Why People Hate Cooking (and How to Fix It)
Everyone says cooking is supposed to be fun. A creative outlet. A way to relax after a long day.
For most of us, cooking isn’t joy, it’s stress in a frying pan. It’s standing in front of the fridge after work, tired, hungry, and thinking, “What the hell am I going to make tonight?”
And that question — not the cooking itself — is why people hate cooking.
The Real Reason We Hate Cooking
Let’s be clear: chopping an onion isn’t that hard. Boiling pasta isn’t rocket science. Even a fancy dish usually just boils down to heating things in a certain order until they stop being raw.
But here’s the catch: cooking isn’t just cooking.
It’s:
Planning meals.
Figuring out what you have vs. what you need.
Running to the store.
Remembering the damn store hours.
Realizing halfway through a recipe you don’t have an ingredient.
Cleaning a mountain of dishes afterwards.
That’s not “fun.” That’s work stacked on top of work.
When people say “I hate cooking,” what they really mean is: “I hate the mental load attached to cooking.”
The chopping? Fine. The stirring? Whatever. It’s the endless decisions and logistics that grind you down.
Decision Fatigue: The Silent Killer of Dinner
You make thousands of decisions every day. What to wear. When to reply to that email. Whether you should even get out of bed. By the time dinner rolls around, your brain is fried.
So when you open the fridge, you’re not just deciding what to eat. You’re deciding how much mental energy you can still spend without losing it completely.
This is called decision fatigue. It’s why CEOs wear the same outfit every day. Why people stick to routines. Why you’ve probably eaten the same breakfast for years without thinking about it.
And it’s why the question “What’s for dinner?” feels like the hardest one in the world.
The Pinterest Lie
We’ve been lied to by food culture.
Recipe blogs tell you cooking is about “expression” and “creativity.” They’ll sell you 25-ingredient Buddha bowls with rare spices you’ll use once and then let rot in the back of the cupboard.
Social media shows you staged kitchens, smiling influencers making bread from scratch like it’s a personality trait.
And then you wonder why your Tuesday night stir-fry feels pathetic by comparison.
Here’s the truth: cooking on a Tuesday isn’t art. It’s survival.
You don’t need inspiration. You need a plan.
Why Delivery Feels Easier (But Isn’t)
When the decision fatigue hits, your brain starts whispering: “Just order food.”
And yeah, delivery is seductive. You tap a few buttons, and someone shows up with hot food. No chopping, no dishes, no thinking.
Except it’s not actually easier:
You spend 15 minutes scrolling menus.
You spend €25 on something that costs €5 to cook.
It arrives late and lukewarm.
You feel guilty about the money and the calories.
Delivery solves one problem (you don’t cook) by creating five others (time, money, health, guilt, and a plastic bag collection under the sink).
It’s a temporary relief with a long-term hangover.
How to Fix Cooking (Without Becoming a Chef)
The fix isn’t another diet. It isn’t a new cookbook. It’s not even more recipes.
It’s removing the decisions.
When you don’t have to think about what to cook, cooking becomes… not easy, but doable. You stop wasting energy deciding, and you just execute.
Here’s how to get there:
One Recipe a Day
You don’t need 1,000 recipes. You need one solid option every day. A clear, no-fluff recipe with a grocery list. Dinner solved.Build a Rotation
Find 10 recipes you actually like and cycle through them. Decision fatigue disappears because your options shrink. Weirdly, eating repeats feels better than decision overload.Accept “Good Enough”
You don’t need Michelin-star plating. You don’t need every spice in the world. You need food that fills you and doesn’t make you feel like crap afterwards.Prep Smarter, Not Harder
Cook double portions. Use leftovers shamelessly. Keep boiled eggs, cooked rice, or roasted veggies in the fridge. It’s not glamorous, but it’s the difference between eating and caving.
What Daily.Recipes Actually Fixes
This is the whole point of Daily.Recipes.
We don’t worship one trend. We don’t bury the recipe under a 2,000-word life story. We don’t tell you to cook like an influencer with six hours of free time.
We give you:
One recipe.
One grocery list.
Done.
Some days it’s vegan. Some days it’s meaty. Some days it’s quick. Some days it’s comfort food. That’s balance. That’s real life.
No endless scrolling. No decision fatigue. Just open the email, see the recipe, and cook.
Why This Matters More Than Food
This isn’t just about eating. It’s about how much mental energy you waste on crap that doesn’t matter.
If you’ve ever argued about dinner with your partner, you know it’s not about the food. It’s about two tired people at the end of the day, completely spent, trying to make one more decision.
That’s why fixing cooking matters. Not because of the food, but because it gives you back headspace.
When dinner is solved, you suddenly have more energy for everything else — talking to your family, doing your work, even just relaxing without guilt.
It sounds small, but it adds up.
The Bottom Line
Cooking isn’t the enemy. Decisions are.
We don’t hate cooking. We hate the exhaustion that comes before it.
And the fix isn’t another perfect diet, cookbook, or influencer hack. The fix is balance and simplicity.
That’s what Daily.Recipes is built on: one recipe, one grocery list, every day. Real food, without the mental load.
Because cooking should make life easier, not harder.