Where Do You Find Recipe Inspiration? A New Survey Says Most Home Cooks Get Ideas from Loved Ones or the Internet
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If you often cook meals at home, you know as well as anyone how easy it can be to fall into a recipe rut. When that happens, it's helpful to know where other people get their cooking inspiration from—for some people, it's asking a friend for their favorite lasagna recipe; for others, fresh inspiration can be found by scouring the internet. A new survey conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Jennie-O polled 2,004 people and found that 37 percent of respondents use loved ones to find new recipes while a third turn to Google for inspiration and some even drum up the ideas themselves.
The research found that it's normal for people to experiment with recipes, with 60 percent of the respondents admitting to doing so. How do they add a little personality to their meals? According to the survey, the most popular option among participants is adding new spices by 42 percent. Others like to add fruits and vegetables in low key ways (41 percent), and some even combine contrasting flavors like salty and sweet (40 percent).
When their creativity leads to making something delicious, 45 percent of home cooks say they often get asked to make the meal again and 39 percent end up giving the recipe to others. When it goes wrong, however, 42 respondents admit to never making the recipe again. "During the last couple years, as more people worked from home, more have also been cooking at home as well," says Nicole Behne, vice president of marketing at Jennie-O, in a statement. "Through experimentation, home chefs have discovered useful cooking hacks and recipe additions. Even something as simple as swapping out the protein you use can make a dish seem new and interesting."
Despite their creativity, 60 percent of respondents say they feel burnt out by cooking, and 70 percent say they get bored cooking the same dishes constantly. For people who feel tired of cooking at home, 26 percent attribute it to a lack of variety in their meals. It makes sense when you consider the fact that more than half the poll (52 percent) say they've cooked more during the pandemic than they did before it. What's more, 21 percent admit they cook more than they'd like to.
That doesn't mean what they're cooking isn't incredible, though. On average, respondents think they make about four social media-worthy meals a week, with 51 percent saying they've considered making a social media account dedicated to their culinary endeavors.
