Cooking is one of those things you either love or you hate. And unfortunately, for many of us, it’s something we downright despise. Unfortunately, unless you are rich, eating out every night or hiring a private chef may not be financially realistic.
One day you can look forward to living in a retirement home where your meals are prepared for you, however, until then, cooking is a part of adulthood. Despite how much you may loathe having to come up with recipes and carry them out on a daily basis, the good news is that there are ways to make cooking less miserable.
Here are some of the best cooking tips for people who hate cooking but love eating.
Start Small
It’s not surprising that you would hate cooking if you go in over your head. Instead of trying to tackle extremely difficult recipes you’ve never tried before, why not start small? Find simple recipes that have a few ingredients and have minimal preparation.
Think salads or stir-fries. The less fuss required for carrying out a recipe, the less you’ll stress when it’s time to prepare them. As you continue to become more familiar with these simple recipes, the more comfortable you’ll feel graduating to more difficult ones.
Get Your Family Involved
If you have a family to cook for, then who’s to say that you’re the one that has to do all the cooking? Get other members of your family to get involved with meal prep to take off some of the pressure.
It’s never too soon to start teaching your kids to cook. Even though it may seem irritating having a toddler in the kitchen when you’re cooking, allowing them to watch and participate with age-appropriate tasks can pay off in the long run. One day maybe they’ll be the ones doing all of the cooking!
Get an Instant Pot
Instant pots are convenient, fast, cheap, and created for people just like you— people who hate cooking! Create amazing recipes with a few ingredients and “set it and forget it” on an instant pot.
It’s as simple as throwing some ingredients together before you go to work, and when you come home at night you’ll have a fresh hot meal waiting for you. Some instant pots come with recipes built directly into the programmer, while others offer plenty of free recipe ideas on their website.
One-pot meals can be a total game changer if part of the reason you hate cooking is the time it takes to create meals. Not to mention, you only have one pot to clean rather than multiple ones.
Prep Your Meals Ahead of Time
If your biggest qualm with cooking is the fact that you have to do it every day, then consider only doing it once a week. Take a few hours a day once a week and prepare all of your food for the next few meals. From pre-cutting your vegetables, to pre-cooking your meat and freezing it, preparing your meals ahead of time can take a lot of the headache out of cooking.
Not to mention, you may find you lose weight once you embrace a meal-prepping lifestyle. Since you have fresh meals ready to go in the fridge, you’re less likely to reach for unhealthy snack foods when you’re hungry.
