scratch cooking

Meaning

This term refers to preparing meals using basic, raw ingredients rather than pre-packaged, processed, or pre-made foods. It implies making everything from the very beginning (e.g., making pasta dough instead of buying boxed pasta).

Examples

• Our school district is moving toward scratch cooking to provide healthier meals for students.

  Our school district is moving toward scratch cooking to provide healthier meals for students.

• Scratch cooking takes more time, but the flavor is incomparable to pre-packaged meals.

  Scratch cooking takes more time, but the flavor is incomparable to pre-packaged meals.

• He learned scratch cooking from his mother, starting with basic stocks and sauces.

  He learned scratch cooking from his mother, starting with basic stocks and sauces.

• Many modern restaurants are returning to scratch cooking to ensure high quality.

  Many modern restaurants are returning to scratch cooking to ensure high quality.

• If you want to save money and eat healthier, scratch cooking is the way to go.

  If you want to save money and eat healthier, scratch cooking is the way to go.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ I cooked the soup from the scratch.

  ✓ I cooked the soup from scratch.

  The idiom is 'from scratch' (without 'the'). 'Scratch cooking' is the noun phrase for the activity, but when using the verb phrase, do not include 'the'.

• ✗ She does scratch-cook every day.

  ✓ She cooks from scratch every day.

  'Scratch-cook' is rarely used as a hyphenated verb. It is much more natural to use 'cook from scratch' (verb phrase) or 'scratch cooking' (noun).

Related Expressions

Practice

• The bakery is famous for its commitment to ___, using absolutely no pre-made mixes.

  💡 Making food entirely from raw, basic ingredients.

  Show answer

  scratch cooking

• Transitioning to ___ can be challenging if you are used to microwave meals.

  💡 Preparing food from the very beginning instead of using processed products.

  Show answer

  scratch cooking