No Idea What to Make for Dinner? AI Generated Recipes Can Help

Thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), recipes can be easy! No more wracking your brain trying to figure out what to do with that five-pound chicken or chub of beef sitting in your freezer.

Intrigued? We’ll cover the following:

• Where do AI recipes actually come from?
• How simple or complex are they?
• Can I get really specific (e.g. limited ingredients, prep time, etc.)?
• How can AI make me a better cook?

Read on to see how you can use AI to spice up your menu.

Where do AI recipes actually come from? You might be hesitant to create a recipe using AI because—well, an AI bot can’t taste, nor can it cook. What the bot does know, however, is what other people have said on the internet about it. The bot will search the internet for recipes similar to what you’re asking for and bring back similar results to match. Use it as a starting point and then tweak the recipe as needed to make it your own. Just be sure to take notes and save your updated version somewhere!

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AI generates real recipes, from simple to complex. When using an AI bot to generate a recipe, you might expect something simple like grilled chicken with a side of carrots. In truth, AI has gotten to be so advanced in the last several years that it can create a recipe from scratch based on what it finds across the internet. We asked ChatGPT for a list of beef dinner suggestions. It responded with ideas for beef tacos, beef stew, beef and broccoli, and a few others. AI-generated recipes come complete with required ingredients, measurements, cook times, and anything else you need to successfully cook the meal. You can even ask for a wine pairing for your specific meal to top it all off.

Can I get really specific? Need recommendations for dinner but you only have pork on hand? Ask an AI bot for some new pork recipes. You can even ask for more specific ideas based on the ingredients you happen to have in the fridge. For example, we asked it to “create a recipe using only pork, rice, carrots, onions, potatoes, barbecue sauce, garlic salt and heavy cream”. It came back with a yummy looking “Creamy Pork and Vegetable Bake” recipe. Crunched for time on Tuesday night and need a fast meal? Ask for recipes that “take less than 15 minutes to prepare”. Getting recipes from an AI chatbot is much faster than scrolling Pinterest or reading stories on blogs about family recipes that have been passed down five generations. You can save time each week by asking an AI bot to build a dinner for the next week, then grocery shop based on what it suggests. You’ll save time and money with help from an AI bot creating recipes for you.

How can AI make me a better cook? Sometimes our menus are limited not by the number of recipes we have, but by the number of recipes we feel comfortable cooking. Rather than watching cooking shows, or taking expensive classes ask it questions like, “How do cook chicken so it isn’t rubbery?” or “How do I remove giblets from a Thanksgiving turkey?” and you’ll receive a response that walks you through the process of preparing and cooking the food.

If there’s something about the instructions that’s unclear, ask a follow-up question. For example, one of the steps in the steak tacos recipe was “slice the steak against the grain.” This could be a confusing instruction for somebody who doesn’t cook often. We wanted to press further and asked, “What does it mean to slice against the grain?” The chatbot then offered a thorough explanation about how to slice against the grain and why it’s recommended.

Whether you’re an adventurous chef or busy mom, AI-generated recipes are a great way to expand your recipe book without spending hours searching the internet. Use an AI bot to look up recipes for you and you’ll never be at a loss for dinner ideas!