Looking for a healthy, simple and versatile method of cooking? Try cooking in parchment paper or as the French says it “en papillote”, a term for cooking in a pouch. It may sound complicated (well if we can’t say it, we figured we may not cook it too!), but it is actually really easy on preparation time, full of flavor and best of all quick on cleanup! Are you not convinced yet? Read on..

The beauty of cooking en papillote

When you cook ingredients like fish, meat, vegetables and herbs in parchment paper packet, you are basically steaming the ingredients inside using their own moisture without any addition of fats to keep the ingredients moist. So, hello healthy meals! 

The how-to

Cooking with parchment is easy, no pans required! All you need is your ingredients, parchment paper, baking tray and your trusty oven. Plus, 5 easy steps that you can master in no time. 

Step 1: Prepare a piece of parchment paper. A pre-cut parchment paper like Orient’s Parchment paper sheets would be perfect to start with. 

Step 2: Fold the parchment paper into half and draw a shape of half heart on one side. Cut following the drawn line, then unfold the paper! Now you have a heart-shaped paper which also resembles butterfly wings (butterfly = papillon in French, hence the “en papillote” term for this method).

Step 3: Put your ingredients on one side of the paper - from your vegetable, protein, seasonings, herbs and drizzle any sauce or citrus juice.

Step 4: Fold the empty side of the paper over the ingredients. Crimp and fold the edges, starting from the top of the heart and work your way down to the bottom point of the heart, creating a tight seal (imagine sealing the crusts of a pie!). You will want a nice, tight seal to keep all the beautiful flavor in.

Step 5: Place your pouch on a baking tray and put in the a preheated oven to cook. You will see the pouch puffs up in the oven as they cook due to steam build up inside. Once ready, put on a plate and using a sharp knife to cut a slit and carefully open it up (be careful not to burn yourself when the steam releases).

We hope this give you new ideas for your next quick weeknight dinners or even your next dinner party. Here are some amazing recipes from Food Network to get you started! Enjoy and comment below to share your parchment paper cooking experience.

Image credit @get_chefd