Make Instant Meals Look Fancy With These 13 Chef-Approved Hacks

Many of us live a fast-paced life, meaning there's only so much time to cook and feed ourselves three times a day — especially when there are multiple mouths to feed. Sometimes, you may have the intention of cooking something else, but time gets the better of you, and you find yourself hungry and needing a quick bite. This is where instant meals can be lifesavers, as they provide tasty and filling eats but require less time and effort to make. As a culinary-trained professional, I work with food all day long, but the irony is that I don't often have a lot of time or energy to prepare meals for myself and my family. 

Instant meals make life a lot easier and come in different forms, whether they require adding hot water or assembling to make something substantial. From ramen to microwaveable rice to boxed mac and cheese, these foods are all super convenient and help in a pinch. The only downside is that they don't often look particularly inviting or visually appealing. Elevating the look of your quick meal can come down to simple methods of plating and even some garnishes. You can make them feel special and transform them into something you're excited to eat. Keep reading to learn a few ways to make instant meals look fancy.

Just because we're eating an instant meal doesn't mean we shouldn't serve it on a nice plate. For example, if you eat ramen straight out of the carton, you're missing out on a better eating experience. Sure, you won't have dishes to do, but you run the risk of a soggy container and, in my experience, spilling hot liquid or food on yourself. The food may taste the same no matter what it's served in, but there's no denying that the eating experience can be much more enjoyable when you're eating out of the appropriate vessel. Using a good bowl or plate means your food isn't crowded and subject to cutlery acrobatics to make it safely into your mouth. Plus, it allows you to view your food more positively, without assigning value to it being inferior.

While you're at it, use your nice plates and bowls — the ones you only pull out for special meals. First, life's too short not to use them. Second, these are the little tricks that make your meal look better and feel like less of an afterthought. This is especially handy if you're serving an instant meal to your kids or guests and want to avoid negative associations with the food. If nothing else, using your nice tableware can make you happier.

One of the easy tricks that restaurants use to give your plate a finished look or added pizzazz is to add a glug or two of olive oil on top. Olive oil, especially high-quality extra virgin olive oil, adds a subtle, fruity richness to your food that just makes it taste more special. It also adds a beautiful glossiness and golden hue to your food, which will make instant meals look more professional with almost no effort at all.

Now, if you want to take things to the next level, give your plate a restaurant-worthy look with herb oils. Instead of using plain oil, why not make your own infused oil at home? You can use leftover items, such as wilted fresh herbs, the stalks from your herbs, or even bits of unused garlic and chiles. Your oil drizzle will look even fancier and add great elevated flavor, too. If you only have sunflower, rapeseed, or any other neutral oil, you can use a similar approach by turning it into something more flavorful. Your herb-infused oil will turn anything like boxed mac and cheese, instant rice, or even powdered mashed potatoes into something much more enticing. 

Your rice comes out of a packet in the microwave, but that doesn't mean it can't be served with a little elegance. This is perhaps one of the easiest tricks to make a boring-looking instant rice dish come to life. You've probably seen it in restaurants where you're served a dome of rice along with your stir fry or whatever you've ordered. This can be done at home by simply using a bowl.

To form your rice dome, add your rice to a small bowl (one the size of your hand would be perfect for an individual serving). Pack it in slightly with a spoon, so the rice touches the bottom of your bowl, but not so much that you're smashing your rice into mush. Then, place your serving dish on top of your bowl and flip everything over. You can tap on your bowl a little to loosen the rice until it falls out, then lift your bowl to find a beautiful dome-shaped serving of rice.

I like to populate my pantry with all sorts of dried spices, herb mixes, and savory sprinkles. They are shelf-stable, and you can keep them for ages without worrying about freshness, but they can also instantly elevate any dish both in terms of flavor and appearance. A sprinkle of za'atar on your boxed mac and cheese can make it look super fancy and taste even better. Plus, you can find savory sprinkles that match different flavor profiles so that food can taste cohesive, from Middle Eastern to Indian, Brazilian, and Japanese.

Even if you make your own random blend using some crushed peanuts and dried herbs and spices, you'll end up with something delicious that will give some texture to your instant meal. Why not give it a go and make a dukkah blend for a nutty topping? Or, if you're looking for a little bit of a kick in your food, stock up on some togarashi, the Japanese spice blend that deserves a place in your kitchen. The ingredients may vary, but it often has chili pepper, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, ginger, orange peel, and seaweed.

We've already established that you should use your good plates when eating an instant meal, but the way you plate can also have a big impact on how your food looks. Plating techniques are perhaps the main thing that creates a clear difference between eating at a restaurant and eating at home. But many of these techniques are easy to recreate at home, so why not spruce up your instant meal by plating it in a beautiful or visually striking way? One of the common things you'll see at a restaurant is food plated in odd numbers.

Whether it's one scoop of something, three pieces of fish, or five leaves, we tend to like the look of food in odd numbers rather than even. If you don't believe it, why not give it a try next time you're plating your instant meal? Start small by topping your instant noodles with three tomatoes (or olives, cucumber slices, pieces of ham, or whatever you like to add to your dish) and see if you like the look of it better than if there were four.

Another easy way that restaurants make your plate look prettier is by employing sauces in artistic ways. It's perhaps one of the easiest things you can mimic at home because it doesn't take a lot of technical skill to make a couple of lines or dots of sauce on your plate or even to learn how to swoosh them on your food. To make an easy swoosh, squeeze a blob of sauce onto your plate and then use the back of the spoon to press down and move it in a swiping motion in one direction. You can even use a fork to press your sauce in different directions or make some more geometric shapes.

Honestly, there aren't any rules. It's all about letting your creativity out and doing what looks good to you. If you're too intimidated to use sauce to decorate, then you can also serve your sauce in separate little dipping bowls on the side of your plate. This will still give your instant meal a bit of a fancier feel than having some ketchup, mayo, or soy sauce just poured on top.

If you want to make an instant meal look fancy, then there's little quite as gourmet as adding a cured egg yolk or two to it. If you've never had a cured egg yolk before, they will surprise and delight your senses. These jammy eggs will add more richness and flavor to most instant meals, whether it's ramen, soup, pasta, rice, or even curry. Plus, they certainly look like something you'd only see at a fine dining restaurant as the golden little orbs shine like orange pearls to instantly elevate your quick meal.

The first time I encountered cured egg yolks, I thought it would be a super complicated and technical thing to make. They're deceptively simple to make, which is perhaps the best thing about them. You can cure your egg yolks with salt or soy sauce or even transform them into jam by curing them in honey. Completely cover your individual, whole yolks in the curing substance of choice and refrigerate them — you can start at a couple of hours but leave them for up to a few days, depending on the recipe. The salt or honey will draw out the moisture and cure them into a hard, jammy yolk.

Some instant noodles or spaghetti can seem like the most run-of-the-mill dinner you can have. The truth is, they're always a huge crowd-pleaser. That's because they're so satisfying and tasty, especially after a long day when you want something substantial, tasty, and quick. So, why not present it in a way that gives your noodles the regard they deserve? Many fancy places these days serve noodles in one uniform stack in the center of the plate, making for a very elegant-looking dish. Luckily, this is pretty easy to do, and no, you don't need professional kitchen tweezers either.

To get started, stick a large fork right in the middle of your noodles and make sure you've got a good hold on them. Then, slowly start twirling your fork, creating a swirl in one direction. Using a spoon, support the base of your noodles while lifting your fork and gently placing them in the center of your dish. Try not to move too much as you remove the fork, keeping the noodles in a tall stack on the plate. Now garnish them as you'd like, and voilà.

Many of us joke about the small portions they serve in gourmet restaurants, but the truth is that a smaller amount of food just looks more attractive. Plus, you can plate it much more neatly and with attention to detail when there's less of it. If you want a prettier plate, why not apply that same logic to your instant meals at home? Especially with the knowledge that you can always have seconds if you're still hungry, it becomes a no-brainer. Plate your noodles, or your microwave meal with a little less than the full plate and see how much better it looks than dumping out the entire amount and filling up the whole surface.

A super simple technique is to use the rule of thirds. This is actually a term taken from photography, but it can also be applied to styling a plate of food. Don't worry, it sounds a lot more complicated than it is. It means you need to use only about two-thirds of your plate when plating. Negative space allows your eyes to be drawn to the food. It's a little shift in your mindset about how you view plating. Instead of thinking about how you want to fill up the space, think of how to keep the empty space. Instead of mixing your instant rice with your stir fry or curry, serve them separately, each placed on one-third of the plate. 

One of the easiest ways to instantly lift a boring-looking dish is to add some fresh herbs. Fresh herbs are so underutilized in many of our kitchens that it's impressive when we see a plate covered in green leaves. When I look back at pictures I've taken of my favorite restaurant dishes, I notice that the fresh herbs they place on top often set them apart — especially when I compare it to my bowl of instant noodles at home. It's something that people can easily overlook or forget to include when they're trying to recreate dishes at home, whether it's some parsley, cilantro, or crispy sage.

Fresh herbs not only look great, but they add so much flavor and introduce freshness in the best way possible, which is something that's always needed in instant meals. There's really no excuse not to use them anymore. And, really use them. Not just a few leaves, but throw on a whole bunch. They can be mixed through your dish, and then you can place a few more leaves on top for a garnish.

Edible flowers are another beautiful addition to plates in restaurants. Many home cooks might scoff at the idea of an edible flower, but they look beautiful adorning all kinds of instant meals. They don't taste like much, which is a positive thing in this case, as they won't alter the taste of what you're eating, and you can throw them on anything.

I don't think many people will say no to adding cheese to their meals. Cheese is the popular kid in school that everyone wants to be friends with because they are just so easy to love. It adds dimension to your food, from creaminess to saltiness to upping the umami, and if it gets a little melty on your hot food, even better. It's good with your instant ramen and your pasta dish and would probably be good with any type of instant meal.

Focus on the way of adding cheese to make the meal more impressive. If you just grate your cheese, it will look like an ordinary, drab instant meal. But if you take your cue from the nice Italian restaurants around town, you'll find that shaving your cheese instantly elevates it. Plus, opt for a harder cheese like parmesan or pecorino rather than cheddar to make it feel and taste fancier, too.

You don't need any specific equipment to make cheese shavings. I use my potato peeler and "peel" my cheese with it. It makes beautifully thin shards or shavings of cheese in seconds. Simply throw them on top of your dish and see the movement and height they create on your instant food. You'll never look back once you get a bite of the amplified taste.

Toppings are a quick and clever way to give your instant meal a fancy upgrade, but it's even better when the topping significantly improves the taste of your meal too. Whenever I'm making an instant meal for lunch or dinner, I like to prepare a tarka (also called tadka) to give my plate a serious boost of flavor. A tarka is used in Indian cuisine to add an infusion of spices toward the end of your cooking. So, it makes perfect sense to throw it on an instant meal. Tarka can be a mix of whole and dried spices that you quickly sizzle in some oil, butter, or ghee. In the heat, these spices release more of their natural oils and flavors which makes them ready to eat in a couple of seconds.

Since you're able to customize the spices used, you can easily make a tarka for a variety of instant meals, including mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, rice, noodles, and more. I like to use whole spices like coriander, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and peppercorns, because they look nicer on the plate and give your meal a more restaurant-quality appearance.

If you're used to making instant noodles or ramen regularly, then you have to get yourself (or make) some good chile crisp. Firstly, you'll get endless uses out of it, whether you include it as a way to transform roasted vegetables, add it to soups, or mix it into your eggs. At its heart, chile crisp is essentially just dried chile-infused oil, but sometimes it has some other goodies like sesame seeds, Sichuan peppercorns, and more, depending on the mix. It gives your food a mild heat, a lot of flavor, as well as some crunchy texture. And, it makes your plate look great too.

Adding some chile crisp to your instant ramen is an obvious choice, but in truth, it can elevate pretty much anything it's added to. You can find chile crisp, sometimes also referred to as "chile oil," at most Asian grocery stores. If you don't know which one to pick, opt for the traditional Lao Gan Ma brand to get you started.