Mise en Place: The French Technique That Changed How I Cook

I’ll be honest with you: I’m not naturally organized. My desk has papers scattered everywhere, I’ve been known to misplace my phone three times before breakfast, and there are days when I walk into my own restaurant kitchen and wonder how anything gets done with my scattered brain leading the charge.

But here’s the thing—in the kitchen, I’ve learned to embrace one French technique that’s completely transformed not just my cooking, but my entire relationship with food. It’s called mise en place (pronounced “meez on plahs”), which literally translates to “everything in its place.”

And if a perpetually disorganized person like me can make this work, trust me, you can too.

What Is Mise en Place?

Mise en place is the practice of preparing and organizing all your ingredients before you start cooking. In professional kitchens, it’s non-negotiable. Every ingredient is measured, chopped, and arranged within reach before a single burner gets turned on. It’s the difference between a smooth dinner service and complete chaos.

But this isn’t just a restaurant trick—it’s a game-changer for home cooks, especially those of us living in our fast-paced, distraction-filled world where we’re trying to answer texts, help with homework, and somehow get dinner on the table without burning the garlic.

Why I Resisted It (And Why I Was Wrong)

When my mom first tried to teach me this practice—though she never called it mise en place or any fancy French name, she just knew how to do it—I rolled my eyes. Hard. I was young, impatient, and convinced that all this prep work was just wasting time. Why spend fifteen minutes chopping and measuring when I could just dive in and figure it out as I went?

Well, I learned the hard way. Burned onions while I frantically minced garlic. Discovering halfway through a recipe that I was out of a crucial ingredient. That moment of panic when three things need your attention simultaneously and you haven’t even started chopping the vegetables yet. The kitchen stress was real, and I was creating it myself.

It wasn’t until I started working in professional kitchens that I understood: mise en place isn’t about being naturally organized. It’s about creating a system that works even when your brain is scattered, your day has been hectic, and you just need dinner to come together without adding more stress to your life.

The Real Magic: Connection Over Chaos

Here’s what surprised me most about adopting mise en place—it’s not really about efficiency, though that’s a wonderful bonus. It’s about creating space to actually connect with your food and the cooking process.

In our rushed world, cooking often becomes just another item on the to-do list. We’re chopping while the pan’s already heating, reading the recipe with one eye while stirring with the other hand, and basically white-knuckling our way through dinner. There’s no joy in that. There’s no creativity. There’s certainly no connection.

But when you practice mise en place, something shifts. Those fifteen minutes of prep become almost meditative. You’re handling each ingredient, noticing its texture and smell, thinking about how it’ll transform in the pan. You’re reading the whole recipe before you start, visualizing the dish, maybe even deciding to tweak something based on what you have or what sounds good to you.

By the time you actually start cooking, you’re not stressed—you’re ready. You can focus on the sizzle of aromatics hitting hot oil, the way colors deepen as vegetables caramelize, the moment when everything comes together into something delicious. You’re present. You’re creative. You’re actually enjoying the process.

And that’s when recipe invention happens. When you’re not panicked about the next step, your brain has space to wonder, “What if I added a little of this?” or “I bet that would taste amazing with this spice.” Some of my best recipes came from those moments of clarity during cooking, which only exist when I’m not simultaneously trying to dice an onion while something burns on the stove.

How to Practice Mise en Place at Home

The beautiful thing about mise en place is that it’s completely adaptable to your kitchen, your style, and your life. Here’s how I make it work:

Read the entire recipe first. I know, I know—we all want to skip this step. But reading through helps you spot potential problems (like that two-hour marinating time you didn’t account for) and understand the flow of the dish. It takes two minutes and saves you from so many headaches.

Gather everything you need. Pull out all your ingredients and set them on the counter. This is when you discover you’re out of soy sauce or that the ginger in your fridge has seen better days—when you still have time to problem-solve or substitute, not when you’re mid-recipe with a hot pan waiting.

Prep your ingredients. Chop your vegetables, measure your spices, mince your garlic, grate your cheese—whatever the recipe calls for, do it now. I use small bowls, ramekins, or even just little piles on my cutting board if I’m feeling casual about it.

Organize by cooking order. Arrange everything in the order you’ll use it. Aromatics that go in first on the left, later additions to the right. It sounds overly particular, but when you’re actually cooking, this makes everything flow smoothly.

Set up your cooking space. Get out the pans you’ll need, preheat your oven, have your utensils ready. There’s something deeply satisfying about turning to grab your wooden spoon and finding it exactly where you need it.

You Don’t Need Fancy Equipment

One thing I love about mise en place is that it doesn’t require any special tools. I’ve cooked in professional kitchens with dozens of matching stainless steel prep containers, and I’ve cooked at home using coffee mugs and cereal bowls for my prepped ingredients. Both work perfectly fine.

What matters isn’t having Instagram-worthy matching prep bowls—it’s the practice of organizing your ingredients before the heat is on and the clock is ticking. Use whatever you have: small bowls, ramekins, custard cups, plastic containers, or even sections on your cutting board.

When Mise en Place Isn’t Necessary

I’ll be real with you: I don’t practice mise en place for every single thing I cook. If I’m making scrambled eggs for breakfast or throwing together a simple grilled cheese, I’m not getting out prep bowls. That would be overkill.

But for anything with multiple ingredients, multiple steps, or timing that matters? Mise en place every single time. It’s especially crucial when you’re trying a new recipe, cooking something with precise timing (like stir-fries where everything happens fast), or experimenting with your own recipe ideas.

How It Changed My Recipe Development

As someone who loves inventing new recipes, mise en place has become essential to my creative process. When I’m developing a new dish, having everything prepped and organized allows me to focus on the flavors, textures, and techniques rather than scrambling to prep the next ingredient.

I can taste as I go, adjust seasonings mindfully, and notice what’s working or what needs tweaking. Some of my best “happy accidents” in recipe development came from having the mental space to notice something unexpected—like the way a certain herb smelled when it hit the hot oil, which inspired me to double the amount. That observation only happened because I wasn’t stressed about getting the next three ingredients chopped in time.

A Practice in Slowing Down

In our fast-paced world where everything feels rushed and we’re constantly multitasking, mise en place offers something radical: a reason to slow down, even if just for fifteen minutes. It’s a small act of caring for yourself and the people you’re cooking for.

Yes, it feels counterintuitive at first. Yes, it seems like you’re adding time to the cooking process. But what you’re actually doing is transforming cooking from a stressful chore into something more intentional, more connected, and honestly, more enjoyable.

Tips for Making Mise en Place a Habit

Start small. Pick one recipe this week—maybe a weeknight dinner that usually stresses you out—and try mise en place. Notice how different it feels.

Prep while listening to something. I love putting on a podcast or music during my prep time. It makes those fifteen minutes feel less like work and more like a little pocket of “me time” before the cooking begins.

Get your family involved. Mise en place can be a great way to involve kids or partners in cooking. They can help measure, chop (age-appropriately), and organize ingredients while you chat about the day.

Don’t aim for perfection. Remember, I’m the least organized person I know, and I make this work. Your mise en place doesn’t have to look like a culinary school demonstration. It just needs to work for you.

Notice how you feel. Pay attention to the difference in your stress level and enjoyment when you cook with mise en place versus when you wing it. That awareness will help reinforce the habit.

The Bigger Picture

Mise en place taught me something important that extends beyond cooking: sometimes the act of organizing and preparing isn’t about being naturally neat or type-A. It’s about creating conditions that allow you to be present, creative, and connected to what you’re doing.

In the kitchen, that means really experiencing the food—the colors, smells, textures, and transformations. It means having the mental space to invent, adapt, and make a recipe truly your own. It means enjoying the process instead of just enduring it until dinner appears.

For someone who’s naturally scattered and disorganized in most areas of life, discovering that I could create this one organized system in the kitchen felt empowering. It proved that it’s not about changing who you are—it’s about finding practices that support you in doing what you love.

Your Turn

This week, I challenge you to try mise en place with just one recipe. Pick something you cook regularly, something with multiple ingredients and steps. Read the recipe through, gather everything, prep it all before you turn on a single burner, and notice how different it feels.

You might find, like I did, that those fifteen minutes of preparation aren’t time wasted—they’re time invested in actually enjoying the cooking process, connecting with your food, and creating space for your own culinary creativity to emerge.

And who knows? Maybe it’ll change how you cook too, even if you’re not naturally organized either.

What’s your biggest cooking challenge that mise en place might help solve? Have you tried this technique before? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.