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Hate cooking? 3 mindsets to make it less of a chore

By Andee Tagle

Published January 18, 2025 at 4:00 AM CST

Expand your idea of what it means to cook, says Margaret Eby, author of You Gotta Eat: Real-Life Strategies for Feeding Yourself When Cooking Feels Impossible. That includes assembling a charcuterie board and dressing up foods like cottage cheese or instant ramen with simple, nutritious toppings. — Expand your idea of what it means to cook, says Margaret Eby, author of *You Gotta Eat: Real-Life Strategies for Feeding Yourself When Cooking Feels Impossible*. That includes assembling a charcuterie board and dressing up foods like cottage cheese or instant ramen with simple, nutritious toppings.

I've never enjoyed being in the kitchen. I hate the heat of the stove. I always seem to mess up recipes. And on the rare occasions I make a meal, it's often sadly seasoned and overcooked.

If you're like me and just not that into cooking, there's a way to make it less of a chore. Change the way you think of what it means to prepare food, says Margaret Eby, a food writer and the author of You Gotta Eat: Real Life Strategies for Feeding Yourself When Cooking Feels Impossible.

Your time in the kitchen doesn't have to be taxing, time consuming or even involve heat to count as cooking, she says. "Your habits and the way that you feed yourself aren't less valid because they aren't professional kitchen habits."

Here are three mindsets to help you gain confidence in the kitchen.

Mindset No. 1: Assembly counts as cooking

If you can make a sandwich, use a can opener or throw a few ingredients in a slow cooker, go on and give yourself a pat on the back. You're cooking!

Assembled meals you can try at home:

🫘 Bean salad: For a Greek-inspired salad, toss together chickpeas, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and tzatziki. For an Italian-inspired salad, toss together cannellini beans, pesto and parmesan, says Eby.

Need ideas for a great bean salad? Screenshot this guide from Eby's book You Gotta Eat . — Need ideas for a great bean salad? Screenshot this guide from Eby's book *You Gotta Eat* .

🥪 "Anything salad sandwich": Combine canned meat, leftover proteins like rotisserie chicken, hard-boiled eggs or even deli meat with mayonnaise, salt and pepper and a little mustard for an "easy, excellent sandwich," writes Eby in her book You Gotta Eat.

🍲 Dump recipe: Use slow cookers and pressure cookers to your advantage. Grab your ingredients, throw it into a pot and press the on button. The Kitchn has ideas for 5-ingredient dump dinners.

Mindset No. 2: Expand your idea of dinner

When it comes to constructing a cheese or charcuterie board, there are no rules, says Eby. But if that's overwhelming to you, here are some "gentle principles" to follow: Add something salty, like nuts, olives or aged cheddar; something to scoop with, like pita chips or crackers; something to spread or dip, like soft cheese or hummus; and something sweet, like jam or grapes.

If dinner is a constant source of stress or disappointment, it might be time to think outside the box, says Eby. "Anything that liberates you to treat your dinner as the light snacks you'd eat at a party, that's a good day."

Non-traditional dinner ideas:

🫕 "The Super Bowl": This is what Eby and her husband call it when they eat dip for dinner. Put together a plate of whatever you have in your fridge, like carrot sticks, pita chips, lettuce cups or tater tots, and serve with any dip: baba ganoush, chicken salad, hummus or sour cream and onion dip.

🧀 A gorgeous charcuterie board: Arrange cheese and cured meats on a platter. Balance it out with cornichons or olives; crackers, breadsticks or baguette slices; a spread like butter, cream cheese or hummus; and something sweet like grapes, apple slices or figs, Eby says.

🍶 Savory yogurt: Eby suggests topping plain Greek yogurt with fried eggs, avocado, salmon, crispy chickpeas or marinated cherry tomatoes. This works with cottage cheese too.

Mindset No. 3 Recipes aren't the boss of you

There are certain dishes that don't require you to closely follow a recipe. When it comes to fried rice, for example,"You can use a lot of sauce or just a little, incorporate a ton of vegetables or just a sprinkling, use oil or butter. Whatever you prefer is the correct way to make it," writes Eby in her book.

Recipes are a lot more forgiving than people think, says Eby. Here are a few pointers to keep in mind when using recipes.

👀 Read the recipe first. Get the whole picture of what you need up front, says Eby. That includes how long it will take to prep ingredients and what kind of kitchen equipment you'll need.

Maybe the dish requires you to soak the noodles for three hours before cooking, or use an appliance you don't own, like a food processor. These details can help you decide whether to make the meal.

🥒 You don't need to have all the ingredients. "If you have two onions and it calls for three onions, it's just gonna taste a little less like onion than you might anticipate from the original recipe," says Eby.

If you're feeling unsure about whether or not to try a recipe without certain ingredients, check the comments section of online recipes. Often, other people will have shared recipe substitutions that worked for them.

⚖️ It's OK to eyeball your measurements (unless you're baking). Baking usually requires a certain degree of precision because it involves chemistry. But Eby says for a lot of casual meals like stews or casseroles, there's no need to stress about hitting the exact right line on your measuring cup.

Your turn: What do you cook when you don't feel like cooking?

Share your recipes and ideas with us. Send an email to lifekit@npr.org with the subject line "Cooking confidence" and we may feature it on NPR.org.

The digital story was edited by Malaka Gharib. The visual editor is Beck Harlan. We'd love to hear from you. Leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823, or email us at LifeKit@npr.org.

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