Finding Your Inner Betty

Welcome to our educational guide on gaining cooking confidence through tips, tools, and recommendations for finding your inner Betty Crocker. Anyone can be Betty; she is all of us who have the determination to cook with our best efforts and love in our hearts. We hope that this three-part series will inspire you to get baking and teach you how to expand your skills along the way. In part one, we’ll be starting with the basics. However, not everyone starts from the same place. Feel free to skip to a spot in our series that you feel best suits your current skills. With a smile, this series, and a spoon, you’ll be ready to get baking and release your inner Betty.

Gain Cooking Confidence

“Learning to cook” is a phrase that can be met with anxiousness because it’s both vague and all-encompassing at the same time. But here in the Betty Crocker Kitchens, we want it to be an inspiration for you to grow in whatever skills you hope to refine. Saying you want to learn to cook doesn’t always mean you want to become a Michelin star chef, but it does mean that you intend to put in the time and effort to enhance your skills in the kitchen, and we think nothing could be more commendable!

Because of that, we’ve developed this article to share learnings that will help you unlock your inner Betty Crocker. Did you know that Betty wasn’t just one woman, but several throughout the years? Read the story of Betty to discover how she was an idea and inspiration for people to self-educate through, to a point where they themselves felt they could say “call me Betty”. But how does one find and cultivate their inner Betty? That’s what we’re here to teach you! Since the goal of this piece is to share the secrets to unlocking your inner Betty Crocker, there won’t be a detailed how-to on each step. Instead, prepare to learn skills within each step that inspire confidence!

It’s important to remember that this is a journey, one that should be savored along with your creations. And not everyone will start from the same place. Already a master of the basics? Skim through the sections below to find where you should start and begin with a skill you are familiar with but would like to enhance. From there, with whisk in hand, Betty in your heart, and a guide for growth, you’ll find no kitchen skills are ever out of reach!

Start With the Basics

Learning how to cook should always start with the basics. Doing so allows you to prepare food in a safe and easy way. The easier it feels, the more confident you’ll be! It might be tempting to skip into more advanced tips right away, but we promise that the cooking basics are your foundational footholds to fast future growth. Gaining proficiency in fundamental cooking skills lets you work faster and ensures your dish doesn’t fall flat due to avoidable missteps—proof that culinary finesse starts with the basics.

Food Prep

Let’s start with preparing your ingredients and your kitchen. To improve your prep skills, we recommend having the right tools and practice, practice, practice! Perfecting these fundamentals will make tackling any recipe a breeze while keeping you confident, composed, and safe in the kitchen. Once you've mastered the cooking basics, you'll be able to confidently create more recipes with ease.

Having the Right Kitchen Tools 

We believe the most important kitchen tools are ones that make your work easier.

• A Sharp Knife Set: Having the right knives for your ingredients will let you slice with ease. Not only is a sharp blade more effective – it’s also safer than a dull one! You’ll start to find which knives are your favorite the more you use them, but having a variety for when the need arises will also make prep easier. Learn more about the types of kitchen knives and their uses and discover how to brush up on your knife skills in these other Betty articles.
• Cutting Boards: As easy as it might be to buy a cheap cutting board, we wouldn’t recommend it. By no means does it have to be expensive but consider your needs and preferences and purchase one that ticks all the boxes. You’ll be using it for almost everything you make after all! Here are some key things to consider:
  • How many would you like to have? With just one you might need to do dishes in between steps for sanitary needs.
  • Do you prefer a groove around the border of your board? These are intended to catch drippings from foods like cooked meats but can also catch ingredients, like minced ingredients when sliding them off the side of the board.
  • Should it have feet? Many cutting boards are flat on the opposite side, but others offer rubber feet on the edges for a lifted bottom. While they don't offer significant advantages, they can provide a small amount of additional comfort and convenience through elevation and added stability on uneven countertops. Ultimately, this boils down to a matter of personal preference!
  • What is your preferred material? Plastic and wood are the most common but there are also glass, rubber, epoxy, and more! If you’re able to, we recommend researching different types and trying ones that pique your interest to find your favorite. Researching each type’s pros and cons can also help you choose the board that best suits your culinary needs.

If you’re just setting up your kitchen, see our list of basic baking tools we recommend you have on hand. To make things even easier, we recommend stocking up on any gadgets that help you to simplify the prep for ingredients you use most often.

Practice Your Prep Skills

Mastering the basics of ingredient preparation is essential for building confidence in the kitchen. While practice may not lead to perfection, it does make you more comfortable. Taking the time to learn how to chop, dice, and slice ingredients with precision lays the groundwork for future culinary successes. Brush up on your knife skills to start each cooking journey with ease. This foundational skill helps you understand each ingredient better and how to safely work with new ones. As you become more familiar with the techniques, you'll find that the kitchen becomes a more welcoming space where you can experiment and create with greater ease.

Practice not only improves your skill but also enhances your efficiency. The more you work with different ingredients, the quicker you'll become at prepping them, ultimately reducing the time spent on tedious tasks. Even small improvements can make a big difference. With repetition, you refine techniques and grow toward more consistent and satisfying results. In the long run, this familiarity with prep will make your cooking and baking experiences more enjoyable and less stressful.

Recipe Selection

When choosing a recipe to grow and cultivate your cooking prowess, we recommend variety! Giving yourself experience with various recipes and ingredients is a fantastic way to build cooking confidence.

Use Different Cooking Techniques: This category could take a lifetime to explore in its entirety. Different techniques span the range of cooking steps, and each can bring unique touches to your dish. When you think about preparation techniques, the way you chop an ingredient can totally transform it, like learning to cut hasselback potatoes. With cooking variations, think of an egg, there are hundreds of ways to prepare a plain egg! Each new style of cooking can bring new textures and highlight unique subtleties in your ingredients. Finding and trying these variations are great ways to expand your skillset.

Try New Ingredients: Find recipes that use ingredients you’ve never tried before! Not only will this give you the experience with prepping new foods, but it will help you discover wonderful new flavors you may not have tried otherwise. As you experiment with these unfamiliar foods, you'll gain valuable experience in handling them, from understanding how to properly clean and cut them to discovering the best cooking methods to enhance their taste. This hands-on learning not only makes you more adept at working with a variety of ingredients but also deepens your appreciation for the diversity of flavors that cooking has to offer.

In addition to the skills you'll develop, trying new ingredients can ignite your creativity and curiosity in the kitchen. As you discover unique flavors and textures, you might start to think about how different ingredients can be combined to create new and exciting dishes. This adventurous approach to cooking encourages you to step outside your comfort zone, leading to greater experimentation and innovation in your culinary endeavors.

Discover New Flavors: Shake up your spice cabinet and your tastebuds with some new seasoning! One great way to start is by trying your hand at making classic sauces or seasonings from scratch. For example, make your own homemade barbeque sauce or research regional spice blends. This process gives a deeper understanding of how spices and ingredients work together. You’ll enhance your cooking skills but also feel empowered to take control of the flavors in your meals, making them truly your own. These recipe variations will allow you to step out of your culinary comfort zones and try new techniques, flavors, and combinations. You will expand your repertoire and your understanding of foods while finding new flavors to enjoy. Each new recipe you attempt can offer unique challenges that teach you to adapt and be creative in the kitchen. The more you practice and experiment, the more your ability to tackle complex dishes will become while boosting your overall confidence. This discovery process can make cooking a rewarding experience that proves you have the ability to cook anything!

With these basics, we hope you’ve learned to unlock some new skills! Practice them often to hone your confidence and speed in the kitchen. When you feel comfortable with these basics, move on to our part-two on broadening your cooking confidence and abilities.

Welcome back to our educational guide on gaining cooking confidence to release your inner Betty Crocker. Ready to grow your skills? This part two of our series is the perfect way to learn more, we’ll cover topics like class options, how to learn new skills, and getting inventive. We'll dive into exciting cooking techniques to elevate your dishes and even show you how to turn those leftovers into something extraordinary. Get ready to experiment and have fun! Remember, anyone can be Betty; she is all of us who have the determination to cook with our best efforts and love in our hearts.

Education and Learning

Learning by doing is a great way to be your own hands-on teacher, but taking classes can be a fun way to grow with guidance!

Classroom Training

Unlike learning on your own, classes offer structured direction from experienced cooks. Their cooking lessons can introduce you to a variety of things from basic knife skills to advanced techniques like sous-vide or pastry making. With a simple online search, you should be able to find a handful of classes in your local area to choose from. Many offer themes to select the course best suited to the skills you’d like to acquire.

The hands-on experience you get when learning from a teacher combined with real-time feedback can help to refine your skills in a supportive environment. Plus, the opportunity to ask questions and troubleshoot on the spot can significantly speed up the otherwise DIY learning process.

At Home Education

Learning new kitchen skills doesn’t need to come through a classroom only setting. In addition to practice or trial and error, you can also try home learning! With online courses, videos, and instructional tutorials, you can find a wealth of information to self-educate from the comfort of your kitchen. You’ll find Betty Crocker videos and other recorded trainings span all kinds of skills, prep methods, specific recipes, and more. Video based training gives you the opportunity to pause, rewind, and re-watch for learning at your own pace. This way you can practice each step until you feel confident in moving forward.

Additionally, many online creators, like us here at Betty, share tips, shortcuts, and personal experiences that can inspire you to experiment and develop your own unique style. This transparent learning style can demystify the complexities of cooking, making it feel more approachable and less rigid. Like kneading dough, it takes some work to massage all the components together seamlessly. Once you have a good mix of skills and practice, your confidence will begin to rise as well! Self-education through online videos can be an empowering way to become a more confident and versatile cook. Use content creator guidance and tricks to empower you by shifting the focus from how you “should” do something and lean into the freedom of experimentation. Try it yourself to experience the flexibility of learning what you want, when you want.

Get Inventive

Varied Cooking Methods

When you think of common staple ingredients, like an egg or different meats, there are so many ways they can be prepared! By exploring different cooking methods, you can expand your culinary skills and bring new life to your kitchen creations. Each technique—whether it’s grilling, sous-vide, roasting, fermenting, or smoking—can dramatically alter the flavor, texture, and overall experience of a dish. Let’s review a few of these to kick start your cooking method exploration. 

Grilling

Though common, grills can be a staple for certain foods but unexplored with others. Many people use the barbeque as a place for meats and hearty vegetables, but what about fruits or fish? Why not both in a bright lemon and garlic grilled halibut steak? This cooking method provides a smoky depth to foods and gives a distinct rich char to the outsides for a contrasted internal vs. external texture and flavor that’s perfect for exploring.

Sous-vide

This cooking method involves sealing food in a plastic bag and cooking it inside a water bath of exacting temperature. Typically, these bags are vacuum sealed, which is where it gets the name "sous-vide" which is French for "under vacuum." This allows for precise temperature control cooking the food on all sides simultaneously, resulting in perfectly tender dishes. This method can sound complex, but we like to think of it like a water-based crock pot. It can be a simple set-it-and-forget-it method with the right tools and prep! Learn how to use a sous-vide machine with our simple step by step article that includes easy and delicious recipes to get started with, like these Filets Mignon with Herb and Shallot Compound Butter.

Fermenting

Fermenting everyday foods is a simple way to add unique flavors to your meals while you experiment. You can ferment vegetables like cucumbers and cabbage to pickle fresh vegetables or try fermenting fruits to make chutneys and spreads. Bread machine sourdough and other fermented grains also fall into this category! These unique grains can deepen flavors in your baking and cooking, resulting in elevated versions of your culinary creations.

By experimenting with cooking methods you’re less familiar with, you open a world of possibilities. Who knows, you could even transform a simple ingredient into something extraordinary! These new techniques not only diversify your cooking repertoire but also advance your understanding as you learn to adapt to different styles and tools, making you a more versatile and inventive cook.

Reinvent Leftovers

We say, play with your food! Having the courage to reinvent something new from what you already have can teach you valuable skills. The kitchen is a place of endless possibilities, especially when it comes to leftovers. Instead of seeing them as a mundane necessity, embrace them as a blank canvas for culinary creativity. The act of transforming yesterday's dinner into something entirely new can be a surprisingly rewarding experience. It's a chance to experiment with flavors, textures, and techniques, and to discover hidden potential in ingredients you might otherwise overlook. By embracing the challenge of reinventing leftovers, you'll not only expand your cooking skills but also develop a newfound appreciation for the art of resourcefulness and culinary improvisation. Of course, you should be sure they are good to use before you begin and learn the tips for how to store leftovers safely.

Make Small Changes

Beginning with a single ingredient like a leftover side dish of rice or veggies is a great way to get inventive. These are easily integrated into many meals, but the trick as you learn to reuse items is adapting to their already cooked nature. Learning how an ingredient changes before and after it’s been cooked will help you understand how to make it in a variety of ways. This skill will also keep your fridge from overflowing with storage containers by keeping leftovers in check.

Transforming Former Meals 

If you start feeling like a pro, you can always try complex reinventions, like transforming entire dishes! Changing something from sweet to savory for example, could be a fun challenge. If you think about it, many popular dishes rely on a combination of sweet and savory. So this trick will teach you how to fluidly ramp up or down those characteristics. Think about a homemade apple pie, had enough of that leftover dessert? Scoop out the apples and sweet filling, add some feta cheese, fresh rosemary, and salt, then dollop it atop a perfect pork chop! Who doesn’t love apples and pork? As long as your tastebuds end up happy, there’s no stress on how it started out. Just remember the point is to gain confidence and to have fun, so don’t rush it.

So, you've explored new cooking techniques, experimented with different learning styles, and maybe even tackled a leftover transformation or two! Remember, becoming a confident cook is a journey to be enjoyed, not a race. There’s no rush to master everything, so embrace the process, have fun experimenting, and celebrate each new skill you acquire. With practice and a little playful inventiveness, anyone can unlock their inner Betty. If you’re loving all the learnings and feel you’re ready to take on more, take the next step and finish your journey to full cooking confidence, and be Betty.

Ready to be a Betty and conquer your kitchen? In this final piece of our three part series, we're taking culinary confidence to the next level. Forget rigid recipes and embrace the thrill of experimentation! We'll equip you with the skills to cook without recipes, master ingredient substitutions, and create your own delicious sauces from scratch. Get ready to put down your big red recipe book, trust your instincts, and discover the endless possibilities that await in your kitchen. Let's dive in to continue mastering cooking confidence and unlock your full culinary potential as Betty!

Being Betty

The journey to becoming a confident cook, or unleashing your “Inner Betty,” isn't about following recipes to a T, it's about trusting your instincts and embracing the freedom to experiment! We hope that the skills below will help highlight that even a "bad" result isn't a failure, but a steppingstone on the path to culinary confidence. Every time you try something new, you gain valuable experience and develop a deeper understanding of how flavors work together. So, grab your favorite ingredients, and let your creativity take the lead. The kitchen is your playground, and the possibilities are endless.

Recipe Inspiration vs. Instruction

The next skill we recommend is to take a dish you’re already comfortable with and use the recipe as a flexible guide, not a rigid set of instructions. The goal is to move beyond simply following steps, to evolve into crafting flavor profiles through your known cooking techniques. Take a moment to think about a few favorite dishes you’ve made. Try to avoid baking dishes that require precise measurements or exacting cook times. A great place to start would be a one pot dinner recipe or a sheet pan recipe where you can cook multiple ingredients at once with ease. These meals are often very flexible to suit personal preference. Perhaps you want to experiment with different herbs and spices, substitute a vegetable, or adjust the cooking time based on your preference. The recipe remains a valuable resource—a safety net you can consult if needed—but the emphasis is on developing your own intuition. This practice can help you learn the art of personal preference when it comes to making sauces or seasoning. Recipes provide standard proportions, but you can always experiment with different quantities to discover what you like best, which is what this is all about!

No Sweat Substitutions

One of the best ways to be adaptable in the kitchen is to find success making a meal while using substitutions. Practicing the skill of substitution is about understanding recipes as guidelines rather than a rigid set of rules. This can help you learn to trust your instincts and experiment with flavors as you strengthen your adaptability.

Basic Replacements

For example, if you're craving a pasta dish but only have rice on hand, try substituting it! A change like this will simply introduce new textures without drastically altering flavor. You may notice that this switch requires an adjustment to your sauces or size of supporting ingredients. Imagine you're making a classic tomato sauce for pasta; you might need to add a bit more liquid to the rice to ensure it absorbs the sauce properly. Or, if you're making a creamy carbonara sauce, you might want to use a bit less sauce to avoid making the rice too soggy. Play around with supporting components so your substitution can shine as its own unique meal, you might even create a more flavorful and satisfying dish!

Seasonal Substitutes

Kitchens are a place of constant and delectable change especially as the seasons change. Sometimes, the ingredients we’re craving aren’t in season at the moment or just can’t be found in your local store. Instead of scrapping your recipe, plan to pivot -- just adapt to what’s missing! These instances are for embracing the challenge of finding creative substitutes and discovering the hidden potential in unexpected changes.

Imagine you're craving a vibrant spring raspberry salad with fresh, bright berries, but it's the dead of winter and those raspberries are nowhere to be found. Instead of settling for a bland salad, consider using other fruits or getting a raspberry vinaigrette and just dress it differently.

You could also try using other fresh ingredients that are in season, like grapefruit or pomegranate, to create a unique and flavorful combination. While it might not have the same vibrant freshness as your planned in-season counterparts, these changes can still offer a sweet and juicy touch to your salad and bring that reminiscent feeling of spring through the colder months.

Remember, the goal of any substitution is to find a change that complements the other flavors in your dish and brings a touch of flavor you're craving. Don't be afraid to get creative and see what works. You might be surprised by the delicious results!

Homemade and From Scratch

Find liberation along with confidence in the kitchen by trying to make a custom sauce, from scratch, without measuring! This might sound complex, but it’s really no sweat. This recommendation is all about embracing the process, trusting your instincts, and having fun! Start by gathering your favorite ingredients – think onions, garlic, herbs, and maybe a splash of wine. Don't worry about exact quantities; just let your senses guide you. Maybe take inspiration from a favorite dish and try to deconstruct it in your mind. The trick here, is to try it along the way and adjust to suit your personal preferences. Don’t sweat the small stuff, sauce included. If you find it’s not developing in the way you want, scrap it and try again. Making a glaze, marinade, or dip is a perfect low stakes way to expand your creativity with cheaper ingredients that utilize small quantities.

Remember, there's no right or wrong way to create a sauce. Each attempt is a chance to discover new flavor combinations and build your confidence in the kitchen. So, ditch the measuring cups, embrace the spontaneity, and enjoy the journey of creating something delicious from scratch!

Call Me Betty

Overall, this journey is about more than just following the instructions, it’s about cultivating your culinary confidence. Through this series, we hope that you've learned to embrace the basics, expand your repertoire with new techniques and ingredients, and are leaning into adaptive skills through reinventing dishes into something new and exciting. These skills can flourish into talents or simply minimize stress in the face of something new. Being a Betty doesn’t mean always being perfect in the kitchen, it’s about letting your creativity take the lead and trusting the process and pivots! The kitchen is a safe space full of endless possibilities that these techniques can help you access. So, go forth, embrace your inner Betty, and enjoy the delicious journey of growing your abilities as a cook!