Sometimes we think we can replicate a delicious meal or baked goods at home, but it turns out to be too expensive, smelly, or time-consuming to make it worth it. It’s often better to go to a restaurant or café directly instead of attempting to recreate a dish at home, as it can be too time-consuming and difficult to achieve the same taste and quality.
Redditors have shared examples of simple everyday meals that are not worth the effort to make at home.
#1 Donuts
Despite the long hours spent making homemade donuts, including preparing the dough, glaze, and toppings, they were quickly devoured in less than 2 minutes after being served, making the effort not worth it.
#2 French Fries
I came here to say french fries because they’re never as good at home no matter how you do them, but really it is just anything deep fried. Such a huge hassle and mess. Let the restaurants do it with their industrial fryers and ventilation.
#3 Defo Sushi
#4 Eggs Benedict
Making Eggs Benedict at home can be a fussy and labor-intensive process, with a high risk of making mistakes. Even if it turns out fine, it’s often cheaper and more satisfying to get it from a restaurant. While it can be a fun time with friends, it’s best left to the professionals who have the proper equipment and ingredients.
#5 Beef Wellington
Making Beef Wellington is a time-consuming process, it took all day to prepare, but it wasn’t even that nice.
#6 Tonkotsu Ramen
Making Tonkotsu Ramen is a very demanding process, requiring patience and time, and a lot of ingredients. Even though I made a few bowls, it made me realize the amount of work and dedication that goes into making a good bowl of ramen, and the respect for Ramen shops and their work.
#7 Eggplant Parm
I was going to say eggplant parm because the whole process takes forfkngever, the smell of the oil lingers forever and sure the dish turns out delicious but I could have just ordered some from the Italian deli up the street and been done with it. I could have even put it in a casserole dish and served it to my family and they wouldn’t have known any better
#8 Macarons
Making Macarons is difficult, as it requires a lot of care to avoid mistakes, which can lead to disaster. The effort is not worth it for me to make them again.
#9 Pastry puffs
#10 breaded or deep-fried food
Making breaded or deep-fried food at home is a messy process that leaves the entire apartment smelling like oil, it’s difficult to maintain the cleanliness, and it takes a lot of effort to clean the dishes afterwards. For me, the hassle is not worthwhile..
#11 Squid
Cleaning and cooking whole squid is a smelly and messy process that I would rather not repeat, it’s a nightmare task that I will avoid in the future.
#12 Shawarma
I love Shawarma and tried making it at home using various recipes but it never turned out as good as the one from the Shawarma joint on the east side of town.
#13 Dumplings
Making dumplings is time-consuming and effortful, the effort is not worth it, even though they taste amazing, I won’t be making them again.
#14 Tikka Masala
Making Tikka Masala requires toasting and grinding numerous whole spices, which is time-consuming. Instead, it’s better to let the local Indian restaurant make it better.
#15 mussels
Making mussels requires a lot of work, such as debearding and scraping off the barnacles, it was too much effort for me, so I will not make it again.
#16 Baking bread
Baking bread at home is a lot of work, and even when it turns out well, it’s rarely better than the bakery bread. I don’t think the effort is worthwhile.
#17 Ravioli
Making homemade ravioli is tedious and many of them exploded while boiling, it’s more worth it to have a professional make them for me.
#18 Vietnamese fish sauce
Vietnamese fish sauce chicken wings are delicious, but boiling fish sauce until it becomes a syrup has major long-lasting effects on the house. I could still smell it 2 weeks later, which is not worth the effort.
#19 Gyros
Making Gyros from scratch, including the meat, pitas, tzatziki, homemade French fries, and a caramelized rice pudding for dessert was delicious, but getting it at a dive is just as good. The effort and time it takes to make it at home is not worth it.
#20 Pierogi
Pierogi’s. Making the dough, achieving the ideal thickness, cutting out several small circles, creating a filling, stuffing each one, and finally sealing each one so that it won’t pop open. No thanks. There are many Polish immigrants in Cleveland where I reside, therefore they can make them better than I can.
