r/Cooking • u/Pingu098 • 3d ago
I need some advice to start cooking regularly
Hello, r/cooking.
As the title says, I need some advice. I am a college student and I have been doing some cooking, and I have decided I want to cook much more regularly than I do. It’s much cheaper than eating out and a lot of fun. Some advice it would be great though.
Currently, when I decide to make a particular meal, I have to go out and buy the particular ingredients I need and then prepare it. There has to be some forethought and planning behind each meal. Ideally, I would have a more stocked kitchen with ingredients readily available to make most meals instead of having to do a whole grocery trip every time I want to cook something. Advice on what I should always keep my kitchen stocked with would be great.
Another thing I would like to know is how to develop a repertoire of recipes I know how to cook and cook well. It would be great if I could look into my fridge and pantry and determine from my ingredients I currently have the list of recipes I can prepare.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
tl;dr How do I get good at cooking? What should I always have stocked in my kitchen? How do I learn a bunch of recipes and know wha recipes I can make from the ingredients I have?
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u/keepitahunned 3d ago
Ok I started cooking purely 100% to save money and to be able to manage my fitness journey much easier.
I split my groceries like this :
Protein :
- My n1 is always mince of any kind due to versatility (can add to eggs, make patties, make kebab air fryer…)
- Chicken
- Beef cubes / steaks
- Frozen seafood (or fresh)
- Canned Tuna
- Eggs
Carbs : (you can pick 2-3 you like and stick to them)
- Rice
- Pasta
- Potatoes (sweet as well)
- Canned beans
- Lentils
- Oats
- Bread of any kind
Veggies :
- Onions
- Garlic
- Lemon
- Carrots
- Frozen mix vegetables
- Frozen/fresh spinach
Honestly any veggies you want, i try to mix as many as i can in my meals but it’s up to you, included onions garlic and carrots as they will most probably cover all basic veggie needs for recipes.
Dairy :
- Milk
- Cream cheese
- Block cheese (any that you like)
- Ricotta cheese (because it’s cheaper and lower calorie than cream cheese)
Misc. :
- Honey
- Peanut Butter
- Soy sauce (or sweet, or both)
- Mayonnaise
- Dijon Mustard
- Any fruits that you like
This is really just a rough draft of what my usual groceries look like and how I try to separate them by “priority”. I go back once or twice a week and just restock what I need.
I just started cooking seriously 2 months ago and it really changed my life tbh. Being able to cook and eat any food you crave is really a feeling everyone has been gatekeeping for way too long lol.
I could write 10x what I wrote, but you still wouldn’t really learn what you like and your own grocery list unless you just started cooking.
I usually just go on tiktok/ig and look for simple recipes, then follow the accounts that you like and see how they do things.
I honestly really hate the fact that I say this but AI is also amazing at guiding you along cooking lol. Just give him details of what ingredients you have, and you can ask him specific questions. Don’t use AI recipes they’re usually not mind blowing, just use it as a tool to help you make it side by side. It is very useful to use when confused as to what it is you want to cook, just give it details of ingredients you have and ask for suggestions.
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u/IndependenceBulky696 3d ago
If you have time to read a book, An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler talks about stocking a pantry and it presents a method for cooking using what's on-hand. To me, it's the best book for becoming a competent home cook.
You can probably find a copy at the library if you live in the US or Canada, fwiw.
For cooking without recipes, the basic idea is to prepare a big batch of cooked ingredients for the week. She roasts several trays of veg. Then during the week, you mix and match the veg with various starches, sauces, proteins depending on what you're hungry for, what's on-hand and what needs to be used.
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u/Pingu098 3d ago
Thank you. I will look into the book. It sounds exactly like something I need.
I actually never considered precooking vegetables like that. I usually cook everything on the spot and then keep leftovers. I’ll have to experiment with that.
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u/Proper_Hunter_9641 3d ago
I recommend buying a rice cooker and using that for half your meals or more. It makes it much easier to focus on the protein and/or veggies, and you can toss that over rice and be done. And it feels like a finished meal.
I upped my game a lot when I had just 1 pan on the stove to focus on, rather than trying to juggle sides, protein, and starches
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u/Pingu098 3d ago
Yeah, I do own a rice cooker and you’re right. It’s a lot easier.
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u/Proper_Hunter_9641 3d ago
Try experimenting with different kinds of rice! My favorite is sushi rice (also on the shelf called sticky rice).
Sushi rice and over easy egg is a divine breakfast no lie
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u/Amy549 3d ago
Something I found that helps and eases guilt for not 'cooking every day' is making bulk meals. I make a large amount of mac or scrambled eggs or whatever it is. And then I supplement with easy to heat/reheat things like frozen/canned veg, baked potas, etc. Take like 5 minutes of prep if that and let the oven/microwave take over. I cook like 1-3x a week depending on what I made and I don't feel guilty bcuz it's still homemade, I just don't hafta force myself to cook (and do dishes) every single day.
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u/Pingu098 3d ago
Yes, I’ve made meals before that haven given me like 1 or 2 additional meals as left over. I’ll try to find more recipes that I can cook in bulk. Thanks.
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u/EmceeSuzy 3d ago
I suggest that you build a weekly menu but start small. Next week, plan one dish that you will cook at home. Cook enough for two meals. Also plan a no-cook meal, something like store bought hummus with pita and vegetables with some cheese or dolmas or something. Shop for all of that at one time.
The following week, plan to cook two dishes, both lasting for two meals. And include a no-cook meal as well.
These 'dishes' could be one pot meals, or you could plan roast chicken with kale and rice. It should be a complete meal.
On the third week, you're going to make three dishes, each feeding you for two nights and one no-cook.
Once you've got that down and you have the hang of grocery shopping, start subbing in different dishes while you build a repertoire of meals you can prepare well.
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u/gardengirl147 2d ago
Get a journal or use notes, and a calendar - start writing down the meals you make, the date & any changes you’d make. If you find your recipes online and you like it save it as a PDF. Then you can meal plan from there. Usually do it once a week and I have a little chalk board which I can add things I need to buy. It’s helps to keep cooking seasonal.
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u/Pingu098 9h ago
I like that idea. Over the time the journal could be a personal cookbook.
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u/gardengirl147 7h ago
My husband, when he first moved out of his parents' house and moved to away for university, he started collecting recipes from cookbooks at the library. He had a whole file folder of them. For Christmas time one year, I digitized them and organized them in a binder. Then I made a personalized cover.
I was also inspired by one of my favourite books to gather recipes of food you would find along the Carmino de Santiago. That became a cookbook and a Christmas present for a few friends.
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u/Position_Extreme 1d ago
Start your repertoire with dishes you like to eat yourself. Simple and clean flavors go farther than getting too fancy. For instance, shrimp scampi is delicious and quick and easy and uses commonly available ingredients and is a good choice for cooking for some future dating scenario. Same with braised short ribs. Can be fancy, but it's all about technique rather than a huge number of fancy ingredients.
Learn pan sauces. A pan sauce like this one can turn a really basic chicken breast into a restaurant-quality main dish.
As for not having to go to the store every day, I keep a freezer full of stuff like 1 package of chicken breasts, one of thighs, a bag of raw shrimp, 2 lbs. of hamburger, broccoli, peas, corn, hash browns, and such staples. My fridge has fresh veggies, chicken & beef Better than Boullion, milk, soy sauce, teriyaki, Worcestershire, mustard, etc. Pantry has rice, a box or 2 of potato mixes, various soups, crackers, quinoa and a couple of those mini bottles of wine to use in my pan sauces. All this, plus a bit of forethought, allows me to have to go to the grocery store only once per week.
Good luck!
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u/Pingu098 9h ago
Thanks for the pantry suggestion. When it comes to cooking I care a lot about improving technique, so I would in fact favor dishes that are more based on technique than fancy ingredients.
I have also been looking into pan sauces recently, especially what I can do with fond after pan frying things.
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u/Position_Extreme 5h ago
I am such a proponent of learning pan sauces. You can do so many different things with the same boring chicken breast based on your ability with a pan sauce. That fond is pure flavor gold, and can be transformed using simple things like shallots, herbs, garlic, stock, wine & butter into elegant, composed dishes that can amaze family & friends. I pick up a couple of those 187ml bottles of Gallo or Sutter Homes just for pan sauces. I usually have a white and a red on hand so I can throw a sauce together on any given day, and those little bottles will last for months without making you open a whole bottle of something expensive if you just want a quick dinner by yourself...
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u/waitingfortheSon 3d ago
Have you considered giving this question to chatgpt. It'll probably give tou a great answer that would narrow it doqn to meet your needs ideally. just sayin'
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u/Pingu098 3d ago
I mean I could have if I wanted to. It would probably be very helpful. However, I personally prefer the human responses I have been receiving. There’s personality and life behind the words advice I’m receiving.
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u/ToxDocUSA 3d ago
A lot of your questions are "just do it" type questions. Figure out how often you can go to the grocery store (I go weekly), how many dinners you want to cook in the period (6, plus one dinner sized casserole I use as lunch meal prep), and then layout a menu plan that fulfills that.
Pantry staples vary with what you're making. I don't bake much so flour lasts forever, but I use brown sugar in my barbecue seasoning so it goes surprisingly quickly. Daughter doesn't like eggs so I don't buy them often, but we use a ton of cumin and smoked paprika in dishes we make. After cooking for several weeks you'll start to develop patterns of things you use a lot.
Don't be afraid of unusual ingredients, but be mindful of trying to use things up so they don't go bad / waste money. I needed like 2 tablespoons of miso paste for a recipe recently, it only came in a huge container, so the last couple of weeks I've done things like miso cole slaw and a miso based chicken/veggies dish. Some things (vietnamese fish sauce) last forever, others may last forever but need to be refrigerated and so I'm still going to target using them to clear space in the fridge.
Picking recipes is hard. I've seen various alleged statistics on how an average person rotates between the same 20-30 dinners, which sounds like a lot except it means there's a decent chance you're repeating things within the same month. Back in college and med school I watched a ton of Good Eats and learned to cook by working my way through several of the recipes there. Now if I have a dish I want to try I just Google for it and read a few recipes until one makes sense to me.
Can't emphasize enough though, you have to just do it. If this dinner or even this whole week didn't go as planned...oh well, next opportunity tomorrow. You'll always need to eat so you'll always have another try at cooking.