21 Cooking Fails and Bad Food for Optimistic Home Chefs Learning to Trust the Process (October 1, 2026)

Remember: every kitchen disaster is just another step toward becoming a better cook.

I don’t know who was the one who said that cooking is a simple thing… because it’s not. It’s hard, it’s complicated, and I’m convinced that some people were born with the talent, while the rest of us were made to eat that food. But listen, I’m not complaining… are you? We are the ones who get to eat and not the ones who cook… I’m pretty sure we’re winning over here. 

Yes, I know what you are thinking: you want to cook because it is a good skill to have, and honestly, it’s something that you can brag about. Because being good at cooking is just that: it’s like a superpower. Mixing and matching different ingredients to create a masterpiece that is going to melt in your mouth, with all of the flavours combined… sounds like an absolute dream! But I don’t feel bad that it’s not my talent. I’m happy with the ones that I have, thank you very much!

Now, for all of us who don’t know how to cook, let me share a personal story that happened to me the other day. My boyfriend left for a month on a trip with friends, and I wanted to surprise him the day he came back home. I decided to cook something sweet. Nothing crazy; it was a pie that I saw on TikTok. I had the ingredients in the description, and my willpower. I was really expecting a good result out of that. Well… when I baked the crust, I accidentally burnt it. I don’t know what happened, but suddenly I could smell something funny, and then I realized that the base of my pie was black.

I was disappointed with myself: it’s just a pie! I was very upset, and when my boyfriend came home, he saw me crying because my surprise was ruined. Anyways, we order breakfast and it was ten times better than what I had in mind. Needless to say, I’m not cooking ever again. Not even for a special occasion.