Good morning. This week we’re revisiting one of our most popular tips: how to prep & freeze aromatics ahead of time.

• If your upcoming holiday recipes include chopped aromatics, this is something you could knock out this weekend to save time on the actual day of cooking.

COOKING PROTOCOL 🍳

The frozen aromatics protocol

Chopping onions, garlic, or celery every time you cook can feel like a chore. The fix? Prep once, freeze in portions, and you’ve got instant flavor bases ready for quick meals all week.

Why it works: Aromatic blends are the backbone of countless dishes, but they’re time-consuming to dice every single time you want to cook. Freezing them preserves most of the flavor, and small portions allow them to be cooked straight from the freezer.

Note: Frozen aromatics lose a bit of their punch, so plan to use slightly more than you would with fresh.

What to freeze

• Garlic (peeled cloves or sliced/minced/paste)

• Onions (diced or sliced)

• Mirepoix (onion, carrot, celery)

• Cajun “holy trinity” (onion, bell pepper, celery)

• Sofrito (tomato & onion)

• Ginger-garlic paste

How to do it

1. Dice or blend aromatics in bulk.

2. Portion into ice cube trays or small containers.

3. Freeze until solid, then transfer cubes to a bag or container.

4. Drop frozen cubes straight into a pan with a bit of cooking oil to start of the cooking process.

Pro move: Make cuisine-specific bases — like mirepoix for French stews, sofrito for Latin cooking, or holy trinity for Cajun dishes — so you can cook a variety of meals or mix up flavor profiles automatically.

Learn more about putting your freezer to work in this video.

RECIPE RECOMMENDATIONS ✅

Other meal prep ideas

Feeling inspired to prep ingredients or meal components? Check out these prep-friendly meals:

READER Q&A 🧠

Cheap vs expensive charcoal

Answer: Charcoal can only make so much of a difference (as investigated by this ATK article). For better flavor at home, you’re better off spending that money on higher-quality ingredients.

Binchotan charcoal, the stuff used for yakitori grilling, is widely considered the best charcoal in the world for its long-burning, odorless, and smokeless qualities.

• The Japanese charcoal comes from oak that is fired in an earthen kiln for about a week. The result is coal links so dense and pure that they sound like glass when clinked together.

• Their compacted structure stays lit for longer, keeping an intense, steady heat for hours at a time → worth it for yakitori shops or long restaurant services, not necessarily a weeknight meal.

Another main benefit of expensive charcoal is actually the lack of flavor. It burns so clean that it doesn’t impart competing aromas for a cleaner, purer flavor of whatever product you are grilling.

• This makes more sense when grilling expensive cuts of meat, but cheap burger patties would probably benefit from some extra smoke or, say, hickory aromas.

Not to mention dense charcoal like this is difficult to source and takes patient, practiced technique to light. So for everyday backyard grilling, the pros don’t outweigh the cons. Stick to bagged charcoal and use the savings to buy higher-quality raw ingredients.

Have a culinary question? Reply to send it in for a chance to be featured and get your question answered.

WINNING READER SUBMISSION 🏆

Salmon & orzo

This week’s dinner winner is Nick V., who made crispy skin salmon with a healthy-ish creamy orzo.

Reply with your best home-cooked food photos for a chance to win & be featured!

EXTRA HELPINGS 🍽️

A read: How traveling taught me to eat like a local

In a minute or less: The perfect biscuit

What we’re watching: Ways to use leftover rice

Food science: Kewpie vs. regular mayo

The Cook Well app is happening: Get in on early subscriptions

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