12 Tips On Ditching The Recipe And Making A Dish Your Own

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There are many reasons you might want to ditch the recipe and create something new. Maybe you love the overall profile of a specific dish, but there's one item in it you can't stand. Perhaps you're looking for more variety or want to expand your cooking repertoire. If you just want to show off your cooking skills to your friends and family, that's okay, too!

I've spent most of my life in kitchens, either at home or commercially, where I chose to follow in the family business with a 15+ year career of my own. Although most people in my family chose hot foods or baking, I decided to cross-train, which helped me see clearly the truth in a particular adage: Baking is a science, cooking is an art.

While you want to stick closely to baking recipes, consider cooking recipes a set of loose guidelines instead. There's always lots of room to change, improve, and make a dish your own. Ready to get started? Here are 12 easy ways to start straying from recipes to create something new and uniquely yours.

My first suggestion is to be bold, creative, and unafraid of failure. If you're new to cooking (or just kitchen experimentation), it can feel a bit frightening. But, failing is part of the process. In the beginning of my career, I tried creating new dishes and regularly came out with something awful. Once, I even set the kitchen curtains on fire experimenting with fried green tomatoes. But, that's part of the learning curve you need to embrace — although I hope your failures aren't quite as dramatic as mine, for your kitchen's sake.

Twenty years after my kitchen fire, I regularly create new recipes with zero (or close to zero) failures. In fact, a significant part of my career was spent developing full menus of my own recipes. The only caveat is you have to learn from your failures and make adjustments moving forward; I learned the dangers of hot cooking oil and haven't set anything on fire since.

It may sound counterintuitive, but before you can ditch recipes, you need to understand them. Reading lots of cookbooks and recipe sites is the best way to do this. Pay special attention to measurements, ingredients, instructions, and any helpful cooking tips provided. Consider this your "recipe education" for developing a baseline you can start creating with. I also suggest making some of the recipes you find according to the instructions, so you can get a feel for the process. While doing so, start to question what you could change in the future to make a dish different.

You may also find books on cooking techniques helpful. If you only read one book, I recommend The Science of Cooking: Every Question Answered to Perfect Your Cooking because it covers all the basics in simple, understandable language. However, if you're looking for something akin to working in a professional kitchen, you should also give Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook a read — the humor, techniques, and overall feel is reminiscent of a true commercial kitchen setting.

While it's true you can pair items of different flavor profiles for balance (and should), sticking to similar profiles is an easy, safe way to start changing things. Later, when you're more comfortable, you can start experimenting with flavor balances and contrasts. There are five primary flavor profiles to familiarize yourself with — umami, sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy.

Umami's flavor profile is salty and savory, offering a rich, meaty taste that lingers in your mouth. Meats are the most common food associated with the umami flavor, but different types of mushrooms, tomatoes, and seaweed also fall into this category. Sweet is a rich, sugary flavor commonly associated with things like cakes or ice cream. But, you can add this to your dishes using sweet potatoes, sugar snap peas, carrots, or maple syrup.

Sour describes a sharp, tart taste that can cause your mouth to pucker in extremes; it's found in ingredients like sour cream, apple cider vinegar, and lemon juice. Bitter is a harsh taste that some may find unpleasant. Coffee is the most common example of bitterness, but kale, okra, and grapefruit also fall into this category. Finally, spicy isn't really a flavor, but rather a distinct burning sensation in your mouth caused by things like hot sauce, wasabi, and horseradish.

There are many recipes that can be made using different cooking methods; changing the method can alter the taste, texture, or appearance of a dish. Pork chops are a prime example. If you pan-fry them, they come out with a nice crispy layer that really lets the seasonings shine through. But, when slow-cooked, you get a tender, juicy meat that embraces the basic umami profile of the pork. Grilling offers a smoky charred flavor that pairs perfectly with homemade barbecue sauce.

Although there are less common cooking methods, you'll want to familiarize yourself with baking, grilling, sautéing, deep-frying, pan-frying, and slow cooking. Baking means cooking something in the oven, while grilling generally refers to using an outdoor grill. Sautéing and pan-frying both refer to cooking in a pan on the stove, but the former is a faster method that requires more pan movement than the latter. Deep-frying is cooking something by fully submerging it in oil, like you would do with the best French fries. Slow cooking is most often done in a slow cooker, but can also be done in the oven; it requires cooking for longer times at much lower temperatures.

Changes don't have to feel big to make a big impact. One of the best ways to start making a dish your own is to take one of your favorite recipes and switch a single ingredient out for another. Once you've tested the altered recipe, you can either leave it or make another small modification if you feel the need. Then, test again. Repeat until the new recipe is exactly what you want it to be.

The reason this works so well is you don't have to worry much about measurements or balancing a recipe as long as you substitute a similar ingredient. Switch out proteins, vegetables, broths, and starches for another of the same kind to achieve similar results to the original recipe, with a slightly different flavor profile.

One perfect example is this easy beef stew recipe. You could use vegetable broth instead of beef broth for a lighter, earthier flavor profile. Or, you might switch the shallots for Vidalia onions for a sweeter, more intense onion taste.

Switching ingredients for similar options isn't the only way to make a dish your own — addition or subtraction of ingredients is also a fantastic idea. When you add something or take something away, you can change an existing recipe's flavor profile, texture, and visuals mildly or significantly, depending on what exactly you do.

Using this buttery mashed potatoes recipe for example, we have a lot of room for additions. Adding a little mayonnaise will provide a thicker, richer texture, while some sour cream would create a creamier final product. Since the recipe calls for very little seasoning, this is an excellent place to add something. My recommendation would be some black pepper, minced garlic, and dried parsley.

This chicken and sausage gumbo recipe becomes a thin but flavorful soup if you take away the okra. Removing one of the meats will shift the meaty flavor in one direction or the other, while removing the cayenne pepper and hot sauce will lower the meal's heat level. Removing the roux will make the dish a little thinner, although cooking it a little longer will allow the okra's natural thickening abilities to shine.

If you're not sure where to start experimenting, switching proteins is a simple option without straying too far from an original recipe. But, you need to understand what changes make sense, and when switching the protein requires other replacements, too.

Most ground meats can be switched for one another. You can switch ground beef for ground turkey and get a lighter, drier profile. Or, use ground veal for a more tender texture and mild taste profile. Shredded meats are another prime example. Substituting shredded chicken for shredded turkey will offer a richer, more umami flavor.

Of course, you can also switch non-similar meats for distinctly different dishes, but this often requires changing your liquid base when it's called for, too. Substituting chicken in a beef stew recipe would call for changing the beef stock to chicken. Using tofu to make a recipe vegan would also require changing out any meat-based stocks for vegetable-based ones.

Seasonings are an easy way to change or enhance the taste of a dish. Don't be afraid to experiment with new seasonings, use them generously, and remember to keep a well-stocked spice cabinet to make dishes your own. 

There are a few basic seasonings everyone should be using, which are a great place to start experimenting. These include salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and parsley. Salt is a flavor enhancer that should be used in most things — even some sweet treats call for a little salt. Pepper adds a nice kick to foods, while garlic is a slightly spicy, bitter aromatic that's widely used in Italian dishes. Onion powder is sharp and zesty, while paprika has a mild, sweet taste and is excellent at adding color to dishes like fried potatoes. Parsley has a subtle earthy flavor that makes a visually-appealing garnish. 

It's also my personal recommendation to experiment with oregano, red pepper flake, cumin, and ginger. Oregano has a deep, earthy profile with mild hints of bitterness that upgrades tomato sauce and enhances pan-fried pork chops. Red pepper flake can bring a decent amount of heat to your recipe, while cumin offers a dish warmth and richness. Ginger has a warm, spicy taste with mild sweetness that works especially well with noodles or chicken.

If you're looking for a no-fuss way to make a dish your own, pay attention to your starches. Many dishes contain at least one, and they're a key component in a standard meal along with a protein and vegetable. By re-seasoning your starch, you'll make big flavor changes without straying from the basic preparation steps.

One of my favorite ways to do this is by adding chicken or beef flavoring to rice. Cooking the rice in broth is always a good option, but I particularly like using the Knorr Chicken Flavor Bouillon for rice. Adding a dash of fresh-squeezed lime juice, a little butter, salt, and a generous amount of cilantro makes the perfect rice for various taco recipes or lemon pepper chicken.

Potatoes can be re-seasoned even more ways than their rice counterparts. Add fresh minced garlic to mashed potatoes for a tangier side. Or, add dried oregano, basil, and parsley alongside salt and pepper for an earthy, herb-infused meal companion. Adding unique seasonings to roasted or fried potatoes is one of my favorite meal-elevating options. Sprinkle your favorite seasoning mix generously, adding salt to taste — taco seasoning, Italian, Cajun, Old Bay, or Greek, there's no wrong answer.

Many vegetables can be easily switched for another. You can also simply take something out if you don't like it, or add another vegetable in. For many dishes (not all), playing around with the vegetables won't alter the process or other ingredients, but does offer a mild taste change. For example, I'm not a fan of green peas, so I swap them out for green beans in my chicken pot pie recipe. It's a simple change that makes a huge difference for me because I actually like green beans and I only tolerate peas.

Potatoes can sometimes be substituted with sweet potatoes for a sweeter taste and creamier texture. Subbing parsnips in for carrots provides a more complex flavor with the slightest hint of spice. Using broccoli instead of cauliflower will lend your dish a more distinct earthy taste, while opting for shallots over yellow onions will mellow a dish's profile.

This is probably the tip I use most as a mom who will do anything to get her kids to eat greens. Whether or not the recipe calls for it, I like to add a green like spinach, kale, collards, cabbage, or mustard greens to almost anything — soups, stews, pasta sauce, egg dishes, and casseroles are a few examples.

The best part about adding greens to recipes is it adds a nice contrasting color that makes food look more appetizing. Plus, leafy greens are a nutrient-dense food with a high fiber content and lots of antioxidants, so they're a healthy addition choice. You should familiarize yourself with what each common leafy green has to offer your dish and experiment based on your taste preferences.

Spinach is the easiest leafy green to add to a dish because it has a very subtle flavor that's easily masked by other tastes. Kale is a trendy green with a strong bitter taste that people either love or hate; collard greens are also bitter, but more subtle than kale. Although mustard greens can be bitter when raw, they tend to be more mellow once cooked — like a slightly more dense spinach taste. Cabbage has a mild, earthy flavor with a slight sweetness.

To really ditch the recipe and make a dish your own, try turning it into a soup or salad. Doing so is easy and offers a distinctly different dish from the original. To utilize this tip, take the primary ingredients in one of your favorite recipes and serve them over salad greens or in broth to make a soup.

One great example is ground beef tacos. You can make taco soup using the ground beef, tomatoes, onions, cheese, and sour cream with the addition of beef broth. Or, serve those basics over salad greens with some guacamole. You can follow the same principle to turn cheesesteaks into a soup or salad.

Don't feel limited to entrées, either. You can turn a whole meal into a soup — like pork chop soup, made with potatoes and your favorite vegetables. Or, do the same with a salad and serve seared steak slices over fresh spinach leaves, tomato, black beans, and homemade pico de gallo. If you're not sure it'll work, try anyway — you'll either know for sure, or be pleasantly surprised.