With over 8 million followers and billions of views across social media, Daen Lia has built a global community around bold Mediterranean flavors, feel-good food, and the kind of recipes that make you want to cook for the people you love—always with garlic (lots of it) and olive oil at the heart.

She’s the creator of the viral garlic confit trend and author of the best-selling cookbook Garlic, Olive Oil & Everything Mediterranean, a love letter to her Spanish and Sicilian roots. From pillowy focaccia to no-fail pastas and slow-cooked stews, Daen’s Kitchen is the go-to destination for comforting, flavor-packed Mediterranean cooking.

Daen's Cooking Hacks

Use Olive Oil as a Seasoning

To me, olive oil is everything. I use olive oil as a seasoning because a bottle of high-quality extra virgin olive oil is so luxuriously smooth, rich and fruity that it should rightfully earn a spot on your dining room table next to a bowl of flaky finishing salt.

Olive oil is and can be so much more than just something to cook with yet when I drizzle it over a bowl of pasta, toast or even a scoop of ice cream, people tend to be quite shocked. Some even outraged! And it’s those people that have never experienced the taste of a good quality olive oil. It can really elevate your dish and deserves to be front and centre. Invest in a beautiful extra virgin olive oil and drizzle it liberally! You will thank me later.

Don't Underestimate the Power of Garlic Confit 

A few years ago, I met a chef who used to work at one of the most famous pizza places in Australia and he let me in on his secret ingredient. Garlic confit. He told me that for every pizza base that they pulled out of the oven, he would smear a tablespoon or two of garlic confit onto it. Garlic confit is one of the most beautiful things you can cook and keep tucked away in your fridge to be tossed through, smeared onto and blended into absolutely everything and anything! It’s a great cooking hack as not only is it something that can be made in advanced helping you save on time in the kitchen but it will absolutely transform anything you make.

When garlic is slow-cooked in olive oil something magical happens to it. It’s texture becomes soft and velvety, causing it to melt at the slightest touch of a knife and it’s flavour becomes sweet, buttery and mild. It’s far less pungent that raw garlic which is why you will see me double, triple if not quadruple the amount of garlic in a recipe! You will also be left with the most gorgeous garlic infused oil that you can use in absolutely everything you cook and make!

Create Ingredient Building Blocks (and Make Them in Large Batches)

My cooking (and my cookbook) is built around a handful of core recipes that I like to call my building blocks. These are simple, versatile recipes that can be used in all sorts of ways. Like my mum’s homemade breadcrumbs—they’re not just for crispy chicken. I fry them in a little olive oil and sprinkle them over mac and cheese or toss them through a salad for crunch or use them to create a chicken kiev. They’re a pantry staple in my house.

That’s why I always encourage making big batches. If you opened my freezer right now, you’d find at least a dozen recipes from my book tucked away. There is crumbed chicken individually wrapped in plastic wrap, chicken stock in containers, and tomato and basil sauce stored in ziplock bags. There is no better feeling than pulling something out on a busy weeknight and silently thanking your past self for making you dinner (with lots of options to go with it!)

Stop Toasting Your Bread and Fry It in Olive Oil

I truly believe everything tastes better fried in olive oil. Growing up, we never used a toaster. Instead, we’d drizzle slices of bread with olive oil and fry them in a pan over low heat until they were golden and crispy. It’s like a giant crouton and just soooo much better!

One of my favourite ways to eat it is slathered with pesto, topped with prosciutto and heirloom tomatoes. Simple and delicious!

Invest in Kitchen Scales for When Making Breads and Doughs

I absolutely adore making bread from scratch. There is nothing more heavenly than the smell of bread baking away in your oven. And nothing more satisfying than slicing into a loaf of bread that you made all yourself. Now I am one to not own a lot of fancy equipment, which comes as a surprise to many friends who visit me. For a long time, I used my olive oil bottle in replacement of a rolling pin and a tinned of crushed tomatoes as a mallet. But there is one thing you will always find in my house and that is a pair of digital scales.

When making breads and doughs, a digital scale is just non-negotiable. I am often asked to provide my focaccia recipe in cups but it’s simply I just can’t bring myself to do. Firstly, a good bread recipe will always be supplied in grams and for that you need a scale. Secondly, no matter how many times you measure out your flour, salt and water, if using cups the amount will always change. So for accuracy and consistency, you need those scales.