Our Best Guides to Cooking Meat

Christine Gallary
Christine GallarySenior Recipe Editor at The Kitchn
After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, I worked at Cook's Illustrated and CHOW's test kitchens. I've edited and tested recipes for more than 15 years, including developing recipes for the James Beard-award winning Mister Jiu's in Chinatown cookbook. My favorite taste testers are my husband, Hayden, and daughter, Sophie.
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published Oct 6, 2014
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(Image credit: Leela Cyd)

For those just starting to learn how to cook, all the various cuts of meat and ways to cook them can be a bit daunting. Sometimes there’s one method that brings out the best in a cut of meat, like slow-cooking a pork shoulder, but more usually a versatile meat like chicken can be poached, seared, grilled, or roasted and still come out delicious. How do you choose which method to use?

Here’s our guide to show you the most basic and easy ways to cook beef, pork, chicken, lamb, and turkey to take all the mystery out of the equation. Be adventurous and try out a new cut of meat or cooking method!

We will continue adding to this list as we cover more cuts of meat and cooking methods, and we’d love to know in the comments which ones you’d like to see next!

(Image credit: Anjali Prasertong)

Beef

(Image credit: Leela Cyd)

Chicken

Ways to Cook Whole Chickens

Ways to Cook Chicken Pieces

(Image credit: Emma Christensen)

Pork

(Image credit: Leela Cyd)

Lamb

(Image credit: Emma Christensen)

Turkey

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Beef
Ingredient
Meat
pork
poultry
Tips & Techniques