Create Your Own Recipe

This is a challenge to you to do in the week…

Start with foods you already cook or bake.

If you’re a good cook or baker, it’s likely that you’ve got at least one recipe that you know and love but have been trying to make it better. Use this recipe as a starting point for making changes or substitutions. Sometimes just changing the herbs and spices can give your dish an entirely new flavor profile. If the recipe calls for something that isn’t available in your local store or if it’s too expensive, find something similar to substitute for it and see what happens!

Using a familiar recipe as a reference point is the easiest way for you to begin creating. You can make changes based on availability or taste preferences. Creativity and forethought are key.

Is there a variation you could try?

Use ingredients that are already on hand. If you don’t have something on hand, it’s probably not an ingredient to use in your recipe.
Use ingredients that are in season. These will be the most flavorful and least expensive options, so that’s a win-win!
Use ingredients you can easily find at the grocery store or farmer’s market.
Start with ingredients that are easy to prepare—it’s not cheating to use seasoning mixes instead of mincing herbs into bits yourself (unless you enjoy doing this). Most recipes come with instructions for how long things need to cook; just follow them and voila: easily prepared food!

What are some flavors you haven’t tried before?

As you can see, the possibilities are endless. You’ve probably eaten a lot of foods in your life and have a strong sense of what you like or don’t like. If you’re trying to come up with a recipe that uses two ingredients that you’ve never combined before—and preferably haven’t even thought of combining before—you’ll want to think outside the box.

To start, think about flavors that are already familiar to us: salty and sweet; spicy and sour; bitter and umami (savory). Then ask yourself “How could I combine these?” You might immediately think of peanut butter cups or chocolate chip cookies because they’re iconic flavor combinations that everyone knows about. How about adding some heat? By using Sriracha sauce on top of these treats instead of just sprinkling some powdered sugar over them, we now have an entirely new experience for our taste buds!

Write down your idea.

Now that you’ve got a basic recipe, it’s time to do some math and figure out what ingredients go into your dish.

Here are some tips:

Make a list of all the ingredients you’ll need. Write down everything from flour to salt, or whatever ingredients come to mind when thinking about making your dish. Try not to think too hard about how much of each ingredient you need—just write down what comes naturally! You can always adjust later on if it turns out that there are too many or too few of something in the end product.
If you’re feeling adventurous, try guessing how much of each ingredient should go into your recipe based on similar recipes other people have created (or even yourself). This isn’t really necessary but helps give more concrete numbers. Which some appreciate, more than just an unquantifiable “a lot” or “handful”! (Chris, at Bucket of Bread, tends to like the vague measurements as it seems to help when changing the amount of an item baked).

What do you think will happen if you make this?

Now, you’re ready to make your own recipe!

This is the fun part. What do you think will happen if you make this? You’ll be able to learn how to make a new recipe, which can be really helpful in the kitchen. But you’ll also be able to impress your family and friends by showing off your cooking skills and creativity. Are you prepared to use #bucketofbread for the final product’s post to Instagram? (You should really do that, by the way!)

When cooking one of your recipes, be open to making changes along the way.

So, let’s get to the fun part: cooking. When you’re starting a recipe for the first time, know that you might need to make adjustments along the way. The secret is not being afraid of making changes as your cooking progresses—or even changing your mind entirely about what you want to make and going in a completely different direction.

Let’s say you decide to make a recipe for baked chicken parmesan, but halfway through the process you realize that it’s too dry and doesn’t have enough sauce. Don’t be afraid! Just add another jar of tomato sauce or marinara (and maybe some water too) until it has reached your desired consistency. You could also decide that instead of topping your dish with shredded mozzarella cheese and baking it as written in step 4, maybe melted provolone would be better than gooey mozzarella—or maybe even a combination of both!

What’s all this boil down to?

Now that you have all the information you need to create your own recipe, what are you waiting for? Go find and create some amazing recipes and get cooking more and bake with Bucket of Bread. Contact Bucket of Bread to share what you’ve created, and it may end up posted with your name on it to include links to your web presence.