Hate Cooking? Learn to Love Being in the Kitchen with These Tips

For some people, cooking feels challenging and time-consuming, which often leads to anxiety in the kitchen. Fear not! We’ll teach you how to be more comfortable around a stove and cutting board.

We all love to eat, right? But that doesn’t mean you’re obligated to enjoy cooking, too. Whether you don’t understand specific culinary skills or simply don’t like the mess involved, we’ll help you spark a little joy.

Learn the Basics

One of the many treasures in life is learning new skills and discovering new hobbies. Whether it’s teaching yourself to play the trumpet or learning how to make a roast chicken, we all have to start at square one.

Even the most famous chefs in the world started at zero and worked their way up. So, if that’s where you are, brush off that fear—you can do this!

Here are a few elementary skills to help get you started.

• Understanding how to select proper tools
• How to make scrambled eggs
• How to make a roux
• Learning the difference between a spice and an herb

As far as learning the basics go, it’s a golden age. Anything you can think to look up, you can, which leads us to our next point.

Cookbooks, Blogs, and YouTube. Oh My!

Learn your way around the kitchen by thinking about which foods you love most and learn to make them. You can find recipes in cookbooks, or on blogs, food websites, or YouTube.

If you haven’t already, create a Pinterest account and look up some of your favorite meals. There are thousands of bloggers who share excellent recipes and teach cooking skills. Many of them even include helpful tutorial images or videos so you can follow along with each step.

Whenever you come across an unfamiliar ingredient or cooking term, just look it up on Google. You can also find recipes on Google, and you’ll notice a star rating under each one. This tells you which recipes are the top-rated.

YouTube is another fantastic resource. You’ll find multiple tutorial videos to learn new skills. Once you become more experienced and familiar with the terms, you’ll love picking up a cookbook and browsing for inspiration.

Create an Inviting Environment

Before you try out a new cooking skill or recipe, make sure your counters are clear and uncluttered. If you have an inviting environment to work in, you’ll be calmer. An orderly atmosphere will make the whole process much easier.

Trying out a new skill is even more challenging if you have papers and junk scattered all over your cooking area.

Also, if it helps, play a little music in the background to get into the groove.

Link Cooking with Topics You Love

Eating is one of the few basic needs in life. For that reason, it’s connected to everything else.

If you love art, well, guess what? Cooking is an art! From choosing the ingredients to plating your food, it’s incredibly aesthetically pleasing. Find ways to create a gorgeous-looking plate before enjoying your masterpiece.

Enjoy science? Learn about the chemical reactions that occur when certain ingredients heat up, cool down, or are rewarmed. Study up on the physical, biological, and chemical makeup of food—you’ll be amazed!

For the travel and history gurus out there, you’ll be astonished at some of the things you learn about the unique, delicious foods people eat around the world.

Is staying healthy and fit your thing? If so, you probably already understand the importance of nourishing your body with wholesome foods. Now, you just have to learn how to make them.

No matter what your interests are, there’s a way to tie them to food.

Find the Value

Finding the value in a hobby or skill genuinely helps people enjoy what they’re doing. Do you want to learn to cook to save money and spend less at restaurants? Or, are you trying to lose some weight? Cooking at home is a surefire way to save some cash and count those calories.

Don’t start cooking because someone else told you to. Cook because you want to—otherwise, you might not find that sense of purpose. The more comfortable you become in the kitchen, the more you’ll impress yourself and really start to enjoy it.

Some Final Words of Wisdom

Keep it simple. There’s no reason to attempt mastering the art of French cooking on day one. Start with something simple, like learning to boil pasta al dente.

Always read a recipe from beginning to end before you even start gathering your ingredients. Also, make sure you give yourself plenty of time whenever you’re cooking a new recipe. Feeling rushed in the kitchen is no fun!

Finally, don’t be afraid to experiment, as that’s what it’s all about: exploring and creating new, delicious things.