Most people use their microwave for the same three things: reheating last night’s pizza, making popcorn, and nuking frozen dinners. That trusty box sitting on your kitchen counter is capable of so much more than you think. Your microwave can actually help you cook from scratch, prep ingredients faster, and even save food you thought was destined for the trash. Once you know these tricks, you’ll wonder why you ever limited this appliance to just warming things up.
Making a cake in the microwave takes just minutes
Forget waiting for your oven to preheat for half an hour. You can actually bake a real cake in your microwave in a fraction of the time it normally takes. The famous chocolate mug cake only needs about 90 seconds to cook through completely. Just mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, an egg, milk, and oil in a microwave-safe mug, then zap it. The result is a warm, gooey chocolate cake that’s perfect for when you need dessert right now.
If you’re feeding more than just yourself, you can make a three-layer cake that serves 10 to 12 people with only 10 minutes of microwave time. The trick is using microwave-safe cake pans and adjusting the power level so the cake cooks evenly without getting rubbery. The texture might be slightly different from oven-baked cakes, but when you’re craving something sweet and don’t want to wait, this method is a total game changer. Plus, you won’t heat up your entire kitchen in the summer.
Peeling garlic becomes ridiculously easy with this trick
Anyone who’s ever peeled a whole head of garlic knows how annoying it is to remove those papery skins from each tiny clove. Your fingers end up smelling like garlic for hours, and those husks stick to everything. Here’s the solution: put the entire head of garlic in the microwave for about 20 seconds. The heat creates steam inside each clove, which breaks the chemical bonds between the garlic flesh and the papery skin surrounding it.
After the brief heating, let the garlic cool for just a moment, then pull the cloves apart. The skins will practically fall off on their own, no knives or special gadgets required. You can peel an entire head of garlic in less than a minute this way. This trick is especially helpful when you’re making something that needs a lot of garlic, like roasted garlic pasta or homemade garlic bread. No more tedious peeling sessions before you can even start cooking.
Steaming vegetables works better than you’d expect
You can toss out that bulky steamer basket taking up space in your cabinets. Steaming vegetables in the microwave is actually easier and just as effective as using traditional methods. For smaller portions of vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, or bok choy, wrap them in several layers of damp paper towels and microwave them for a few minutes. The trapped moisture creates steam that cooks the vegetables perfectly without making them soggy or overcooked.
If you’re cooking larger amounts, put the vegetables in a microwave-safe bowl with a couple tablespoons of water, then cover the bowl with a plate. The steam gets trapped inside, cooking the vegetables evenly. Different vegetables need different amounts of time, but most cook in three to five minutes. Broccoli comes out bright green and tender-crisp, carrots get perfectly soft, and green beans stay snappy. The best part is that you don’t have to watch a pot on the stove or worry about timing multiple things at once.
Crying while chopping onions doesn’t have to happen
Everyone has their own trick for avoiding onion tears. Some people wear goggles, others light a candle nearby, and some folks swear by chewing gum. But there’s a much simpler solution that actually works: microwave the onion before you cut it. Just trim off both ends of the onion and stick it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. The heat changes the chemical compounds in the onion that normally make you cry when they’re released into the air.
After the quick microwave session, you can chop away without a single tear. The onion is still raw enough to use in any recipe that calls for fresh onions. This trick works for any type of onion, whether you’re using yellow onions, red onions, or sweet Vidalia onions. As a bonus, you can also use your microwave to actually cook onions if your recipe needs sautéed or caramelized onions. Just slice them, put them in a microwave-safe dish with a little butter or oil, and cook them in intervals until they’re soft and golden.
Getting juice from lemons becomes way more efficient
When a recipe calls for fresh lemon juice, it’s frustrating to squeeze and squeeze a lemon and barely get a tablespoon of juice out of it. Cold lemons straight from the fridge are especially stubborn. The solution is warming the lemon in the microwave for about 10 seconds before you cut and squeeze it. The heat softens the membranes inside the lemon, making it much easier to extract every last drop of juice.
Let the lemon cool down for a few seconds so it doesn’t burn your hands, then slice it in half and squeeze. You’ll get significantly more juice than you would from a cold lemon. This trick works for limes too, though larger citrus fruits like grapefruits and oranges need a bit more time in the microwave. If you’re making lemonade, salad dressing, or anything else that needs a lot of fresh citrus juice, this simple step saves you time and frustration. You might even get twice as much juice from each fruit.
Reviving stale bread actually works with this method
That half-loaf of bread sitting on your counter has gone hard and stale, but you don’t want to throw it away. Before you toss it or resign yourself to making bread crumbs, try this: wrap the stale bread in a damp paper towel and microwave it for about 10 seconds. The moisture from the paper towel creates steam, which gets absorbed back into the bread and softens it up again.
Another method is placing a glass of water in the microwave alongside the bread. The water heats up and creates steam that brings the bread back to life. This works for rolls, bagels, sliced bread, and even partially stale baguettes. The bread won’t stay soft forever after this treatment, so eat it within an hour or two. But for those times when you want toast or a sandwich and your bread has seen better days, this trick can save your breakfast or lunch without a trip to the store.
Drying fresh herbs preserves them better than hanging
When you buy a bunch of fresh herbs from the store or harvest them from your garden, they often go bad before you can use them all. Drying herbs extends their life, but the traditional method of hanging them to dry takes weeks. Your microwave can dry herbs in just a few minutes while actually preserving more of their natural oils and taste. Place four or five branches of herbs between two dry paper towels, then microwave them for two to three minutes.
Check the herbs after the time is up. They should be completely dry and brittle, crumbling easily between your fingers. The microwave method is actually better than oven-drying or air-drying because it quickly evaporates the water without heating the entire herb evenly. This preserves more of the essential oils that give herbs their distinct taste. You can do this with basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, or any other herb. Store the dried herbs in an airtight container, and they’ll last for months instead of days.
Making perfectly cooked eggs happens faster than on the stove
Eggs cooked in the microwave might sound weird, but they turn out surprisingly well. Whether you like scrambled eggs, poached eggs, or even hard-boiled eggs, your microwave can handle it. For scrambled eggs, crack a couple eggs into a microwave-safe bowl, add a splash of milk, whisk them together, and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between each round. They’ll be fluffy and ready in about two minutes total.
For poached eggs, crack an egg into a microwave-safe cup filled with water, then microwave for about a minute. According to Good Housekeeping tests, poached and hard-boiled eggs actually taste better when made in the microwave compared to traditional stovetop methods. The key is using the right container and not overcooking them. For hard-boiled eggs, put eggs in water in a microwave-safe bowl, cover it, and cook for about 10 minutes. Let them sit in the hot water for a few minutes after cooking, and you’ll have perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs without heating up a big pot of water on the stove.
Shucking corn becomes mess-free and super quick
Removing the husk and silk from fresh corn is one of those tasks that seems simple but ends up messy. Those silky strings get everywhere and stick to your hands, clothes, and kitchen counter. There’s a better way that eliminates almost all the mess. Cut off the stalk end of the corn cob, leaving the rest of the husk intact. Put the whole thing in the microwave for 30 seconds to a minute. You can cook up to four ears at once.
When the time is up, grab the corn by the uncut end and give it a firm shake. The cooked corn will slide right out of the husk, leaving behind the silk and mess. The corn comes out perfectly cooked and completely clean, with no annoying strings to pick off. This method is especially great during summer when you’re cooking corn for a crowd. Instead of standing at the stove with a big pot of boiling water, you can prepare multiple ears quickly and cleanly in the microwave. The corn tastes just as good, and cleanup takes seconds instead of minutes.
Your microwave has been sitting there this whole time, capable of doing way more than just reheating coffee and leftovers. These tricks can save you time in the kitchen, reduce food waste, and make cooking from scratch easier than you thought possible. Try one or two of these methods next time you’re cooking, and you’ll start seeing your microwave as an actual cooking tool instead of just a reheating box.
