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.

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All Stovetop
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How to Butter-Baste Steaks, Chops, and Fish
A broken pan sauce being stirred with a wooden spoon.
How to Make a Pan Sauce, and How to Fix a Broken One
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How to Make Tadka
Overhead view of a freshly seasoned carbon steel pan on a gas cooktop.
How to Season Carbon Steel Pans
A split image of a skin-on chicken breast being panfried in a stainless steel and nonstick skillet, respectively.
Why You Shouldn't Use Nonstick Cookware (Most of the Time)
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
To Find the Best Stockpots, I Watched 8 Pots of Water Boil (Literally)
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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
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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
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Wok Skills 101: Steaming
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How to Make the Crispiest Pan-Seared Fish Skin
The OXO Non-Stick Pro 10-Inch Frypan on a stove top.
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?
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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How to Sweat Vegetables
stack of boxty pancakes with dollop on sourcream, and garnished with green onions on a green place on stone surface.
Boxty (Irish Potato Pancakes)
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
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