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Sugar.
People are far too afraid of it. Add a tablespoon to bolognaise: Instant improvement.
Also, balsamic vinegar. There’s very few savory dishes that aren’t improved by a table spoon.
Also, Worcestershire Sauce. Can’t deny the umami.
And yes, nutritional yeast.
Roasted garlic and/or roasted bone marrow. Soups, meat rubs, compound butters, whatever. The depth of flavours those two things add by themselves is amazing.
I try to remember that book "salt fat acid heat" when i am making up a dish from the food in the fridge/pantry when trying to decide what might work.
Mirin! And other stuff you'd find at Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, etc stores. Like the different types of sauces and ingredients you can get from them can often mix very well with traditional American foods.
Parmesan in mashed potato. Not enough to be cheesy, just for some unami. Also using grainy mustard.
I just tried making sugar cookies, adding black sesame powder and replacing a portion of the butter with sesame oil. These cookies slap.
A lot of these are adding umami to dishes. For an umami bomb that doesn't taste like any particular ingredient you can blend together soy sauce, fish sauce, and tomato paste in smaller amounts and add the to your dish.
Instead of salt I use Tony Chachere's seasoning. This is a staple in EVERY Louisiana household, so you know it's the real deal.
Butter - I use it in pizza dough, taco meat, stir fry...
I know what brands of garlic powder to use. Nothing beats fresh garlic, but a pinch of the good stuff is worth 10 shakes of supermarket brand crap.
Actually my friends recipe.
Root beer float: Ingredients: Root beer, vanilla ice cream and just a touch of Kalua.
Worcestershire Sauce. It adds umami (anchovy drippings), smokiness (tamarind and molasses), acidity (vinegar), and salinity (anchovy drippings).
Vegans know how to cook haha
Tomato sauce and everything hot tomato, especially if you use canned tomatoes, needs a bit of sugar. It makes it 100% better. It does not make it sweet, but all the flavors of the tomato just pop while otherwise it is only sour and bland.
Hungarian paprika and MSG
A small splash of amaretto in macaroni and cheese. Only about a cap full, or one teaspoon, gives it an amazing sweet and salty flavour.
I discovered this incredible recipe one night when I was preparing some mac-n-cheese only to discover I was completely out of milk, and had to substitute the next best liquid I had on hand.
Okay, that is definitely out there! I'll try to remember that next time we have amaretto and are making mac n cheese!
If it’s tomato heavy, add sugar, neutralizes the acids a bit and makes it easier if you suffer heartburn.
When I grill burgers I mix in an egg and breadcrumbs. The egg seals in the juices and the breadcrumbs stabilize it. Garlic salt and Lowry’s seasoned salt mixed in as well.
In fact garlic salt and Lowry’s finds their way into most meals in the house. Great combo for almost any meat and most veggies.
Throwing a little bit of baking soda into tomato based sauces can tame the acidity as well, and is actually a pretty great trick for neutralizing the canned taste if you're using canned tomatoes. Just make sure to add it slowly and mix slowly, otherwise you'll be creating a science fair volcano on your stovetop.
Old Bay in home made hamburger mix. Only do it if you're using an 80/20 mix because the flavor stands out too much if you use lean hamburger.
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.
Marmite.
When I make my pico de gallo, I use key limes instead of regular limes. Tastes more authentic.
I quite like cottage pie (or shepherds pie, depending on my mood). I've found mixing sweet potato into the mashed potato topping makes a HUGE difference. Only 1/4 to 1/3 is needed, anymore and it can be overpowering.