is overcooked, a quick change of plan is required. Drain the pasta in a colander and run it under cold water. Toss in a little olive oil, then pack it into a frying pan. Mix together beaten eggs, cream and grated cheese. Pour the mixture over the pasta, cook it on a medium heat until firm, then invert it onto a plate, flipping it over, and cook it until browned. Now you have a creamy pasta 'cake' ready for additional toppings.

It's likely that if your cake has burnt edges, it's just the outside that has been affected, and the rest will be fine. With a serrated knife, carefully cut around the cake, removing the burnt parts. Clean away all the crumbs, then cover the cake, top and sides, with buttercream or icing, using a palette knife for smooth icing. Next time, lining your tin with baking parchment could help protect your cake.

Pastry will break up if you roll it when it's too dry or too warm. If it's too dry, put the pastry dough into your food processor and add a further tablespoon or two of iced water. Whizz until it comes together, then leave it to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. If it's too warm, pop it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes, then roll again.

Some spice in your dish can add flavour and depth, but if the heat has gone off the scale, here are a few tips to cool things down. You can either stir in cream or grated cheese, or serve your dish with yogurt, which neutralises the heat. A little sweetness may help, too. If it's a curry, add some chopped pineapple. Honey also helps tone down the heat.

Just a couple of minutes of extra cooking can make or break green vegetables. If your vegetables are overcooked, drain them into a colander as fast as you can, then submerge them in a bowl of iced water. You could use them in a soup, purée them as a base for a pasta sauce or add them to a Spanish-style tortilla.

The best method for fixing over-whipped egg whites depends on how far they've gone. If they're just a little clumpy, try adding a fresh egg white to the mixture and whisking briefly. If they've become watery as the proteins have broken down, there's no fix, sadly. The only thing to do is start again and reduce the mixing time.

There's no need to ditch a dry, heavy cake. You can transform it into cake pops! Crumble the sponge into fine crumbs (by hand or in a food processor), then mix with them buttercream, roll them into balls and dip them into chocolate or icing. You can decorate your cake pops as you wish, and they're great fun to make with kids.

There may be a couple of reasons why your steak isn't searing properly. Steak needs to be dry before cooking, so pat it with a kitchen towel once it's unwrapped. If there's too much liquid in the pan, remove the steak and start with a clean pan with only a little oil. Make sure the pan is hot enough to begin with; heat it to almost smoking before placing the steak in it.

When you've baked a cake, it's important to allow it to cool in the tin before trying to remove it. As it cools, the cake shrinks away from the sides, making it easier to remove. Use a palette knife gently around the edge to loosen it first. If it's also stuck to the base, let it cool for as long as possible and be very careful removing it. Next time, try buttering the tin well or lining the base and sides with baking parchment.

Making mayonnaise isn't as hard as it sounds, but cooks often make one common mistake: they add the oil too quickly, causing the mixture to curdle or split. There are a few ways you can fix it, though. Firstly, add a tablespoon of cold water, lemon juice or mustard, then whisk again. If it still doesn't come together, put a new egg yolk into a bowl with a teaspoon of mustard, then slowly whisk in the curdled mixture.

Test the centre of your cake with a skewer, which should come out clean once the sponge is cooked. If it's still raw in the middle yet cooked on the outside, cover it with foil (to prevent the top from burning) and cook it for longer. Check your oven with an oven thermometer, too, because it may be hotter than it shows on the dial. If so, you'll need to adapt recipes accordingly by turning down your oven.

It happens to all of us: you try to move a sponge from its base onto a plate, and it breaks in half. But fear not! If you're making a sandwich cake, use the broken one as your base, and use the filling of buttercream or cream to stick it back together again. Add your filling on top of the cake, then crown it with the unbroken cake. Next time, to avoid breakage, try using two fish slices to transfer it to the plate.

If you've been a bit heavy-handed with the salt and your stew is already cooked, remove the meat and vegetables with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Then add a raw, peeled potato to the sauce and allow it to simmer for about 30 minutes. The potato should absorb much of the excess salt. If it's still a little salty, try adding a tablespoon of tomato purée to add a little sweetness, then return the rest of the ingredients to the pan. Alternatively, pour away some of the broth and top up with water.

It takes a bit of practice to roll a chocolate log, especially if it's a rich sponge. But you can still use the sponge even if it cracks and breaks. Why not try making mini Black Forest trifles by layering up the broken sponge with cream, cherry jam and fresh, canned or frozen cherries? It's delicious and waste-free.

Salvaging a thin stew is a relatively easy process. First off, does it still taste great? If so, thicken it with two teaspoons of cornflour mixed with cold water. Is it a bit tasteless? Remove the other ingredients with a slotted spoon, then reduce the sauce until it's thicker, checking for seasoning. Depending on the recipe, you could add some white or black beans to help thicken it, and plenty of fresh herbs or a squeeze of lemon to add flavour.

Chocolate ganache is a glaze, icing, sauce or filling made with dark chocolate and cream. If it splits as you're making it, looking grainy and lumpy, it's because the chocolate has been overheated. To rescue it, add one to two tablespoons of cold cream, then beat the mixture vigorously with an electric whisk. Add a little more cream if you need to, and it'll come back together.

Perfect roast potatoes should be crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle. If yours look distinctly soggy, chances are you've overcrowded the roasting tin, so your potatoes have steamed rather than roasted. Divide them between two roasting tins instead, allowing space for each potato to crisp to perfection.

If your rice is overcooked, get it out of the hot pan as fast as you can and remove it to a sieve. Run the rice under cold water to cool it down completely, then transfer it to a bowl. Mix in a teaspoon or two of sunflower oil, then, using your hands, separate the grains. Leave the rice to get cold, then put it into the fridge for an hour or two to dry it out. It'll be perfect for fried rice dishes.

This technique for removing excess surface fat applies to sauces, casseroles and soups. You should be able to skim off most of it with a spoon, especially if you allow it to cool first. To get it all, once cool, pop it in the freezer for an hour or in the fridge for a couple of hours. The fat will solidify, and you can spoon it off easily.

Gluey mash often means you've overcooked the potatoes or tried to mash them in a food processor. Either way, too much starch has been released. If the potatoes are overcooked and not yet mashed, run them under cold water. Otherwise, the only solution is to make pommes aligot, a decadent French puréed mash with cream, butter and masses of grated cheese (around half the weight of cheese to potato). Rich, but amazing.

To counteract over-salty meat, you'll need something acidic and some heat. Any piece of grilled meat or chicken benefits hugely from a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and it will really help to lessen the salty taste. You could add a tomato and chilli sauce on the side to add sweetness and heat, too. Always remember: only add a sprinkling of sea salt before cooking. It's easier to add than to take out!

Don't despair if your cheese soufflé collapses just as it comes out of the oven. After all, you can transform it into an equally fabulous dish. Tip the soufflés out into a shallow, ovenproof, buttered dish. Then mix together thick cream with grated cheese and pour it over the soufflés. Add an extra sprinkling of cheese, then bake the whole thing in a hot oven until browned and bubbling.

Food goddess Ina Garten has the perfect trick for rescuing dry turkey. She advises placing sliced turkey on a baking tray and covering it in gravy. Pop all of that in a warm oven for 15 to 30 minutes, allowing enough time to let the gravy add moisture to the turkey. Just make sure you keep some extra gravy aside to serve with the meal.

When you see Hollandaise sauce beginning to separate, try adding a tablespoon of cold water to cool it down. If this doesn't work, take a fresh egg yolk mixed with a tablespoon of lemon juice and gradually beat it into the original sauce in a bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Your poached eggs will thank you later.

Lumpy gravy is relatively easy to fix. Put it into a blender and whizz it until the lumps have disappeared. Return it to the heat, then bring it to the boil to thicken, if necessary. If it's still too thin, mix a teaspoon of cornflour with cold water, then add it to the gravy and simmer until thickened. This technique is known as 'slaking'.

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Last updated by Luke Paton.