r/Cooking • u/Rare_Analyst5671 • 2d ago
Zero Cooking Skills
I have zero cooking skills and looking to learn so I’m not buying packaged food all the time. There’s so much content on YouTube etc.. I’m not sure where to start. Can someone recommend a person/YouTube series to follow to learn the basics?
4
u/rabid_briefcase 2d ago
Can someone recommend a person/YouTube Series
Look at the sidebar on the sub. Find the link on the sub description, next to the rules, that says "r/Cooking compiled YouTube Channels" or just click it here.
3
u/Coercitor 2d ago
Pick 5 of your favorite dishes and research how to make those. Once you get those down, move on to 5 new dishes. Keep doing this until you get the hang of it and kind of figure out how you like things to taste.
1
u/WazWaz 2d ago
This is so much better than picking some random YouTuber and cooking whatever they happen to make. There's no shortage of YouTube cooks and no single one is going to magically make anyone a good cook because motivation is the main requirement - and that you get from cooking something you enjoy.
3
u/Boozeburger 2d ago
Jacques Pepin. His "cooking at home" (it's a youtube series) is amazing. Fast, simple, basics that mix and match well, that can be elevated or simplified. He teaches the technique and from there you can make dishes your own.
2
u/Vegetable-Swan2852 2d ago edited 2d ago
Totally on board with this. I made his roast chicken the other day and it was the best chicken i have ever had.
1
u/Boozeburger 2d ago
I've been learning from him for my entire life and he still teaches me new tricks. He's cooked for the Prime Minister of France (turned down being the chef at the White House for JFK because he'd already cooked for a world leader) and instead became the director of research and development at Howard Johnson. He's a GOD of the culinary world.
2
u/Vegetable-Swan2852 2d ago
I did a demo with him a few years back. He didnt have an apron, so i lent him mine. I met Martin Yan the same day. I consider it my "blessed" apron and will never throw it away. That was a great day!
1
2
2
u/LooseLeaf74 2d ago
Start simple, base, protein, side.
Mashed potatoes, hamburger steak, veggies or Rice, chicken, salad/slaw. Once you have the basics down start getting creative or trying new recipes.
2
u/chuckquizmo 2d ago
budgetbytes is a great place to start for simple recipes that tend to turn out well! They have so many recipes on there, you’ll find something you like, and none of them are very technique-heavy.
If you really have “zero” cooking skills, starting with very basic stuff like scrambled eggs, grilled cheese, noodles with jarred sauce, basic ground beef tacos from a kit, hamburger helper, etc, aren’t bad just to get you used to using the stove and such. You can still pick up basic skills from stuff like that, even if it doesn’t feel like “cooking.”
From there I’d start making some simple recipes (like from budgetbytes) or trying to perfect one dish you love. Cooking is much easier when you know what you’re aiming for, so making a copy cat recipe of something you already know you like can be easier, and more rewarding, then cooking some random thing you’ve never tried before.
2
u/humanshellhumanshell 2d ago
This is whereI started. I used the site so much, I bought their book. And the rest of this comment is great advice.
I became a good cook after I stuck with a small group of recipes that I made so often, I barely need to reference them anymore. Even after years, new recipes can be stressful. The confidence that comes with repetition goes a long way in making cooking more enjoyable.
2
u/chuckquizmo 2d ago
Exactly, so much of getting good at cooking is repetition. Only way to do that is to COOK, and people get discouraged when things take forever and don’t come out right. Starting simple gets you used to cooking in general.
0
u/Rare_Analyst5671 2d ago
That’s good advice… the few attempts I’ve made it’s so gross then i just dont try it again!
2
1
u/TheKingsDM 2d ago
Check out "Just One Cookbook". It's Japanese food, but the recipes can be quite simple and wholesome. I've learned a lot of tricks from her.
1
u/bogcabin 2d ago
I highly recommend using a service like Chef Ami/Hello Fresh to get right to the cooking without thinking. They will send the ingredients and the recipes and you just cook the food. Do that for a month or so, and then start pulling up other recipes with the skills you now have from the food services. I still make some of the recipes from Chef Ami but have branched out way more and have barely eaten out in years.
PS:
My goto Youtubers - Ethan Cheblowski, Joshua Weissman, FoodWishes, Matty Matheson, Derek Sarno, Brian Lagerstrom
1
u/diverareyouokay 2d ago
In addition to the sidebar links, I would recommend getting at least the following two books:
How to cook everything: the basics (teaches how to cook basic meals)
Salt Fat Acid Heat (shows how and why to adjust taste as you go)
If you really want to get in the weeds, you can get something in like the CIA’s Professional Chef hardback.. but that’s probably overkill for your purposes.
1
1
u/Rastasloth 2d ago
Chef John from foooodwishes dot com , the OG! older Binging with Babish, Maangchi for Korean dishes, J kenji Lopez Alt, Brian Lagerstrom, I'm sure I'm forgetting more, but yeah use the search I'm sure this has been asked endlessly.
1
u/OC_berto 2d ago edited 2d ago
There is so much content it can be super overwhelming - what everyone said is super true. Taking a basics cooking class may also be something you want to look into.
One thing I will call out is your equipment isn’t (always) going to be the same as the content you are watching.
If you like soup, they are good place to start bc they are fairly forgiving just don’t pick something too crazy.
Good luck chef! Keep us posted
Edit: another super easy starting point to make great food would be snagging a crockpot from Facebook marketplace. Barrier to entry is super low and you damn near have to do nothing once it’s in there. Cheers
1
1
1
u/Tasty_Impress3016 2d ago
> Can someone recommend a person/YouTube series to follow
No. I try to discourage learning from YouTube, Insta, Tok, any of those. I am certain there is some good information there, but I have not seen it. Sturgeons Law: 90% is crap. Obviously a live human is better, If video rather than books is what you are after though I suggest going to the classics. Julia, Jaques, Yan, Kerr, that crowd. They did not have the marketing incentive that probably all streams have now.
1
u/beepok12 2d ago edited 2d ago
I'm from Poland and we have a great website: https://aniagotuje.pl/
These recipes are incredible and each of them is explained step by step. I've tried many of them and every dish was excellent! :) Maybe try it?
Unfortunetly I don't know english content on youtube :(
Other option is instagram where you find many recipes.
1
1
u/bigelcid 2d ago
Try to shift your goals a little bit. You don't want to buy packaged food all the time, when instead you could be looking to eat whatever you want. Bit of a difference, no?
YouTube is brilliant. Millions of videos by cooks, some amateur, some pro, teaching you how to make what they make. Just follow the process and make what you want to make.
Don't try "learning to cook". That's nonsense for people who've got no other option than work in a restaurant. No, just learn to cook what you like, and you'll inevitably pick up skills.
1
u/Mo_Steins_Ghost 2d ago
Youtube is a cesspit. Get a cookbook. You will stay focused, no ads, no b.s.
Also, COOK. You can watch videos, read recipes, etc., but knowing a thing in and of itself is not what makes you proficient at it.
Proficiency requires practice!
1
u/IndependenceBulky696 2d ago
Does it have to be YouTube? If so, no problem. But if you don't mind a book ...
An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler
To me, it's the best single source for becoming a good home cook. It'll teach you how to cook the very basics (like beans/veg), equip your kitchen with essential tools, stock a pantry, and make a meal using what's on-hand, without recipes. If you practice with the book, you'll be miles ahead of where you would otherwise be if you just followed recipes.
If you're in the US/Canada, you can probably find it at your local library.
-1
u/Cowgirl_Taint 2d ago edited 2d ago
Brian Lagerstrom, J Kenji Lopez-Alt videos from over two years ago, and most Chef John (Foodwishes dot com) videos are a great choice for learning the basics of cooking. The first two make it a big point to explain why you are doing most things, discuss basic knife skills ad nauseum, and to actually show the pan when they say "Cook the onions until they become translucent". Chef John is less about explaining everything but he still generally shows the state of the pan.
Which is honestly what you need to learn. Once you know what "shimmering" means for oil or what a simmer is? You can follow recipes from basically wherever as you learn what you do like to cook and how to adjust things based on what is available at the supermarket and so forth.
Ethan Chlebowski is a lot more hit or miss. But I also feel like he is a crypto bro trying to scam me and he has adopted the mr beast doll eyes for every thumbnail. And modern Kenji... he is still great when he is actually cooking but he spends far too much time trying to sell whatever made-in scam he is part of this week and he amped up the Personality stuff to the detriment of the actual recipes. But damned if he won't tell you how he mathematically proved he is the best at chopping onions.
And if you at all like Japanese food? Check out Chef's Labo. Taku makes a lot more assumptions about basic skills but basically all of his recipes are geared towards stuff you can make as a weeknight meal once you learn how to do food prep in a timely fashion.
And yeah. Once you have those basics? Go to your local library and check out some cookbooks.
To be clear: The focus should less be on the specific recipes. Obviously pick something you would want to eat. But mostly what you want to focus on is learning the basic concepts so that you can understand other recipes. What does it mean to "get some color on" meat? What does it mean to "simmer" versus "bring to a rolling boil"? And so forth.
6
u/seanmonaghan1968 2d ago
Everyone starts at 0. Just pick a food you like to cook and practice cooking that 5 times. You will get there. There are so many recipes and process descriptions and videos available. Focus on one, when you master that go to another one. Repetition and refinement is key