As a registered dietitian, I’ve worked with so many clients over my years in practice who feel intimidated by learning how to cook. Many of my adult clients may feel like they “should” have learned to cook already or that learning to cook “should” be easier than it is. Many of my clients want to increase their confidence around cooking and being in the kitchen, but don’t know where to start.
Although there are many ways to go about beginning your cooking journey, it may feel entirely overwhelming thinking about where to start. You’re certainly not alone in that feeling! Read on for suggestions for how to begin your cooking journey.
Benefits of Learning How to Cook
If you’re reading this article, I imagine you’re already considering some potential benefits of learning how to cook. Some of the top benefits of learning how to cook include:
- Making nourishing yourself easier by being able to prepare meals for yourself and not having to rely on takeout or convenience foods for all meals
- Being able to easily customize meals to accommodate food preferences, food allergies, or health conditions
- Saving money by not ordering takeout or going out to eat
What Gets in the Way of Learning How to Cook?
There are so many barriers people have to being able to learn how to cook. As a dietitian specializing in eating disorder care, often my clients have a complicated relationship with food and cooking.
Some challenges people face when thinking about cooking include:
- Lack of access to a variety of foods needed for cooking full meals
- Lack of a kitchen space for cooking
- Lack of previous positive cooking experiences
- Not seeing the point of cooking for one person
- Being on a strict diet
- Fears around trying new foods
- Fear of being around too much food at one time
- Negative associations in the kitchen
- Fears around “messing up”
- Difficulty with executive functioning required for cooking (grocery shopping, timing, reading a recipe, cleaning)
Before even starting to learn how to cook, it may be beneficial to check in with some of the reasons why it feels hard for you to cook as these will likely continue to show up during your cooking journey. If you find there are many challenges coming up for you, it may help to work with an eating disorder dietitian or therapist. These are concerns I work with in my private practice all the time.
Take Stock of Your Cooking Space
Okay, so we’re finally ready to think about starting to cook! Before you start diving into a recipe right away, it will be helpful to take a brief assessment of what your cooking space looks like. What kitchen appliances do you have? This includes things like an oven, a stovetop, a stand mixer, or an air fryer. What about cooking utensils and bowls? Do you have measuring cups, large mixing bowls, a spatula?
Knowing what you have available to you in your kitchen helps you choose recipes that you can actually make. It’s a very frustrating experience to pick out a recipe and get all the ingredients only to realize you can’t actually make it!
How to Choose Your Recipes
As you’re just beginning the cooking journey, it helps to start slow. Depending on how much comfort you feel being in the kitchen, it may even help to start cooking things that don’t need a recipe. This could include cooking hot cereal on the stove, hard boiling an egg on the stove, roasting potatoes in the oven, or sautéing vegetables in a pan.
Once you feel ready to use a recipe, you may prefer to start with a familiar meal. This will help you know what to expect around taste, consistency, and appearance. Find a recipe in a cook book or online, but before you do your grocery shopping, make sure to read the recipe in its entirety to ensure you have all the equipment and feel comfortable with the directions.
Then, go ahead and build your grocery list. In the beginning, try to eliminate substitutions in a recipe. Also, try not to get discouraged if you need to pick up numerous spices, oils, or other pantry ingredients that a recipe calls for. You’ll keep using them throughout your cooking journey so the cost will be spread out throughout many meals.
Try Not To Cook Alone
Many people find cooking more enjoyable and feel less like a chore when they have a buddy cooking along with them either in person or virtually, or a favorite TV show, podcast, or music to keep them company. This helps build a positive experience around cooking, especially as you’re just beginning! Even better if you are lucky enough to cook alongside someone who has more cooking experience than you and can help you learn.
Although it may not always be possible, many people find it helpful to cook meals when it’s not just for themself. This often encourages people to have more motivation for finding tasty recipes and not settling for “good enough” since they know others will want to enjoy the meal as well.
Above All, Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff
There’s a chance the first thing you cook may not come out perfectly and that’s okay! In fact, you will likely have many “duds” when cooking, but that’s all part of cooking. Sometimes a recipe just isn’t to your liking even if you follow it perfectly. And you’ll probably burn something at least once.
The most important part of learning how to cook is not giving up! You can build up your cooking skills as you follow more recipes and get more and more comfortable with them.
Beyond trial and error, you may find it beneficial to take a cooking class, watch YouTube cooking videos, or follow cooking accounts on other social media platforms. As an eating disorder registered dietitian, I also have a cooking course for beginners that helps teach you all the cooking foundational skills. By using multiple methods when learning how to cook, you will be able to find out what feels helpful and what doesn’t.
However you begin your cooking journey, just remember that it is a skill just like any other that takes time to develop.
Are you wanting to learn how to cook but still unsure where to start or have challenges getting in the way? As an experienced eating disorder registered dietitian nutritionist Christina can work with you to achieve your cooking or health goals. Contact us to learn more about 1:1 nutrition therapy sessions! Serving clients virtually in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.