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4.5

Excellent rating - 4.5/5 (9200+ reviews)

Do you need help with meal preparation?

  • Home cooking
  • Cooking Lessons
  • Vegetarian meal preparation
  • Vegan meal preparation
  • Meal planning
  • … or anything else
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Best rated cooks near me

Recent Cooking reviews

Timely delivery and excellent customer service!!

Birthday cake delivery

$20

The cake was exactly what we wanted. Absolutely beautiful to look at almost a shame to cut it. Tasted incredible! Fantastic texture and flavour. Highly recommend.

Cake required

$80

Easy to work with, great healthy tasting meals. Will definitely continue getting meals made by Charlotte :)

Home cooking in Carlingford

$50

Super efficient, fast and took good care

Deliver birthday cake

$30

Adam delivered the cake and was prompt! He has an awesome accent too! Haha

Deliver cake

$50

Tracey handled my task with great confidence and patience.

Mother’s Day bouquet

$100

What's the average cost of a cook

$70 - $200

low

$70

median

$125

high

$200

Low, median and high bar chart distribuiton

Average reviews for Cooking Services

based on 536 reviews

4.92

508
19
4
4
1

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Avg. quotes per task

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Hire trusted Cooks with Airtasker

Cooking is one of those skills that takes a moment to learn but a lifetime to master. Those who choose to master it over a lifetime are generally highly sought after, and for good reason.

Whether you’re a catering company who needs a chef to help serve up food at a gala event, a restaurant who requires the short term assistance of a chef while they search for a long term staffer, or perhaps even a hopeless romantic who wants to engage the services of a private chef to make an anniversary particularly special, you can now gain access to a huge amount of talent, and all at the click of a button.

Simply tell us about the job that you’d like the chef to do and suggest what you’d be willing to pay, and you’ll soon begin to receive offers from available chefs. Each chef comes with ratings and detailed reviews of their previous work, so you can be confident that your chosen hire will be able to produce the sort of quality food that you require.

So what are you waiting for? Get a free, no obligation quote today!

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Local, skilled pros

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Top Cooking related questions

Professional cooks usually have previous kitchen experience or qualifications. They’re paid to prepare food, either in a commercial environment, in people’s homes as a personal cook, or they may work from their own kitchen at home.

Yes. Most cooks specialise in a particular type of cooking, like baking, seafood, gluten-free, vegan, steaming, frying, or even a particular cuisine.

A professional cook doesn’t necessarily need any set qualifications, but it’s common for professional chefs to hold a certificate or have some work experience in a professional kitchen.

Professional cooks can give you a restaurant quality meal but in the comfort (and convenience) of your own home. If you’re hosting a dinner party, it means you can spend more time with your guests and minimise the clean up afterwards.

This will depend on whether your cook is assembling the meal at your place or at theirs. Generally, private catering chefs will bring all the ingredients, along with any specific appliances they need. However, they may use your basic utensils and servingware.

The price for a professional or personal cook is usually between $70-$200 when you hire through Airtasker. It could be more or less than this, depending on how many people they need to cater for, the cost of ingredients, and the time it’ll take them to prepare the meal.


Suggested reads about Cooking

What do cooking services include?

You can hire a cook to provide food for a range of meals and occasions, from home cooking and meal prep to specialty cooking and even dinner party catering. You can arrange cooking services to happen in your own kitchen or your cook can bring the food ready-prepared. Your chef will take care of everything from buying ingredients to cleaning up. Here’s what you can expect depending on your cooking service:

Home cooking
Want fresh meals in your home? Your home chef can either offer regular home cooking services where they cook multiple nights per week, or provide a one-off meal if you just need occasional help. Your private chef will ask if you have any food preferences or intolerances, how many people they need to cook for, and what appliances and equipment they can use. They’ll usually plan the meals ahead of time, purchase the ingredients, and freshly cook the meals in your kitchen, and then clean up before they go.

Baking
Want to impress your best friend with an amazing cake for her birthday party? Or perhaps it’s your turn to bring some baking to work for morning tea? Hire a pastry chef or professional baker to create a cake, biscuits, muffins, or something else tasty. They’ll ask you how many people you’re baking for, any flavour preferences, and any special decorations you’d like. Your baker will bake at their place and deliver the finished product to your home or office once it’s ready.

Dinner party chef
If you’re planning a dinner party with friends, why not hire a dinner party chef to help take all the stress out of hosting? Your professional cook will contact you to confirm the number of guests, what courses/canapes you’d like, and whether the event is formal or informal. They’ll usually prepare most of the food where the event is being held (whether at your home or at a venue) and clean up the kitchen after they’re done.

Specialty cooking
Cooking paleo, vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free can be a challenge, whether it’s for yourself, a family member, or for an event you’re catering. Fortunately, many cooks are experienced with a range of different food requirements, including food intolerances, special diets, and allergies. When you hire a cook, they’ll choose recipes and ingredients that are suitable, confirming any dietary requirements before they get started. They’ll be careful to avoid cross-contamination if they’re preparing alternative meals for certain members of your family or party.

Meal preparation & planning
If you struggle to come up with meal ideas and always find yourself short of time throughout the week, why not hire a cook to prep your meals for the week? Your personal cook will confirm how many meals you’d like, the number of people, and if you have any preferences. They’ll choose meals that keep well and are easy to store, and taste great fresh or reheated. They’ll either prepare the food in your kitchen (cleaning up afterwards) or drop your freshly prepared meals off when they’re done, packaged and ready for the fridge or freezer.

Recent Cooking tasks

House cleaning and meal preparation

$80

St Helens Park NSW, Australia

21st Apr 2024

Clean up the kitchen, prepare a meal for 3 and clean up again after.

Meal preparation

$100

Lyons ACT, Australia

20th Apr 2024

I need help with meal preparation for the week, including the below: > Thorough washing of vegetables and fruits. > Drying them properly with kitchen towels > Cutting up vegetables and fruits accordingly > Storing cut-up vegetables and fruits appropriately in lined containers. > Other simple meal prep tasks (boiling eggs and peeling them, etc.) > Cleaning kitchen and utensils once done.

I am looking for a baker to make a custom made 30th birthday cake

$100

Newstead QLD, Australia

19th Apr 2024

A custom made Kinder Beuno design birthday cake. I will attach photos for the kind of design I am looking for

Meal prep home chef

$150

Mosman NSW, Australia

19th Apr 2024

Looking for someone to take a meal guide / dietary requirements and shop ingredients and cook/ prep weekly meals, put in containers to eat fresh within the few days / that week. can do in our home or offsite and deliver each week. 1 day work / or 35p/h previous experience necesary and police check if in home cooking.

Private chef for dinner party at home

$1,000

Surfers Paradise QLD, Australia

19th Apr 2024

Quote for a dinner party at home say 10 people 3 courses

Personalised baking

$300

Labrador QLD, Australia

19th Apr 2024

Hello, this sounds like a little bit of an odd request. My husbands birthday is coming up on May the 1st and I am having difficulty finding someone who can make a personalized baked cheesecake/normal cake creation - complete with little personalized fondant figurines... and I was hoping someone would be able to help please!

Looking for a hot pink/fuschia table cloth (~300cm)

$20

Rhodes NSW, Australia

19th Apr 2024

I need a hot pink table cloth round (~300cm)

Looking for Private Chef for dinner party

$900

Coomba Bay NSW, Australia

18th Apr 2024

Private Chef required for dinner: 14 guests 2-3 course meal and canapes. Limited dietaries

Meal Prep & Deliver (10 per week to start with)

$95

Kew East VIC, Australia

7th Apr 2024

Budget is for labour only and excludes groceries. Happy to reimburse for groceries on top of this. Looking for a long term solution as I'll be booking around 15-20 meals per week after the first run! Simple 3-5 ingredient recipe meal prepping weekly. I'm looking to build a routine to have some calories-controlled meals done weekly. Recipes will be supplied: eg 80g pasta, 100g barilla sauce, 16g cheese, olive oil. 2 recipes, 5 meals each. Deliver every Monday if possible. - Due date: Flexible

High recommend Rachel! Great communication and organisation for the task. She's also really attentive and goes above and beyond with each stage of preparation ☺️

Weekly meal prep, chef required

$150

North Bondi NSW, Australia

30th Mar 2024

We need a chef to come and prepare meals for 4 days for 2 adults and 2 children, including snacks. Meals should be high protein, low fat, tasty and a variety every week. You will send me a list the day before and I will Milkrun all the ingredients.

Carlolina was prompt and efficient. Thank you!

Cake decorator required

$100

Malvern East VIC, Australia

30th Mar 2024

I will be creating a 12 inch five layered cake, on the cake we need an expert who is good with applying smooth frosting ( will create the frosting)

Helen was absolutely amazing

Home cooked meals

$175

Braybrook VIC, Australia

28th Mar 2024

Home cooked meals any cuisine delivered.

Linda is an amazing cook. She is very professional and genuine person. I highly recommend.

I need someone to face paint 3 people for Easter sunday

$50

Labrador QLD 4215, Australia

27th Mar 2024

I have an autistic son that is extremely excited about Easter 🐇 and loves his face painted and myself and my partner want to make sure he has the best experience possible on the Easter Sunday.

We had some hurdles with break down in communication however Louise quickly adaptted and made decisive action andy son had a great experience and great face paints all round. Thank you mate. "DECERTO"

Meal prep consult

$10

Tingalpa QLD, Australia

22nd Mar 2024

Please give me a consult/budget estimate of how much my weekly meal prep will cost + labour based off the simple recipes I will share with you.

Thank you Leonie for the consult.

Butterfly cake

$100

Campbelltown NSW, Australia

3rd Mar 2024

Lilac Coloured Butterly cake, for a 4y year old. I have uploaded some images as inspiration. Need cake for 20 people. Buttercream preferably. Pick up MacArthur region, otherwise delivery if available. Please send me your quote + cakes you’ve made for my guidance. Thankyou!

Will now be doing all my cakes with Eva, truly exceeded expectations.

Custom made cake

$100

Botany NSW, Australia

2nd Mar 2024

Hi, I’m looking to get a custom made cake done for the 26th of March. I’d like it to be jungle themed. I’ve attached a photo to show what I’d like. It will be to feed 16 people. Thank you!

Thank you so much Cas, what a beautiful cake you’ve made!

Birthday cake of designer bag

$200

Rhodes NSW, Australia

1st Mar 2024

Need a birthday cake made to represent a designer woman’s bag , Gucci, Fendi or YSL, vanilla butter cream is preferred. - Due date: Needs to be done on Sunday, 24 December 2023

Fantastic, easy to deal with and very talented.

Regular Housekeeper incl. Meal Prep

$35

Randwick NSW, Australia

5th Feb 2024

We are a busy family of 5 (3 children ages 15, 12 & 9, plus our Toy Cavoodle who is very friendly/ low maintenance/ hypoallergenic) looking for someone to help us with general housekeeping and meal prep/ cooking in Randwick. We are looking for an experienced, reliable housekeeper 2x per week. Approx 3-4 hours each day. Days flexible but preference is for a Monday and Friday morning from approx. 8.30am. Hoping to hire on a long term basis to help our family throughout the year. Must have great communication skills (English a must), be organised, friendly and have great attention to detail. Tasks will include: - Laundry - Wash/ dry/ fold/ put away - Ironing - Bed making and weekly change of bed linen (including wash/ dry of bed sheets /pillowcases/ quilt covers) - Unpacking groceries and preparing 2 meals per week for the family - Mop and vaccuum floors - Make sure the house is clean and tidy including wiping down of surfaces/ dusting - Cleaning kitchen - wiping of bench, pack/ unpack dishwasher etc - Initial organisation of linen cupboard and children’s drawers. -Keeping fridge/ pantry/ kitchen drawers/ linen cupboard clean and organised We have a cleaner who comes once a week on a Thursday who does the deep clean of bathrooms/ kitchen/ floors etc so the house is never dirty, we just require some help keeping it tidy and organised; the laundry up to date and some help with meal prep. Offering $35/ hour based on experience - Due date: Flexible

Elena was excellent. Will definitely use her again

Birthday decoration and cake for one year old

$600

Braybrook VIC, Australia

4th Feb 2024

I am looking for baby boss decorations and a birthday cake for my sons 1st birthday If you also provide cupcake, let us know Interested to know on the whole package event is at braybrook hotel starting from 5:00 to 9:00p - Due date: Needs to be done on Sunday, 25 February 2024

Very good and quick

Bake a Child's Cake

$150

Preston VIC, Australia

27th Jan 2024

Hello Kind Airtasker Thank you for looking at my ad! I require a birthday cake for my son by the 3rd of Feb It should be Dinosaur themed and there are some inspiration images attached The Cake should be lemon flavoured and enough to feed about 12 people. Let me know how much you think it will cost and we can work something out. Budget negotiable. Kindest Regards, Constantine - Due date: Before Saturday, 3 February 2024

Cake looked amazing 👏