Whats the difference between...

Question

sauteing and frying?

Answer 1

frying is typically submerging the entire food in a grease or oil, so it cooks all the way through.  This is mainly done with things like chicken, etc.

Sauteing is cooking it without fully submerging it.  Usually, it's something lighter, like mushrooms, peppers, onions.  However, you can saute shrimp.

Answer 2

One thing I noticed about sauteing is that it requires more movement then frying.

Answer 3

sauteing is just barely frying. When you saute something, you leave it in the pan just long enough to slightly brown it.  

Answer 4

sauteing is moving it around and just starting to cook to fry leaves it to cook with out moving just turning it once or twice.

Answer 5

sauteing usually means you are constantly stirring the food while it's cooking in butter or some liquid, while frying means the food is either submerged completely or sitting in oil without a lot of interference from the cook (except to flip)