Cooking Anxiety is real.
Cooking Anxiety is actually known as Mageirocophobia.
Some, or all, of these symptoms, may apply.
- Fear of the process. For example, cooking techniques and fear of cutting or burning themselves.
- Fear of causing illness. Contamination, undercooking, and spoilage concerns are common in this fear.
- Fear of serving inedible food. As opposed to concern over illness, the concern here is dry, tasteless, or otherwise poorly prepared food.
- Fear of presentation. In this Instagram-focused society, there is a large concern about serving food that is not pretty enough or in an attractive enough setting.
If you are experiencing cooking anxiety it may be helpful to speak to a professional.
If you have some lower-level fears of cooking then these tips can help.
Let’s make cooking a lot more fun and easier to manage–even if you’re a complete beginner!
Cooking is one of those essential life skills that you tend to learn as you go along. Nobody starts off as a great cook and even people that have been cooking for themselves for years wouldn’t, necessarily, consider themselves good. However, learning to cook and doing it every day can save you a considerable amount of money, it helps you maintain a healthier diet, and it can even impress your friends and loved ones.
So if you’re anxious about cooking, what can you do to get more comfortable?
Don’t hesitate to ask for tips from friends and family members
If you know people that cook or live with people that cook for you, why not consider asking them for some tips? Even if they’re not that comfortable with cooking, they most likely could pass on some great tips to you.
You can also ask if you can watch them cook. At my home, we call this the dinner show. If you’re comfortable with them, then you could even ask them to let you cook and have them watch over you and give you tips. It’s much easier to learn how to cook if someone’s there to guide you.
Look at recipes and use them as a way to get started with cooking
Looking at recipes is a great way to get started. You could start with something simple such as a typical breakfast meal.
Level up your skills with something like this crab rangoon recipe at The Salted Pepper.
Recipes are great because it tells you everything you need to make a dish and it gives you a simple step-by-step guide on how to make it.
Granted, not every recipe is informative. Some of them aren’t going to come with pictures and some might list inaccurate measurements. That’s why you should definitely watch some videos or go to a reputable site to get your recipes.
Consider signing up for a fresh meal service
There are a surprising number of these fresh meal services popping up. How it works is you pick your preferences for meals then you pick how many meals you want for the week. At the beginning of the week, they’ll send you a box full of ingredients at a fair price. They will include instructions on how to make the featured dishes. It’s like looking at recipes, only the recipes are chosen for you. You even get the ingredients delivered. There are loads of simple recipes to start with and it can really give you a confidence boost.
The key thing to remember when getting more comfortable with cooking is that you need to spend more time in the kitchen. Get used to all of your cooking tools, get comfortable using your knife and your cooking appliances.
Commit to practicing a little every day to gradually improve your skills and gain more confidence.
Naturally Yours,
Elise Ho, Ph.D., D.N.Psy
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12 thoughts on “Overcoming Cooking Anxiety”
Interesting post and great tips!
Thank you
Thanks for sharing! awesome post! love it!
I am happy that you enjoyed it. Thanks.
This is definitely interesting. I never thought about cooking anxiety. But now that I am thinking about it I feel like I overcook my fish most times because I’m always afraid it’s undercooked.
Fish is very delicate. You do not want to undercook due to concern about disease but you also do not want overcook and ruin the flavor.
Very interesting blog. My husband & I try to practice cooking daily. I definitely have to check out The Salted Pepper. Thank you for sharing this amazing article.
You are so very welcome. Daily cooking is so awesome. I look forward to hearing feedback on the Salted Pepper.
I really enjoyed reading your blog! I did not realize I was not alone in feeling anxious about cooking. Thank you for the tips!
Cassie. you are definitely not alone. I hope that they give you a more calm feeling.
People can defo get freaked out in the kitchen – some great advice here on how to overcome that worry. After all Rome wasn’t built in a day!!
Rome was definitely not built in a day. It is all about building one brick at a time.