Recipes

Online 

There are probably enough free recipes available online to keep you going for a few hundred years. Putting ‘recipes’ in a search engine brings up over 135,000,000 sites. But are they any good?

BBC Food

Great for cooking recipes you’ve seen on TV. You can search by ingredient, type of food and even if you want a quick recipe. 

Jamie Oliver

Love him or hate him, he knows how to cook some tasty food. Have a go of some of his free recipes on his website. 

Sam Stern 

Wrote his first cookbook when he was 14 and has loads of easy recipes organised by how long they will take you to cook, from 5 minutes to 30 minutes. 

Studentrecipes.com 

Lots of easy and cheap meals that you can make. 

Books & Magazines 

Have a browse round your local bookshop to get some inspiration. Libraries are also brilliant for cookbooks - plus you’re borrowing for free. If your local library doesn’t have the book you want they may be able to order it in for you. Here are some suggestions, remember they may be cheaper if you buy them online or look out for special offers in bookshops.

'Cooking Up A Storm - The Teen Survival Cookbook' by Sam Stern. Published by Walker Books and costs £7-8

'Beginners’ Cookbook' by Fiona Watt. Published by Usbourne and costs £7. 

There are also a variety of cookery magazines available that you might like, have a look in your newsagent, or your library might have them (although you’ll have to read it in the library).

Make It Up Yourself 

Once you’ve had a go at a few recipes you may find you feel confident enough to experiment. You can make endless varieties of pasta sauce by cooking up some vegetables (add meat, fish or a substitute if you like) and adding some yummy herbs like basil. Stir fries can also be easy, you can often buy sauces to put in them, or maybe you have some better ideas! Whatever you do, make sure you follow basic food hygiene, there’s more information on our Food - Keeping Safe page.