10 Reasons Why Cooking By Yourself Is Good For The Soul

A lot of people see cooking and eating meals solely as a group activity, therefore a lot of us feel a little weird going to have meals or cooking by yourself. There’s nothing wrong with preparing meals with friends and family, but there’s nothing wrong with doing it all alone, either. Even though food is a great tool that can be used to bring people together, there are plenty of good reasons why it can be beneficial to you do these things alone every now and again.

1. You can practice and hone your skills

Sometimes, if we’re cooking with others we’ll tend to play it safe so we don’t look too ignorant in the kitchen. We all like to be praised about our work, but if we mess things up it tends to get a little awkward, so we just stick to what we know. When you’re cooking by yourself, however, the fear of prying eyes is completely eliminated and you can practice things you never would when other people were watching you. Only by practicing can you improve your skills, so keep experimenting (but do it alone)!

2. It’s therapeutic

Just like exercising, writing, singing, etc. are ways that people can get away from stress sometimes, cooking can be a truly therapeutic activity when you do it alone. There are some repetitive actions that can lull you into a sense of calmness, but there’s enough variety in cooking that your mind is always occupied on what you’re doing.

3. Improve your multitasking abilities

Almost anything you cook is going to require several things to be going on in the kitchen at once and you have to be able to multitask to do a lot of cooking correctly. If you take time to cook alone, you’ll have to juggle all of this yourself, but the skills you gain in doing so will invariably transfer to other aspects of your life!

4. You’ll save money

If you cook alone, chances are you’re only cooking for yourself. If you’re only worrying about feeding one person, you’ll spend a lot less money than if you were cooking for an entire group of friends.

5. You can treat yourself to something special

On the other side of saving money, you can actually splurge a little bit since you don’t have to pay for so many other people’s meals. Enjoy a nice filet mignon but normally don’t have the money for it because you’re feeding so many other people? Well, cook by yourself, for yourself and you’ll have extra money to get that slightly more expensive and delicious food that you’ve been craving.

6. Nobody’s watching, so have another bite

When there’s no one watching over you, you can taste test everything you want AND put the spoon back in the pot! You can go for seconds, thirds, or even fourths if you want because with no one else in the room, you won’t receive any judgement.

7. You’ll fuel your sense of pride

When you find out that you’re actually able to properly cook for yourself, there’s a certain sense of pride and independence that comes with it. You can take care of your own basic needs, hooray!

8. You’ll save time

Cooking for one requires a lot less prep and ingredients than cooking for several people. So, by cooking alone you’re going to save a lot of time that you can use to do whatever you desire (but we all know you’re going to binge on Netflix, and that is 100% acceptable).

9. Pressure is off

You’re going to feel a lot less pressure cooking by yourself. No worrying about how quickly things are going to be done or if the seasoning is going to be to this person’s liking or not. All you have to do is worry about yourself, and you’re pretty easygoing, after all. 

10. Impress everyone

First off, people are going to be impressed that you’ve actually taken time to cook for yourself instead of ordering take-out or just eating some cereal again. Not to mention all the skills you’ll be able to show off after it’s all said and done!

What’s your favorite thing about cooking by yourself? Share it in the comments below!