My Top 5 Biggest Cooking Fails & What I’ve Learned
Do you ever have cooking fails?
Even though my career involves cooking and sharing recipes, I’ve definitely had some AMAZING cooking fails! LOL! What I learned is that failing is a natural process, and no one can be perfect all the time! Mistakes are gonna happen, and they actually help you get better at whatever you are trying to master. AND some of mine are a little funny!
Hi, I’m Lina and I’m perfectly imperfect!
Please know I don’t have any sort of formal training in the kitchen. In fact, I just enjoy cooking for my family, trying new recipes, and sharing my results. And the food pics. I LOVE taking those the most! My mom is an AMAZING cook, so my current life goal is to be just like her. Above is a picture of us making tamales at Christmas! <3
Today, I’m keeping it real and sharing some of my biggest flubs in the kitchen. Think of it as a behind-the-scenes glimpse into some of what I do daily here at Hip2Save.
1.) Pumpkin Dessert… but fit for Taco Tuesday
The first time I made this Pumpkin Dessert featured HERE, I grabbed the ground CUMIN instead of the ground CINNAMON and dumped it all in! Well, I tried to scoop out all the cumin, but there’s no coming back after that mistake. My beautiful pumpkin dessert tasted more like a taco! LOL, so sad! My family was not impressed! 😂
Lesson: Slow down, pay attention, and wear glasses when cooking! I’m also very careful now when using cinnamon and cumin in recipes! LOL
2.) The Cloud Bread that fell flat
Bread without carbs sounded so amazing, I had to test it out. As you can see, things didn’t go so well! Ha. I talked about this epic fail in THIS post and asked readers where they thought I went wrong!
Lesson: Do a little recipe research before you start something new. According to most readers, it sounds like I folded the mixture too much after beating the egg whites into stiff peaks, which then gave my dough a soupy type mixture!
3.) Instant Pot Fail (Marinara & Spaghetti Squash)
I planned an Instant Pot one-pot meal idea which called for cooking marinara meat sauce and a small spaghetti squash at the same time! Seems efficient and smart, right? Well, I ended up with a giant soggy mess of a spaghetti squash. Part of the problem was because my Instant Pot was not coming to pressure properly and I kept having to re-start.
Lesson: Know your cooking appliance. When browning meat in the Instant Pot, it’s important to de-glaze the pot and make sure there aren’t any bits stuck to the bottom. Also if the sauce is too thick, your pot may not come to pressure (thin sauce with broth if too thick).
4.) Slow Cooker Tater-Tot Mush
Doesn’t this slow cooker meal look yummy? It was so awful no one in my family would eat it. Ha! And it wasn’t so much the taste but the texture. It turns out that lining the slow cooker with frozen tater-tots and then dumping in a bunch of other stuff = potat-oatmeal! LOL!
Lesson: When texture matters, not every type of meal is great for the slow cooker. I’m thinking this taco tater-tot meal idea would have been yummy in the actual oven, just like a casserole!
5.) Crescent Roll Hot Dog Pinterest Fail-on-a-Stick
So I tried this camping recipe where you wrap hot dogs with crescent dough and then grill. Well, this was my result! LOL
Lesson: I learned that when “baking” on the grill, you really need to use indirect heat like an oven. Also, soaking those wood skewers first would have been helpful! Read more about this fail HERE.
General cooking life lessons I’ve learned:
- Just because a recipe looks yummy, it may not actually taste great! This is why I test these popular recipes and share my feedback. I only share ideas that are easy and tasty, and I always try to add my personal tips for success!
- To avoid mistakes, slow down and read directions and ingredients a few times before starting a new recipe (this is a hard one since I’m always in a hurry! ha). When I research a recipe idea, I look for a half dozen ways to make it, just to make sure I get the result I’m hoping for.
- Read recipe reviews. I’m obsessed with recipe reviews and what people think, just like I am about products I buy online. It helps to see what changes others may have made to recipes, too!
- Most of all, HAVE FUN, adapt recipes to your taste, and don’t get discouraged by cooking fails!
Do you have an ultimate cooking fail? Share with us in the comments!
Written by Lina for Hip2Save. Lina is a proud mom of 2 small kids who loves photography, all holidays, cooking, thrift store makeovers, bargain shopping, and DIY makeovers. Her goal is to create a beautiful life and stylish home on a dime! Check out all of Lina’s DIY/CRAFTS and RECIPES created just for Hip2Save.
thanks for the tips
Let me count the ways…..
Thanks for always being so genuine Lina! As a struggling cook, I appreciate all of your recipes! 🙂
Few things in life make me laugh until I cry like looking at people’s Pinterest fails. 🙂 Thanks for keeping it real, Lina!
Thank you for sharing Lina and thank you for being so real. I had my own fail recently. I made low carb blueberry muffins and they were a spongy, flavorless, blue disappointment. I learned from my mistakes and made them perfectly the 4th time, LOL.
Ha! That’s awesome you didn’t give up! I bet you can rock those muffins now 👍
so sorry about that pumpkin dessert, which looks so tasty otherwise!!
once when making a bean soup, i tilted the pepper shaker over it to sprinkle a little, and the lid fell right off into the pot. all the pepper went in. i tried scooping it out, like you did with the cumin, but it was inedible. my apartment smelled spicy and sneezy for days.
Haha sneezy! I’ve done that also with pepper. 🙂
Love this post! Glad to know I’m not alone!
You are not! Lol 😆
Lol #1 is the reason I store the ground ginger and garlic powder very far apart in my cabinet.
So smart!! Haha 😂
I enjoyed reading your funny fails. I just don’t try cooking-haha!
Ha! And thanks for reading!
Lina, you are not alone, there are several Lina’s out there (including me) trying just to be the best at cooking for our family. I recently had a fail with shrimp scampi, well it was overcooked, hard and the shell stocked to shrimp :/ my husband usually cooks this recipe and its so good, but I offer help since he was at work. When I asked what the recipe needed in order to make better he reply “me” 🙂
Tamales are hard to cook and very laborious, I only cook twice a year.
That’s so sweet Yar! And that’s a funny shrimp story, thanks for sharing 😀
You always inspire me! Especially with this post on the crazy last week of school where my planning is totally nonexistent
Ah that’s sweet! And I’m with ya on this crazy last day of school week! Lol
OMG your cumin fail made me laugh and cringe at the same time! I did that when I was 12 years old with salt and sugar…. in COOKIE DOUGH!
Lina I have a easy recipe for a sour cream coconut cake. You can get a yellow cake mix and make as directed on box and while baking you can stir together the icing one cup of granulated sugar, one, one 8 oz. carton of sour cream and 3 1/2 cups of bagged bakers coconut. The icing you spread on the cake while it is still warm and it melts the sugar and the sour cream will spread easily. I grew up eating this and it sure makes a quick dessert to serve or take somewhere on short notice.
I have made this! It is wonderful. Stay tuned for something similar soon ❤️.
I have also made one with a yellow cake and poked holes in the cake and poured cream of coconut over the top or a can of condensed milk and then spread cool whip on top and sprinkle frozen coconut on top of the cool whip and it is a wonderful summer cake.
Omg that sounds awesome!
I understand your cumin/ cinnamon mix up… I have to be VERY careful not to mix up the Soy Sauce with the Vanilla! They are in similar sized bottles and I’ve had a close call more than once. I should probably store them in different places.
I can see me doing that too! Ha
I use your recipes all of the time Lina! The Lemon Orzo soup is still one of my faves.
Tell your mom she looks like your sister, not your mom!! 🙂
That’s the sweetest! Thanks so much 😀
Dying here! 😂. My fail was the pictured Crescent Roll hot dogs; they turned out the same as yours! Made for a memorable camping trip; just not the good kind of memory Lol!
Oh too funny!
That’s too funny! I had a similar issue with my crock pot 2 weeks as well.. apparently cauliflower rice will also come out like a soggy mess haha
Oh ha! Yikes 😂
Those crescent rolls…lol!
I’m finally learning not to trust every food blog out there. Just because someone says this is the best (fill in the blank) ever!” …doesn’t make it so 😯
And Pinterest fails sometimes are just what I need!
I’ve had too many cooking fails to count, but when I’m in need of something new I gravitate towards the allrecipes app. They’re rated by users that try them so I feel like I don’t have to be a guinea pig!
Yes! I love allrecipes too ❤️
I’ve mixed up Cinnamon and Chili seasoning because they are the only ones with the same red caps in the cupboard. Oatmeal with chili is NOT recommended, but 2 packs of oatmeal isn’t much of an investment in time and food. Lesson Learned!
Ha! Ya I bet that was interesting! Thanks for sharing 👍
when i was in the third grade i wanted cinnamon in my tea, i thought cumin was an abbreviation. worst cup of tea in history!
Haha I bet! 😂
I’m a walking Pinterest fail honestly. But the most recent was how EASY it is to just cut those mini taco corn tortillas & bake in the oven for your own oil free, healthy tortilla chips. Or ya know, your own possibly healthy charcoaly tortilla mess.
My husband last year sometime though served us tumeric tacos because he thought the tumeric was taco seasoning. “Why is my chicken YELLOW?” — “I don’t know. It happened after I put on the taco seasoning. Did you get a different kind?” — “Are you sure it was taco seasoning?” Indian tacos… Odd dinner that night.
Haha I just laughed so hard! I bet that was interesting! So funny 😂 Thanks for sharing.
Lina-
I cannot thank you enough for your posts!! I enjoy hip2save in general, but all of your posts are my FAVORITE! You inspire me to try new things and every. single. recipe. I try that you post is soooo good!!! Thank you for all of your great ideas. I have very young children and I’m always looking for ways to make meals quickly. I recently bought an air fryer & have tried a few of your recipes…so good & so easy! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you!!! Thank you!
This made my day! Thanks for being so supportive of my work and of hip2save! We appreciate you! ❤️
I just made some ruglach using gluten free flour (for my nephew who is gluten intolerant). Total fail…the dough kept cracking and falling apart when I rolled it. Grrrrr. Thanks for all of your wonderful recipes, tips, and keeping it fun and real Lina! I always enjoy your posts…please keep them coming <3
Thanks Bunny! 😉 Sorry to here about your dough!
I’ve learned my lesson with a few Pinterest fails. Now I’ve learned to look at multiple recipes for the item I want to make. I try to find 2-3 recipes that are similar in ingredients and instructions. That way, I know that multiple people have made the recipe and have had success. This has helped me a lot in choosing from the many, many recipes available on Pinterest.
Yes! I agree – a little research is key 👍 thanks for sharing!
Oh – my girlfriend made beautiful eclipse cookies – I did not have time to follow her recipe, so I just tried to frost lemon icing over an opened oreo – so pitiful – on the bright side – they were tasty – they came with a warning sign – **Do not view cookies without Glasses on** LOL
Oh haha – that’s a fun story! Thanks for sharing!
I can’t even remember some of my worst fails–not funny at the time, but ya might as well laugh now!!
I totally agree with reading the comments/reviews! I don’t know how many blog posts I’ve read where the blogger insists they don’t know why everyone else is having a problem with their recipe, because it always turns out AWESOME for them…LOL.
Cinnamon vs. Celery Salt…Celery Salt will win every time in Potato Soup, trust me I know!
Lol!! Good to know 🤗❤️
great tips. i always read reviews to make sure i am making something the best way. I’m sure I’ve had several fails. I made french toast with cumin, same mistake, different recipe. Best fail, my mom made pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and was on the phone and couldn’t remember if she put in the sugar. As she served it we all glanced at each other around the table, it looked different. It was awful as you can imagine. No one would say anything. But I finally said, what the heck happened to your famous pumpkin pie? This is awful. Everyone put their fork down and agreed. She then told us about being on the phone. This was at least 20 years ago. We still talk about it.
Lol 😂 so funny!!! Thanks for sharing Tracey!
basically anytime i cook anything outside of my tried and true 10 things i can do well it’s a mess. the cumin thing cracked me up. when i was in the 3rd grade i thought cumin was short for cinnamon and put it in my tea…needless to say it was disgusting. as i don’t often cook outside my comfort zone, my fails usually involve dropping the food. like today, when i dropped 11.99 in gluten free chicken nuggets on the ground. or last year when i made a huge baking sheet of cheesy tuna melts and dropped them cheese side down on the floor.
the most funny simultaneously horrible time we didn’t get to eat what i made…we had our cat for 17 years, he had never once gotten into food. i don’t think i ever even saw him climb on a counter or table. I made a giant 8 pound lasagna and had company coming. went to do my make up, heard my cat crying, he was sitting in the pan of lasagna eating it and burning himself. he wouldn’t leave the pan that was hurting him just kept eating it. he was a giant fat orange furball so I guess the cartoon Garfield was accurate and fat orange cats love lasagna. fortunately we had take out pizza and some burn salve from the vet and all was well.
Ahh oh my gosh that’s an amazing cat story 😂 I drop stuff all the time too and burn myself lots. Lol
Love ya, Lina! I have constant fails. My kids call me “Meat Medusa” because I turn meat to stone. Sometimes I think I should just throw the ingredients right into the trash and save a few steps.
Lol 😂 oh my gosh I choked on my coffee. Thanks for sharing Erica! ❤️ At least we’re trying 👍