Learn to Cook: A Comprehensive Guide to Mastering the Basics of Delicious Home Cooking

Amazon Customer: I bought this for my son who is in college and needed to know basic cooking for his apartment. He said this book is perfect because he's learning so much. Great recipes, easy instructions and he's even making a pot of chicken soup!

United States on Aug 28, 2023

Amazon Customer: It had quite a few meat recipes which isn't great if you are vegetarian however one could just omit the meat or use Tofu or more veggies if they wanted. I bought this for my niece & also one for my husband!

United States on Aug 05, 2023

Melanie N.: Great for beginners, has fundamentals and easy recipes to practise on. Recipes are quite simple in flavour, good as somewhere to start. Would recommend.

Australia on May 23, 2023

Matt: I learned a lot from Mark Bittman. He does a fantastic job teaching proper cooking practices and also KEEPING RECIPES SIMPLE. Can't count the number of times I've Googled for a simple pasta recipe and come up with stuff like "Spicy Garlic Fettuccine with Crab Spleens". Nothing wrong with those recipes, just not beginner friendly. Bittman's recipes are easy to cook yet delicious.

As I mentioned before, Bittman will teach you cooking basics and techniques. The "tips" section in various recipes are as valuable as the actual lesson sections. The book is well worth purchasing. I'd still recommend America's Test Kitchen over this for new cooks - their work is unparalleled. But this book is definitely a close 2nd place.

United States on Apr 03, 2023

LISA HALL: Great easy to understand

Canada on Sep 29, 2022

R.R.: This was a great book, both for new cooks and more seasoned ones. Profusely illustrated, every step is clearly shown and described in text that lets you know what to expect. Once you get more confident, the author gives you variations and helps you go from there. Fabulous! I bought this for my nephews who are starting to learn to cook, and it's a great book in that it doesn't talk down to you while at the same time doesn't assume you know too much. A fine balance to strike, and Mark Bittman succeeds admirably. Excellent book!

Canada on Dec 01, 2020

Chery: This is the book that helped end my fear of the kitchen. I started out with the chicken and broccoli stir-fry, it helped to get a grounding on the basics of flavour combinations and methods to add or reduce flavours you like or dislike.
Everything is explained in a way that puts you in the driving seat with your teacher by your side. You can read and revise methods to understand the how and the why behind some techniques, this is helpful if you're someone who graves a lot of detail and explanation. There are handy alternatives which help you to see how versatile food can be! It's also great because it teaches you what you can substitute if you don't have or like some ingredients.
There's a great chapter on baking which is great at the end. Really appreciated the conversions at the back of the book as well. 5 stars because they're due. I would shake the author's hand in gratitude if I could.

United Kingdom on Oct 10, 2019

Some Guy on the Internet: I am not a good cook. I can make some mean toast and fry an egg if I'm feeling super fancy, but overall I just never really developed the skills to cook things as well as I should have.

This book is a game changer for someone like me, as it walks you through every step of every basic task you would ever need to do while cooking. I've used this book to greatly improve my cooking skills, and so far nobody has been accidentally poisoned by me while eating the results.

It may be too basic for some, but if you're like me and need a launching point to work towards being a better cook, this is definitely worthwhile.

Canada on Oct 15, 2018

Quyen V. Nguyen: I learned how to make a salad with this book.

No, no, don't think "it's so easy, who needs to learn!" No, no.

Before this, I make salad this way: go to the grocery, buy pre-boxed chopped vegetable, buy a bottle of dressing like sundried tomato and then a bag of garlic toast croutons.

Now, I make a salad this way: buy 4 different kind of fresh vegie, as fresh as I can get. Learned how to clean them, and store them (so important, did you know they last for days?). Make my own croutons, such act that I never knew possible, and easy like making toast (3 mins top, and last for days). Make my own dressing (olive oil, vinegar of some sort, salt and papper). Toss them up and a salad. Flavor is woefully light, vegetable so fresh it's, well, refreshing. Croutons seasoned and not soaked in oil like the ones in the bags. I make my own bread (also in this book, 10 active minute, the rest watching tv and waiting). Everything in this salad is made from the basic ingredients. This is a "made" salad, nothing was processed, nothing pre-packaged. Each component was made from its basic ingredients.

So I go around and tell people I learned how to make a salad proudly. They...

United States on Dec 18, 2012

Net Admin / Home Chef: I am already a fan of Mark Bittman from some of his other cookbooks and from his New York Times cooking column on the web. I don't think of myself as a beginner in the kitchen and I do a lot of cooking, but I'm mostly self taught from cookbooks, TV chefs, and things I've found on the Internet. I got this book with the idea of using it as sort of kitchen basic training. I thought it might broaden my skills by showing me how to do some things I hadn't tried and perhaps give me some hints and ideas which might even be useful for the things I already do make. I have to say that this book is really excellent for someone like me with those goals. I've had it less than two weeks and have already fixed several of the recipes, with several more I will be trying soon. Everything has come out very well so far, including some things I never expected to try such as making my own pickle spears.

The fact that there are so many photos with the recipes is a real motivation. The pictures of the final dishes look so good that they really make you want to prepare them, and the other photos show you step by step what you'll need to do. There are chapters on meat, poultry, seafood, pasta and...

United States on Apr 24, 2012