The Latest on Food Hacks

Difficulty: Novice Time: 2-5 minutes per fruit/vegetable Cost: $0, uses food you already own

Difficulty: Novice Time: 5-15 minutes per hack Cost: Price of regular menu items

Difficulty: Novice Time: 25 minutes Cost: ~$8

You've probably grabbed a box of mac and cheese during a hunger emergency, only to realize you're out of milk. No milk, no problem. Skip the watery plan B and the late-night store run. The trick is not kitchen magic, it is understanding what makes sauces creamy and which easy swaps beat the box directions by a mile.

Difficulty: Novice Time: 10 minutes per order Cost: Saves $5-25 per order

4 Smart Fast-Food Hacks That Cut Your Bill in Half

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.

Many people rely on the date printed on an egg carton to decide when to toss the dozen, but sell‑by and best‑by dates are quality guidelines — not safety deadlines. If you've been pitching eggs solely because of the date on the carton, you may be wasting perfectly good food.

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.