How To Cook Just About Anything On A Frying Pan

Pan-frying is a cooking technique that is easy to master and yields delicious results giving food a crunchy and crispy taste. Pan-frying to deep frying is very easy and less messy. It is a sure way to get people to come for second and third helpings.

As long as you have an excellent pan, your preferred oil, and your ingredients, you are good. It is an effective cooking technique that adds rich flavor to the food and retains moisture and tenderness.

The oil used creates steam that cooks the meat, and the contact with the pan is the one that causes the browning and crisping. Turning is required at least once or twice to cook evenly. For the heat, you need to maintain it at medium heat; otherwise, one part of the food becomes soggy.

Since you aren’t using a lot of oil, you can cook many foods, especially meats, through this technique and below we will cover the most common ones you can cook in a frying pan.

How To Cook T-bone Steak In A Frying Pan

You probably know how to cook the T-bone in the oven, and it always turns out tasty. Using the frying pan is also a good alternative. A T-bone steak is meat from the loin, which is made up of the tenderest of steaks. To cook it, you need to know the cooking time, which varies with the steak’s thickness.

When shopping, go for the thick-cut, which is about 1 1/2 inches to 2 for a juicy one. Before you cook them:

  1. Pat dry the meat with a paper towel to remove excess moisture then season it at all its sides with your salt and pepper. Let it rest at room temperature for about 45 minutes. You could also refrigerate up to 3 days.
  2. Heat your cast iron pan over high heat until it heats up. You could also use stainless steel to retain the heat for that good browning.
  3. A tablespoon or two of vegetable oil or your choice of oil is perfect for the pan-frying. Swirl the pan around to spread the oil in the pan and keep heating it until it smokes.
  4. Add the steak and space them well if you have a couple leaving inches apart. Cook until brown. If you want a medium-rare, use a thermometer and make sure you get a temperature of 120 degrees and 130 if you want a medium. All of this may take up to 12 minutes in total.
  5. For health reasons, the steak should cook till 145 degrees, but 130 degrees could also work, especially if you let it cook with the carryover heat as soon as you remove it from the pan.
  6. Flip the meat halfway through the time and reduce the heat if you have to at this point.
  7. At this stage, you could add butter and aromatics such as herbs and garlic or whatever that tickles your taste buds during the last minutes of cooking.
  8. Remove it from the pan transfer to a plate and cover it with a foil loosely for like 10 minutes before devouring on it. Always remember to slice against the grain.

How To Cook Marinated Steak Tips In A Frying Pan

Marinated steak tips are a fave for many, especially in the summertime. Steak tips are also known as sirloin tips. Most people prepare them in the backyard on their grills, but you do not have too. Your skillet will work perfectly fine. Here is how to cook them on your skillet:

Pan Frying Steak Tips
  1. First of all, steak tips need a good marinade. This adds succulence and flavor to it, or you will just be eating tough meat. 
  2. Preheat the skillet over high heat and a little bit of oil. At this, we assume that your steak tips are in the marinade. Transfer the soaked meat into the skillet, turning down the heat to medium. Turn them over with tongs as they slowly cook.
  3. You could also choose to use an oiled broiler pan laying them out in a single layer.
  4. Do not be deceived by how the steak tips look and think they are done. Make sure the middle is well cooked by turning it over medium temperature, which could be 145 degrees.
  5. Use any leftover marinade as a sauce as you eat. Though make sure to boil it well since it came into contact with raw meat.

How To Make Toast Bread With A Frying Pan

Toast bread does not mean you can’t make them if you do not own a toaster or if, unfortunately, the lights go off. You can still treat yourself to some toasted bread with a pan and some butter too.

  1. Put a frying pan on low to medium heat. 
  2. You could spread a slightly generous amount of your favorite flavored butter or margarine, put the slices of bread on the pan, spread the butter on the pan, and then put the slices after.
  3. Allow them to cook for about 2 minutes, flipping them to cook and brown for the crunchiness.
  4. Serve with a beverage of your choice!

How To Make Burgers In A Frying Pan

This is another delicacy that many prepare on the grill, but as you know, now, we are making everything easy to make by learning to use the pan. Pan-frying a burger over the stovetop isn’t as hard as you may probably think.

It is not only easy but convenient. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Prepare the patties using your favorite meat. Everyone has their favorite recipe for a burger using beef or turkey or pork. Anything to your liking is excellent!
  2. Heat a cast-iron pan heating the vegetable oil with the salted butter on high heat so that it is ready for the patties.

    Pan Frying Beef Patties
  3. Place the patties on the now hot pan. Turn them to cook evenly, making sure they are well spaced. If they are thick, they will take some more time to cook them, or they will be rare on the inside. Do not flip them too much, or they will dry out.
  4. Check the temperature regularly using a digital thermometer, which is accurate.
  5. Again, make sure they cook well because medium-rare is not the healthiest, especially for children or older adults. The thermometer will help you not go beyond 165 degrees.
  6. Let the patties rest for about four minutes before serving. As they cool off, prepare the toppings and, of course, the buns which you could also place on the pan just to make it crunchier and firm.
  7. Pile up and enjoy it!

How To Make Pork Crackling In A Frying Pan

Of course, making pork crackling on a frying pan is also possible. You do not need to heat that oven. The difference with cooking with a frying pan is that the bit that is not in contact with the bottom of the pan won’t cook as quickly since the heat is localized in the bottom.

Another thing to consider is that pork rind is tough to cut, so you need to know if you can’t do it yourself or buy from the butcher at a bargain price. You could also get scored pork at the supermarket. 

  1. Contrary to other steps where you start by heating the pan, for this, you will put them on a cold pan on the stove with a little oil of your choice. Gently warm it for 10 minutes to let the fat out. If you put it on an already heated pan, it will scorch.
  2. Once the skin is browned and heated, transfer it to the oven to cook evenly. The perfect temperature for roasting is 160 degrees slowing cooking to give the pork that crispy and golden-brown look.

Pan-Frying Lamb Leg Steaks

Most lamb leg steaks are tender and are best when pan-fried or grilled.

  1. Make the marinade using garlic rosemary leaves, salt, and black pepper with a little olive oil. Marinate the leg steak for about 10 minutes or more.
  2. Preheat the pan for about 2 minutes to fry it. Use oil of your choice or cooking spray about a teaspoon since the lamb leg steak has its oil, turning the steak after five minutes to cook on each side. 
  3. Make sure they are not over-crowded. You can choose to make it well done or medium-rare, making sure they are golden brown, determining how long you cook it for.

Pan-Frying Chorizo

Chorizo, for those who haven’t heard of it, is made from cured pork heavily seasoned with paprika. It can be smoked or unsmoked spicy, or sweet. Since it is cured, you can eat it out of the package, but if you want a good meal, pan-fry it!

  1. Cut the chorizo vertically to make it easy to take out of the casing.
  2. Place the skillet pan on the stove over low to medium heat.
  3. Squeeze the chorizo out of the casing into the pan. Add water about ¼ a cup of water to avoid it sticking to the pan.
  4. Stir that thing up, breaking it down with a wooden spoon that adds ingredients such as garlic and anything you would love to add to it.
  5. Cook until it turns brown and drains the excess fat after. Serve!

How To Prepare Pork Belly Slices On A Frying Pan

For the pork belly, make sure to get the butcher to remove the skin and bones. You may even get lucky if they get to slice it for you.

  1. Heat the frying pan over high heat, adding any oil of your choice. Make sure it is not too much since pork is fatty.
  2. Make sure to season the pork with salt and any other spice you would want.
  3. Fry the meat until well browned 3 minutes, turning it regularly.
  4. If you’re going to add the spring onion, remove the slices on the pan and put on a warm plate. While it rests, add the spring onion to the hot pan till it wilts. If you had cooked the pork belly full, you could cut it at this stage and add it back o the pan until it cooks well.
  5. Serve as desired!

How To Cook Sausages In A Frying Pan

You can either grill, boil, fry, bake, or slow cook sausages. Cooking o the stove is effectively the fastest way to cook them. For sausages, be sure to know which ones are ready to eat and which ones are not, and it is even written on the package.

Pan Frying Sausages

It is straightforward to dry them out for uncooked sausages, but with the right steps, you can be a pro at it. Cooking sausage in a pan over high heat cooks quickly, charring it outside and not cooked well on the inside. To get that moist, cooked thoroughly and crisp on the outside sausages:

  1. Start with water adding enough water you a large pan to cover the sausages.
  2. Heat over medium-high heat for about eight minutes until the water begins to simmer and then remove the pan’s sausages.
  3. At this stage, the sausages are done but pale looking. Pan-fry the sausage with a bit of oil to brown and make it crisp.
  4. Heat your pan of oil over high heat, and once it is shimmering, add the sausages. Do not let them stay for long. Sear for a minute or two because you just want to brown them for that crispiness since they are already cooked.
  5. You can leave them whole or slice them to small medallions to serve.

Diced Chicken

Diced chicken is quite a versatile dish and can be a topper to many dishes. From salads to stir-fries, diced chicken is a must-have! Cooking diced chicken in a pan is not only time-efficient but easy. It takes almost 10 minutes, including prep time, to cook it. 

  1. Start by dicing the chicken into 1-inch pieces, placing them in a bowl.
  2. Add seasoning to it or marinade if you want to.
  3. Put two tablespoons of oil in the pan and fry the chicken until it loses its pink color and browns on all sides.
  4. Cook over medium heat, turning severally to cook it evenly.
  5. Serve as desired!

How To Cook Tomatoes In A Frying Pan

To pan-fry tomatoes, you need ripe plum tomatoes for that good flavor, but any ripe tomato would work. Pan-fried tomatoes taste similar to sun-dried or oven-dried tomatoes and are quick to prepare.

  1. Add 1-2 tablespoons of any oil of your choice then place the tomatoes side up.
  2. Add your seasoning and drizzle that with two tablespoons of oil.
  3. Cover the pan for 10 minutes, then uncover and squish them with a fork. Cook while uncovered after that until all the moisture is evaporated and the tomatoes are browned underneath.
  4. Garnish with basil and enjoy!

Hotdogs

Most people who cook hotdogs on the pan do not own a grill, which is perfectly fine. You can use a skillet or your cast-iron pan.

  1. Add a small amount of water to the pan over medium-high heat.
  2. Add the hot dogs to the pan once the water boils and cook them.
  3. For decent flavor, swap the water with butter or a few tablespoons of oil.