12 Essential Lessons We’ve Gained from Ree Drummond

Ree Drummond, widely known as the Pioneer Woman, has long been an inspiration to home cooks looking for a relatable and approachable role model in the kitchen. Unlike highly trained and highfalutin chefs like Julia Child and Emeril Lagasse, Drummond started out as a simple blogger sharing stories about ranch life and family meals — something many people can relate to more than the rarefied heights of French cooking. This persona helped her build an empire that includes cookbooks, a television show, a magazine, and a line of kitchen products, all of which seem to be designed to help us common folk feel empowered in the kitchen regardless of our skill level.

To further that empowerment, we decided to put together a list of the best (and most approachable) kitchen and hosting lessons we’ve learned from Ree Drummond. We have so much to learn from Ree because she makes cooking less intimidating and more fun, thereby dispelling any sense of stress one might feel at the thought of hosting a dinner party or cooking for a new paramour. She reminds us that homemade meals don’t have to be complicated to be delicious, as long as you remain practical and down-to-earth and follow a few (or all) of the following pieces of advice.

When it comes to mealtime, the American way seems to be all about ready-made meals or TV dinners. And there’s nothing wrong with taking the easy way out every so often — we all have those days when, after a long day of work and massive toddler blowouts, we simply can’t cope with the very idea of dinner, never mind cooking a meal from scratch.

But as Ree Drummond seems to suggest, you can have the best of both worlds–a tasty and nutritious dinner without having to expend too much effort. This was the premise of her 2023 cookbook, “The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinner’s Ready!” Indeed, as Drummond told Tasting Table in an exclusive interview about the cookbook, “I don’t have the patience I used to have for long prep times and multiple steps.” Tips include gems like adding pickled red onions to almost anything to boost the flavor of that dish, using some (but not too many) store-bought shortcuts, and gathering all the ingredients you need before you start prepping a recipe. As Drummond explains in the same interview, “the back-and-forths to the pantry to the drawers to the fridge can really tack on time.”

It’s hard to make a bad grilled cheese sandwich. Just by slapping some cheese in between two slices of bread and toasting each side, you’re already making something halfway decent. But Ree Drummond seems to know that we can all do better than that, even without having to jump through hoops. Indeed, a simple grilled cheese sandwich can make the perfect base for all manner of variations.

As Drummond says in a 2014 YouTube video, the sauce you need to elevate your everyday grilled cheese sandwich is made with “nothing but a tablespoon of mayo and a tablespoon of Dijon [mustard],” which is then applied to the inside of the sandwich to give it some tang and moisture. That’s easy enough to remember and even easier to accomplish. In fact, it’s so easy that you could even take the operation a step further. Drummond suggests layering the grilled cheese sandwich with two different cheeses, two slices of tomato, a green chili, red onions, and plenty of butter applied to the outside of the bread (she uses a beautiful pumpernickel swirl, and perhaps you should, too).

There was a time, long ago, when people had the time, inclination, or necessity to make all their ingredients from scratch. People churned their own butter, milled their own flour, and made their own sauces from raw, ripe tomatoes. We no longer live in such an era, so no one will judge you if you stock up on store-bought items to make your meal prep faster and easier. Even Ree Drummond will tell you it’s okay, as she seems to suggest in her 2023 cookbook, “Dinner’s Ready!”

Among the items Drummond greenlights as ideal store-bought shortcuts are pie crusts, marinara sauce, frozen bread dough, and good quality jams and jellies. However, she does caution against using more than one or two store-bought ingredients per recipe, as this could compromise the overall flavor of the dish. As Drummond told Tasting Table in an exclusive interview, “The point of a store-bought shortcut is to save time, but you never want to use it at the expense of the flavor of the dish.” Too many store-bought ingredients, when used together, could result in something bland and boring, which is the opposite effect of what we want to achieve here.

Chicken strips coated in breadcrumbs are an American tradition. Chicken nuggets are a staple item in many American restaurants throughout the land, regardless of price point. Even so, Ree Drummond managed to take something great and make it even greater by substituting the common breadcrumb with another beloved American food: Drummond coats chicken in Cap’n Crunch cereal.

Although this cereal is sweet and buttery, it works perfectly with savory chicken nuggets, just as a sweet and tangy honey-mustard dip might. It also works because the “coating both crisps and slightly caramelizes (because of the sugar) as it fries,” as Drummond explains on her website. This is why the use of this cereal also differs from another common chicken tender topping, which is crushed corn flakes. In Drummond’s method, it is also easy to make the substitution from the old breadcrumbs: Just crush the cereal to smithereens, dip the chicken in flour and egg, and then dip it into that crushed cereal and cook until golden brown. You’ll end up with a version of the chicken nuggets served at Planet Hollywood restaurants in days gone by. Serve the chicken with ketchup (which Drummond says is practically required) or your favorite condiment.

Thanksgiving dinners are all about tradition. Why else would you continue to serve that mashed rutabaga recipe that has been in your family for generations but that no one ever deigns to touch?

Well, Ree Drummond is here to tell us that it’s okay to buck tradition at Thanksgiving, at least when it comes to the food you serve. In particular, she recommends her recipe for butter bath biscuits (which we think would make an excellent substitute for that questionable rutabaga), which can be found in her most recent cookbook and which she defines as delicious and easy to make. You don’t even have to knead them, and they require limited equipment, so they won’t cause your to overcrowd your dishwasher after you make them –- a key consideration given all those empty Thanksgiving plates you’ll have to contend with.

For a quick and easy weeknight dinner, look to your favorite canned tomato soup and then, with Ree Drummond’s instructions, make it even better with very little effort. Indeed, having a good base for tomato soup, which can be a bit lengthy to prepare from scratch, can open up a world of possibilities. Drummond spruces up canned condensed tomato soup by adding a bit of jarred pesto (which can be homemade ahead of time or a good quality store-bought item), diced tomatoes, extra water, sherry, dried parsley, salt, pepper, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Once you see how far canned tomato soup can take you, you may be tempted not to stop at that. Drummond has you covered in this case, too. She suggests using canned tomato soup as an addition to homemade chili, chicken curry, and pasta sauces. Just be sure to use the condensed version of canned tomato soup for these experiments, as this will yield the desired flavor density and texture. If you want to use regular tomato soup, that’s fine too, avoid adding the extra water, as this may cause your dish to become overly liquid.

A good, simple lasagna can go a long way, but it can also get a bit old if it’s something you eat quite often. If that’s your situation, it’s probably time to turn to Ree Drummond, who can give you a great tip for upgrading your lasagna recipe without straying too far from your comfort zone. In fact, to change things up, you might only have to add one simple ingredient: hot breakfast sausage.

This meat will give your lasagna a spicy kick, and all you have to do to make it happen is mix the sausage (after prying it apart into small chunks) into the ground beef and tomato sauce before layering it into your lasagna. If you’re not a fan of spice, you can still change the recipe by adding a mild sausage to the mix. You’ll avoid the spicy effect while giving your lasagna a fattier, fuller taste. Indeed, one of Drummond’s key tips when making this recipe is to not drain too much of the meat fat before adding the tomato. Note that while many lasagna recipes call for sauce and meat to be layered separately, Drummond’s wants you to mix the meat directly into the sauce before it goes into the lasagna. This helps the flavors and fat blend more efficiently.

You may think that you know everything there is to know about cinnamon toast. After all, you’ve been eating it for decades, since you were a child, and have prepared it countless times. But learning new tricks in cooking is about keeping an open mind and accepting that someone, somewhere, might know more than you do about a particular food.

In this case, that person is Ree Drummond, who knows just the thing to elevate cinnamon toast. So you probably know the part about spreading soft butter on the toast and sprinkling on the sugar and cinnamon before baking or broiling. But Drummond also adds a touch of pure vanilla extract to the mix of butter, sugar, and spices before it goes on the toast. On her website, Drummond says that studies have proven that this is the best way to make cinnamon toast. We’re not sure what studies she’s referring to, but anecdotal evidence points to her being 100% correct.

Mac and cheese is a rich, tasty dish packed with cheese, carbs, and plenty of salt. But as it turns out, it’s also a fairly versatile dish that can be adjusted to suit various preferences. For instance, adding kimchi to your mac and cheese can give it a welcome tangy twist, while roasted cauliflower can round out the mac and cheese into a complete meal.

But Ree Drummond’s manner of leveling up mac and cheese is even simpler than in these examples, but still goes a long way: She suggests substituting regular salt for seasoned salt. Drummond uses Lawry’s salt for this endeavor, which includes sugar, paprika, turmeric, onion, and garlic, but you can certainly pre-make your own mixture with your favorite spices or use your preferred brand of seasoned salt. The key is to provide a balanced foil to the creaminess of the dish’s bechamel and cheese offensive, which can sometimes feel overwhelming without the right countermeasures. Spicy tones, like cayenne powder, work especially well in this endeavor.

With a national egg shortage going on, and the consequent hike in prices, it’s good to have a whole arsenal of recipes designed to stretch out the few eggs you do have on hand. Ree Drummond achieves this by adding an equally enticing ingredient to the eggs: smoked salmon. Not only does this extend the use of your eggs, but it also gives them more depth of flavor, brought by the smokiness and umami profile of the fish. It also helps turn eggs from a mere side dish into eggs as a main course.

And the addition couldn’t be easier. Just whisk your eggs as you normally would to make scrambled eggs, season them, and start cooking them in a nonstick skillet. Finally, once the eggs are done, cut up some smoked salmon and sprinkle it onto the scrambled eggs. Serve them on the bread of your choice and topped with chives. Although Drummond didn’t invent the scrambled egg-smoked salmon combination herself (the dish is a famous staple of New York Jewish delis), she has certainly helped us all see how easy and approachable it is to make in our own kitchens. If you know how to make scrambled eggs, you know how to make this variation.

Some people avoid buying waffle makers out of an aversion to having single-use appliances in their kitchens. This is sensible. Why waste valuable space or money on something we’re only going to pull off a dusty old shelf once a month, at most? We’ve all seen what happens to those fondue sets: You use them once, and then they sit there for eons, underused and underappreciated.

But according to Ree Drummond, the waffle maker doesn’t have to be a single-use appliance. Indeed, after using it to make your waffle breakfast, you can use it again that same day to make lunch in the form of a Reuben sandwich grilled on a waffle maker. She calls this a Rueben “wafflewich,” and although it doesn’t differ from a griddle-cooked Reuben sandwich in taste, the waffle maker does give it a fun new look and texture. The waffle maker is especially useful if you don’t have a sandwich press (another pesky single-use kitchen item) and typically make your Reubens by standing around at the stove, waiting for the opportune moment to flip the sandwich. Now, you can simply slip the Reuben into the waffle maker and sit down and relax until it’s done.

Hosting a big dinner party can be a lot of fun, but it can also instill a sense of fear and anxiety, especially if it’s not something you do very often. But Ree Drummond has a series of tips to help you dispel these negative feelings entirely so you can focus only on the fun parts. The main tip is that you should prepare as much of your meal as possible ahead of time, long before your guests are due to turn up.

While you can’t do this with everything, as certain foods need to be served fresh off the heat in order to maximize flavor and texture, other items can safely be made even the day before and may taste even better that way. For instance, in an interview with Mashed, Drummond explained, “I have a mashed potato casserole dish that I make two days before Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, and it just saves so much time on the day of the get-together.” In another example, she suggests people “pre-build holiday platters and plates, charcuterie, and salads” in a general effort to minimize the number of tasks that need to be taken care of at the last minute.