cook from scratch

Meaning

To prepare a meal using basic, raw ingredients rather than using pre-packaged, pre-processed, or instant food products. It represents making homemade, authentic food.

Examples

• My grandmother always preferred to cook from scratch instead of buying frozen meals.

  My grandmother always preferred to cook from scratch instead of buying frozen meals.

• It takes more time to cook from scratch, but the taste is definitely worth it.

  It takes more time to cook from scratch, but the taste is definitely worth it.

• Since he started his diet, he has tried to cook from scratch every single day.

  Since he started his diet, he has tried to cook from scratch every single day.

• I don't have time to cook from scratch during the week, so I meal prep on Sundays.

  I don't have time to cook from scratch during the week, so I meal prep on Sundays.

• Learning how to cook from scratch is a great way to save money on groceries.

  Learning how to cook from scratch is a great way to save money on groceries.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ She likes to cook from the scratch.

  ✓ She likes to cook from scratch.

  The idiom does not use the definite article 'the'. It is always 'from scratch'.

• ✗ I cooked this cake from zero.

  ✓ I made this cake from scratch.

  While some languages use 'from zero' to mean starting from the beginning, English speakers say 'from scratch'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• If you want the best pasta sauce, you should really ___.

  💡 Prepare it using fresh tomatoes and herbs instead of a jar.

  Show answer

  cook from scratch

• She decided to ___ for the dinner party to impress her guests.

  💡 Make everything from basic, raw ingredients.

  Show answer

  cook from scratch