Why Making a Sauce Is the Perfect Way to Start Improvising In the Kitchen

I'd never tell kitchen newbies to make up their own recipes for, say, Japanese cheesecake, beef wellington, or ensaymadas, but when it comes to simple sauces, I'm the improv queen, and I think everybody should get on board.

When you riff in the kitchen, cooking becomes particularly joyful—a time when you're free from all the rules and directions of everyday life. You can try new things and move at your own pace. Most importantly, though, improvising your dinner gives you ownership over your food, even if you're just getting more comfortable at the stove. As Epi Senior Food Editor Anna Stockwell says, "It's a time to do what you want, as long as it tastes good—especially if you’re cooking for yourself."

Sauce is a great place to start improvising because even good recipes may not serve your specific palate. Take hot sauce: everyone has a different favorite. (Which is fine, as long as it's Cholula.) Sauces are where you go for precisely the acidity or the creaminess or the herbiness or the heat you're craving, and if you're making a sauce to jazz up your dinner, only you know exactly where it needs to go.

Sauces also welcome improvisation because you can do so much with so little. Many great sauces are as simple as taking a couple of base ingredients that you already love, then mixing in herbs, seasoning, and something acidic to brighten things up. I love to make a quick avocado crema, starting with two things that I know taste good—ripe avocado and sour cream or Greek yogurt—adding salt, cilantro, and a few squeezes of lime juice. After a few seconds in my blender, I have a vibrant topping for grain bowls, black bean tacos, or tortilla chips.

Herby, spicy chermoula is more than just a finishing sauce. It's a marinade, a dressing, a dip—and the key that unlocks a million weeknight dinners.

It's hard to taste a chicken before it's done, but since you're usually not working with raw meat or uncooked flour, sauces are the perfect time to practice tasting as you go. Close your eyes and pay attention to a spoonful: an avocado and Greek yogurt mixture tastes a little bland by itself, but you don’t need a recipe in order to liven it up. Salt intensifies the avocado’s sweet, buttery taste, cilantro brings a tangy, savory component, and lime gives it a pleasantly sour kick. You might want a pinch of cumin or chile, or perhaps a little garlic. Keep adding and tasting until you're happy.

But maybe avocados aren't your jam, or you can't find a good one. You can make similar moves starting with charred green chiles or tomatillos. Just feel your way through to salsa verde. If you have a grill, you can toast up serranos or mix them with tart tomatillos. Add them to the blender with about a cup of oil and fresh herbs like cilantro, basil, parsley, or whatever you have on hand, then amp up the tartness with vinegar or lime. Taste it 'till you make it. If you have mint instead of basil, try it! If you've got a roasted sweet pepper leftover from a weekend of grilling, it might make a nice addition, too.

Or start with your Greek yogurt and riff from there. You could add cucumber and dill, or garlic, lemon, and sumac. You could whip it in a blender with feta and cumin, adding herbs if it feels right. Or use creme fraiche instead and add in that weird-looking fresh horseradish root, or loads of pepper and Parmesan.

Many sauces are nearly impossible to screw up, because tasting as you go means you have the opportunity to fix as you go. After many, many rounds of adjusting a basic pesto made from a recipe, I've found that I prefer my pesto with more basil and less parmesan, so I just stopped following recipes.

Of course, you may not feel ready yet to mess with some sauces—your hollandaise or beurre blanc. But you'll get there, and even a classic pico de gallo may give you the confidence to try your hand at roasted salsa, or eventually a rich, complex mole. And any sauce you make has the power to transform your dinner, whether it's a plate of roasted veggies and crispy chickpeas, a juicy steak, or a rotisserie chicken you picked up at the store. You can master your signature recipe-free roast chicken later.

Originally Appeared on Epicurious