Asklemmy

New Mexico hatch Green chilies on everything.

I do a chicken pizza using tzatziki as the base sauce instead of tomato. Initially I was going to have it on top, but decided to go nuts. With the other Mediterranean ingredients on it, goes deliciously.

Soy sauce makes everything better. If there is some kind of sauce or broth just add a little bit. The extra salt and umami flavor elevate everything. Doesn't matter the cuisine. It goes great in burgers

Wijko saté sauce. It goes with almost anything. I'll have no shame in it. My Asian partner does.

This one’s a bit of a preference and not much an ingredient, but a topping. I tend to put molasses on pancakes over syrup or honey. I still occasionally use maple syrup or honey, but I love the bitterness of molasses.

• Soy sauce
• flax seed oil in tomato sauce
• lime juice
• yeast extract

Vegans know how to cook haha

It's not that wild, but I absolutely LOVE blue cheese in a burger.

Dry sherry in tomato sauce, soups, or anything with beef in it.

Worcestershire sauce in tuna. It is delicious.

Beans (usually black beans, but I've been looking more into other varieties lately), lentils, peas, soy curls, tofu, tempeh, tvp, rice, oat groats, barley, quinoa, bulgur, amaranth, other grains I can't remember at the moment, and seitan: wherever most people would use mutilated body parts.

Bog standard "all purpose seasoning" in mac n cheese. Just elevates the whole thing.

Other than MSG - garlic powder, lemon pepper, paprika, and gochugaru. Almost everything I cook has those 4 put in, with only the lemon pepper reduced if citrus is not part of the dish.

Balance acidity, that's pretty much how to make every sauce delicious. Per OP's suggestion, that free glutamate punch also helps.

Recently discovered the wonders of yeasty flakes, never thought to put it in sauces (only sprinkles) so I will give this a go, thanks!

My ultimate sprinkly pasta topping is a mixture of grated cheese, crushed Salted crisps, yeast flakes, fresh basil, hot sauce, and Japanese shichimi.

Here's an opposite example: When making lasagna, leave out the bechamel sauce. No more soggy mess

When I make quesadillas, I put a thin layer of this really good chipotle sauce on the tortilla before I start adding the ingredients. Plus, butter for browning the tortilla always trumps cooking spray. Finally, when browning the meat, there’s a sweet and spicy sauce I’ll put in the pan along with some honey to finish browning the meat. Adds a layer of sticky goodness.

I don't know about "better", but I've been experimenting with adding bitter chocolate to my indian curries. The thinking being, some masalas are a bit like mole if you squint (yes, I know most moles don't actually contain chocolate). Balancing out the bittersweetness has been challenging, especially given that the tomatoes I can get around here are already quite sweet. It also affects how much lemon juice or amchoor is needed. I'm not quite convinced yet that it's a good idea lol.