11 Crucial Microwave Shortcuts Every Home Cook Should Know

Dry Herbs, Chiles, and Other Seasonings

Since microwaves target water molecules, they're an ideal tool for dehydrating everything from leftover fresh herbs to scallion greens and even tomato skins. Not only does drying these ingredients in the microwave take a fraction of the time it would take to preheat your oven or toaster oven for the same purpose, but our tests have found that the microwave does a better job of preserving both color and flavor to boot. Once they're dry, a quick pass through a spice grinder or a few minutes with a mortar and pestle will leave you with a vibrantly flavorful powdered seasoning that'll last way longer than the fresh stuff.

But you don't have to harness the microwave's dehydrating powers to make a great seasoning—we also use it to toast and simmer dried chilies in chicken stock for a bold, nuanced chile paste that'll put your store-bought chili powder to shame.

Fry Garlic and Shallots

Most deep-frying projects are best undertaken on the stovetop—or even your backyard. But sliced alliums like garlic and shallots are small and porous enough that they can actually deep fry quickly and safely in the microwave. It's a great low-mess way to whip up crispy fried garlic or shallots to garnish a bowl of noodles or use in your next batch of XO sauce. (As a bonus, the garlic technique will land you with a batch of garlic oil, too.)

Toast Nuts and Pumpkin Seeds

I've spent years toasting nuts in a stovetop skillet or a sheet pan in my oven. I've also spent years throwing out batches of charred nuts that I left unattended for just a minute too long. But that's just one reason toasting them in the microwave is so compelling—it's also faster, easier, and involves less clean-up. If you've tried this method before and remain unimpressed, don't walk away just yet. We've found that tossing the nuts in a little oil helps them brown and develop the same complex flavor you'd get from more conventional methods.

This technique will work for pretty much any nut, not to mention pumpkin seeds—just toss the raw nuts or seeds in a neutral oil like canola (or olive oil, if you want the added flavor), and microwave them in one-minute intervals, tossing them each time, until they're golden-brown.

Cook Rice

Cooking rice in the microwave won't save you any time, but it is foolproof and easier to clean than a starch-crusted pot—plus it frees up stovetop space to make any accompaniments you desire. I won't go so far as to argue that microwaving rice is as good as owning a good rice cooker—it only really works well with white rice, and it makes just a couple of servings—but it's a close second when you want a modest amount of rice and need your burners for something else.

The method itself is simple: just rinse any type of white rice in warm running water, then transfer it to a bowl with the volume of liquid recommended on the package. We add an extra two tablespoons of water to compensate for evaporation, and cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel (a tight-fitting lid will only cause water to boil over). Microwaved on high for 10 minutes, followed by 15 more minutes on medium, it yields a bowl of perfectly cooked, fluffy rice.

Make Corn

If you're looking for an ideal indoor method for perfectly cooked corn on the cob, it doesn't get any easier than this. Just stick a whole, unshucked ear of corn in the microwave and cook it on high for three minutes.

What, you thought there was more?

Pop Popcorn

Yes, yes, we all know about microwave popcorn. But what about the kind that tastes better, costs way less than the pre-packaged stuff, and doesn't make the same mess as the stovetop variety? All you need to make perfect microwave popcorn is a jar of kernels, a brown paper lunch bag, and a dash of oil and salt to round things out.

The real upsell here, though, is that you have full control over what goes into that bag before it hits the microwave: Brown-bag popcorn is easily customized with whatever seasonings you fancy. Check out our favorite flavor variations to shake things up—think Thai coconut curry, bagna cauda, brown-butter maple, and beyond.

Whip Up Fast, Easy Bacon

It may not be among our preferred methods for cooking bacon, but in a pinch you can indeed use a microwave to whip up a batch of bacon. Will it be the best bacon you've ever had? Absolutely not. But it will be hands-free, splatter-free, and virtually clean-up free. Just lay your bacon slices between two pieces of paper towel on a microwave-safe plate and zap 'em on high for two minutes. If they're not quite done, continue cooking in 30-second intervals until they're crisp. Consider it an option for your only-have-a-kitchenette-but-must-have-bacon scenarios, or the answer to any emergency-instant-gratification-required bacon cravings. Pro tip: Bacon served straight out of a microwave can be a little chewy, but if you let it rest for a couple of minutes before digging in, it'll crisp up.

Par-Cook Potatoes

Sometimes the microwave is just a way station on your journey to the perfect dish. Take Kenji's ultimate recipe for potato hash, for instance. While most recipes call for parboiling cubed potatoes before frying them, we found that the process softens the potatoes so much that they start to fall apart. One solution is to add some vinegar to your cooking water; the other cuts the boiling water, the pot, and the wait out of the equation altogether. Just microwave the potatoes instead—a few minutes should do the trick. And, for the ultra-crispy hash brown fanatics out there, I'm happy to report that the microwave has that covered, too.

The same principle can cut the time separating you and the perfect baked potato by at least half an hour: Just poke a few holes in the potato, microwave it for 10 minutes, and transfer it to a 425°F oven or grill until it's fork-tender with a crisped skin. Jazz it up with some pimento cheese, vegan cheese and broccoli, or garlic and Parmesan.

Make Tender Green Vegetables

Stovetop steaming isn't rocket science, but it still requires more prep and time than this microwave alternative. Any green vegetable that you'd be tempted to steam or blanch—think broccoli, green beans, bok choy, asparagus, and the like—can go straight into the microwave instead. You can get precise prep instructions from our article, linked below, but the general rule of thumb remains roughly the same: Just place your veggies on a plate, cover them with a triple layer of damp paper towels, and microwave on high for one or two minutes, until the vegetables are fork-tender.

The microwave is also ideal for par-cooking porous vegetables like eggplant or zucchini—it's one of our favorite time-saving tricks for this all-American eggplant Parmesan. Start by layering the slices in paper towels on a microwave-safe plate and top them with a second plate to help press out extra moisture and air. After a couple of minutes in the microwave, the vegetables condense and flatten, losing the frustrating sponginess that makes them soak up every last drop of oil in the pan.

Temper Chocolate

There are many ways to temper chocolate, and pros and cons to each. The microwave is but one of those ways, and though using a sous-vide circulator is more foolproof and less messy, the microwave method requires no special equipment other than a thermometer and a bit of vigilance. You can get the step-by-step instructions at the link below.

"Bake" Foolproof Cakes

You're skeptical. I understand; I was, too. Then I discovered that I could make a dense, fudgy homemade chocolate cake (or this mocha version) in under 10 minutes. Oh, and the whole only-using-one-bowl thing doesn't hurt, either. Then again, more experienced bakers who like a challenge shouldn't dismiss the microwave altogether—just take a gander at these lighter-than-air Rocky Road sponge cakes, jam-packed with marshmallows, dark and white chocolate, toasted walnuts, and bourbon.

...and Crisps, Too!

The above applies to "baking" that really is just...crisping. See: this newly published, 10-minute-all-in microwave apple crisp recipe. The microwave crucially allows you to control how evenly toasted your crisp topping is simply due to the fact that you can check on it (and move it around) in 30-second intervals. So crispy! So quick!