Reading Time: 6 minutes Cheat Sheet! How Long To Cook Your Favorite Dishes
We love cooking simple and easy meals. But sometimes it isn’t a recipe you need. Sometimes it’s just a quick answer to how long it takes to cook something.
We’ve created this guide and cheat sheet to help figure out how long to cook some popular foods. Comprehensive recipes can be found elsewhere and everywhere. Hopefully you check our recipes first.
This guide isn’t meant to be comprehensive. It’s meant to cover popular foods at temps people are asking about. You can find how to cook an egg anywhere. This guide is to help with the popular and common questions that for whatever reason have harder to find answers.
In this post we’ll also share some very quick tips, but the goal is to save you time in finding out how long it takes to cook these dishes.
Table of Contents
Recommended Internal Meat Temperature
As a reminder, the USDA recommends cooking meats to the following internal temperatures.
| Meat | Internal Temperature |
|---|---|
| Beef | 145°F |
| Chicken | 165°F |
| Fish | 145°F |
| Pork | 145°F |
| Ground Meats | 160°F |
How Long To Cook Popular Foods
Use this quick cheat sheet as guidance and adjust as desired. Below the cheat sheet is additional guidance. Add or subtract a little time depending on thickness.
Cheat Sheet: How Long To Cook Various Foods
| Food | How Long To Cook |
|---|---|
| Asparagus at 350 in oven | 25 minutes |
| Asparagus at 350 in foil | 25 minutes |
| Asparagus at 350 on grill | 25 minutes |
| Beef ribs in oven at 400 | 90 minutes, or until meat is tender |
| Chicken at 400 | 22 minutes for medium sized chicken breast |
| Dino nuggets in air fryer | 5 minutes |
| Hamburger on George Foreman Grill (no need to flip) | 4 minutes medium rare 5 minutes for medium well 7 minutes well done |
| 1 Hot Pocket in the microwave | 2 minutes for one hot pocket |
| 2 Hot Pockets in the microwave | 3 minutes 30 seconds for two hot pockets |
| Lasagna at 350 | 45 minutes covered + 15 minutes uncovered |
| Lasagna at 375 | 45 minutes covered + 10 minutes uncovered |
| 1 lb meatloaf at 350 | 35-40 minutes |
| 2 lb meatloaf at 350 | 70 to 80 minutes (1 hr 10 min – 1 hr 20 min) |
| 3 lb meatloaf at 350 | 105 to 120 minutes (1 hr 45 min – 2 hrs) |
| Mini corn dogs in air fryer | 8 minutes |
| Pancakes each side | Roughly 3 minutes on the first side, 2 minutes on the second side. |
| Homemade pizza at 350 | 20 minutes |
| Pizza in oven at 475 | 13 minutes. Add or subtract 60-120 seconds depending on thickness |
| Salmon at 450 | 12-15 minutes depending on the thickness |
| Steak on george foreman grill | 1/2″-1″ steak 6 minutes for medium rare and 9 minutes for medium |
| Trader Joe’s hash browns in air fryer | Air fry at 400 for 10 minutes |
| Trader Joe’s hash browns in microwave | Microwave for 4 minutes (it will be soggy) |
| Trader joe’s hash browns in oven | Bake for 14 minutes at 400, turning halfway |
| Turkey bacon in oven | 15-17 minutes at 400 degrees 20 minutes at 350 degrees. |
how long to cook asparagus at 350 (in oven, in foil, on grill)
At 350 degrees, asparagus takes about 25 minutes to cook.
how long to cook beef ribs in oven at 400
Place the ribs on a large piece of heavy-duty foil. Coat both sides of ribs with your favorite rub, or salt and pepper. Seal tightly then place on a baking sheet. Bake ribs at 400 degrees for 90 minutes, or until the meat is tender.
how long to cook chicken at 400
A medium size chicken breast (usually 5 to 6 ounces each), takes approximately 22 minutes to cook in a 400 degree oven. Baking chicken breasts at 400 degrees helps seal in the juices (and the flavor).
- Add the chicken breasts to a glass baking dish in a single layer.
- Bake for 22 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
- Check the temperature of the chicken breasts with a meat thermometer to ensure they’ve reached 165°F (74°C)
how long to cook dino nuggets in air fryer
- Preheat air fryer at 400.
- Add frozen Dino nuggets to your air fryer basket or tray.
- Make sure they aren’t touching.
- Air fry the Dino nuggets at 400°F (200°C) for 5 minutes.
How Long To Cook Lasagna
Lasagna cooks best at 450 Degrees. It is possible to base it at a lower temperature. Be sure to let the lasagna rest after cooking it. Letting lasagna cool allows the cheese to settle and glue together the layers. It also lets additional water steam out, which thickens the sauce and further glues the layers together. To prevent soupy watery lasagna, let it rest.
how long to cook lasagna at 350
- Cover the lasagna pan with aluminum foil
- Bake lasagna at 350°F for 45 minutes
- Remove the foil and bake For another 15 minutes
- Allow the lasagna to rest for at least 15 before serving
how long to cook lasagna at 375
- Cover the lasagna pan with aluminum foil
- Bake lasagna at 375°F for 45 minutes
- Remove the foil and bake For another 15 minutes
- Allow the lasagna to rest for at least 15 before serving
how long to cook meatloaf at 350
At 350°F, a meatloaf takes 35-40 minutes per pound to cook. A 1 lb meatloaf will take about 35 to 40 minutes. A 2 lb meatloaf will take about 70 to 80 minutes. A 3 lb meatloaf will take about 105-120 minutes. Meatloaf is ready when its internal temperature is 160°F.
how long to cook a hot pocket in the microwave
Cook one hot pocket sandwich in the microwave for 2 minutes. Cook two hot pockets for 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Add a minute if your microwave is less than 1100 Watts. For best results, cook one Hot Pocket at a time.
how long to cook a hamburger on george foreman grill
How long to cook burgers on George Foreman Grill depends on the thickness and how you like them cooked. For medium sized burgers on a George Foreman Grill cook 4 minutes for medium rare, 5 minutes for medium well, or 7 minutes well done. Add or subtract 60-90 seconds depending on size.
how long to cook mini corn dogs in air fryer
- Arrange mini-corn dogs in a single layer. If the corn dogs are touching they will not cook evenly.
- Air fry mini corn dogs for 375° for 8 minutes.
how long to cook pancakes each side
- Heat pan on medium for about 10 minutes.
- Add just enough butter to coat pan (optional if using a non stick pan)
- Pour batter to form pancakes of whatever size you like.
- Cook first side of pancake until bubbles form on top, about three minutes
- flip and cook other side about two minutes.
How do you know when the second side of pancakes are done?
- Give the second side of the pancake 2 minutes to cook.
- Slide a spatula under the pancake.
- Gently lift to check that the bottom is golden brown.
- If it’s still sticky allow to cook for another 30-60 seconds.
- If the second side is golden brown, then it is ready to eat.
how long to cook homemade pizza at 350
A homemade pizza can be cooked at 350 in 20 minutes as long as the pizza dough has been pre-baked for 5 minutes.
how long to cook pizza in oven at 475
Bake pizza in the 475°F oven for 13 minutes. When it’s finished the crust will start to brown and the cheese is golden. Add or subtract 60-120 seconds depending on thickness. Keep an eye on it after 10 minutes because the cheese will burn quickly at this temperature.
how long to cook salmon at 450
- Season salmon as desired.
- Place salmon, skin side down, on a non-stick baking sheet
- Bake salmon at 450 for 12 to 15 minutes depending on the thickness
Is 450 too high for salmon? No. 450 F is the ideal temperature for baking salmon. The hotter temperature will crust over the outside of the salmon and seal in the juices. Don’t overcook or the salmon will become dry. Don’t forget it will continue to cook after being removed from the oven.
how long to cook steak george foreman grill
The grilling time depends on the thickness of the steak and desired level of done. If the steak is 1/2″-1″ then cook 6 minutes for medium rare and 9 minutes for medium. Adjust by 60-90 seconds for thickness or if you prefer rare or well done. Add 5 minutes for preheating.
how long to cook trader joe’s hash browns
- Preheat oven or air fryer to 400
- Arrange in a single layer
- Bake Trader Joe’s Hash Browns for 14 minutes, turning halfway or air fry for 10 minutes
You can microwave Trader Joe’s Hash Browns for 4 minutes (but they will be soggy).
The easiest and quickest way to cook Trader Joe’s Hash Browns is in the toaster.
how long to cook turkey bacon in oven
At 400 degrees Fahrenheit you can bake turkey bacon in the oven in 15-17 minutes. At 350 degrees Fahrenheit it takes about 20 minutes to bake in the oven.
In Conclusion
Sometimes you just want to know how long to cook something. Hopefully this guide helped.
Erin is the mother of identical twin girls and their slightly older brother. She is a domestic engineer, and previously had a career leading customer service teams for a major HVAC company. Cleaning without harsh chemicals, and cooking easy and usually healthy meals are part of Erin's daily life. She volunteers with youth leaders, and genuinely wants to help others win. Erin has a degree in Communications, with a focus on Broadcast Journalism.