Do you know how to deglaze a pan? It’s fast and easy, and you should never skip this step! It will help add an extra kick of flavor to any dish.
How to Deglaze a Pan
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After you sear a piece of meat or saute some vegetables in a pan, you’re often left with some browned bits of food stuck to the bottom of the pan. This can happen even if you’re using non-stick pans. Those browned bits on the bottom of your pan have lots of flavor, and it’s a shame to waste them by just washing them away. You can easily lift all those browned bits up, and save that flavor, by deglazing your pan. It’s easy, and just takes a few minutes!
Step 1 – Sear meat and/or saute veggies. I was getting ready to make a roast in my slow cooker. I had already seared the outside of the roast in my Dutch oven, and then I sauteed carrot, celery, and onion in a little salt, pepper, and olive oil.
Step 2 – Transfer the cooked food into another dish. I poured all these pretty veggies into my slow cooker. If you’re done cooking, just transfer them into a bowl or onto a plate. Then check out all that flavor that’s left on the bottom of the pan!
What Can I Use to Deglaze a Pan?
Step 3 – Pour in some broth. Keep the pan on the heat – you want the pan to stay nice and hot for this. Just pour in enough broth to cover the bottom of the pan. I used beef broth, since I was making a beef roast. But you could use chicken broth, vegetable broth, water, or even beer or wine (choose a dry white wine if you’re cooking with chicken or pork, or a dry red wine if you’re cooking with beef).
Step 4 – Scrape the bottom of the pan. As you pour the broth in, you should hear a nice sizzle if your pan is still hot. That sizzling action is going to help lift all those yummy browned bits off the bottom of your pan. Help it out a little by gently scraping with a wooden spoon.
Step 5 – Let it boil. You started with a hot pan, and you just poured a little bit of liquid in it. It should just take a minute or two to come to a boil. Let it boil for another minute or two, to get the rest of the flavors off the bottom of the pan. You can gently scrape the sides of the pan, too. The steam from the boiling liquid will help the stuff on the sides come off. Just don’t let it run dry, or you’ll be back to square one. (And possibly have a burned pan, too!)
Step 6 – Pour out the flavorful liquid. That’s it, just pour the liquid wherever you need it! I added it to my slow cooker. If you sauteed veggies as the first step in a recipe, use the deglazed liquid in your recipe. If you’re done cooking, let it boil a few minutes longer to thicken, and you’ve got a flavorful sauce to top your dish.
That’s it! It should take less than 5 minutes to deglaze a pan, and you just rescued a lot of stuck-on flavor that would have otherwise been wasted.
Enjoy!
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[…] pieces of meat (like chicken or pork chops) don’t need to be seared first. (Bonus tip – deglaze your pan after you sear meat to get all the extra flavor that’s stuck to the […]