7 foods everyone should know how to cook

• While we can't all be master chefs, it is important to know some basic recipes to sustain yourself.
• It's also vital to familiarize yourself with basic techniques that can help you not only follow recipes but create your own.
• Whether you're looking to impress dinner guests or just fuel yourself for the day, professional chefs and culinary schools suggest you master these basic recipes and techniques.

For many people, cooking at home can be intimidating, time-consuming, messy, or all of the above. But learning some basic recipes and cooking techniques can save you time and money while also making your time in the kitchen more fun. It'll also gift you a great set of skills to impress friends and family.

We talked to professional chefs and culinary schools to find out what recipes aspiring home cooks should master, and each suggestion will also lead you to more recipes to try out in the kitchen.

Home cooks should know how to scramble eggs.

While everyone seems to have their own additions to a scrambled egg recipe (such as cheese, butter, oil, or cream, among others), the technique should be spot on. Scrambling eggs is a quick process, but it can also go south fast.

"Doing them wrong is unforgivable," Liya Swift of Chef Apprentice School of the Arts (CASA) told INSIDER.

Remember to cook them low and slow for best results. No one wants to eat burnt eggs.

You'll master many recipes if you know how to roast a chicken.

Swift recommends that home cooks know how to properly roast a chicken. Roasted chicken can go far. Whether you serve it as-is with vegetables, top a creamy pasta with it, toss it into a salad, or shred it for tacos, a roasted chicken can make many meals delicious.

It's also versatile, in that it can take any number of seasonings for a different flavor profile. It's great for preparing meals in advance.  Once you have that down, you can master many recipes.

Take a simple pasta dinner to the next level with homemade spaghetti meat sauce.

Swift told INSIDER that mastering spaghetti meat sauce is important. It's going to taste fresher than store-bought tomato sauce, and it will elevate both the dish and your leftovers. If you're vegan or vegetarian, you don't have to be left out. Play around with different proteins until you find a taste and texture you love, then wow your friends and family with the results.