If You're A New Grad Intimidated By Having To Cook Every Night, These 10 Tips Are For You

You'd think Aldi sponsored me, because I'm constantly singing its praises. Aldi is by far the cheapest national grocery store I've been to — I'm talking sometimes half the price compared to other stores. Even though I no longer live close to one, I find even paying Instacart fees to have Aldi orders delivered is cheaper than shopping at other stores in my area.

Cooking and sharing groceries with your roommate(s) has so many benefits. For one, it's typically more cost-effective to grocery shop for multiple people than for one. It also takes much less time to whip up a meal when you have another set of hands. Plus, it reduces food waste.

On another note, being post-grad can be a vulnerable time in your life, prone to loneliness and feeling overwhelmed by the thought of having to do things all on your own. Cooking with the people you live with is an easy way to make your everyday life less solitary and foster community in your home.

You don't always have to follow a recipe to cook. Instead, you can think of dinner in terms of a protein, a grain, and a vegetable. Think steak and potatoes with green beans or tofu with rice and broccoli. To avoid these types of dinners from becoming boring, I love adding a high-quality, store-bought sauce to them. Some of my favorites come from Trader Joe's, like Soyaki, tzatziki, and green goddess dressing. 

One of my favorite hacks is to take a photo of each meal you make and organize them in a dedicated folder in your Photos app. That way, when you wonder, "What should I make for dinner?" and can't remember anything you've ever made, you'll easily have a reference point.

Between social media, blogs, and cookbooks, there are pretty much endless places to look for recipes nowadays. However, these endless choices can actually be paralyzing. Last year, I found myself so overwhelmed with recipe options that I challenged myself to make only recipes from a random cookbook I had for a month. Not only did limiting my choices make cooking dinner less stressful, but I ended up being more adventurous in the kitchen, trying recipes I may otherwise have skipped. You can do the same experiment, choosing to either only cook meals from a particular cookbook, TikTok account, or blog.

I learned how to bake without using an electric mixer, making everything from cakes to quick breads to cookies by hand. Not only did it take approximately the same amount of time as using a handheld or stand mixer, but in the end, it made me a better baker because I wasn't reliant on them. Even now that I have a stand mixer, I typically only pull it out to whip egg whites or knead bread.

The same rationale applies to a lot of other tools for cooking and baking. You can use a square baking pan instead of a round one. You can puree a soup in a blender instead of using a food processor. If a recipe requires a cast-iron pan, you may be able to start cooking it over the stove in a regular pan and then transfer the food to a baking dish when it goes in the oven. Don't let not having the exact right cookware stop you from trying something new. 

While there are a lot of cooking tools you don't need, there are a few that can make life a lot easier. My vegetable chopper and air fryer have been a lifesaver for me when cooking after a long workday. I use this relatively inexpensive mini air fryer and chopper from Amazon. 

There will be trial and error in knowing what's really necessary in a recipe, versus what you can substitute or omit to save money. However, the more you cook, the more intuitive it will become. You can easily make baking ingredients like buttermilk, self-rising flour, and oat flour on your own instead of buying the expensive, premade versions. Most garnishes in recipes can be left out, like sprinkling fresh parsley on chicken piccata. Lemon and lime are typically interchangeable in a pinch. 

As the saying goes, "Meal prep is just glorified leftovers." While I don't do dedicated meal prep, I purposefully cook larger batches of food so that I have leftovers. If you don't like eating the same thing two nights in a row, you can switch off between eating two leftover meals.

If there's a certain dish you ate growing up, see if you can call up your family to learn how to make it yourself. Not only is it guaranteed to be something you'll like, but eating something nostalgic can help you feel at home when you're on your own for the first time.