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50 Home Cooks Share What Dishes They Make That Taste Better Than At Restaurants
Interview With Expert
Learning how to cook and bake at home has always been—and continues to be—an essential skill. Just like knowing how to do chores at home, file your taxes, and use the internet, cooking is a core part of what it means to be a functioning human being. That being said, in this day and age, it’s much easier to outsource all of that effort to someone else.
Though, to be fair, the food you order can, quite often, miss the mark, and you feel like you could do much better yourself. It’s not just a feeling—it’s a fact. Today, we’re looking at a popular Reddit thread where various internet chefs shared the dishes that they believe taste far better cooked at home than dining out or ordering in. Scroll down to read what they had to say about the topic.
We reached out to famous pie artist and author Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin for her thoughts on learning to embrace cooking and baking at home. You'll find the awesome advice she shared with Bored Panda as you scroll down.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Stew over mashed potatoes (my Nana used to make me mashed potato volcanoes with stew inside). I still do this for myself when I'm feeling down at 36, and it still does the trick.
Bored Panda asked Jessica (@thepieous) how someone who's made a habit of eating at restaurants and ordering food at home can enjoy the process of cooking and baking at home more.
She explained to us that opting for restaurants and ordering take-outs over home cooking comes down to two main things: namely, a lack of time and a lack of ability.
"The latter excuse is the easiest one to overcome—there are a plethora of cooking tutorials online, and meal kits with simple-to-follow instructions that can make home cooking a breeze for anyone," Jessica told us in an email.
However, the former excuse can be a tad trickier. Jessica opened up that she often falls prey to the 'I don’t have enough time to cook/get groceries tonight, I’m just going to order in' trap. "But as rising costs and shrinking budgets start to shift our internal calculus, suddenly spending that extra 40 minutes to cook a meal doesn’t seem as tough a pill to swallow as spending the extra fifty bucks on Uber Eats again!" she said.
RELATED:
#2
Grilled cheese sandwiches. There's nothing like stretchy cheese straight from the pan.
Jumping Jellyfishes 4 weeks ago
Make your own tomato soup to go with it. Homemade tomato soup is also a game changer
#3
Almost everything. I prefer to do my own cooking 95% of the time. Tastes better, is healthier, and saves me money.
Science Nerd 4 weeks ago
Saving money is right. When we want to splurge on beef, we’ll buy a good tenderloin at a ridiculous price per pound. Grilled at home with baked potatoes then costs a quarter of what we would have to pay at a restaurant.
"For those unaccustomed to cooking for themselves, turning the process into a 'team sport' can make the whole undertaking more pleasant. Even people who live alone can join with friends in weekly meal planning and splitting bulk purchases of groceries from the big box stores to save money. And for those with a little more disposable income, joining a friend for a couple of evening cooking classes can be a really fun way to up your kitchen game and expand your cooking repertoire!" Jessica suggested.
"Once you have a stable of about five simple but tasty meals that you can reliably whip up in under an hour, you are well on your way to weaning yourself off of your expensive take-out habit… and bonus, your food is always guaranteed to arrive hot!"
#4
Chocolate chip cookies. The soft kind.
Huddo's sister 4 weeks ago
ANZAC biscuits are always better homemade, especially when my mum makes them. She is able to make them crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.
#5
Lasagne. Never tastes good outside. Maybe because I like to eat the whole tray.
Pencil 3 weeks ago
The key to a great lasagna, in my opinion, is the bechemel and I think most restaurants skip it to save time. But I make it with garlic & parmesan and put a thin coating on each layer of noodles. Also, I whip the ricotta with nutmeg. It takes forever but people rave about my lasagna.
We were interested in getting to grips with the main fears that might drive some newcomers away from the kitchen. Jessica noted that past negative experiences with cooking can be a deterrent.
"If you’ve ever set off every smoke detector in your house and had to air out your couch cushions on the porch after a failed stir fry attempt, you may think twice about approaching your stove again! But oftentimes with people who insist that 'they cannot cook,' the real culprit is a lack of focus," she told Bored Panda.
"People who are naturally a little absent-minded, or even ADHD, may need a little extra help in the form of timers and apps to help them multitask. Try using your phone to set timers with alert titles like 'defrost the beef now' and 'turn off the stove now' while you cook, and stick to simple, one-pot recipes that use minimal steps, minimal equipment, and minimal time!"
Then, Jessica said, as you get more comfortable with the process and start to enjoy your cooking more, you can try out more complex recipes. "There’s a whole universe of flavors and experiences out there waiting for you once you decide to take that first step on the culinary road."
#7
Chili.
Luke Branwen 4 weeks ago
Chilli con carne is one of the first meals I've learned to make because my uncle needed quick, reheatable meals to work. IMO it tastes amazing and I'm pretty proud of it.
#8
Not cooked but, guacamole is always better home made.
Herringbone 3 weeks ago
In a restaurant in LA, I had guacamole made at the table, spiced according to my tastes. I ate far too much... At home, I have made guac that was nearly as good as that, and also some that just... wasn't.
#9
Burgers. I've had a few spectacular burgers when eating out. But if given the choice, I'd take a home grilled burger on a cheap bun with American "cheese" any day. Charcoal, smoked, or cast iron. None of that propane s**t. Sorry Hank.
You don’t have to be a gastronomic genius or a Michelin star chef to make delicious food at home. Of course, it helps if you have a natural affinity for cooking and baking, but at the end of the day, practice makes perfect. The more time you spend in the kitchen, the more techniques and dishes you try, and the more open you are to learning from your mistakes, the better you’ll do.
The vast majority of people are going to be bad at something they’re new to. So, if all you can do is make toast and can barely fry an egg, you shouldn’t be discouraged. Start with making very simple dishes with easy-to-follow recipes and few ingredients. Then, slowly work your way up over the following weeks, months, and years.
From our perspective, dining out is a great experience, but we still value homemade chili, curry, English breakfast, and avocado toast more than anything made by pro chefs. There’s a deep sense of pleasure in making some dishes yourself with small twists that you enjoy. For example, it was a game-changer when we started adding just a bit of dark chocolate to our chili.
#10
Bacon. It's rare to find a restaurant that cooks it right. It usually comes out rubbery or undercooked.
Tiny Dancer 3 weeks ago
Took me ages to get it right. 375 in the oven for about 15 minutes works perfectly for me. Slightly longer for thicker bacon *chef's kiss*
#11
Mac and cheese and not from the box.
Lubica Acker 3 weeks ago
That is not mac and cheese in the picture. That's 'Halusky', a traditional dish in Slovakia.
#12
Rice Krispy squares. The packaged ones are gross.
Nimitz 3 weeks ago
Don't knock the packaged ones. My grandma loved rice krispy squares but arthritis made it really hard to cook. When they started selling the prepackaged ones she was over the moon. They were shelf stable for a long time. Apparently lots of old people like them for the same reasons
Food & Wine suggests that some of the dishes that every beginner should learn to cook are roast chicken, cream-based soups, homemade pizzas, roasted fish, and pasta carbonara. Some other simple(r) dishes include risotto, apple pie, rib-eye steaks, spaghetti bolognese, garden salad, scrambled eggs, and fried sandwiches.
These are fairly straightforward dishes that are hard to mess up. And, again, the more you practice, the tastier you’ll make them. At first, follow the recipes you find online to the letter, without taking any, erm, creative liberties or making random ingredient substitutions. And after you’ve gotten things right a few times, then you can start experimenting a bit with different ingredients, spices, measurements, and techniques.
#14
Rouladen mit Rotkohl und Klößen.
Roulades with red cabbage and potato dumplings.
According to chef Andrew Zimmern, you should read the recipe twice before cooking, no matter your level of expertise in the kitchen. "99% of all mistakes can be resolved by understanding the process," he told TastingTable.
The more you think things through, the less room for error. For one, you won’t have to rush to the store in the middle of cooking to get the ingredients you realized you need. Meanwhile, thoroughly reading the recipe means that you’ll know what the entire process looks like, what timings you have to be aware of, and what tools you’ll need.
#16
A BLT sandwich.
Ace 4 weeks ago
I prefer ths Sam Vimes version. . . . . " Vimes carefully lifted the top of the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich and smiled inwardly. Good old Cheery. She knew what a Vimes BLT was all about. It was about having to lift up quite a lot of crispy bacon before you found the miserable skulking vegetables. You might never notice them at all. …"
#17
If one is a good cook, then most everything tastes better home-cooked. While other children were so excited to go out to eat at restaurants, my boys would rather stay home to have my home-cooked meals. If you have a someone in your family who loves to cook, you are blessed.
Bgray450 3 weeks ago
I was raised by a Cajun mother who was an excellent cook, and a farm boy father who loved cooking and experimenting on weekends. Food is a very big deal in our family, as a source of love and togetherness and creativity and fun and full bellies. Yes I realize I am super-blessed.
#18
Steak. I make it the exactly the way I like.
Zimmern also suggests sharpening your basic cooking techniques, which are “a must when it comes to life skills and personal wellness.”
Some of these skills are things like making eggs, steaming veggies, grilling fish, and roasting chicken. Once you’ve got the fundamentals down, you can then move on to more complex things.
#19
Eggs have to be the answer.
They are the most impossible food that takes any preparation at all to f**k up.
But, every second they cool, they lose taste.
#20
I don't know about “always” but there are certainly quite a few dishes that restaurants cannot master easily. When they do master them it is at great cost.
One favorite example is the Italian rice dish called risotto. I've had risotto all over the world, including all across Italy many times in my life. I would say that about 80% of the time it sucked. But when I make it at home it's flawless every time. And it is a joy to make.
Another dish, also Italian, the restaurants just can't seem to master, or even be bothered to make correctly, is the classic carbonara. Listen, I get it. If your timing is off by just a minute or two you end up serving pasta with scrambled eggs instead of pasta with a lush rich silky sauce made from egg yolks. I can execute this dish at home flawlessly every time, but I don't work in a commercial kitchen. So what the restaurants do instead is load it up with tons of cream and extra cheese, and they call it carbonara. But it's not carbonara.
#21
Scalloped potatoes.
Jessica Langmeyer Specht 3 weeks ago
I tried making those once and will NEVER do it again. TOO much work (may be recipe specific) for my liking.
What is the tastiest dish that you can make at home, in your own kitchen, dear Pandas? What dishes do you cook at home that can rival the best that any restaurant can put out? On the other hand, what are some dishes that you genuinely enjoy eating while dining out or ordering in?
What dishes do you have the most trouble with, no matter how much you practice? Grab a snack and let us know in the comments below!
#24
Nachos. Restaurant nachos always skimp on the good s**t and are usually missing at least one core ingredient. I want guac, sour cream, AND salsa. I want meat, cheese onion, jalapenos and beans. And I want LARGE f*****g helpings.
Ive no s**t been served tomatoey chips with a dollop of cheese as ‘nachos’ before. Granted it was in an English pub so I dont know wtf I was expecting…the locals seemed to love it.
Brian Droste 3 weeks ago
If you have a mexican restaurant near by, try a Mexican restaurant nachos.
#25
I was going to say full English breakfast but in my sixty years on this planet, I have established that a full English is always better when cooked by someone else.
The theory is that your hunger diminishes if you are involved in the cooking with the fumes etc.
P1 No-Name 4 weeks ago
I love a Full English, but I struggle to have everything ready at the same time when I try at home. You need a proper commercial Kitchen to get it all ready together.
#26
Honestly.. a sandwich. Like just a plain jane sandwich. Deli sandwiches taste amazing dont get me wrong but sum about making a sandwich at home with all the fixings just hits.
Lynda Loyacono 4 weeks ago
While on a brief band tour, I made peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches for the fellows. As I was preparing a sandwich for one friend, he expressed how much better the sandwich was because it was made for him. We had an actual conversation about this.
#28
Pea soup, in a slow cooker. The secret ingredient? Celery leaves, chopped, at least a cup for 6 quarts of soup. Makes all the difference.
Science Nerd 4 weeks ago
Pea soup always has to have a ham hock. Never tried celery leaves before but I’ll give them a go on my next batch.
#30
For me it's coffee. I just have it so much (daily) that when we're overnight somewhere and I get it anywhere else, it's never as good as my home brewed hazelnut Folgers, lol.
Auntriarch 4 weeks ago
Mr Auntriarch makes the best coffee in the world. Lavazza beans. Simples.
#31
Pudding, you get to lick the bowl clean.
Huddo's sister 4 weeks ago (edited)
And you can make it with double the sauce! EDIT: I've just realised I'm not sure what sort of pudding it's talking about. I was thinking of the Aussie/British ones, like chocolate self-saucing or golden syrup steamed pudding, but it could be that custardy stuff that is called pudding in the US.
#32
Vegetables are less oily and hygienic when cooked at home. They are fresh and healthier.
Homemade chapatti is made from wholewheat flour. Eateries add maida because of its increased shelf life. So, the homemade one is tastier and healthier.
Desserts prepared with milk are good to consume within a day. So, homemade sweets are preferable.
For making salads, vegetables/fruits are properly washed and freshly cut at home. Who knows when did the hotel cut the vegetables/fruits?
As a general rule, I prefer homemade food prepared with love. I can adjust the ingredients too.
#33
Everything. A good home cook can absolutely destroy anything you can eat out.
One exception might be sushi.
Kathy Richardson 4 weeks ago
I only go out for food that I don't know how to cook myself such as ethnic foods. For American food, I know my cooking is better than any restaurants so I don't pay just to be disappointed.
#34
Nachos so loaded you need a fork, not where I can count the pieces of toppings, have to search for cheese and wonder what the hell I'm paying $20 for.
Brian Droste 3 weeks ago
I already made this comment further up the post. If there is a Mexican restaurant near by, try a Mexican restaurant nachos.
#36
Sugar cookies. Especially when they are hot out of the oven.
#37
Oxtail. Everywhere I’ve tried it at a restaurant has been a rubbery disgusting mess. But when my buddy gave me some his own it was literally the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my life and now I make it myself and it’s literally the best thing ive ever made or eaten in my life.
Barbara Turner 3 weeks ago
Put oxtails in a slow cooker with some garlic, beef broth and tomato paste, a few grinds of pepper and a bay leaf. Alllllll day.
#38
I rarely get really good french fries in restaurants and cafes. Seems like they just dip it into the oil just long enough to get hot. I like my fries nice and tan.
#40
Definitely home cooked food there’s something about food made at home from scratch, it’s got to be the love that is added while cooking, plus good seasoning that sometimes is missing from restaurants food items (like scrambled eggs I can never seem to get them from a restaurant with the salt & pepper cooked right into the egg)not to mention you can prepare the food just the way you want it to taste where at a restaurant you would have to do some special ordering and it never seems to turn out right or taste just right. It is definitely home cooked meals for me.
#41
I would add soups, stews and a few sauces to this answer for several reasons.
They can be very labor or time intensive. (Remember that scene in some mafioso movie where the guy is slicing garlic with a razor blade? or Who hasn’t wished for an Italian Grandmother?)
They seem to be better the 2nd day like some of the other dishes mentioned. The flavors have time to meld (same with the Calzones we made the other night, add those)
They can be custom made to your taste.
They can even use some ingredients difficult to source (like your garden)
For example, I have never had French Onion Soup at a restaurant, even in France, better than my own. I take a lot of care in caramelizing the onions. It was made to my son’s taste and uses a suspended crouton with a lot of Kaltbach (Cold river cave aged) Swiss Gruyere, a cheese very difficult to find at a restaurant.
Not to mention the homey comfort food factor…
#42
Eggs! Diners cook them fast which is why they often aren’t fluffy, and at a high heat so that they have that brown tinge. same for bagel stores, delis etc. (Granting you go to these places for convenience, but the question asks about better home cooked food not speed or ease). If you cook your eggs at a low heat, and slower, they come out much better. it comes with my seal of approval which is worth millions.
#43
It depends on the ingredients and the cook, of course, but in general, basically everything tastes better when it is homemade.
Edda Kamphues 4 weeks ago
My kids prefer my homemade hollandaise over any kind they ever had at a restaurant.
#44
At the most basic level, jacket potatoes which are rubbish when not cooked at home in an oven.
Bacon Tentacles 3 weeks ago
I was in my 40's when I discovered the joy of a true British jacket potato (being an American). We've been cooking them way too short a time in the states. When we did them for a couple of hours and got a truly crunchy skin - Oh. My. GAWD.
#46
Chilli. At least in the UK, restaurant chilli is almost ALWAYS way too watery, flavourless & tomatoey.
#47
Collard greens.
Huddo's sister 4 weeks ago
This, like anything I've never eaten before is something I would like to have cooked for me (hopefully well) before I try cooking it myself, so I know what it's supposed to taste like. I remember when I was living with my brother and he was in his traditional Mexican cooking phase he made cornbread and it was so sweet we couldn't eat it, but we still don't know if it was meant to be like that or he used the wrong ingredients or something because we had never had it before.
#50
”chitranna" is better taste food for south Indians.. Bcoz its tempering cooked with traditional ingredients like Mustard,dals,nd pea nuts, perking it up with onions and coconuts and flavoring it with lemon juice.the crunch of peanuts and coconut ensures a good balanced of texture and taste.you will surely enjoy this easy and convenient recepie.And it having other name called as yellow rice. It takes only 15 minutes for cooking by using ingredients.... By taking of 3 cups of cooked rice, 2 tbsp oil, 1/2 tsbp of mustard seeds,2 tsbp of urad Dal,3 tsbp of raw peanuts, 2 whole dry red chillies,4 to 5 curry leaves,1/4cup of chopped onions,1/4 tsbp of hinguva, 1/4 cup of grated coconut,1/2tbsp of lemon juice... Coming to preparation it's very easy to prepare firstly we should head the oil in a deep pan, add the mustard seeds, urad dal,chana dal and raw peanuts ND saute it for 2 minutes, add the chillies ND onions and saute for 1 minute,nd add turmeric powder,hinguva ND coconut ND saute again for 1 minute ND finally add the cooked rice and mixed it gently ND again mix curry leaves for garnish….nd then finally it got a better taste by cooked on home.
What do you think ?
Ace 4 weeks ago
Very disappointing list, and I'm very disappointed to find so many people who apparently have never eaten in a decent restaurant.
Pernille 4 weeks ago
Exactly, these people must be eating in the wrong places.
Load More Replies... Auntriarch 4 weeks ago
Once you achieve a certain level of good home cookery, it becomes difficult to eat out without thinking why did I bother. But that's not to say it's impossible. There are dishes I wouldn't choose in a restaurant, but that's not because I can do better so much as because I can do the same for a third of the price. So it's got to be something I can't do. Which is a pretty broad category!
Sapna Sarfare 3 weeks ago
Indian food.. restaurants will serve just a small part of Indian cuisines that is mostly food from North. Indian cuisine is so vast that you can make a new dish each day and not get tired. The best part is no use of additives or maida (refined flour). It is healthy without too much oil and extremely tasty. To all the BP readers, try Maharashtrian food if you want ultimate healthy Indian meals
Ace 4 weeks ago
Very disappointing list, and I'm very disappointed to find so many people who apparently have never eaten in a decent restaurant.
Pernille 4 weeks ago
Exactly, these people must be eating in the wrong places.
Load More Replies... Auntriarch 4 weeks ago
Once you achieve a certain level of good home cookery, it becomes difficult to eat out without thinking why did I bother. But that's not to say it's impossible. There are dishes I wouldn't choose in a restaurant, but that's not because I can do better so much as because I can do the same for a third of the price. So it's got to be something I can't do. Which is a pretty broad category!
Sapna Sarfare 3 weeks ago
Indian food.. restaurants will serve just a small part of Indian cuisines that is mostly food from North. Indian cuisine is so vast that you can make a new dish each day and not get tired. The best part is no use of additives or maida (refined flour). It is healthy without too much oil and extremely tasty. To all the BP readers, try Maharashtrian food if you want ultimate healthy Indian meals
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