"Dill Pickle Juice": 50 People Share Their 'I'll Never Tell' Cooking Secrets

That I have absolutely no idea what I did and can't recreate it exactly if I tried.

The secret : if someone makes something you love, don't ask for the recipe, ask to make it with them one day. Sometimes the hidden secret is in how they make something, not the recipe itself.

That's one of my biggest peeves. I'm a fairly accomplished chef. It has paid my bills for the last 15 years. If someone asks me a question I will answer it honestly and try to give them good advice.

I've worked with chefs that will say s**t like, "if I told you, I'd have to k**l you."

Yeah hilarious Matt, was it fennel or star anise you pedantic a*****e?

Cinnamon and Nutmeg are often thought of as holiday spices, when used in conjunction and with sugar. But these are hardly their only uses. Both have very strong savory applications. I add some to chili and tomato sauces to add warmth and complexity. Nutmeg is my secret ingredient in any bechamel base.

Edit: it has become painfully aware that some of you snooty brats think nutmeg isn't a secret to which I say, yeah it's not really if you watch food Network on the regular. However there are some parts of the world where people never heard of adding it to their cheese sauce. And I come from those parts. Check yourself. Thank you in advance.

I have no secrets. If anyone asks me how I make anything I'll tell them exactly how I'm exhaustive detail it they're willing to listen. Even my family's most treasured recipes I will teach you how to make it.

One day I walked in on my boyfriend chopping onions to freeze. SITTING IN FRONT OF THE TV WITH A LITTLE WORKSTATION.

I don't know why it never occured to me that you could sit down while doing repetitive prepping. Growing up I had only seen little old ladies do that and I guess I internalized that as a privilege to come with age ?

Anyways yeah. My secret is that I peeled these potatoes on the sofa and I think you can taste the extra layer of comfort. The potatoes peeled over a bowl in the sink taste like "I've been peeling for 10 lbs and my back hurts from the weird angle I've been holding my neck at while I dissociate in a room with zero entertainment ".

I still cook with a lot of butter, lard, and bacon fat. Heavy cream, sour cream, or Greek yoghurt where it calls for milk in a lot of recipes or boxed mixes, like mac and cheese. I don't cook with "low-fat" anything.

I think cooking secrets are irritating. I always tell people exactly what my recipes are if they’re interested.

A couple of splashes of Worcestershire sauce elevate minced beef.

Having an actual secret recipe that you won't tell anyone else is straight up weird. So much of cooking is passing on knowledge to others.

Butter is way better than mayo for grilled cheese. Who cares if the browning is even, I want it to taste good.

I bring baked good to work quite often and I’ll print out stack of the recipes, and what I’ve changed, so people can make it at home and know exactly what the ingredients are.

There are way too many food allergies and I don’t want to accidentally k**l my coworkers.

I like to blend up some charred jalapeno and fresh cilantro and add it to my homemade corn tortilla dough.

Also, I love adding roasted poblano peppers to my pinto beans (and often actually go for peruano beans instead of pinto too).

Add very thinly sliced garlic fried in oil to your pastas or fried rice. It gives it so much flavor and a really nice crunch. Also, the secret to never burning your garlic is to keep the heat consistent and add garlic to the pan while it’s still cold. First add it with the oil, then turn the heat on medium and keep it on the same level of heat. That way, the flavor slowly infuses in the oil and makes it fragrant. Once it’s starting to get nice and golden you can take it off the heat - it’ll continue to fry up since the oil is still hot. Literally everyone obsesses over how I make my fried garlic, but it’s very easy :).

Key lime juice instead of lemon in hummus. People always ask me my secret, and that’s the only change I make. (Have had a key lime tree out back for years.).

A dash or two of soy sauce in a meat gravy is never amiss.

I entered a chili cookoff last year, but I didn't have a good recipe up my sleeve since it's not something I ever make. After delving into a ton of research about the secret ingredients people use, I eventually threw my hands up and ended up putting in practically ALL of them. We're talking 10 different types of chiles, ground espresso, dark cherries, fish sauce, masa harina, cocoa powder, steak, pork butt, bacon, pumpkin beer, tomato paste, beans, shallots, sweet potatoes, worchestershire sauce, msg, coriander, Mexican oregano, galanghal, smoked paprika, cloves...

If someone wanted the recipe, there's no way I could have even come close to piecing it together. It was certainly unlike any chili I had ever eaten, but to my great astonishment, it actually won the grand prize!

I always save and use the flavoured oil in jars of preserves like marinated feta or artichokes. Especially in blended soups like pumpkin or carrot. Also a bit of chocolate in many savoury dishes like curry or thick soup. Just a square of dark chocolate.

A pinch of MSG in anything savory, and a teeeeny pinch of salt in any dessert, especially if it involves chocolate.

Fish sauce in many non-Asian dishes. Perfect umami and doesn't taste taste like fish.