Former non-cooks: how did you learn to cook?

[GauntJudy]

My parents never cooked so I grew up on boil in the bag meals. I started cooking for myself around 14, but mostly made things on toast. I never really fell in love with cooking.

Now I'm a mum I'd quite like to be able to make delicious things. However I seem incapable of getting timings right and my efforts never seem as delicious as the recipes promise.

Wondering if anyone was like me and found a cookbook or account that transformed them into competent cooks?

I'd like to be able to produce good unfussy meals and I'm vegetarian but dc eat meat so will cook that too. Thanks!

I watched the netflix series of the Salt, Acid etc, it was very interesting. I think it made me be more generous with seasoning when cooking

Thanks everyone some great tips here.

I did gousto boxes and learnt a lovely quesidalla recipe, then did it to death and went off it! I think if I learn about 8 dishes then I can rotate them (in amongst boring jacket potato type teas) and not risk going off them.

Yeah that’s about the number of recipes I have in regular rotation. You’ll be fine if you can follow a gusto semi-prep. Just get stuck on and try some stuff.

BBC good food has quite a lot of “tray bake” recipes that are very easy.

Both my parents were and are excellent cooks and they both cooked alot so I never learned.

I met DH when I was 30 and immediately wanted to start cooking for him! I have always been interested in food. i first turned to Delia's website and just picked what interested me and followed the directions. The first thing I made was a pasta with a spinach cream and cherry tomato sauce. About 3 weeks later I held a dinner party where I made her Tuscan whoiite bean and sausage soup; vegetarian lasagne and tiramisu and it went down a storm.

I used her for years and bought all the books. And then branched out.

It's 21 years later and I am an excellent and instinctive cook. I know what works and I DO read cookbooks in bed!

The one dish I still have not made which I plan to do very soon is from the fore-metioned Katie Stewart's cookbook from the 70s (?) - kidneys in sherry cream sauce with rice. I have been meaning to make that for about 21 years (DH is vegetarian now but it was a favourite of his) it's on the meal plan ....

Delis smiths cookery course is excellent. The recipes on the BBC Good Food website are easily to follow and always work. A basic book is All Anout Food which is what we used to use in school. It’s still available. Everything can be cooked in an hour.

This is currently 99p on kindle. Every recipe comes with a QR code to a video. I don’t have the book (will in the next 5 minutes) but I’ve used her recipes before. She’s good.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kitchen-Sanctuary-Everyday-Family-Friendly-BESTSELLER-ebook/dp/B09TR6XDL6/ref=mp_s_a_1_28_sspa?crid=2DYBXTPJ0M9N7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.42caJKqVKGT6jJUnFroeLxQxMmj9nlMlKCpe_iPnEmoGj6nZbdbZ6KjnHjKXKFjk1dg_iwXl__wj9e5T4uqu68R8axeDm-aeLzjXYzfYoeH8fkqdPdzKp-39tUqqkVZPRqu_BSbNXuMcHJA9q2BqZ2y5jGjl09L7DRBXS1-azaU0xJMPmpMkpGTzJFjpsIpOwu7KT67rbcoLK48ABU8e8w.Xho0AUE5vMSGPXzeRJcpzS0m_hVeNVEGOvmWko_VGJw&dib_tag=se&keywords=all+about+food&qid=1745696190&sprefix=all+about+food%2Caps%2C86&sr=8-28-spons&xpid=Nq9ozRDgJJ_xO&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfbXRm&psc=1

As a completely self-taught cook, my top tip would be to understand what heat you are using and why. It took me ages to understand the importance of this. Sometimes you need to be over proper high heat (and prepared to watch to ensure the food doesn't burn), and sometimes you need very, very gentle heat. With gas in particular it can be really handy to have a heat diffuser/spreader which goes between the pan and the ring so that the heat is well spread over the base of the pan - otherwise you can get really hot bits even with the smallest flame.

Don't be afraid to use a bit more salt when cooking. Yes, we should all eat less salt, but if you're cooking something from scratch it's already got way less salt than if you'd bought the ready meal version.

Most recipes with spices don't have enough, especially Delia's - she is mostly wonderful but her "spicy" recipes are pants. Learn to do spices by eye, and don't be afraid to add a bit more. As you get more confidence you will find that the only time you need to weigh ingredients, especially for your standard recipes, is when baking.

Shallots are brilliant. They add depth to any recipe that has onions or garlic in it, and they keep for months in a dark cupboard.

A few drops (but only a few drops) of Worcestershire sauce improves almost any savoury dish. And any casserole is improved immensely with half a teaspoon of Marmite. Tomato paste is not about the tomato flavour, it's about the umami, like the other two, so a squeeze of that can't hurt either. (Just maybe add a pinch of sugar since it can be a bit acidic.)

Eggs are hard to cook with because you often can't recover from mistakes. Always have a plan B when cooking with eggs. If I'm making fried eggs and the yolk cracks, I whizz it with a wooden spoon to make a scrambled omelette.

For family cooking I love ‘what mummy makes’ for easy recipes that work for everyone. In terms of learning though, I was similar to you in that I wasn’t taught to cook growing up. I would say start with simple recipes from people on intstagram etc. I’m a much better cook now and I still instantly scroll past a recipe as soon as it starts to sound too faffy or complicated! If it sounds like too much work it probably will be. You could always do a post on here asking for people’s go to easy recipes to get you started with inspiration.

ExH had many faults but he knew how to cook. So some of that was passed to me.

Delia Smith. I refer to her when I'm stuck.

Jamie Oliver's older books are very useful for basics.

Good Food website.

YouTube.

I'm not cordon bleu but I can follow a recipe and not burn the food, plus I can turn it out ok, and my daughter hasn't starved, so I must doing something right.

My DM always cooks from scratch and still refers to cookbooks including her trusty Delia Smith

I bought the same Delia Smith years ago which I use

I didn’t really learn to cook from her though apart from my spaghetti Bol because she hates having anyone else in the kitchen even now unless it’s prepping before hand then it’s ok

we cook very different things on the whole

I love a stir fry or cassoulet

I make an excellent roast and spaghetti Bol and made a lasagne earlier today.

a roast chicken is super easy you just bung it all in the oven then take it out once it’s done. It doesn’t have to be complicated at all.

I started from scratch and kept it simple
a the recipes and books were too overwhelming.

buy ready chopped frozen onion to keep in the freezer
minced garlic

have a large pan with a lid

fry both together

add meat in ( tofu /whatever protein)

then vegetables

follow Emily English on instagram for short reels.
she makes it v simple.
its also handed my grocery bill

Yes I still have the brown DS book plus the Good Housekeeping recipe book

i have my own handwritten book as well to refer to.

This is the book I have.

Me too, and I have Nigella's How to Eat.

I grew up with very simple but excellent food - grilled fish or meat with veg and a starch basically. I knew these basics but wanted more adventurous meals once I had kids. From the Gousto boxes I learned a few really good recipes that might fit your bill - their spaghetti bol is great, lentil or chicken curry, Thai curries, homemade chicken goujons, meatballs, spaghetti carbonara etc all great for kids. I think you could easily find 8 recipes in addition to the one you already do.

Then you can delve a bit more into the detail of it as and when.And adapt the recipes too - I never make soffrito or chop harlic/ginger for instance, just have a few bags of waitrose frozen; also their Mediterranean roasted veg in the freezer - chuck it into anything.