New to learning to cook with AI?AIToolMart is the starting point for everyday people to use AI β no coding, no English needed. This is a beginner's guide written for you. Copy the prompts and use them right away.
Before getting married, Ah Zu could only cook instant noodles. Recently, for his wife's birthday, he wanted to make a Taiwanese san bei ji (three-cup chicken) as a surprise β but the recipe app said "a little" sesame oil one moment and "a moderate amount" of soy sauce the next, and never said how long to marinate the chicken. He pushed through anyway: the ginger burnt, the sesame oil was bitter, the chicken was dry, and the two of them ended up ordering takeout. The next day a colleague told him: "Try asking AI directly β if you mess up, you can even ask how to fix it." After trying it once, cooking new dishes at the weekend became a regular household event.
The mindset is simple: treat AI as a private chef who's always at your side. Unlike the everyday groceries-and-home-cooking guide, this focuses on cooking dishes you've never made before following an AI recipe β AI tailors the recipe to you, breaks down the steps, automatically produces a shopping list, and you can even call for on-the-spot rescue halfway through. The free version is enough. Remember: failure is normal; AI's value isn't guaranteeing you succeed the first time, but helping you figure out how to fix it after it goes wrong.
The scariest thing isn't not knowing how to cook β it's "not knowing what to cook". Photograph the stock in your fridge and cupboards, upload it, and ask AI to suggest dishes you've never made. Copy this with Gemini:
My fridge has chicken thighs, eggs, spring onions, soy sauce and sugar. I want to cook a dish I've never tried, and I'm only allowed to buy at most two extra ingredients. Please recommend two options, with the difficulty and time.Tip: AI doesn't know what your local market sells β tell it what you can easily buy nearby, and the suggestions will be more practical.
Once you've found a dish you want to cook, ask AI to write a recipe tailored to your real situation. Copy this with ChatGPT:
Help me write a recipe for two people that I can finish within 30 minutes after work. I only have one wok and one pot at home, no oven. Each step should state how many minutes, which steps can be done at the same time, and all amounts must be in teaspoons or grams β don't use "a moderate amount".Tip: AI's "30 minutes" usually doesn't include washing, chopping and marinating β leave some buffer; for steaming, err on the shorter time.
The reason new dishes go chaotic is that there's no plan. Before you start, have AI break it all down for you. Copy this with ChatGPT:
Based on this recipe: β make a shopping list arranged by supermarket section, with amounts in teaspoons or grams, no "a moderate amount" allowed β‘ split the steps into "prep before turning on the heat" and "do while cooking", marking how many minutes each step takes and which can be done simultaneously β’ point out the two places beginners most often fail.Tip: AI's list may miss or repeat items β check it against your fridge before shopping; if you're slow-handed, don't force yourself to follow "do simultaneously".
Too salty, burnt bottom, wrong ingredient β ask AI immediately. Copy this with Gemini:
I'm cooking curry and I accidentally added two extra tablespoons of fish sauce β it's very salty now. I have potatoes, carrots, coconut milk and sugar at home. How do I fix it? Give me two options: one using what I have, one that needs me to go out and buy.Tip: Describe specifically β how many people, what you added, how long you've cooked; try fixes in small amounts, don't add everything at once. And one hard line: food that's burnt or gone bad, don't force a fix.
Yes. The free versions of ChatGPT, Doubao and Gemini can all write recipes, make lists and answer on-the-spot questions.
AI tailors the recipe to your number of people, equipment and time, and can answer "what now" mid-cooking β a search engine can't.
For things like how well meat should be cooked and how to store it, be careful β AI is sometimes vague. When unsure, check the official food safety guidelines. Remember AI's rescue ideas don't always work: if something is burnt or gone bad, give it up.
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