20 Types Of Food Not Worth The Trouble Of Cooking At Home, Revealed On Now Viral Thread

Everybody’s getting into meal prepping and home cooking these days because it’s healthy and economical. Social media is full of little useful shortcuts and handy tips and the kitchen has never seemed less scary. However, there are some dishes that are better left to the professionals according to many home cooks. Netizens gathered to suggest the particular foods that they find to be better bought from a store than prepared from scratch. Scroll below for a list of the recommendations.

#1 Rotisserie Chicken

Image source: felonlover, Steve Parker

Maybe a hot take, but in my part of the world, grocery store rotisserie chicken will always be easier and cheaper than making chicken by roasting, boiling, etc. for any recipe calling for shredded or diced chicken, plus you can save the carcass for soup or stock.
Edited for clarity.

#2 French fries. The cost of the potatoes, oil, the time to double fry, the mess and cleanup.. no way.

Image source: sonaut, Rusty Clark ~ 100K Photos

I mean, I roast my own coffee, make my own yogurt and granola, grow and can my own vegetables and tomato sauce, bake my own bread.. you name it. But if I want them, I’ll buy a sack of frozen fries and call it a day.

#3 Cured Meats

Image source: Cesia_Barry, jennalex

Cesia_Barry said:
Cured meats, unless you’re super into the science and technique.

Lo-Fi_Pioneer replied:
I’m one of those who’s super into technique. I love curing, fermenting, etc. I also manage a shop where we make all that sort of stuff, so it’s a natural fit for me. I can see why it wouldn’t be worth it for your average person, though. It’s a lot of waiting and certain things can take up a lot of space.

#4 Sinigang

Image source: anon, insatiablemunch

I regularly make a sour soup called Sinigang. For years I tried to make it as much from scratch as possible, with frozen whole tamarind pods, with tamarind pulp, with tamarind concentrate. You know what? The knorr sour soup flavor packet is way better than anything I can make from scratch. It was very humbling when I admitted defeat and stocked up on the mix, but my soups have never tasted better!

#5 Vietnamese pho.

Image source: barshrockwell, brando

You could spend 2 full days and about $100 dollars making your own bowl at home, or just go get a bowl made for you for $10-15 at a pho restaurant. Not worth it to make yourself.

#6 Dutch croquettes

Image source: CharlotteLucasOP, Guilhem Vellut

My mother walked in on me struggling with Dutch croquettes one time as a teenager and I tearfully asked her what her secret was and she said “oh I buy them pre-made downtown.” So there you go.

#7 Deep fried anything.

Image source: Plonsky2, Mokeneco

You’ll spend far more time cleaning up than you will cooking or eating whatever you’ve deep fried. There are but a few notable exceptions to this.

#8 “Why would I order delivery pad thai when I can spend $45 on ingredients to make a worse pad thai?”

Image source: RickMod19, stu_spivack

#9 Baklava. I mean home made baklava is the best. Just get it from someone else.

Image source: AvanteGardens, Andrew Otto

#10  Puff pastry or dim sum pastry a lot of Asian ingredients like chili paste or oyster sauce.

Image source: rubenblk, Clevergrrl

Thai currys because it’s way more expensive and almost impossible to find the right ingredients.

#11 Ice cream, unless you’re making a unique flavor, because of how much space it takes in your freezer.

Wonton wrappers. I tried making them once and it was fun, but also a pain and super messy. I didn’t find much difference between mine and store bought.

Image source: PHyde89

#12 Tortillas. I straight up did not have a good time making them

Image source: GeorgeBaileysDeafEar, Seiko UTOKU

#13 Just buy flour. With the vagaries of the weather at the moment it’s an absolute c**t to grow wheat.

Image source: nirvanabuds, USDA NRCS Montana

#14 Strudel. One day I worked all day to make some. The result was good, but so is the stuff I can get for a few bucks at the store.

Image source: ggchappell, Jeffrey Beall

#15 Tater Tots

Image source: KazakiLion, BluEyedA73

One of my biggest accomplishments in the kitchen was home made tater tots. You do a quick fry of the potatoes, shred them once they cool, mix in any herbs or spices you’d like, then form them into tots and fry a second time. They turn out well and are super tasty, but I’ll be damned if they aren’t 99% identical to the frozen ones you get at the store.

#16 Shawarma

Shawarma, it really needs to be cooked on the vertical spike. And I’m sure most people don’t have that. They’re super cheap at the restaurants too.

Image source: pablorichi

#17 Donuts.

Image source: littleclaww, Alexander C. Kafka

I live in SoCal where we have a ton of mom & pop donut shops (fun fact if you’re into food history, look up Ted Ngoy. TL;DR he’s the reason a lot of Cambodian refugees here were able to make a living by opening donut shops, and is the inventor of the iconic pink box). Donuts are like $1 a pop, it’s so much work to proof the dough and then fry it at home when you can get a much better and cheaper one at any donut place in my area.

#18 Coconut Milk

Another. Canned coconut milk. I tried making it from scratch to make an authentic Indonesian dish and all the indo cooks in the family laughed at me. They all use canned coconut milk.

Image source: CatpurrnicusSpeaks

#19 Puff pastry.

Image source: zaranneth, Nathan Yergler

It really is better, but unless you have a walk in refrigerator it’s a huge pain.

#20 Marshmallows!!! Omg the clean up and they stick to EVERYTHING

Image source: yensid78, Toyni Tobekk