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“It’s Not Worth It”: 20 Expensive, Complex Or Smelly Dishes That People Prefer Not To Cook At Home
Article created by: Indrė Lukošiūtė
It’s a brand new year! And if you’re anything like us, Pandas, some of your resolutions for 2023 probably sound the same as ours. Eat healthier. Save money. Cook at home. There is a massive ‘however!’ here, though. Just because you can make something at home doesn’t mean that you should.
Some dishes are incredibly expensive or very time-consuming to prepare. Others stink up your home, leaving your fancy clothes smelling of cooking oil for weeks. In those cases, it’s actually smarter to go out for a meal or get something to take away.
Redditor u/That_Smell_You_Know started up an interesting thread on the r/Cooking subreddit. They asked the members of the community about the meals they tried making at home, only to realize that it totally wasn’t worth all the hassle. Check out what they shared below, dear Pandas. Upvote the posts that really resonated with you. And share your own tales about cooking tragedies in the comments.
We got in touch with redditor u/That_Smell_You_Know, the author of the thread, to ask a few questions. They were kind enough to share what inspired them to make the Reddit post in the first place and explained exactly what happened with their ill-fated attempt to make tonkotsu ramen from scratch. The OP also shared a fantastic tip to help you save some cash the next time you go grocery shopping. Read on for Bored Panda's full interview with them.
- Read More: "It's Not Worth It": 30 Expensive, Complex Or Smelly Dishes That People Prefer Not To Cook At Home
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#1
Breaded or deep fried stuff. It makes the entire apartment smell like oil, the entire process is messy (even with one hand for dry and one for wet), there are more dishes after and it's just not worth the trouble to me.
Bacon Tentacles 9 months ago
Plus you need to deal with discarding the used oil eventually. Stuff like Fryaway is handy, but honestly I just use an air fryer more often than not. Works well for most applications.
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#2
Macarons. I like macarons but I don't like them enough to go through the trouble of ever making them again. I hate how careful you have to be so that you don't screw them up. Even making the slightest mistake could end in disaster.
Lil be lil 9 months ago
They're expensive to buy if you can make them, it would be nice to sell some at bake sales.
#3
Shawarma. Love the stuff. Can't get enough of it. Looked up various recipes and tried to make different ones. And not a single one of them turned out as good as the stuff I can buy from the joint on the east side of town.
#4
Puff pastry.
Bacon Tentacles 9 months ago
And you can buy really excellent puff pastry and/or phyllo at most markets these days, so it's really not worth making your own.
#5
Gnocchi. Far too much work for so little.
Lil be lil 9 months ago
Some of these recipes on here like the pastas, people enjoy making as a hobby.
#6
Defo Sushi.
It's labor intensive, easy to mess up, and you need too many pricey components to make a satisfying platter that it's cheaper just to get from a proper sushi place.
Can be a fun time with friends, but it's best left to the stocked up pros.
#7
Gyros from scratch. I made the meat, the pitas, the tzatziki, made homemade french fries, and a caramelized rice pudding for dessert. It was delicious... but getting it at a dive is just as good.
#8
Pierogi's. Making that dough, getting it just fhe right thickness, cutting out dozens of little circles, making a filling, stuffing each little circle and then closing it up in such a way that it won't pop back open.... No thanks. I live in Cleveland so there are plenty of Polish immigrants around that make them better than I could.
Bacon Tentacles 9 months ago
Jaju makes excellent pierogi. Also, that picture is pot stickers, not pierogi. Both are delicious, tho.
#9
Bread. I'm from Germany and our bakeries are pretty good and not too expensive.
Baking a bread at home is so much work until it gets really good but even then, it is rarely better than bakery stuff.
It's easy for me to bake better cake and cookies etc, but with bread, it doesn't seem to be worth it.
Lil be lil 9 months ago
People make breads as a hobby and then sell them too. I hate grocery store bread, rye is not real sourdough not real pumpernickel not real! I prefer firmer denser breads, store bought is too soft and pastey tasting.
#10
Definitely dumplings, they tasted amazing but took me hours and hours to roll and fill them. Never again
#11
I once made vegetarian burgers which involved multiple steps of preparing lots of different vegetables and finally cooking them and the overall result was underwhelming..
#12
Eggs Benedict. Everything about it is fussy. And it turned out fine, but I’ll happily pay for it at a restaurant instead.
#13
Tikka Masala. If you take the time to toast all the numerous whole spices and grind them, you'll find thay your time is better spent letting your local Indian restaurant make it better.
#14
Homemade ravioli. Super tedious and most of them exploded while boiling. Totally worth having a pro make them for me.
#15
Tonkotsu Ramen. I boiled pigs feet for 2 days to make the gelatinous broth, I even added the cream. I roasted the pork bell until crispy. I roasted corn on the grill. I made the soy sauce soft boiled eggs. I charred the greens. I bought real organic buckwheat ramen. Then I made a few bowls. I have mad respect for ramen shops and all the work that goes in to it. Pho is a walk in the park by comparison.
#16
Donuts 🍩 🍩 it took hours and hours to make them and the glaze and toppings and then people walked through and they were gone in less than 2 min.
#17
I've been living in Japan for 7 years and nobody in their right mind makes tonkotsu from scratch at home here. There are restaurants that specialize in ramen and ramen only for a reason.
#20
Not a meal, but homemade marshmallows. They can be finicky… (And they end up tasting the same anyway) Edit: Ok sure you can customize them and stuff, but the bigger problem is that they can be easy to mess up. Candy making can be my Achilles' heel, so personally I can't seem to get them right (and yes, I use a thermometer). Instead of me hoping they'd come out ok, I'd rather just buy some.
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