Get a sharp knife, season properly and don’t do too much at once: how to start cooking

Cooking at home tends to be healthier and cheaper than eating out or ordering in. So how does one start cooking? We asked the experts

Food is more than just nutrition: it can be joyful, social and exciting. But the act of preparing it can feel awfully daunting.

Many beginner cooks suffer from a fear of failure, a lack of foundational knowledge and a poor understanding of how long it actually takes to prepare a dish, says Sam Nasserian, founder and CEO of Cozymeal, a culinary services company. But “once people learn the basics and try a few recipes, they’re surprised by how easy and fun cooking can be”, he says.

And there are lots of benefits to cooking at home. Namely: it tends to be healthier and cheaper than eating out or ordering in. So how does one start cooking? We asked experts.

Not as much as you think. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the elaborate cooking gadgets out there, but experts agree you really only need a few key tools and ingredients to prepare most dishes.