Looking for a new kitchen companion? Try enlisting the help of an algorithm. Artificial intelligence (AI) is making its way into our lives and can be a real assistant in the kitchen — and we’re not talking smart fridges and spendy ovens. AI can help you cook smarter, waste less, and elevate your kitchen confidence. Here’s five easy ways to bring AI into your kitchen:
- Ask for a meal plan. If you are tapped out on dinner ideas, use AI for a brainpower boost. Ask for a meal plan and a shopping list to help streamline life’s admin work.Prompt idea: “I am a home cook preparing food for a family of [insert number of family members]. Create a meal plan for [insert number] dinners, that provides easy leftovers and can be cooked in less than [insert time] minutes. Provide recipes and a shopping list.”
- Reduce waste. Whether you need to utilize what’s in your fridge or find creative ways to repurpose leftovers, AI can make suggestions to help you waste less food. Prompt idea: “I am a home cook and have leftover [insert leftover], please provide five ways to repurpose these into a different food option.” Prompt idea: “I am trying to utilize existing ingredients for a meal. Please find a recipe that includes the following ingredients: [insert ingredients}.”
- Seek clarification. Have a recipe that’s been handed down for generations that you can’t read? Ask AI to help decipher grandma’s cursive.Prompt idea: “I am preparing a family recipe for [insert recipe name]. Please review this image and transcribe it to a digital version. Do not modify or alter the recipe.” (attach recipe)
- Accommodate dietary needs. AI can provide suggestions on how to alter a recipe to offer dietary flexibility. As a bonus, if you ask it to explain why it made that swap, it will educate you at the same time. Prompt idea: “I am preparing a meal for a person with [insert dietary need(s)]. Please modify this recipe to accommodate. Include what changes you made and rationale behind why you chose those modifications.” (attach recipe)Pro tip prompting: Combine prompts one and four to help generate ideas that will support your personal dietary needs. However, we do have to include a dash of caution – AI may not always get it 100% right so always use your human brain to check and ensure the recommendations are appropriate!
- Get assistance. Smart assistants on your devices are a built-in form of AI. These assistants can be extremely useful when cooking, especially when your hands are busy or dirty. Try using voice mode to ask Alexa, Siri, or Gemini to read a recipe step-by-step, set a timer, or convert units of measure.
AI isn’t here to replace your cooking skills; it’s here to enhance them while making nutritious, flavorful, and environmentally friendly meals more accessible for everyone. The real magic depends on the quality of the prompt: the clearer and more thoughtful the input, the more useful and personalized the output, and most AI agents will also suggest follow-up questions or refinements along the way.