Cooking

The case for cooking the same 8 recipes forever

Variety is overrated. Mastery is the point.

The internet's been telling us for a decade that we should cook 200 recipes. The data on what actually keeps people in the kitchen says the opposite.

Cooks who stick with a small rotation — typically 6 to 10 recipes — are more likely to still be cooking a year later than cooks who chase novelty. Repetition builds confidence. Confidence builds habit.

Pick eight: two breakfasts, two lunches, three weeknight dinners, one weekend project. Make them every week for two months. The boredom you're worried about does not arrive. The competence does.

This is also the secret reason restaurant chefs are so good. They cook the same dish hundreds of times.

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