If you’ve never really tried cooking, it might be daunting to experiment with cooking your own meals. If you’re providing for yourself, cooking is a valuable skill to learn. Not only will it make your life at home more exciting, but you can save yourself a lot of money and calories. Fast food might taste great, but if you can prepare even tastier food – you’re doing it right.
It may take a while for you to get to that point; for some, that’s enough to put them off. However, if you stick it out and practice your cooking skills, you can use them to impress others down the line.

Read and rewrite your recipes
Before you go to tackle any recipe, you should make sure you’re thorough with reading it. You don’t want to get to dinner time and realize that you were supposed to start preparing hours in advance or you’re missing an ingredient.
It’s much easier if you read through it more than once and write it down for yourself. Writing down your own version of the recipe can make it much easier to understand, and you don’t risk missing something when it comes time to cook it.
Prepare your ingredients before you cook
Once the stove or oven is on, you’re on a time limit to complete your other recipe steps. If you’re new to cooking, preparing ingredients may take you longer than someone experienced, so it would help if you prepared some beforehand. Take a moment before you’ve started cooking to chop up your vegetables and get everything into a position where you would need it. You don’t need to make it more stressful as you’re just starting out.
You don’t have to keep it simple
A lot of the fear that beginners have when cooking is taking on recipes that require more complex steps. The truth is, you’re not going to improve as a cook unless you challenge yourself, and you’re only going to get a challenge by trying out new recipes. Going for the most complex recipe right out of the gate isn’t a good idea, but as you’re getting used to it – it could benefit you to try. Check out Pollo Asado as one of your options. What is Pollo Asado? (get the recipe here)
Keep a sharp knife
If you’re working with blunt knives, then you’re losing a lot of time. There are a lot of people who come into cooking afraid to work with sharp blades. It’s dangerous if you feel like you’re going to cut yourself with them, but they’re often safer than a more blunt knife.
A dull blade will sometimes bounce or slide when you apply pressure and may redirect to one of your fingers. A sharp knife will go precisely where you press it. Be sure that if you do have sharp blades, you know how to take care of them properly. Regular sharpening is essential if you want to avoid damaging them.