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People Are Sharing The Meals That Just Aren't Worth Cooking At Home, And They Make A Good Point

"High effort, low yield, in my opinion."

One of the best parts of cooking at home is re-creating your favorite restaurant's meals for a fraction of the price.

Woman cooking in a kitchen

But Reddit user u/That_Smell_You_Know recently asked, "What meal have you tried cooking at home but won't do again 'cause it's not worth it?" Here are some of the responses.

1. "I cried so many times when I attempted croissants for the first time. I now live next to a bakery that makes fabulous laminated pastries. Why cause myself such distress ever again?"

u/roseveins

2. "I've been living in Japan for seven years, and nobody in their right mind makes tonkatsu from scratch at home here. There are restaurants that specialize in ramen and ramen only for a reason."

u/Shiola_Elkhart

3. "Remember when 'bacon everything' was a trend like 10 years ago? I weaved a bunch of bacon into a circle and broiled it to make a 'bacon pizza crust.' It was a huge pain in the ass, the resulting pizza was gross and disappointing, and I'll never do it again."

u/TerrifyinglyAlive

4. "I once made vegetarian burgers, which involved multiple steps of preparing lots of different vegetables and finally cooking them. The overall result was underwhelming."

Veggie burger

5. "Puff pastry."

u/PurpleWomat

6. "Macarons. I like macarons, but I don't like them enough to go through the trouble of ever making them again. I hate how careful you have to be so that you don't screw them up. Even making the slightest mistake could end in disaster."

u/Darwin343

7. "Breaded or deep-fried stuff. It makes the entire apartment smell like oil, the entire process is messy (even with one hand for dry and one for wet), there are more dishes after, and it's just not worth the trouble to me."

French fries in oil

8. "Pho. Definitely pho. Homemade was the best I've ever had, but it wasn't worth the price. I'm sure it was $15–$20 per bowl, easily. I think most bowls of restaurant pho here are $6. Pho (and many other soups) is a good value when you already have the bones on hand from previous meals. Buying all that stuff to make it is just too damn expensive."

u/Heavy_Doody

9. "Not a meal, but baklava. Even with prepared phyllo dough, it will test your patience and your cleaning-supply cabinet, because the sticky honey/lemon stuff gets everywhere. Plus, by the time you buy the butter, nuts, spices, etc., and the phyllo (unless you're a real masochist and want to make your own), you might as well spring for a whole panful already prepared from a restaurant."

Baklava on a plate

10. "Beef Wellington. It took all day, and it wasn't even that nice."

u/bikinikills

11. "Donuts are definitely one of those things that are an absolute pain to make because there’s no way to effectively make a bulk amount in a normal home kitchen, and making a small amount is effectively useless. I used to help my mom make kleinur (Icelandic donuts) every Christmas, and it was legitimately an all-day affair making the dough, chilling the dough, rolling it out, cutting it, cooking in tiny batches, glazing, or rolling in sugar. There was a reason we only did it once a year!"

u/BrashPop

12. "Man, I fucked up ravioli so bad and have greatly enjoyed frozen ones from the store ever since."

u/lennster10

13. "Not a meal, but homemade marshmallows. They can be finicky, and they end up tasting the same anyway. Sure, you can customize them and stuff, but the bigger problem is that they're easy to mess up. Candy-making can be my Achilles' heel, so personally, I can't seem to get them right (and yes, I use a thermometer). Instead of hoping they come out okay, I'd rather just buy some."

Hand cutting strips of marshmallows

14. "Mussels. I did it once, and debearding and scraping off the barnacles was a ridiculous amount of work. Never again."

u/GrandVast

15. "Gyros from scratch. I made the meat, the pitas, the tzatziki, homemade french fries, and a caramelized rice pudding for dessert. It was delicious...but getting it at a dive is just as good."

u/LaRoseDuRoi

16. "This will be unpopular, but French onion soup. It was so much more hands-on work than I expected, and I was so over it by the time it was done, I didn’t even care what it tasted like."

French onion soup

17. "Gnocchi. Far too much work for so little."

u/Henryspencer420

18. "Sea bass. It was delicious and cost a fair amount at the store, but after cooking it at home, the entire house stank like fish for several weeks. I’ve never had that happen with something like salmon or tuna. So when I'm given a chance to eat a nice dinner OUT, sea bass is definitely back on the menu."

u/AnAffableMisanthrope

What's a meal you love to order but can't stand to make at home? Tell me in the comments!

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.