Martha Stewart is a legend in the kitchen, and people all over the nation swear by her foolproof tips and handy hints. Her sage advice will sort out all your common kitchen mistakes, turning you into a confident cook who can dish up perfectly fluffy rice and succulent roast chicken every time. But which of her creative hacks is the all-time best? Here we've ranked Stewart's expert tips to help you become the master of your kitchen.
Click or scroll through our gallery to discover Martha Stewart's greatest advice of all time, counting down to the hack everyone should know.
This hack might get you a few strange looks while you're cooking your waffles, but the results speak for themselves. Stewart's trick for always-crispy waffles is to take your just-cooked waffle out of the iron and then pass it carefully back and forth between your hands. It sounds odd, but it allows the steam to escape from your breakfast treat and prevents it from getting soggy.
The secret ingredient in Stewart's go-to scrambled eggs recipe is clarified butter. As a guide, Stewart adds roughly one tablespoon of clarified butter to a skillet per egg. Just melt the clarified butter in the skillet, add whisked eggs, and scramble them until they're done. Then season to taste and you're good to go.
In 2016, Stewart took to Facebook Live to demonstrate how to make her ultimate grilled cheese sandwich. For the filling, she opts for a classic combination of American and Cheddar cheeses, but she places them between lightly buttered slices of thick sourdough instead of the standard white bread. Her biggest tip, though, is to slather the outside of the bread in mayonnaise before toasting it in a hot pan to achieve the perfect crispy crust.
Perhaps not an original hack, but one always worth repeating. If you're someone who struggles to peel garlic – and let's face it, who doesn't? – then a simple jar is the answer. Separate individual cloves of garlic from the bulb and place them one at a time into a small jar. Give the jar a sharp shake and when you pick out the garlic clove, you should be able to rub off the peel. Repeat as many times as you need.
Getting your bacon perfectly crispy in a pan involves careful monitoring and lots of grease splatter. To avoid this, Stewart recommends cooking bacon in the oven. Not only does it involve little to no effort, but it also lets you drain and save any excess bacon fat to be used as a little flavor bomb drizzled over eggs or potatoes.
Anybody who has worn one of those plastic aprons at a seafood restaurant knows that removing lobster meat can be a messy business. But Stewart's neat hack might solve the problem for you in the future. She suggests you bend the tail and poke an upside-down fork between the meat and the shell. Then twist the fork and pull it out to reveal a juicy and whole lobster tail. Simple!
Nearly every American family has its own meatloaf recipe but far too often they turn out tough and chewy. Stewart's got a top tip for that: don't over-knead the mixture and handle it as little as possible. You should just bring it all gently together with damp hands to prevent it from sticking – don't press it down. Let the meatloaf rest before slicing it, too.
Stewart's top tips for the perfect seared steak ensure great results every time. Bring the meat out of the fridge an hour before cooking and dry it thoroughly with a kitchen towel. Use a cast iron griddle pan for even heat and ensure it's super hot. Drop a tablespoon of butter per steak into the pan, season the meat with salt and pepper, and then sear away. Finally, always rest the meat for 10 minutes before serving.
Don't throw away the seeds when you're making butternut squash soup. Stewart advises fans to wash them in warm water and then thoroughly dry them on kitchen towels. The seeds can then be roasted in a hot oven until crisp (about 15-20 minutes) shaking them halfway through. You can use the seeds to garnish your soup and any leftovers are great for adding to salads or as a snack.
Stop buying ready-made potato salad and start making your own. Firstly, Stewart recommends using waxy, red-skinned potatoes, which keep their shape more than starchy baking potatoes, and make sure they're cut into uniform chunks. For the dressing of her ultimate potato salad, she adds a pinch of sugar to the vinegar mixture, and for extra tang, thins the mayo with buttermilk. And take it easy on salty and acidic ingredients – she advises against mixing pickles, capers, and olives.
Juicing a lime can be tough work, especially if it's hard and slightly underripe. Stewart advises you to roll limes and lemons back and forth on your work surface with the flat of your hand. A few rolls will soften them up enough for you to get the maximum amount of juice out of them. Alternatively, chop the lime in half and stick it in a citrus press.
A coffee grinder is perfect for making those all-important spices for a curry, but how do you properly clean out the spice residue? Stewart says to put a few cubes of bread through the grinder and, hey presto, it's ready for coffee beans again.
Take crowd-pleasing creamed spinach to another level with Stewart's recipe. She adds sautéed onion and garlic to the cooked spinach, but the game-changer is adding cream cheese with a little milk instead of the usual double cream. The addition of grated nutmeg is the final flourish.
To be a successful cook, you need to be an organized cook. Stewart recommends that people follow the French practice of mise en place – or everything in its place. It basically means measuring, slicing, chopping, and preparing all of your ingredients ahead of time, letting you focus on the cooking once you've started.
It's time-consuming to skin a toasted hazelnut, but Stewart has the perfect solution. Toast the hazelnuts for 10-12 minutes in a hot oven (put your kitchen timer on as they can burn easily). Then take them out of the oven and, while the nuts are still hot, put them in the center of a clean tea towel. Wrap them up and keep rubbing and rolling them so the friction takes the skins off – so much easier than trying to do it by hand.
Stewart is a staunch advocate of the right tool for the job. On her website, it states that most home cooks should be satisfied with three knives: a serrated knife, a chef’s knife, and a paring knife. The chef’s knife is the workhorse of the kitchen, so that is the most important purchase. Other knives to consider, depending on your menus, are utility knives and boning knives.
Having a hard time getting the seeds out of pomegranates? Stewart says to take off the 'bud' and then score around the pomegranate, without cutting through the skin. This ensures you don't lose any of the juice. Then pull it in half and put one half skin side up in one hand. Now, over a bowl, bash the back of the pomegranate with a spoon and the seeds should come flying out.
According to Stewart, the secret to the perfect pasta sauce is simply pasta water. So, before you drain away all that water once your pasta is al dente, reserve a good cup full of the liquid to use in your sauce. The starchy water will help the sauce to emulsify and let your pasta absorb all those wonderful flavors.
Peeling ginger can create so much waste if you chop off the skin with a knife. It's also time-consuming and fiddly to use a peeler with the awkward shape of the ginger. Stewart suggests you use a teaspoon to peel it. It's such a quick and simple idea and one you'll use again and again.
Chopping herbs and peeling vegetables can leave you with plenty of food scraps and leftover ingredients. Stewart recommends that cooks, at the very least, compost the scraps instead of throwing them in the trash. Even better, though, Stewart notes that you can store or freeze leftovers for another day. Vegetable peelings can go in a stock, for example, and leftover herbs can be thrown into a homemade pesto.
With years of experience, Stewart knows how to make the most of your slow cooker. Use cheap cuts of meat and brown them beforehand to add flavor and color. If you want to get ahead, Stewart recommends prepping and leaving your dish in the fridge, making sure to add a good hour to the cooking time. And the ultimate piece of advice: don't fill the slow cooker to the brim but don't under-fill or you'll have a dry pot roast. It should be half to two-thirds full.
This hack from Stewart is pure genius. When you're making pastry, freeze the butter beforehand until it's solid. Then grate it into the flour using a coarse grater. This ensures even distribution of the butter and is much faster than rubbing it with your fingers. Similarly, carefully using a food processor to pulse the butter into the mixture is easier than going the manual route.
A great pot roast is a wonderful dish, but it can easily go bland and chewy. Stewart first advises using dried, seasoned chuck roast and browning it in a very hot ovenproof dish. Don't try to turn it until it comes away from the pot easily without sticking. She then removes it from the dish to cook the aromatics and deglaze the bottom before adding the meat back in and cooking everything in the oven at 350°F, covered, for about three hours. A few spoons of tomato paste add flavor to the gravy. Allow the meat to rest for 15 minutes before slicing.
Stewart says to ignore cooking information on packets of long-grain white rice and to always follow her foolproof method. Firstly, wash the rice and always measure 8oz (120g) rice to 12fl oz (360ml) water – or a rice to water ratio of 1 to 1.5. Put the rice in salted, already boiling water, bring it back to the boil and then simmer, covered, for 16 minutes. Take it off the heat and leave it covered for 10 minutes. The result? Perfect fluffy rice.
It's straightforward to get restaurant-quality, crisp fries that are fluffy in the middle. Peel and cut russet potatoes and put them in iced water in the fridge overnight. This draws out the starch and will allow them to get a crisp finish. Next, drain and dry them thoroughly with kitchen towels. Deep fry the potatoes for three minutes at 300°F in batches, removing them to a baking sheet in a single layer and allowing them to cool. Then fry them again at 350°F until golden brown. Use a neutral oil such as sunflower for best results.
Stewart's tip for the perfect hard-boiled egg, every time, is just genius. Place eggs into a pan and cover them with cold water by 2.5cm (1in). Bring the water to the boil, cover, and take off the heat. Leave them covered for 12 minutes before draining and running under cold water until completely cold. This method prevents the eggs from getting unsightly dark sulfurous rings around the yolks.
According to Stewart, you'll never achieve the best flavor for butter chicken without marinating the chicken in spiced yogurt for 24 hours, covered in the fridge. When you're ready to cook, shake off any excess yogurt marinade over a colander, or the chicken will be watery in the final dish.
You don't need to use the old-fashioned method of gradually whisking milk into pancake batter by hand. Stewart whizzes everything up in a blender for about 30 seconds, until it's smooth and bubbles start to form. Then you should rest the batter for at least 15 minutes at room temperature or refrigerate it in an airtight container for up to a day and whisk before using. Resting the mixture causes the starch grains to burst and results in a lighter batter.
If you're grilling a whole fish on the barbecue, Stewart advises you to make sure your grill is clean, well-oiled, and incredibly hot. Dry the fish, season it, and then place it on the grill skin-down – and then don't touch it until it's time to turn. An alternative, even easier technique is to follow the same tips but also place the fish in a grill basket.
Stewart takes buying berries at the store very seriously. She always checks for any signs of damage or decay before buying and then she has a careful method for washing them at home. Instead of rinsing them straight under a faucet, Stewart recommends filling a bowl with water, putting the berries into a colander, and then gently lowering the berries into the water bath. Afterwards, thoroughly dry the berries and store them in an airtight container in the fridge for a longer shelf life.
It's notoriously tricky to evenly chop slices of streaky bacon because of the fat and the thinness of the rashers. Stewart recommends putting pieces of bacon into small stacks, say four at a time, then flash-freezing them for about 20 minutes to make the bacon easier to handle and cut.
We love fluffy baked potatoes that are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Here's a top Stewart tip to get them right every time. Once the potatoes have come out of the oven (after an hour or so of baking), use a kitchen towel to safely pick up a hot potato and slam it into your kitchen counter. Now cut it out to reveal that perfectly fluffy interior. Season and top how you like.
Stewart is a big fan of batch cooking and make-ahead recipes. A cursory glance at her website reveals a treasure trove of recipes that can feed a crowd or get you ready for the coming week. To make the most out of batch cooking, she says, it's a good idea to double the recipe and then portion up the meals, before cooling them and putting them in the freezer for another day.
The best way to serve restaurant-quality seared salmon, according to Stewart, is to follow a few simple rules. Always dry the fillet thoroughly before cooking then season liberally with coarse salt. Heat the pan until hot, then cook the salmon skin-side down until the skin is crisp and it can be lifted from the pan easily. If the fillet is very thick, it's best to finish it in a hot oven for five minutes or so after searing.
Stewart has plenty of tips for making the perfect dressed salad. The lettuce must be clean and crisp, and the leaves must be thoroughly dried, ideally in a salad spinner. The dressing itself should be made in the serving bowl, and salad toppings, such as tomatoes, can be dunked in there to soak up the flavor. Finally, the lettuce leaves go in last, and don't dress them until you're ready to serve. Perfect.
A New York–style baked cheesecake is a crowd-pleasing dessert, but it's hard to stop it from cracking while it cools. Stewart comes to the rescue with a few top tips. Ensure your cream cheese is always at room temperature and bake the cheesecake for longer at a lower temperature (250ºF). Once the cheesecake is ready, switch off the oven and leave the cheesecake where it is for a half hour. Then prop the door open a touch with a wooden spoon for another 30 minutes before bringing the cheesecake out and letting it cool on the side for three hours before refrigeration.
Stewart has plenty of tips for making excellent poached eggs. She claims fresh eggs are better for poaching because the whites stick to the yolks more. Don't worry about breaking each one into a little bowl beforehand, though. This is only handy if you want perfectly presented poached eggs. Your water should be simmering but not boiling and, finally, you need to keep an eye on your eggs once they're in the water. It doesn't take long for the egg to poach – and then become overcooked.
Stewart's roast chicken requires no turning or basting and achieves a wonderfully crisp skin. Thickly slice two onions and sit your chicken on top of them in a roasting tin. Tie the legs together and tuck in the wings to ensure uniform cooking. Rub two tablespoons of soft butter all over the skin to give you that gorgeous crisp texture. Season well (Stewart is very strict about telling you to season everything well) with salt and pepper. Roast in a hot oven until thoroughly cooked and then let it sit in the tin for 10-15 minutes so the juices settle.
Stewart's foolproof chocolate chip cookie recipe produces crisp outsides and an irresistible chewy center. What's not to love? To achieve the perfect result every time, Stewart uses a small ice cream scoop to pop the dough onto the baking sheet, keeping the dough 5cm (2in) apart. This ensures each cookie is the same size and shape, and is far less messy than trying to use a spoon.
For Stewart's perfect burger, she insists upon ground chuck with 20% fat and no other bindings in the mixture, apart from salt and pepper. Use a light touch to form the patties into balls then flatten. This stops them from becoming tough. The best hack? Make an indentation about 0.5cm (0.25in) deep in the center of the burger with your thumb. This prevents the meat from puffing up while grilling.
Nobody wants a dry turkey on their Thanksgiving table. That's why Stewart covers her brined turkey in muslin that's been soaked in melted butter before putting it in the oven for a brilliant, succulent result. She also roasts the giblets for gravy rather than boiling them. For the last hour of cooking, the muslin is removed and the turkey is left to roast until beautifully golden. Rest it for 30 minutes before carving too.
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Last updated by Luke Paton.