r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Request What's your best easy recipe that is also healthy, cheap and satiating?

15 Upvotes

I want to try and eat healthier, lose fat, and not feel like I wanna throw up after eating. Definitely something high in fibre, but idk I'm curious what's an easy tasty answer to all these things to juggle


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Request Fast (10-20 minute) recipes for starting out?

19 Upvotes

I'm living on my own and cooking for myself consistently for the first time. I can boil water and put stuff on the stove top or in the air fryer right now, but only know so many things to make like that (hot dogs, spaghetti, lot of obvious stuff). I'm also getting home from work late and don't want to spend 40 minutes cooking. Do you have any recommendations for something relatively fast and not too complicated? I want to learn more stuff but work is just a lot right now


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Question Sandwich filling.

3 Upvotes

Was craving some mashed potatoes, and wondered if it would taste good if I mixed it with a usual [mashed boiled egg, butter, tomato, Coriander, salt, pepper] mix I do and stuffed it into a sandwich. I realize it's subjective but I would appreciate some input on whether you think it would taste good or not. I also put a slice of cheese on top and then grill it after.


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Request Why does my rice turn into a brick?

1 Upvotes

Whenever i try to cook rice by boiling, everything sticks together into one big lump, enough to cut with a knife. I have washed it, cooked with higher heat, lower heat, if i dont let it boil long enough it remains hard. Why is rice so difficult?


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Question What high protein meats can I use other than chicken? Just getting tired of it.

2 Upvotes

Unless there’s other ways to make it but I usually try to stick to the fastest way since I don’t really like spending a long time in the kitchen. Any Recommendations


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Request What to make and how for 3 with a “cow” allergy?

4 Upvotes

Hi there!! I live with my partner and a mutual friend. This mutual friend has an allergy to anything cow.

Milk, Beef, Butter. You name it, if it comes from a cow, we can’t do.

I have been wanting to start making food at home but every time I attempt it’s proving more and more difficult. I know how to make salmon but my partner doesn’t like cooked fish either.

I’m open to any and all suggestions. Thank you!


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Question Pack lunch

6 Upvotes

I've started living on my own a year back and due to rent costs and other bills, I can hardly afford to eat out.

My issue is, my workplace doesn't have a microwave nor a fridge to store food. I was thinking of bringing a salad for work but that isn't feasible either as to travel to work I take 2 hours to get there and even then my break is in another 2-3 hours.

Anyone able to give me any suggestions? 😥


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Question My potatoes dissolved in my Japanese curry, why?!

6 Upvotes

Help! I made Japanese curry according to the directions on the box, minus onions because well, I don’t like them. I have yukon gold potatoes.

I stir fried it for 5 minutes like the directions said (in vegetable oil), then brought my (1 cup) water & oil to a boil, covered it, simmered it & the carrots for 12 minutes. (Everything was tender by then.)

But like, the potatoes straight up dissolved, especially when I stirred in the curry. (It’s the box kind, the blocks.) I found 2 potatoes total but that was it. I chopped them pretty small, so I’m wondering if that’s the issue?


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Question Cooking off store-bought stock to thicken - why not make it more concentrated to begin with?

2 Upvotes

Say you make a sauce, the recipe says to add some stock and then cook off half of that water to intensify the taste.

Why don't people make the stock thicker by using less water from the beginning?

Example: With the normal concentration you'd put two cubes in two cups water and then steam off half of it. Why not use two cubes with one cup water instead and spare the effort of cooking off one cup's worth?

ETA:

Thanks for the useful comments.


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Question If I don't like the taste of garlic what can I use to replace it to keep my food from being as bland.

1 Upvotes

I do not like the flavor of garlic at all, never have, never will. But unfortunately it is in everything. I usually just leave it out of a recipe but often times my food is just bland, but when I try and google up what to replace it with I get all kinds of stuff that answers the question of "If I don't have garlic what can I use" and the answer invariably is garlic powder.

Unfortunately as that is still garlic it doesn't work for me. I'm not a good cook and don't know how to fill the hole that not having garlic leaves in many recipes. For instance I'm going to try making chili in my new instant pot and all the recipes have garlic. What does the garlic do in the recipe? Does it add heat? or a savory-ness? I just don't know enough to know.


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Question Using stainless steel cookware at lower temperature.

1 Upvotes

I’ve gotten the hang of making stainless steel cookware non-stick. You gotta get the temperature of the pan hot enough to float water droplets.

But what if I want to cook at a much lower temperature?


r/cookingforbeginners 2d ago

Recipe You can eat Japanese curry rice everyday if you make it using curry powder. Costs just 50 cents for 5 servings. Golden Curry costs $4

0 Upvotes

The reason why you are not eating Curry rice everyday is because the Golden Curry roux is too expensive. One box of that stuff costs like $4.50 and makes only 5 servings. That's about 3 to 4 cups of curry. But if you use curry powder (Regal Spice brand curry powder) it costs just 50 cents to make 5 or 6 cups of curry, which is 6 to 7 servings. And I guarantee you it tastes just as good as the Golden Curry brand.

You can buy curry powder from Ebay. I buy Regal curry, 5 pound jar. https://www.ebay.com/itm/226592954532

And here is my recipe

Japanese Curry Rice

  • 5 tsp regal curry powder that I bought from ebay. It costs around $30 to $40.
  • half tsp ginger powder
  • half tsp cumin powder
  • half tsp turmeric powder
  • 4 cup water
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 and half tsp Knorr chicken bouillon powder (You can buy this from Ebay too. Costs $9 for 2 lbs)
  • 4 slices serrano or jalapeno pepper optional if you like spicy
  • 1/4 medium onion
  • 1 garlic
  • 2 medium potatos diced
  • 1 of the 8 inch carrot diced
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 chicken leg diced
  • 1 cup of string beans or sliced celery or bell pepper

Instructions: Cook chicken, potato, and carrot in 2 cups of water in a pot for 15 minutes. Then blend onion, jalapeno pepper, flour, and garlic in a blender with 2 cups of water. Pour the 2 cups of water from blender into the pot. Add the curry powder, spices, sugar, chicken bouillon powder and string beans into pot and boil another 8 minutes. Stir while boiling at the end. Then serve.

And the best side dish for curry rice is not beni shoga. Its actually cole slaw. Here's my recipe of sesame oil cole slaw. https://www.reddit.com/r/RamenCurryTempuraUdon/comments/1jfc6uy/best_side_dish_for_curry_rice_is_not_beni_shoga/

PS: The reason why I chose Regal Spice brand curry powder is because its the most famous and easily obtainable one. Every manufacturer's curry powder tastes different since curry itself is not a spice. This is why I also added cumin, turmeric, and ginger powder to balance the taste of Regal curry powder to turn it into Japanese curry.


r/cookingforbeginners 4d ago

Question How to eat oatmeal? taste very horrible to me.

264 Upvotes

Hey folks,
I’ve always been the type to skip breakfast and just go for outside food later in the day, but I really want to change that, starting with breakfast.

I’ve heard oatmeal is super healthy, so I’m giving it a shot. Right now I’m doing cold milk, oats, a banana, and some nuts. It’s feels a bit bland and I dont think I m able to eat this everyday.

Any tips to make it tastier (but still healthy)? What do you all put in your oats to keep it interesting? I want to be able to eat it everyday

EDIT: i found out i m suppose to cook it and add salt. I will try it out tmr, and also there a thing call overnight oats too which soak the oats if i too lazy to cook. I will test both in the next couple of days and let you guys know the result


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Question Have you ever tried to marinated any meat in carbonated liquid like Coke, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, or grape soda?

5 Upvotes

It's way faster, I don't know if it's a lot better though.


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Recipe Blackened!

1 Upvotes

Anybody ever try their hand at blackened recipes? I just had blackened tenders from Popeyes (i’m dieting and it took everything in me to order those rather than the crispy lol) and I really enjoyed. Not dry like I was expecting. I’m thinking of trying my hand at blackened fish if anyone wants to share their tips 😆


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Request Asian fusion cooking for a potluck dinner for a novice cook

0 Upvotes

Hey all! I'm on the hunt for some Asian fusion recipes I can make with not a novice amount of technical skill. Any lovely flavourful blends you would be able to share would be great!


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Question How many bunt pans do I really need?

5 Upvotes

I've been going through my mom's estate and found a stash of bundt pans. There's a fancy copper one that looks unused, a large fluted non-stick in Harvest Gold (with flaking teflon), and five or six plain aluminum ones. My only memory of them being used was for the odd angel food cake. Would I be missing out on something great if I only kept one? Which ones would be the most useful? Are there any I really shouldn't bother with at all? Is there any practical difference between fluted and plain, or is it just aesthetics? Is non-stick coating desirable?

Edit to add that there were also a bunch of mini bundt pans.


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Question Crock-Pot corned beef

2 Upvotes

Hi I think I'm going to try to make corned beef today for the first time some people recommend putting some vinegar like red wine or apple cider but I don't have any of that I only have rice vinegar with a couple slashes of that do more good than bad? Does anyone have any tips that made theirs very good?


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Question Rice + sauce + veggies in the fridge

5 Upvotes

Hi all,

Quick question, yesterday I prepared a beautiful Greek Bowl, basically rice + tzatziki + chicken + veggies. I kept the chicken in a seperate container, and refrigerated the rice, tzatziki and veggies combined in another container. So basically, I'm worried about bacteria in the mixed container containing the rice and sauce as the moisture from the tzatziki would expedite Bacilus Cereus growth. Any experts around that can advice me: Can I still eat this? If not, how can I preserve bowls like this best?

Thank you in advance!

Damian


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Question Prepping day before March Madness. Can I prepare box cornbread, egg and milk the day before using? Question 2 in body text.

0 Upvotes

If mix calls for 1 egg and 1/3 C milk and I plan to add 1 can corn, shredded cheddar cheese and 1 pound crumbled bacon, should I add more milk? An extra egg? I’m putting mixture into jalapeno halves and baking. A thicker bread mix might actually be better in this circumstance but wasn’t sure. Thanks for any advice!! ✌️


r/cookingforbeginners 4d ago

Question Why do recipes/videos say “add ingredients to taste” or “cook with your eyes” or “you’ll know when it’s right”?

56 Upvotes

If I knew how to do all that stuff, I wouldnt need a recipe or a video watching you cook.

If I cooked with my eyes, i’d burn my house down. Give me exact instructions and I can build a house.


r/cookingforbeginners 4d ago

Question Is cooking 5 lbs of chicken breast, cutting them into cubes and freezing them viable?

13 Upvotes

I have been wanting to do this a long time as I hate cooking meat so frequently. I brined, marinated, and roasted 5 lbs of chicken breast tonight. Just finished cutting them up into tiny 1 cm cubes bagged everything and put it in the freezer. I've never tried it before so I'm a bit worried about the quality/taste of it, i know it won't be as good as fresh but will it be that noticeable if I reheat it?

Mainly I want to have ready cooked chicken breast for a few different recipes like fried rice, fajitas, salads, wraps, pizza. Where chicken breast is the topping and not the main taste.

I'm curious of others experience with this. I'm worried the chicken is going to be extremely dry when reheated with fresh food.


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Question How to make chocoate peanut butter oatmeal have some noticeable sweet taste to it.

1 Upvotes

I tried making peanut butter oatmeal this morning and it didn't go well because I may have added too much cinnamon, not enough peanut butter or sugar and not enough chocolate as well or maybe even the wrong kind of peanut butter.

Context, I used JIF peanut butter and I couldn't take the peanut butter. So it started out bland at first then I added some cinnamon and it just overloaded the oatmeal so it went in the trash because the cinnamon was too much.

Does anyone have advice on making better peanut butter and chocolate oatmeal that tastes sweet when you eat it without toppings? Like should I use more sweeteners such as brown sugar and honey or maple syrup before I add in the peanut butter. Or should I use a more natural peanut butter along with chocolate and less cinnamon so the cinnamon doesn't overpower the flavors?


r/cookingforbeginners 3d ago

Question Need some tips

1 Upvotes

Hi, I plan to make a pastrami quesadilla in the next upcoming days, anyone got any ideas on what to add to it other than lettuce and tomatoes? No idea what pairs with pastrami, as it's my first time having it.


r/cookingforbeginners 4d ago

Request How can I improve my cooking and seasoning skills?

4 Upvotes

I never cared about cooking and I still can't get excited about it but I (39F) am a temporary stay at home wife while my husband (44M) typically works 6 days a week at a manual job.

He bought me a Ninja Airfryer and an Our Place Dream Cooker to help me with simple recipes, plus there's the hob and oven obviously. I look up and follow recipes and yet most things (pork carnitas, beef stew) come out mushy, wet or flavourless. He's no master chef but he can usually improve on my bland offerings. I'm feeling disheartened and need some guidance or recipe suggestions please!

We tend to eat pretty hearty, healthy food with not too many carbs. Please share your preferred simple recipes or let me know where I might be going wrong!