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If you are an absolute beginner in the kitchen with dreams of becoming the kind of home cook that can prepare anything from the perfect scrambled eggs to a five-course dinner party, these are the top resources I recommend to help you build up your understanding of food science and develop your cooking skills.

Some of these resources are free, and some require a purchase or subscription (I do not receive any kind of commission related to these recommendations). This is certainly not an exhaustive list, and it’s based on my own experience of learning to cook at home, but I think you’ll find them to be a solid starting point that you’ll continue to reference for years to come.

Food Movies: The Inspiration

Before I ever learned anything about how to cook, I learned to appreciate the idea of cooking. Getting started as a home cook can be highly intimidating , especially if you grew up in a family that didn’t pass the skill on to you. There’s quite a bit of equipment to purchase, you’ll be working around extreme heat and sharp knives, and even selecting a recipe for dinner can be a completely overwhelming decision when faced with endless options. 

In my opinion, the very first step to learning how to cook is to build up excitement and joy around the idea of cooking. Otherwise, you risk discouragement in the early days after you’ve burned a pricey steak or found the pasta you spent an hour preparing to be bland. If you have a good idea of what you’re ultimately striving toward, it’s easier to overcome these challenges throughout the process. My simple (and fun) advice is to rent a few movies that really highlight the beauty of cooking, and let this inspire you to keep your head up when you get frustrated. Some of my favorites include Julie and Julia, Chef, The Taste of Things, and, unironically, Ratatouille. 

Youtuber Internet Shaquille: Basic Ideas

Yes, I am aware that his username makes him sound deeply unserious, but I can assure you that Victor Nevarez, who posts on Youtube as Internet Shaquille, has some of the best educational cooking content you can find online. With a background in instructional design, he has an incredible ability to break down complex food science into easily-digestible videos that usually wrap up in under five minutes. 

When you’re just getting started, it helps to have a high-level understanding of a few basic cooking concepts before you start exploring the specific recipes that appeal to you. His videos range from the expected (“The Scrambled Eggs Video” ) to the obscure (“How to Make “Bar Fight”  Flavored Ice Cream”), but if you spend a couple hours working through the videos that pique your interest, I bet you’ll come away with some simple advice that totally transforms your approach to cooking. Plus, his content has entertainment value, but do be forewarned that some of his humor leans heavily into irony and internet-speak.

NYT Cooking: Tried and True Recipes

New York Times Cooking requires a subscription for most recipes and will cost you roughly $5 a month, but it has one of the widest and most reputable selections of recipes online today. You’ll find just about any dish you can imagine here, and often there are a few different versions of the same recipe for you to choose from. After you’ve built up your understanding of some general cooking principles, I recommend you source most of your starter recipes here. The staff writers are excellent, and the commenters (most of the time) have helpful tidbits to share from their experience with the recipe.

Use the NYT Cooking app or website when you’re in search of a recipe for a particular dish. Overall, you’re likely to have better luck as a beginner using these recipes than the ones you find on popular food blogs. There are some amazing food blogs out, but when you’re just getting started it can be a little more difficult to discern whether a recipe is truly well-written and well-tested, or if the photography just looks nice. 

Salt Fat Acid Heat: Cooking Mastery

Samin Nosrat, author of New York Times bestselling cookbook Salt Fat Acid Heat, is a Persian-American chef and food writer who started her cooking career at the famous Chez Panisse working with legendary chef Alice Waters. The book is regarded to be one of the best cookbooks of the century, but it’s more of a reference book than a typical cookbook of recipes. There are recipes throughout, but think of it as more of a “textbook” that teaches you how to become a great cook. 

I don’t recommend diving into this one until you feel you have developed a little bit of knowledge of cooking basics, but this is where you should turn when you’re ready to take your skills to the next level. The book focuses on what Nosrat calls The Four Elements of Good Cooking, summarized here, “Salt enhances flavor, fat carries it, acid balances it, and heat amplifies it”. This is how you’ll build your cooking mastery; you’ll develop skills that enable you to start cooking even without strictly following a recipe because you’ll understand the principles of what makes food taste good.

America’s Test Kitchen: Continued Education

America’s Test Kitchen and its sister publications Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country contain a wealth of cooking expertise that is, in my opinion, perfect for a more experienced cook who wishes to continue exploring complex recipes and advanced techniques. Access to the full online collection of recipes and videos requires a subscription (roughly $7/month) but you can access a couple articles a month for free. 

ATK boasts a highly scientific approach to food education. They have a community of over 70,000 recipe testers who try out their recipes and provide feedback so you can be certain that the techniques and instructions laid out in their recipes are the most articulate and well-researched you can find. If you’re looking for a dish to be the star of your next dinner party, this is where you’ll want to look for a recipe that your guests will rave about and remember for years to come.

Not too long ago, my cooking consisted of over-cooked, under-seasoned chicken breast and sautéed (read: burnt) green beans. The resources above taught me quite a bit of what I know today, and I now consider myself to be the kind of cook who can confidently attempt just about any recipe I come across. Even if your only experience in the kitchen is boiling water for ramen noodles, there’s a whole world of resources on- and offline that can transform your cooking experience from stressful and overwhelming to relaxing, exciting, and delicious. Happy cooking!