Everyone deserves great-tasting food fast and if you follow a few key rules, it’s easier than you might think. These tips and tricks will help you get a delicious meal on the table faster than you could pick up a takeaway.

This starts way back with how your kitchen was laid out. The secret is to have the smallest triangle possible between your three key spaces: the fridge, sink and oven or hobs. A short distance between all three of your most-used spaces minimises walking time, people or pets crossing your path and, above all, makes you faster. If you've not got the perfect set-up, read on to discover how to maximise your existing space.

The French call it ‘mise en place’, Anthony Bourdain calls it simply ‘meez’. Whatever term you choose, it means having all your vegetables, ingredients and condiments prepped and ready to go, before you even start cooking. It’s much quicker in the long run.

Some can’t live with them, most can’t live without them. Microwaves are perfect for quick defrosting and rapid reheating, particularly if you're cooking for large groups in a small kitchen.

Save time by getting the oven warmed up before you do anything else. Most will take around 15 minutes to get up to temperature.

If your recipe calls for it, get the pan hot or your kettle boiling straight away so they're ready to use when you’ve finished prepping your ingredients.

A sharp knife means you need to apply less pressure – and a sharp blade is actually safer, as it allows for quicker and more precisce slicing. If you have a knife sharpener at home, use it weekly and consider getting it professionally sharpened once a year.

Tidying up shouldn't just be left to the end of the meal. Keep your surfaces tidy and clear of junk, vegetable peelings and empty containers. It’s much easier to navigate around a clean and tidy space, not to mention find the ingredients you need, precisely when you need them.

Rather than traipsing across the kitchen to the bin each time you’ve finished trimming some ingredients, keep a scrap bowl on your work surface. Throw everything in there, then take it to the bin just once at the end.

The quickest route to a meal is to have already made it, so always make too much and freeze the remainder. Making double quantities adds very little to the cooking time but saves a whole heap of time subsequently.

Read the entire recipe beforehand, ideally during any otherwise-wasted downtime, like your commute home from work or while your oven heats up. You’ll be much better prepared for the steps you’ll need to take later, and much less likely to forget key ingredients as you cook.

Don't have time to find a recipe? Don’t use a recipe at all. Already knowing how to make what you’re making will save a lot of time and cut down the chance of making any errors. You can always make a dish with a new twist, but save proper experimentation for when you have more time.

Whether it’s an assortment of fresh herbs and spices, olive oil, balsamic vinegar or tinned tomatoes and ample seasoning, make sure your store cupboard ingredients are topped up, fresh and sufficiently varied. They’ll then be there when you need them for a quick meal.

The smaller the size of ingredient, the quicker it will cook. So slice and dice chicken breast into strips and stir-fry-sized cuts, rather than larger chunks, and chop slow-cooking vegetables such as potatoes into smaller portions. You might be surprised how much faster your meal will be ready.

Substitute lots of time with stronger-flavoured ingredients that pack in the flavour. Chilli, soy sauce, curry powder or cajun seasoning are great ways to pep up your dishes and quickly lift simple ingredients.

Opt for wide-bottomed pans rather than saucepans. The larger surface area on bigger pans (assuming you have enough heat to suit the pan), the quicker sauces will reduce down and the more ingredients you can brown in one go.

You’re always going to need rice and pulses at some stage, so cook up a load in one batch and freeze them in smaller containers. Reheat in a microwave and you’ll have saved one of the more time-consuming processes.

This isn’t just to be on-trend: in-season ingredients will be tasting their best, which means less mucking around with them to make them taste better. This all adds up to saved time.

If the recipe calls for, say, half a chopped onion, chop the other half anyway and keep it in the fridge. It adds almost no extra time to chop the rest of whatever you were chopping, and you’ll be grateful to have it to hand next time you need it.

Add a new dimension to your meals with a quick dose of umami, the savoury-rich flavour that naturally occurs in some mushrooms but particularly in seaweed. Umami pastes are available or add dried mushrooms, anchovies or parmesan.

Foods cook quicker at higher temperatures. So experiment with your oven temperature since you may be able to push it higher than a recipe suggests and speed up the process. Make adjustments carefully, but the result may even taste better.

Most pasta dishes (i.e. those that aren’t baked) are on the table in 20 minutes or less. Try this simple but spicy recipe for pasta with garlic oil and chilli.

Stir-frying finely cut ingredients at high temperatures locks in their nutrients and flavours, fast. Try this one cabbage and sticky mushroom stir-fry recipe that takes barely 20 minutes from start to finish. 

No-cook recipes clearly cut down on the time taken to make them, so salads are often a winner. Want a change from simple greens? Try this delicious halloumi, fig and pomegranate salad recipe.

Don’t forget, great-tasting desserts are also possible in very little time. Try this no-bake lemon and pistachio cheesecake, which is so quick you can make it in one of the advert breaks of your favourite show.