3 Basic Sauces That Will Transform Your Home Cooking

Most home-cooked meals taste flat not because of bad ingredients but because of missing sauce. Master these three and you can elevate almost anything. First, a simple pan sauce: after cooking meat, deglaze the pan with broth or wine, scrape up the browned bits, add a pat of butter, done. Second, a basic tomato sauce: saute garlic in olive oil, add canned crushed tomatoes, season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar, simmer 20 minutes. Third, a quick Asian stir-fry sauce: equal parts soy sauce and something sweet (honey or brown sugar), a splash of rice vinegar, a clove of minced garlic, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

All three take under ten minutes and use ingredients you probably already have. A good sauce is the difference between eating to survive and eating with pleasure.