Be Your Best Chef — Follow Guy Fieri's Kitchen Shortcut Advice
We're all guilty of taking shortcuts in the kitchen once in awhile. Whether it's using canned potatoes for soups and stews, using cake mix instead of baking a dessert from scratch, or making the most of store-bought pie crust, sometimes it's just easier to grab something premade. While a shortcut can certainly save time, Guy Fieri, Food Network host and celebrity chef, told The Kitchn in May 2025 why he prefers to take the long way when he's cooking.
When asked about using shortcuts in the kitchen, he said, "You know, I'm not much of a shortcut guy. Some might say that I'm the opposite." He went on to describe when he's around the campfire with his family, he's not exactly a burgers-and-hot-dogs type of guy. "We bust out full Chinese spreads or chicken Parm, garlic bread, and big batches of pasta." Fieri also said that when he makes pasta sauce, he doesn't go with the stuff from the jar. Rather, he cooks up a homemade batch on his own.
The mayor of Flavortown sticks to his word when it comes to skipping shortcuts (we checked)
Obviously, Guy Fieri doesn't mind doing things the hard way in the kitchen. We took a look at some of his recipes to see just how far he's willing to go to to stick to his guns about building meals from the ground up, and he didn't disappoint. His Slamma Jamma Parmigiana recipe certainly shows his commitment to his craft — he brines and breads the chicken himself, rather than taking the easier route of buying pre-brined or pre-breaded chicken.
Naturally, chicken Parmigiana lends itself to a toasty side of garlic bread, and, of course, Fieri would never pick up a loaf of the frozen stuff from the grocery store. He mixes up his own garlic butter and even adds a bit of hot sauce into the mix to kick up the heat before smearing it all on a fresh baguette (no word on whether he takes the step of turning his kitchen into a French bakery to cook up a baguette from scratch, however). Whether it's making pizza dough from scratch or hand-slicing french fries, Fieri's foolproof recipes make it clear that his no-shortcuts philosophy is well worth the extra effort.