30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (2024)

There are some basic, fundamental recipes that every cook should have in his or her tool belt. As cooks, we learn some of these in college, on a tight budget with limited time. As we get a little older, we start to find our favorite tweaks, substitutions and improvements. Ideally, by the time we hit 30, we have an arsenal of great recipes that we feel comfortable making anytime. This way, if you invite someone over for dinner, you don't have to panic and thumb through every cookbook you own (unless you want to).

In our minds, these are the 30 essential recipes every cook should know by the time they turn 30. If you can master these, you'll have most of the tools you need to learn any other recipe with relative ease. This list is tailored toward an omnivore, but there are plenty of vegetarian-friendly options here as well, in order of relative ease and simplicity. What do you think is the most important recipe you ever learned? Let us know in the comments!

1

Grilled Cheese

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (1)

Steamy Kitchen

Make 1,000 grilled cheeses. Make them when you are half asleep. Make them when you are drunk. Eat them for breakfast. Add ingredients. Fail a few times. Make so many grilled cheeses you could make them on one leg with one arm tied behind your back.

Get the Super Frico Grilled Cheese Sandwich recipe from Steamy Kitchen

2

Basic Vinaigrette & A Simple Salad

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (2)

James Ransom/Food52

3

Guacamole

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (3)

Simply Recipes

Want to throw a party? You need party dip.

Get the Perfect Guacamole recipe from Simply Recipes

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5

Scrambled Eggs

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (5)

Melanie Einzig/Food52

Breakfast is important, and scrambled eggs are the O.G.

Get the Soft Scrambled Eggs recipe from Food52

6

Brownies

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (6)

Brown Eyed Baker

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7

Mashed Potatoes

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (7)

Simply Recipes

We like to mix a little sour cream right into ours.

Get the Perfect Mashed Potatoes recipe from Simply Recipes

8

Green Beans

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (8)

Simply Recipes

You've probably eaten a lot of mushy, waterlogged, over-cooked green beans in your life. Your job is to make them better. Still slightly crunchy, bright, great hot or cold. GO.

Get the Green Bean Salad with Basil, Balsamic, and Parmesan recipe from Simply Recipes

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10

Sautéed Greens

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (10)

Emily Todd

You can follow this same process with any leafy green: spinach, chard, mustard greens, collard greens, broccoli rabe. The bottom line is that somewhere along the line, you're going to need to feed yourself some leafy greens, so they should taste good.

Get the Kale with Garlic & Red Pepper Flakes recipe from Habitually Hungry

11

Polenta

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (11)

svariophoto via Getty Images

Get The Only Polenta Recipe You'll Ever Need

12

Roasted Vegetables

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (12)

Steamy Kitchen

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13

Poached Salmon

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (13)

James Ransom/Food52

This is the easiest, most reliable and least smelly way to cook fish. Learn it, love it.

Get the Aromatic Poached Salmon with Rye and Caper Breadcrumbs recipe from Food52

14

Chicken Soup

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (14)

James Ransom/Food52

The real way. With a chicken.

Get the Reform Jewish Penicillin recipe from Food52

15

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17

Deviled Eggs

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (17)

My Well Fed Heart/Food52

Roast Chicken

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (18)

Simply Recipes

Roasting a chicken for someone at the right time can heal a broken heart, we swear.

Get the Keller’s Roast Chicken recipe from Simply Recipes

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20

Mac And Cheese

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (20)

Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton/Food52

No powdered cheese allowed.

Get the Classic Mac and Cheese recipe from Food52

21

Pancakes

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (21)

Crepes of Wrath/Food52

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22

Ratatouille

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (22)

Mimi Thorisson/Manger

23

Perfect Rice

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (23)

Willow Arlen/Will Cook For Friends

24

Tofu Stir-Fry

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (24)

Get the Tofu, Veggie and Sesame Fried Rice recipe

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25

Spaghetti And Meatballs

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (25)

James Ransom/Food52

27

Potatoes au Gratin

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (27)

Sarah Shatz/Food52

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28

Minestrone Soup

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (28)

Sarah Shatz/Food52

Here's why minestrone soup is one of the most important recipes you'll ever learn to make: it teaches you about using dried beans, different cooking times of different vegetables, layering flavors and improvising ingredients seasonally. Learn to make a great one and you'll be well on your way to cooking anything you want.

Get the Minestrone Soup recipe from Food52

30

Beef Bourguignon

30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (30)

Simply Recipes

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30 Recipes Everyone Should Know By The Time They're 30 (2024)

FAQs

How many recipes does the average person know? ›

Average Person Knows 15 Recipes By Heart And Travels For Food.

What dishes should everyone know how to cook? ›

10 Dishes Every Beginner Cook Should Learn
  1. 01 of 10. Cream-Based Soup. Victor Protasio. ...
  2. 02 of 10. Roast Chicken. Julia Hartbeck. ...
  3. 03 of 10. Pizza. Bella Graves. ...
  4. 04 of 10. Pasta Carbonara. ...
  5. 05 of 10. Whole Roasted Fish. ...
  6. 06 of 10. Risotto. ...
  7. 07 of 10. Garden Salad. ...
  8. 08 of 10. BLT Fried Egg-and-Cheese Sandwich.
Feb 1, 2024

How many recipes should a chef know? ›

So we're looking at something like 25-30 recipes mastered (which means you've done it pretty well two or three times) in order to be able to call yourself, in good faith, a Competent Home Chef.

What was the most popular food in the 30s? ›

Some of those products include Fritos, Kool-Aid, Skippy peanut butter, Spam, Pepperidge Farm baked goods, Toll House chocolate chip cookies, and Birds' Eye frozen foods. Fritos Many men took up the occupation of traveling salesmen in the 1920s and 1930s.

How many recipes do most people use? ›

A survey commissioned by Ocado has revealed that, despite owning, on average, six recipe books, Britons are stuck in a nine-meal rut.

How many meals do people eat a day on average? ›

A wide variety of eating patterns exist in America, especially in terms of the frequency and timing of eating. The conventional American diet typically consists of approximately 3 meals per day (i.e., breakfast, lunch, and dinner).

What is the most popular dish ever? ›

Pizza has rightfully earned its place as the world's most beloved food. This Italian creation has become a staple in numerous countries, with endless variations to suit every taste bud. Whether you prefer thin crust or deep dish, classic Margherita, or loaded pepperoni, pizza has something for everyone.

What is the most basic meal to cook? ›

Top 10 basic student recipes
  • Pasta on the hob. ...
  • Curry. ...
  • Traybakes. ...
  • Soup.
  • Jacket potatoes.
  • Stir-fried rice. ...
  • Granola. Don't forget breakfast! ...
  • Omelettes. Eggs are a cheap source of high-quality protein and are rich in vitamins and minerals.

What is one of the most popular dish? ›

Here is the top 10:
  • Pizza.
  • Burger.
  • Ramen.
  • Paella.
  • Pierogi.
  • Moussaka.
  • Boeuf Bourgignon.
  • Eisbein.
May 24, 2023

What is the number one rule of cooking? ›

1. Read the recipe. Of all the important advice out there about cooking, this by far has to be the number 1 rule of cooking: read your recipe completely before getting started. This may seem like a mundane task (especially when you're excited dive in!), but you'll be so thankful you took the time to do it!

What is Chef Tell most famous for? ›

Chef Tell was known for his speed, for using humor in his cooking shows, and for his famous sign-off, "I SEE YOU!" He also was famous for his saying "I wish you had smellavision." "He was the first of the great showman chefs," commented Elaine Tait, the former restaurant critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Do chefs cook everyday? ›

In my experience, as a new cook who has worked in three professional kitchens, cooks are typically scheduled for an eight-hour work day five or six days a week. And weekends are work days in most kitchens. Many times, as kitchen needs arise, cooks are expected to stay later — until the job gets done.

What was junk food in the 1930s? ›

Many of today's favorite snacks were also introduced during this decade: Twinkies, Snickers, Tootsie Pops, Fritos, 3 Musketeers, Ritz Crackers, Kit Kat Bars, Five-Flavor Life Savers, 5th Avenue Bars, Rolo, Smarties, Heath Bar, Lay's Potato Chips and RC Cola.

What food did they eat 100 years ago? ›

Bread, potatoes, cabbage, beans, and various kinds of cereal were the base of local cuisine. There was usually only one dish per meal on the table on regular days. On holidays, there could be several dishes served during the same meal, but they were the same as those cooked on regular days, as a rule.

What snacks were invented in the 1930s? ›

: If you judged the 1930s by its snacks alone, you would have no idea that the economy was tanking. Twinkies, Snickers, Tootsie Pops, Fritos, 3 Musketeers, Ritz Crackers, Frito corn chips, 5th Avenues, and Lay's Potato Chips were all produced during the lean years of the Great Depression.

What percent of the population knows how do you cook? ›

Survey Finds 28% of Americans Can't Cook.

How many meals does the average person cook? ›

Worldwide, women cook nearly 9 meals a week on average, while men cook only 4, according to a new survey.

What is the average number of recipes in a cookbook? ›

The average cookbook contains 300-400 recipes. Q: What is the Starter Material? The Starter Material contains items to help you assemble and create your cookbook, such as Recipe Collection Sheets, Category Envelopes, a Cover Information Sheet, and Personal Page Sheets.

How many does the average person know? ›

The median person knows 472 other people. On average, people know 611 others, driven in part by a small number of people with huge numbers of acquaintances. There are different degrees of how well you know people.

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