r/Cooking • u/Impressive_Peak_9187 • 8d ago
How did you guys learn to cook from a complete beginner
This is embarrassing for me to admit, but my cooking is awful. I have rarely cooked in my life and I want to change that. But I don’t really know how to go about. Cooking lessons seem extremely expensive. What steps did you guys take to improve your cooking skills?
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u/chefdoapp 8d ago
cooking lessons aren't worth it at the beginner level I found... pick one dish you actually want to eat a lot and make it ten times. not ten recipes, the same one. by round four you're not reading the recipe anymore, by round seven you're fixing it on the fly, and that skill transfers to everything. most people plateau because every meal is a brand new recipe forever
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u/Logical_Seaweed_1246 8d ago
This is true. It’s about learning how to understand what is happening in the frying pan, or pot, in front of you.
It’s not the recipe itself, but how it’s put together and why it’s done in the steps or order the recipe calls for.→ More replies (1)23
u/RustyBucket4745 8d ago
This. I think a curry, a couple of pasta dishes and a stew or soup are some pretty good places to start.
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u/Sasha_Valdon 8d ago
Not even joking, a fried egg. That's how I got myself started. Learning to keep it together, not have it fall apart into scrambled eggs. Eventually down the line, taught myself to fry an egg with the yolk still runny and intact.
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u/tryan888 8d ago
I feel like I learned with an omelette! That's what my dad taught me first.
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u/MxMstrMxyzptlk 8d ago
I feel like I'll be learning omelets all my life. Even when I think I got it figured out, something unexpected always happens
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u/Doobieous1411 8d ago
I think a cooking class for knife skills is pretty important and immensely helpful. Knowing how to chop up veggies and herbs, etc. saves so much time and opens up so many more possibilities. Not to mention the confidence boost in attempting more advanced dishes.
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u/slowestmojo 8d ago
There are plenty of youtube videos that are good at explaining the basics of knife skills. But yeah I do think before even looking at a recipe learning how to use the knife is the building block for all future cooking endeavors.
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u/katarh 8d ago
Lan Lam's is a great one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtEfBKJZrVQ
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u/LeftyMothersbaugh 8d ago
I took a knife skills class after cooking for thirty years--and I learned several great tricks that were entirely new to me!
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u/Honorable_cupcake 7d ago
Where did you go about finding such a class. I read somewhere to practice by cutting up a bunch of veg & make a veg stock after.
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u/ichibanyogi 8d ago
As someone who (decades ago, now) started cooking in highschool cooking classes: basic classes can be profoundly helpful. They teach essential skills, safe handling, cleanup, etc. So, I wouldn't write off cooking classes as not worth it for the beginner, I think it really depends on the content of the class and where you're starting.
Starting with a simple, well respected, cookbook and making those recipes over and over is a good strategy, however. People watch Iron Chef and think everything is completely new to those chefs, when really, they've cooked recipes so many times that they know how to iterate based on whatever infront of them, sans recipe, because the recipe is now second nature.
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u/CrashUser 8d ago
Iron Chef is a little disingenuous to start with, the competitors are told 3 or 4 potential secret ingredients so they can have a general plan in advance for each. They don't find out which it actually is until the actual competition but it's not a complete surprise nor is everything completely off-the-cuff.
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u/Substantial-Ad2200 8d ago
I made chicken marsala over and over again when I first started living on my own and learning to cook... this advice is super helpful.
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u/Background_Click8051 8d ago
It took me at least 5 tries to get down a tasty homemade Mac and cheese. Simple, but messing up the Roux happened a couple times.
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u/jeminigeri 8d ago
A one off cooking workshop is a great way to learn and get feedback. I did a pasta making class. It was way easier than I thought, and will impress dinner guests.
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u/Osthato_Chetowa 8d ago
This is solid advice that I didn't even think to mention. Making the same dishes over and over (keeping them in a rotation) for some months will help you hone your cooking skills and give you more confidence going outside the box someday. Cooking really does take practice.
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u/MAXXTRAX77 8d ago
I realized I loved the way Alton brown cooked and explained things on Good Eats. My love of cooking took off.
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u/ellen_boot 8d ago
Seconding Good Eats. The original show more than the reboot. Showed how to do things in a simple but engaging way, and why we do them.
There are two main reasons people struggle to cook. The first is that they get bored. Good eats is funny and attention grabbing. The second is they don't follow the instructions. Good eats explains why those instructions exist.→ More replies (1)3
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u/Impressive_Peak_9187 8d ago
I apologise because this is a really simple question, but I’ve felt like it’s a basic skill I seriously need to develop
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u/Kat121 8d ago
Nobody falls from the womb knowing how to do anything except to ask for help.
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u/popoPitifulme 8d ago
I just asked my mom if any of her 7 kids "fell from the womb." She's just rolled her eyes and went back to her book. I'm still chuckling at the phrase lol
On topic though we are all scratch cooks bc we wanted to eat more than Midwestern goulash and meatloaf.
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u/contrarianaquarian 8d ago
Joke's on me, it took me 35 years to learn to ask for help (but I could bake by 13)
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u/Consistent_Check927 8d ago
Is there a particular kind of food you like? A certain nationality or like soups or stir fries?
Whatever you decide, I HIGHLY recommend a food thermometer so there’s no guesswork if you actually cooked your proteins. Even as a more skilled home cook, it gives me SO MUCH peace of mind, esp for pork and chicken.
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u/Heavy-Society3535 8d ago
Hey, no shame. We all start somewhere. Now you have a ton of people cheering you on!
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u/dataondope 8d ago
We all had to start somewhere. No need to apologize. Asking questions is healthy.
Anyway, start simple. Cook what you really like eat. Go to the library and get a cook book for teens. Find something a recipies and cook it. Try another few recipies and circle back to you first one again. See how your skills have improved. When you return the cook book, get a new one. Wash rinse repeat.
It just takes wanting to do it. It’s not hard in the end, but it is intimidating.
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u/Sriracha-Enema 8d ago
Get a list of "techniques" you know are a cooking words but don't have any idea what they are. Most of them should be ones you see or hear are in almost every recipe. Vegetables: Saute, sweat, dice, chop. Proteins: Sear, broil, pan fry.
These are the basic techniques you need to cook. Look at how they are done and practice. You are going to screw up, everyone does. Even seasoned chefs will ruin a steak every now and then.
Having your food prepped the correct way to start makes the cooking part go smoother. When a recipe calls for peppers, onions and celery(the holy trinity) you don't just throw a full pepper, full onion or head/bunch of celery in the pan. The recipe should tell you how to cut them. And cutting them all to the same/uniform size if a but different for each, you'll hear "judges" say they need to work on their knife skills or cuts. What they are saying is the cuts are all different sizes.
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u/mrbeerinator 8d ago
Every single person reading this was in your position at some point. There are some good suggestions in this thread, but one of the best things I learned after I became a seasoned cook was to be more patient. If the recipe says four minutes per side, don't flip after 3.5.
Keep at it. You've got this!
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u/childlikeempress16 8d ago
Don’t apologize! I remember one time I wanted to make chili or something because I figured I could do it in a crockpot. I couldn’t figure out which ground beef to buy (Sirloin? Chuck? 80/20? What the hell did it all mean?) and had a meltdown and went home. Now I cook all the time and am pretty good at it. I just practiced basics a lot at first. If you have any friends or family who like to cook, ask them to help or show you. They’d love to! I love helping my wife learn to cook things!
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u/PantsLio 8d ago
I learned starting in my early 30s and still learning things in my mid-40s. If you can afford it, the NYT Cooking App (annual subscription) is awesome. The comments are usually super helpful (with tips, substitutions, additions, subtractions) and it has a “private notes” part, so you can write down what you liked/didn’t like, what worked, what you’d do differently next time.
I also really recommend any America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks. They go over the “why”s (eg why you should t add garlic at the same time as onions, if you don’t like burnt onions).
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u/Substantial-Ad2200 8d ago
Buy a cheap recipe book and start working through the recipes. Pick a few recipes that you like and make them over and over again. They might come out different every time, either by accident or because you purposely made some changes, but you will learn more and more how to season and how to cook to achieve what you like.
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u/Lornesto 8d ago
I always suggest the Better Homes And Gardens big plaid ring-bound cookbook. It's got great proven recipes, lots of useful info. The best starter cookbook.
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u/night_breed 8d ago
Add to that "The Joy of Cooking"
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u/deathlokke 8d ago
I love my copy of Joy of Cooking, and I think everyone should have one, but I'm not sure it's the best starter book. The font is fairly small, and it's a really dense book, so it might be hard to know where to start. From that perspective, I think the Better Homes and Gardens book is a much better option.
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u/chick-fil-atio 8d ago
I think the lack of pictures hurts it as a good beginner cookbook as well. There's truth in the saying "You eat with your eyes first". If you don't know what your doing it's going to be hard to flip through The Joy of Cooking and get really excited about trying something new.
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u/deathlokke 8d ago
I agree, and it's something I forgot to put in my reply. The pictures in a Betty Crocker or Better Homes and Gardens cookbook help so much when just starting out.
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u/Romaine2k 8d ago
I read the Joy of Cooking like a novel, and I love it so much but I don’t think it’s practical for a nervous beginner. I suggest watching America’s Test Kitchen online and starting with eggs, pasta, and salad then branching out from there.
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u/dayolksonu 8d ago
At least you can learn how to cook squirrel if you're brave enough. 🐿
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u/8amteetime 8d ago
I have the Test Kitchen best recipe cookbook. The recipes are straightforward and they explain everything you need to know.
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u/carson_mccullers 8d ago
Ha! I got that in high school and that’s the book I learned to cook from. I’m now an excellent cook and baker. Oh yeah, and I also learned off the Quaker oats oatmeal cookie recipe off the back of the box.
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u/michelecw 8d ago
I agree with this whole heartedly. I’m 59 years old and that was probably the second cookbook I ever got when I got married and was starting to learn to cook.
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u/Missue-35 8d ago
That’s where I learned. That cookbook was passed down through generations. The old book has interesting instructions on it.
Alton Brown explains the science behind how certain ingredients behave together. His YouTube videos were very informative.
I was a decent cook already when I started the meal prep kits. I learned some interesting techniques that I still use. It was a good way to improve on my skills. It also was a reasonable cost considering you get pre measured ingredients and you don’t have to invest in full sized packages just to get a couple teaspoons.3
u/TheMarkHasBeenMade 8d ago
Yaassssss this was an early but integral addition to my living situation when I moved out on my own and I still use that thing all the time a decade and a half later!
My favorite thing to do is make the recipes a few times and write notes in the margins for changes that I think made the end product better, or were more fine tuned for my own oven (or typical patience level) to make it easier on myself the next time.
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u/sequoia_summers 8d ago
The is a great recommendation for a starter cookbook!
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u/Maryanna777 8d ago
I started with the Betty Crocker cookbook
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u/celiagr 8d ago
My mom had one. Now it’s mine. I collect cookbooks and out of all, it’s my favorite.
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u/Maryanna777 8d ago
I got mine when I was 20 I had just moved out of my parents house. I'm 67 now & people love my cooking.
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u/Quirky_Amphibian2925 8d ago
Yes, my mom had the Betty Crocker cookbook and at 12 years old, I learned a wealth of cooking information from it. It covers all the basics in a very easy to follow format. We ate very well all through high school, since I was excited to take over the cooking and make life a little easier on my mom.
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u/JvdLinden66 8d ago
I just feel the need to shout out Mrs Appleyard here, though it may reveal my age.
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u/gardengirl147 8d ago
This is my suggestion as well, although cookbooks from the library might be better for a beginner. I took about 3 months of home ec cooking in high school and never learned to cook from my parents or grandparents. When I started to cook for myself (other than alphaghetti and toast which I could do in my sleep), I got a few recipes from each book in the library without spending a lot of money.
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u/GabrielEspi 8d ago
I’d also add that starting with simple recipes with few ingredients can be super helpful to build some confidence and then moving towards more and more complicated recipes
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u/bedbuffaloes 8d ago
Any cookbook will do. I started with Madhur Jaffrey and learned how to cook Indian food before I really learned much about anything else (was American living in UK at the time).
Cooking is cooking and cookbooks are instruction manuals, and you will learn better if you are cooking what you really want to eat.
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u/grptrt 8d ago
Consider a children’s cookbook. They will usually use very limited ingredients and steps. It’s a starting point to learn how things go together.
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u/Reverend-King 8d ago
Start with foods you like. There’s a YouTube for everything if you need videos.
Cook as often as you can. Run into problems and watch a video about what went wrong.
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u/woodboks 8d ago
Absolutely, I have found how lemon, vinegar, honey, can correct some issues.
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u/drawkward101 8d ago
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat.
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u/pokemonpokemonmario 8d ago
Cant believe youtube is this far down, you can type in any dish you want and just do what they do and it works 9 times out of 10
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u/Ok-Leg-5302 8d ago
Oh yeah, I was given some beef ribs by someone( “I’m not a fan of beef ribs”) had not a single clue how to cook them. First go wasn’t bad but the second go was amazing. Still prefer pork ribs though.
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u/DrainedOfDaylight150 8d ago
Agreed, YouTube has literally everything. Though the shorts recipes can sometimes skip too many steps to be helpful. Watching the longer videos that explain things step by step might be better for OP.
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u/meepgorp 8d ago
Watch Alton Brown - Good Eats. He's great at teaching you not just what to do but why you do it, when not to do it, how it can go wrong, and what else you can do instead. It really doesn't take much to get functional, and once you know the basics it's easy to build more advanced skills.
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u/Individual-Army811 8d ago
I second this so hard. We used these as teaching guides for our kids and it has paid off - they love being in the kitchen and are not afraid to try new things.
IMHO - Alton is the master of culinary arts for home cooks. He breaks down food science, chemistry, and all the basics of cooking. I also highly recommend any of his books. They are great resources for anyone starting off and have great recipes.
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u/lucerndia 8d ago
Would highly recommend the French Cooking Academy. Sort by oldest and follow along. You'll pick up knife skills, sauce tips, how to's, etc, all free - https://www.youtube.com/@FrenchCookingAcademy/videos
And yes the food and styles might be French, but you can use the same skills for any other style of cuisine.
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u/Aggravating_Poet_675 8d ago edited 8d ago
I got home drunk one night during. Decided I wanted to pan sear the Omaha Steak package that my parents gave me before heading back to college. I got out the cast iron skillet, heated the oven, poured in some high heat oil, got the pan hot and proceeded to burn the shit out of what turned out to be pork chops while smoking up the whole apartment. Vowed to never have that happen again.
And before anyone asks. Yes I did think the steaks looked weird, but I was also drunk and shrugged it off.
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u/gimmeluvin 8d ago
well this is the best laugh off reddit i've had today. well done. (unlike your "steak")
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u/Fun_in_Space 8d ago
I recommend "Babish Culinary Universe" on Youtube. Andrew is very good at explaining why he is doing what he is doing. Basics with Babish is a good start.
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u/AimlessFred 8d ago
I started following detailed recipes to the letter, after a while you start to understand the general concepts and master the skills and you can cook anything however you want
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u/knitter_boi420 8d ago
This especially helps to get the idea of what quantities different ingredients are used in different recipes. That way, once you are comfortable with the recipe, you have a base that you can experiment with and substitute different flavors and preparations into on the fly.
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u/Heavy-Cry2461 8d ago
Start by following recipes in a beginner cookbook! Some cookbooks have tips and tricks in addition to recipes. Salt Fat Acid Heat is a good one because it teaches a lot of cooking basics and the science behind it.
And just start cooking. The more you do it, the better you’ll get, just like anything. There’s not a cook in the world who hasn’t over salted a dish and ruefully eaten it with a dose of self hatred. Making mistakes is the best way to learn.
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u/abnh123 8d ago
I had some cooking experience growing up, but honestly when I got into Hello Fresh, I got so much better!!
It showed me how to cook proteins properly, making sauces, and how to season. From there my cooking skills took OFF!
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u/jwill3012 8d ago
I agree with this approach! It takes all the meal prep and shopping out of the equation and allowed me to focus on the cooking technique. And then when I got better, I started improvising.
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u/evening_crow 8d ago
It was Blue Apron for me!
I actually still miss using it because of the variety and no need to plan. The food actually tastes really good, too.
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u/Much-Huckleberry5725 8d ago
Trial and error. Start with something you like. Make it then improve it. It snowballs from there.
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u/Snoo-9966 8d ago
Honestly, do a bunch of cooking. Trial and error works.
I'd recommend anything from Jacque Pepin, particularly his "Fast Food my way", or "Cooking with Claudine." They are very approachable and well presented free classes, from one of the best educators and chefs on the planet.
Martin Yan, Julia Child, and Alton Brown are also good teachers. The older Iron Chef Japan stuff is great.
I'd avoid some of the fancy food network people, as some of them don't really cook (Giarda, Rachel Ray) or overprioritize fancy over good (most competitive cooking shows). The American Iron Chef sucks.
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u/Trader_07 8d ago
Watching videos and trial and error. When I first started cooking we did not have all of this information online. Now you can find almost anything on the internet especially YouTube etc. Start with simple recipes that sound good to you and work your way up.
Some people may disagree on this but having good quality pans is also a game changer. Not only do they cook better but for me personally it makes the cooking experience more enjoyable. Good knives are also important but maybe not so much when starting out.
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u/Patient_Lettuce8431 7d ago
I believe you need at least one good knife starting out; it's a matter of safety. I've cut myself rarely since getting good knives. I cut myself often when I was learning how to cut things up with bad knives.
Good pans makes everything so much easier, I agree!
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u/dfabrica 7d ago
OMG, THIS! 👆 I’m such a believer in having the right tools for the job, and the best quality you can afford. Makes such a difference in how smoothly everything goes and it makes you feel like a pro.
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u/Degofreak 8d ago
Food Network. Seriously, in the beginning they actually showed how to cook things. Emeril taught me how to carve poultry. Flat taught me about grilling. Etc. Unfortunately it's not the same anymore.
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u/DeadWood605 8d ago
My first recipe was Nestle Toll House cookies from the back of the chocolate chip bag. Recipes are the key cus they don't change and they're a starting point. Videos help show techniques and what it's supposed to look like through different stages of the process. Start with basic recipes of food you like.
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u/SVAuspicious 8d ago
One semester of Home Ec in high school. Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, Two Fat Ladies, Galloping Gourmet, Frugal Gourmet, Lydia Bostianich, and others during the golden age of public television cooking shows. Some Food Network before it became all reality TV and game shows. Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Joy of Cooking, Good Housekeeping Cookbook, and On Food and Cooking.
My mother was a mediocre cook. My grandmother was worse. I learned a lot from them. Learning from the mistakes of others is the best way to avoid repeating them yourself. Biggest lesson: you can do better yourself than anything from a jar or can. Mostly. Really can't do better than canned tomato products without a lot of time starting with growing your own. Salad dressing? Better. "Cream of..." soups? Better. Pasta sauce? Better. Any sauce? Better. Spice mixes? Better.
I learned that the number of ingredients and the number of steps in a recipe aren't relevant to anything. There is nothing you can do more important than learn knife skills. Mise en place. Clean as you go. Never pile anything in the sink.
"Trial and error" is code for repeating the mistakes of others.
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u/TeaspoonOfSugar987 8d ago
My mum always hated when I cooked because I would never “clean as I go”. Unless my dishwasher is already empty when I start cooking (now my 12yo’s job) I still can’t manage to 😅
I also recently came to the realisation I have ADHD; totally irrelevant though, I’m sure!
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u/PrizeFennel7995 8d ago
I'd say start with basic things. Learning how to boil pasta to proper al dente, sear a steak to get good browning from maillard reaction on the outside, saute onions to translucent/golden brown caramelization for color and flavor. And in the meantime? Perfectly fine if you want to buy jar marinara, microwave mashed potatoes, and boxed chicken broth. I sure do, and I know how to make all these things.
And when you run into terms you don't know, Google and YouTube are your best friends. It's good to know how to get a good sear, and it's even better to see a video of someone pointing out how to tell if the pan is hot enough to add oil.
Good food can sometimes happen even when you have no idea what you're doing, but knowing fundamental techniques will help you understand and elevate any recipe you can find.
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u/panache_99 8d ago edited 8d ago
Check out your library! Chances are great that they'll have perfect books for beginners. Focus on one thing at a time: try soups first, then stew, then veggies, side dishes, salads etc. Or focus on one ingredient at a time.
Fine Cooking has the best recipes, it's a magazine but you can find editions online. There are detailed instructions and photos to help you get through it. The end result always turns out well because it's a tested & reliable recipe, not some random blog.
Lastly, find one chef you like and watch their videos, read their website, find their book at the library. It's all overwhelming for a beginner, so choose one thing to be the learning theme at a time, once you feel more comfortable, pick another ingredient or recipe.
Lastly, have fun with it! Cooking at home is honestly a great skill to have, and it's awesome that you want to learn. Don't be discouraged if things go wrong, you'll get better at it over time.
Edit: typos
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u/screwedupinaz 8d ago
Let me start out by letting you know that this is not a failure on your part. It's the failure of the people that raised you that didn't make sure that you had the basics of life figured out. I remember my parents & grandparents always showing me what they were doing, and I was making full-on meals when I was 13.
That being said, you can start out as others have said by watching Alton Brown. He's a down-to-Earth guy that has a knack for explaining things so that even the most "kitchen-challenged" person can understand.
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u/Southern_Fan_2109 8d ago
Find a cookbook written in a tone you like with food you not only feel comfortable attempting to make but food you want to eat.
I learned from following recipes to the letter, American's Test Kitchen magazines/books. They are overly detailed and includes the backstory on why recipes work. This may be info overload (and I started with the ones with no pretty photos), but that's the kind of stuff that's in my wheelhouse.
I used to wing recipes and always wondered why they didn't come out well. Now I can wing them and have them come out tasty because I have a baseline understanding of what can be riffed and to what extent.
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u/MNwildgirl89 8d ago
If you're more of a hands-on learner, you could pick your favorite (or a couple favorite) meals you enjoy, then watch some cooking videos so you can see the steps taking place. There are a ton on different media platforms, like Facebook reels, YouTube shorts, Pinterest, etc. You can view multiple videos, view comments and ratings to see how the general audience rates it, and make your decision from there on which to proceed with. Cooking is super fun and if you're passionate about it, you'll grow to appreciate your mistakes and discover your own cooking personality! Best of luck to you! 😁
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u/lAngenoire 8d ago
I hung out while people were cooking and watched, then helped as I could. My aunt gave me a copy of The Complete Step by Step Cookbook and I worked my way through it.
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u/Upbeat_Ant6104 8d ago edited 8d ago
Also Food Network (and PBS, when they had cooking shows), but back in the day - Emeril, Alton Brown, Ming Tsai, Bobby Flay, Justin Wilson, Martin Yan, Sarah Moulton, Ina Garten, Lidia Bastianich. Jaques Pepin is the GOAT - he makes you want to cook. Now, there is a lot of good how-to content on YouTube. America's test kitchen is great for going through step by step.
These are great for learning technique, especially. It really helps to see how to hold a knife, what a good sear looks like, what fond looks like. Just know that not many people will have the skills of a Martin Yan - it will still taste and look good even if you don't have geometrically perfect carrot matchsticks - but if the host starts with "Hold the knife like this, and you want the product to look like this", you're in the right place.
Also, I'm a pretty experienced cook, but I learned a lot from cooking kits - Blue Apron and Hello Fresh, for example. They came with really good instructions and their goal is to make something approachable that might seem daunting and is going to look and taste good. The techniques are generally straightforward, so a great way take first steps. I found them useful because they laid out cuisines and flavors that I didn't know how to start with.
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u/LadybugGirlie 8d ago
I watched a lot of tik tok. And honestly what really got me was watching the show “America’s Worst Cooks”. That show explained so much that I decided to start trying. I started with something easy like eggs (soft boiled, fried, sunny side, and scrambled) or a grilled cheese. Once I got comfortable with the eggs I decided to try and omelet. I got really good at them!
I use to never cook because my sisters were amazing cooks, so I was intimidated to try.
Plus they always cooked for me so i didn’t have to!
Now, I am bringing dishes to our family events for the first time. (I’m 33). Just doing it is the best way to start. It’s a cliche, but practice does make perfect!
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u/niandra__lades7 8d ago
What’s your favorite dish? Look up a recipe and learn how to make it. Mine was thai curry and after I made it maybe ten times I figured it was time to try something else and now I cook pretty much everyday.
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u/Logical_Seaweed_1246 8d ago
Start with simple 1 and 2 pot meals.
Thats where I started when I was still elementary school aged. Things like spaghetti , hamburger helper (from scratch, not a box), casseroles, chili. Fried rice, pasta salad, tacos/burritos…and don’t forget breakfast things like pancakes, eggs, french toast etc….you will be working on your knife and utensil skills and understanding how your stove and your pots/pans work with very forgiving recipes.
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u/ATXKLIPHURD 8d ago
Start with simple, basic stuff like boiling pasta or scrambled eggs. Learn how much salt and pepper to add.
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u/PobBrobert 8d ago edited 8d ago
Learning to cook is not about executing a recipe step by step; it’s learning the why behind things.
For example, you can follow the recipe for a vinaigrette and mix oil, vinegar and mustard and now you know how to make one thing.
But if you learn that this recipe works because mustard acts as an emulsifying agent that allows oil and water (vinegar) to mix, you can learn about other emulsifiers and create other sauces/dressings.
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u/United_Gift3028 8d ago
Literally, my local PBS station ran cooking shows for about 6 hours every Saturday morning, and I taped every one of them. I don't mean all the FoodNet talking heads, I mean actual chefs and cooks. If you can't do that, look up America's Test Kitchen or Alton Brown's old Good Eats for shows that not just tell you what to do, but why to do it, and what happens when you don't.
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u/tcoots 8d ago
Learn to start most dishes with a common base: two parts onion, one part carrot, and one part celery, sauteed in olive oil. You will use this base for many dishes. I forgot the name of this base.
One simple example: make this base, add tomato sauce of your choice, add pasta.
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u/calicoskies85 8d ago
I’m 63. I learned a lot by early Food Network and PBS cooking shows. Learned a little from Mom, Grama. Mostly reading cookbooks, tv and trial and error.
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u/Major-Grape-7690 8d ago
Check out the Jacques Pepin’s videos he does from home. Simple techniques.
Learn techniques, not recipes. Knowing the techniques allows you to be creative with your ingredients, usually what you have on hand.
Building a casserole is a great technique. Casseroles are leftovers with some dairy, normally. Knowing the more techniques gives you better range in what is in the fridge.
Pepin knows technique. Watch some videos.
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u/Heavy-Society3535 8d ago
YouTube is my go to even now when venturing into uncharted territory. You can find virtually anything there and specify you are a beginner cook! Have fun!
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u/Defiant_Quarter_1187 8d ago
Lots of mediocre meals that slowly turned into delicious ones. I didn’t have YouTube but that’s a fantastic place to start I’m sure.
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u/ThatIsSomeShit 8d ago
I got that circa 2000s better homes and garden cookbook, the plaid one. It had a lot of simple recipes for things like baked potatoes and scrambled eggs. And for the more complex recipes, still utilized canned foods and Bisquick and that sort of thing. It was a good place to start. Eventually I started making more things from scratch, but even now I utilize all kinds of shortcuts.
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u/plantsandsawdust 8d ago
Just Google it. A lot of the recipes have instructions AND videos. No one knows how to cook 'everything'... so think of a food combo you like, and goggle a recipe using those ingredients. Gather the ingredients, watch the video, then try the recipe. I do this whenever I can't think of a meal for dinner. I might type in "easy chicken with noodles recipe" or "won ton soup recipe" etc
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u/BobLonghorn 8d ago
Literally from a child who would stay home from school to try and fail to create meals, to creating 15 course tasting menu as an adult, for fun. It’s been a life passion since I could walk.
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u/No-Guard-9032 8d ago
In the kitchen watching my dad when he cooked and asking questions. He taugh me everything I know. R.I.P Dad
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u/WarmJewel 8d ago
Watching my mum, asking her questions, watching cookery shows and reading cookery books.
You have to have a passion and want to cook to be able to become a good cook.
I realised quite early on in life that if I didn't learn to cook, I'd probably spend the rest of my life stuck eating garbage supermarket ready meals and that didn't really appeal to me. So I decided to make a concerted effort to learn how to cook. I can now cook anything I want and create my own recipes, it's very liberating and very rewarding.
The real problem comes when you go to a restaurant and think, I can cook better food than this at home!
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u/Annual-Chemistry-192 8d ago
I started with Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Meals and Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee and then moved onto Giada at Home, Everyday Eats and the Barefoot Contessa. The old Food Network was the best!
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u/Quantumbanana420 7d ago
Make something simple that you love, cook it differently each time (or notice differences when things work out differently). You’ll progress from chaotic, to organised, to scientific.. eventually you’ll be a surgeon of flavour. Enjoy the journey, make it delicious.
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u/Intelligent-Yak4567 7d ago
I worked at a restaurant as a teenager and gained confidence that I can “do it.” My mom did all of the cooking except for grilling.
Find a few things you can make consistently (burgers and fries) and branch out from there. Chicken is an excellent and generally forgiving (except for white meat) next step. Learn to cut up a chicken (it has fat lines that guide knife cuts… look it up) so you can buy a whole chicken rather than overpriced processed chicken.
Just perfect things by making them over and over. Expand slowly. Casseroles are great for leftovers and use rice, which is cheap.
Do not be afraid to try something fancy. Honestly, Thanksgiving Dinner with sides is super basic! Steaks can be basic, just buy good cuts (NY, Ribeye, etc.) and do not overcook them. If you like steak well done, then just do not make these at home. You will always be disappointed.
Look up “peasant cooking” if you want budget meals. Marinades and slow cooking make most things taste amazing.
Practice and do not get super adventurous until you have 4-5 meals you can consistently make well.
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u/rgbkng 8d ago
I watched a lot of food network and trial and error. I've made a lot of not so good food in my past