Food Hacks

Difficulty: Moderate Time: 2 hours (40 minutes prep, 1 hour 20 minutes cooking) Cost: ~$15-18 Yield: 6 servings (about 30 meatballs)

Got 30 minutes? Here’s how to pick the perfect air fryer without getting overwhelmed by endless options. These compact powerhouses circulate extremely hot air around food, so you get that crispy texture we all crave with minimal oil (Consumer Reports). Market research shows they remain among the most popular countertop appliances, with growth continuing despite post-pandemic expectations (Consumer Reports). What started as a simple gadget for reheating frozen fries has turned into a versatile...

TikTok's latest fast-food hack is everywhere. Tempting, a little chaotic, and it might make you rethink lunch. A viral wave of videos reworking basic drive-thru orders has racked up millions of views, pulling viewers in with equal parts fascination and side-eye. Multiple creators keep upping the stakes, according to various viral posts, with some clips clearing 28 million views. The promise is big, a reinvented fast-food experience, but some combos tip from clever to what are we even eating.

Freeze Coffee Beans Like a Pro: 4 Easy Steps to Lock in Freshness for Months

Reviewed by: Jame Jimenez

Ready to turn your kitchen into a personal coffeehouse? The path to café-quality espresso at home just became clearer, thanks to extensive professional testing that has separated the standouts from the also-rans. After over 80 hours of rigorous testing by CNET's experts and over 3600 espresso shots pulled by coffee professionals across 75+ machines, the takeaway lands cleanly. 2025's espresso machines deliver real upgrades for home baristas at every price point.

Reviewed by Julianne Ngirngir

Ever wonder how to squeeze more flavor, value, and satisfaction out of your McDonald's breakfast run? Whether you're rushing to work or treating yourself to a weekend morning meal, there are clever ways to transform basic menu items into something spectacular. Former McDonald's Corporate Chef Mike Haracz has shared insider tips, and savvy customers have discovered ordering tricks that can save money while delivering better taste. These breakfast sandwich hacks range from simple substitutions to...

Difficulty: Novice Time: 15 minutes Cost: Free Savings: Up to $500 annually

Got 15 minutes and a wallet that's feeling a little light? Here's how to slash your grocery bills while eating amazing plant-based meals. Research shows that switching to a whole-food vegan diet can cut food costs by 19 percent—that's about $650 in savings per year. The secret isn't complicated: plant-based staples like brown rice, potatoes, and beans are some of the cheapest and healthiest ingredients in the supermarket. Plus, inflation has hit meat at nearly twice the rate of vegetables,...

Greek yogurt has always been in my regular snack rotation. Packed with more protein than plain yogurt, it fills me up and stabilizes my energy with its low levels of carbohydrates and sugar.

I grew up in a rural town, which meant we dehydrated a lot of food. Even with a hungry family of five, there was no way that we could eat all the season's tomatoes before they molded, all the orchard's apples before they grew soft, or all the wild mushrooms we picked. And so our dehydrator was always getting a good workout.

I'm not a big fan of single-use tools, especially ones that aren't used particularly often. I'm especially not a big fan of seldom-used single-use tools that take up a large amount of space.

Fish are delicate, flaky, and can be damn tricky to cook; more often than not, you end up with a hard, dry block of flesh that makes your taste buds sad. And the best ways to cook fish that you know of — c'mon, who doesn't love a fried fish — take way too much effort for you to bother with on a weeknight. Or maybe you're looking for a healthier way to enjoy fish that doesn't require batter or frying at all.

Instant ramen has been popular in the States for decades, and restaurants that serve the real thing in any variety you can imagine have been popping up everywhere in the last few years. But you don't have to go out or cook all day to have a gourmet ramen experience.

There are few kitchen tools as elusive as the oyster knife. Many people—even seafood lovers—don't own one. If you own one, it probably gets used so infrequently that it gets sent to the back of the shelf, where it proceeds to get lost. Then you accidentally find the knife once a month when you don't need it, but you can't for the life of you find the sneaky little thing when you do need it.

Valentine's Day is right around the corner... which is the perfect excuse to ignite your inner cupid and bake a heart-shaped cake. If you have a heart-shaped cake or springform pan, you're all set. If not, don't worry—you don't need one! With a little ingenuity, you'll have a beautiful heart cake using the pans you already own.

I recently enjoyed ice cream rolls at an ice cream corner and I wonder can we make them at our homes. I asked the ice corner's owner about it and he said there is a chemical under the plate where ice cream liquid is rolled. Is there a way to make them at our homes without that chemical?