Fun Cooking Challenges to Try

Cooking is already a fun pastime, from the benefits of learning to cook, to the range of recipes to try from around the world; you always (if things go well!) end up with a tasty meal.

But making meals from ingredients you read in a book or on a website can become boring and repetitive. All you are doing is following instructions someone else wrote down; there’s no reason you can’t get more creative with your meals. Whether you are looking for fun things to cook or trying to push yourself to try new recipes in the kitchen, these cooking challenges will push your creativity and meal planning.

If all goes well, you will have a delicious meal, that’s entirely down to you!

One Pot Dinner Challenge

The one-pot dinner cooking challenge aims to see what you can make with a single pot or pan. You are still allowed to prep with a range of bowls and chopping boards, but when it comes to cooking the food, you only get one pan.

You might be thinking that a stir-fry is an easy option, but if you are in the Army Cadets, you can push yourself to be more creative and adventurous. For example, how will you manage the cooking times of different ingredients?

You can also challenge yourself to mix up your cooking. If you often use the frying pan, put that aside and try an oven dish. Or step away from your go-to ingredients and try something new and adventurous.

Mystery Recipe Box Challenge

This challenge might be something for the more experienced chefs, but it can also be a fun cooking challenge for beginners. Instead of planning a meal around a recipe you find in a book, and shopping for that, your friends each turn up with one major ingredient, and it is up to you to turn that into a meal.

Your friends will need to coordinate this to some extent, after all, you don’t want everyone to bring the same thing. You are allowed to supplement and season your surprise ingredients with anything you already have in your store cupboard, but it will be fun seeing what you can make.

For the guests – see what unusual ingredients you can find. There’s no need to go easy on your friends when you are having fun with a meal – but you must promise to eat it!

Split the Difference Cooking Challenge

This challenge works best with two friends cooking together. You should go shopping together, split up, and each buy the ingredients you know will make a single meal.

When you get to the kitchen, get everything out into one pile, and take turns choosing an ingredient. The catch is you must pick some of your ingredients from the other person’s shopping.

You will end up with a selection of ingredients you chose mixed with items you didn’t choose. Now get cooking! See what you can make with your chosen items, and compare notes afterwards. Maybe you will invent your new favourite recipe!

Leftovers Challenge

This is a real challenge we all have to deal with eventually – making a meal out of leftovers. You might think that is easy, but there is more to it than simply reheating a plate.

For a start, you should be able to turn what you have left into a brand new meal, so that means preparing new ingredients, or side dishes, to transform your leftovers into something amazing.

Another twist to this challenge is to cook with friends. Get everyone to bring their leftovers together, and see if you can transform it into a feast to feed a group.

Remember, you are allowed to add new items to the meal, but you have to finish everything you make. This challenge aims to use up your leftovers, not make new ones.

Budget Cooking Challenges

This challenge involves more than simply trying to eat healthy on a budget, so it is great for teaching you practical skills around food planning, as well as seeing just how creative you can get with reduced funds. With limited options, you may have to come up with simple things to cook.

This challenge is fun for one, but get some friends involved, and you will be surprised how many people you can feed with only a little money when you plan carefully.

With a group, you could challenge each other with lower and lower budgets. The person who is confident they can feed the group with the lowest budget wins and has to cook – but everyone else still has to eat it!

Strange Ingredients Challenge

This is a great challenge for getting out of your comfort zone. You can begin with a recipe you are familiar with, but you have to make it with something new and unusual you have never cooked before.

Most recipes can be broken down into different categories of ingredients, such as protein, carbs, vegetables, etc. Identify a group in the recipe you are going to substitute (for example, the carbs), then go shopping for an alternative. If you live near a city, you might be lucky enough to find markets or ethnic stores selling ingredients you can’t easily find in the major supermarkets.

Try cooking with Plantain, Tofu, Yams, or Black Charcoal Cheddar from Yorkshire. One of the best things about the UK is the variety of ingredients people bring here, so explore your local markets and see what you can find.

Taste It Then Make It Challenge

This is a good challenge to do over several days. On the first day, one person cooks a meal in secret and feeds their friend without telling them what they made, what ingredients they used, and how they cooked it. The next day, swap roles, and the cook now has to recreate the meal they ate as closely as possible.

This is a great cooking challenge for beginners as it encourages you to consider flavour, seasonings, and cooking techniques. Will you be able to identify all the ingredients? Try throwing in something unusual to catch each other out.

Join the Army Cadets

If you survive these cooking challenges, you might be perfectly qualified to join the Army Cadets in the field. You can even try one of these fun challenges on camp or over a fire! Following instructions and orders is one thing, but learning how to think creatively is a key skill and will be valuable throughout your life.

Find your nearest Army Cadets detachment today, and work up an appetite by making new friends and overcoming new challenges.

Image credit: Maarten van den Heuvel