Stovetop Cooking Guides

Chances are, you cook on your stove regularly. But there's always room to learn more about simmering and sautéing, and that's where our stovetop cooking guides comes in.

Explore Stovetop Guides

All Stovetop
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Hack Your Way to a Bigger Stovetop, No Renovation Required
Serving plate of fried and steamed dumplings.
How to Cook Frozen Dumplings
Overhead of spaghetti in a skillet with sauce mixed in.
The Right Way to Sauce Pasta
Ingredients for mirepoix; diced carrots, celery, and onions on a cutting board.
All About Mirepoix, Sofrito, Battuto, and Other Humble Beginnings
Creamy pasta being spooned out of a sauté pan.
What's the Difference Between a Skillet and a Sauté Pan?
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How to Pan-Fry Salmon Fillets | The Food Lab
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The Best Ways to Cook Steak, Explained
Overhead view of boiling water
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know (Plus More!) About Boiling Water
A spliced together overhead photo, showing roux cooked to different levels of browness, from pale blonde, to golden, do dark brown.
How to Make a Roux and Use It Right
Three stainless steel stockpots on a blue surface
We Tested 22 Stockpots and Landed on Five Favorites
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How to Make Paella
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How to Make the Best Potato Hash | The Food Lab
Three Cast Iron Skillets stacked inside each other.
How to Buy, Season, and Maintain Cast Iron Cookware
A large bone-in ribeye steak grilling on a charcoal grill.
7 Myths About Cooking Steak That Need to Go Away
An open carton of a dozen eggs. Some of the eggs are cracked open so the yolks are exposed.
How to Temper Eggs
How Salty Should Pasta Water Be?
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Does Adding Pasta Water Really Make a Difference?
Three pieces of cooked gemelli pasta arranged in parallel on a wooden cutting board.
A New Way to Cook Pasta? | The Food Lab
Pouring a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet to test if it's okay to use olive oil for high heat cooking.
Cooking With Olive Oil: Should You Fry and Sear in It or Not?
Can I Stir-Fry On An Electric Cooktop? | Ask The Food Lab
Wok Skills 101: Steaming
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How to Make the Crispiest Pan-Seared Fish Skin
Pouring egg into a skillet for scrambled eggs and stirring with a flexible spatula
Why Cheap Nonstick Skillets Are Best
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Is it Really Necessary to Add Garlic After the Onions When Sautéing?
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How to Make Kickass Quesadillas | The Food Lab
A pot filled with dry beans, a carrot, a garlic clove, onion, and a sprig of fresh sage.
Transform Any Pot of Beans With Flavor-Packed Aromatics and Herbs
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How to Render Bacon Fat
Two small beef steaks cooking in a cast iron skillet. A pair of tongs is lifting one of the steaks.
Flip Your Steaks Multiple Times for Better Results | The Food Lab
A three-image collage showing burgers being measured for height, a burger being flipped in a pan, and a graph showing information about cooking mean
How Often Should You Flip a Burger?
Asparagus being blanched in a large stock pot filled with water. Someone is removing the asparagus with a pair of tongs.
Are the Rules of Big-Pot Blanching True?
Closeup of pasta aglio e olio twirled on a fork.
Can I Start Pasta In Cold Water? | Ask The Food Lab
Illustration of a blob thinking about food
Do Grill Pans Actually Mimic Grilling? | Ask The Food Lab
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How to Make Creamy Vegetable Soups Without a Recipe | The Food Lab
A collage of nine spices commonly used in Indian cooking, including cumin seed, star anise, brown mustard seeds, green cardamom pods, amchoor or mango powder, and whole nutmeg.
Indian Spices 101: The Benefits of Frying Spices
Do I Need To Preheat My Oil? | Ask The Food Lab
Do I Really Need To Reduce Wine Separately? | Ask The Food Lab
On Browning Ground Meat In Recipes | Ask The Food Lab
Broccoli rabe being sautéed in a cast iron skillet with a liberal amount of olive oil. Smashed garlic cloves and chile flakes are visible in the pan.
Why You Shouldn't Hesitate to Add More Oil to a Sauté Pan
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How Can I Get My Dumplings Extra Crispy? | Ask The Food Lab
Ask the Food Lab cartoon.
What Are The Various Methods of Dry Heat Stovetop Cooking? | Ask The Food Lab
Toast and Grind Whole Spices for More Complex Flavors
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Use Your Potato Masher To Break Up Ground Meat in the Skillet
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How to Sweat Vegetables
ham and cheese sandwich hero
Ham and Cheese Sandwich
Overhead view of pepperpot stew
Jamaican Pepperpot
Overhead view of cincinnati chili on a black and white checkered background
Cincinnati Chili
Overhead view of teh tarik
Teh Tarik (Sweet and Frothy Malaysian Milk Tea)
Overhead view of chai
How to Make Chai
Side view of Nigerian Masa stacked in a pyramid on a plate.
Nigerian Masa (Fermented Rice Cake Balls)
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Khao Niao (Thai Sticky Rice) Recipe
A bowl of Korean Miyeok-Guk, showing simmered seaweed, chunks of tender meat, and a light broth.
Miyeok-Guk (Korean Seaweed and Brisket Soup)
Koren Sweet Soy-Glazed Potatoes
Gamja Bokkeum (Korean Sweet Soy-Glazed Potatoes)
A bowl of homemade tonkatsu ramen topped with a marinated egg which has been sliced in half, and a slice of pork chashu.
Rich and Creamy Tonkotsu Ramen Broth Recipe
A stack of parathas on a plate.
Paratha (Flaky South Asian Flatbread) Recipe
Crispy shredded hash browns with sunny-side up eggs and bacon
Crispy Shredded Hash Browns Recipe
Medium-rare duck breast sliced and served on a plate with orange wedges
Pan-Seared Duck Breast With Orange Pan Sauce
Two quarter-folded filled crepes garnished with chopped herbs on a plate
Basic Crepe Batter Recipe
A jar of XO sauce with someone holding a spoon of sauce above the jar.
XO Sauce Recipe