Creative Ways to Use Coffee in Cooking

Think outside the pot the next time you buy coffee beans, literally. Coffee is a fantastic ingredient in cooked and baked items. There are plenty of delectable recipes and dishes you can enhance with strong brewed coffee, coffee grounds, or beans.

Sounds strange? You will be amazed to know that everyone can enjoy coffee-infused cuisine, even those not lovers of the beverage. Coffee is a beautiful addition to your kitchen pantry because of the variety of flavors you can achieve from beans of different origins.

Coffee Works for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner Recipes

You can include coffee in dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Not all recipes involving a coffee call for sugary concoctions. For example, dark, rich meats like beef and pork taste remarkably better when paired with boldly flavored coffee beans like the Blackwoods Ethiopian Dark Roast or Brazilian Dark Roast.

How to Cook with Coffee

When using liquid coffee in cooking, most recipes demand ultra-robust coffee. Make double-strength coffee using twice the quantity of grounds and allow it to cool to room temperature before using it (unless the directions specifically state that it should be hot).

Secondly, you have the option of using flavored or unflavored coffee. However, for savory recipes, we recommend unflavored. On the other hand, coffee-based dessert recipes go well with flavored grounds that enhance the dish’s existing flavors. For example, the Blackwoods Columbian Medium Roast, with its orange-noted, decadent chocolate and dried fruit-infused full-bodied flavor profile, would pair wonderfully with a chocolate cake recipe.  

Examples of Complementary Dishes that You Can Improve with Coffee

Baked Carrots: Baking carrots releases natural sugars, making them more delicious to most palates. Next time you bake carrots, lay them over a layer of coffee beans and slow roast them for two to three hours. Carrots cooked over coffee beans absorb a hint of coffee flavor because the beans release their oils when heated.

You will want to use a flavorful coffee like the Blackwoods Colombian Medium Roast or Brazilian Micro-lot Medium Roast. The more fragrant the coffee, the more flavorful the carrot. Even coffee-haters will like these delicate carrots! This culinary delight is the perfect side dish for coffee-braised roast beef.

Coffee-Braised Roast Beef: Coffee makes a rich, black gravy. This dish marinates roast beef in coffee and then uses the drippings to make a coffee-infused gravy to pour over the roast. This coffee-infusion idea is so simple because you can use your family’s favorite roast beef recipe and add the coffee to it. The coffee enhances the beef’s flavor complex; it does not overpower it.

There are so many delicious coffee-infused recipes out there. Subscribe to our coffee today so you can enjoy trying the endless possibilities.