Is Chat GPT your new best friend in the kitchen?

Artificial intelligence is coming for all our jobs, or so the media would have us believe. That may be true for those in the media, funnily enough, but Chat GPT cannot run a kitchen and feed hundreds of people every day. So is there a useful way to use Open AI’s scarily competent AI model as a tool in the kitchen?

After a few failed attempts and dud prompts, it seems that the AI model is quite adept at generating recipe ideas based on the ingredients you might have in the fridge. For chefs that means an easy way to prompt ideas for what to do with unexpected excess ingredients. For home cooks, it might remove the need for scrolling through recipe blogs before you decide what to cook that evening. 

How to use Chat GPT in the kitchen

As with any other use of Chat GPT, it helps to be specific in what you ae asking. Very general questions get very general responses, so the more information you can give the AI, the better chance of getting a useable response. 

For example asking for ‘cooking tips’ gives very basic advice like ‘don’t overload the pan’ or ‘season as you go’, things that any cook will know already. Where it gets interesting is if you give basic ingredients and ask Chat GPT to write a recipe based on those ingredients. Better still, if you can define the type of recipe, cuisine or level. Here are some successful examples.

Chat GPT recipe: French-style chicken thighs with carrots and cream

For this recipe Chat GPT was given the instruction to write a recipe for a French-style dish that used chicken, carrots, potatoes and cream. It is a simple and hearty dish that anyone can make. The carrots and cream combine for a sweet sauce that the chicken cooks in. Perfect for a winter warmer.