Younger Generations Don’t Seem To Know 9 Basic Kitchen Skills Boomers Learned As Little Kids
Serge wild plants / Shutterstock Kids can learn a lot from their phones and computers, but there’s really no replacing the practical skills that come as second nature to their Gen X and boomer counterparts. In particular, Gen Z and Gen Alpha seem to lack basic kitchen skills that older generations learned as little kids.
For many boomers, learning how to cook was simply part of growing up. Long before food delivery apps and endless online tutorials, kids spent time in the kitchen helping their parents and grandparents prepare family meals. As they did, they picked up practical skills that became second nature.
Today, the prevalence of convenience foods and busy schedules has changed how many younger people learn to cook, making some basic techniques far less common than they once were. While plenty of younger adults are talented home cooks, there are still a handful of everyday kitchen skills that many boomers learned as children but that younger generations are increasingly unfamiliar with.
People in younger generations don’t seem to know 9 basic kitchen skills that boomers learned when they were just little kids
1. How to make an omelet
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For many Gen Zers, even cooking an omelet is outside their skill set, despite being one of the most basic things their parents and grandparents learned to make. This is the same generation that buys boiled eggs in a prepackaged bag and sticks to frozen meals, both for convenience and out of necessity.
Their parents might have let them watch the cooking process as kids, but given the anxiety and safety concerns the media sparked during those years, most Gen Zers didn’t actually absorb these skills. Some chose to learn them for themselves on social media or their own time, but most ended up resorting to what was easy, and clearly, that’s not an omelet.
2. How to dice and chop vegetables
Most Gen Zers and other young people have subpar knife skills, largely because they’ve grown up in a culture where convenience takes precedence over learning new, challenging skills. For some, it might’ve even been a fault of their upbringing, where parents cared so much about safety that they didn’t offer opportunities to learn through practice.
Especially when chopping vegetables takes a lot of time and effort, it’s really no surprise that young people aren’t interested in learning the skills. They like fast casual foods and delivery for a reason. It’s convenient and easily accessible.
3. How to clean and dispose of grease
From getting grease out of their clothes to cleaning it off the stovetop after cooking, so many young people missed the life lesson. Some leave it forever, while others use only water to move it around. Some people put it down the drain, wondering why their pipes are clogged.
While it seemed like second nature to use hot water and dish soap for older generations, who were taught by their parents and had no choice but to do the chore, for young people it’s much less obvious.
4. How to be a good host and cook at the same time
From balancing connecting with guests and cooking to knowing which dishes to serve a crowd, young people miss out on the art of hosting. They might’ve watched their parents do it, but for the most part, they’re not flexing that muscle enough.
It’s not just a lack of cooking knowledge that contributes to this struggle but also a lack of community. So many Gen Zers are isolated from other friends and people their age, so they’re not necessarily learning to host by practice. They might have a friend over on a Friday night, but the dinner parties of their parents’ and grandparents’ generations are slowly going away.
5. How to roast a chicken
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Cooking meat, especially chicken, is a serious fear for many young people. Whether it's a temperature problem they don't know how to control or fear about how to handle the meat without exposing themselves to bacteria, they're generally unaware of what to do.
Some of these young people even avoid cooking meat and chicken altogether, afraid that they’re going to mess it up and get themselves sick. However, whether it’s emotions or foods we’re afraid of, avoidance only creates more distress.
6. How to create meals from scratch
Many young people don’t feel confident in the kitchen because they’re not practicing. For Gen Zers struggling to afford groceries and facing financial barriers, it’s easier to resort to buying frozen meals that they know they’ll like and can’t mess up.
However, that also means they’re missing the ability to cook from scratch that other generations take for granted every single day. It’s not every young person, but most need a detailed recipe to even think about attempting a new meal.
7. How to improvise
When they don’t have something in the kitchen or are missing a random ingredient from a recipe, Gen Zers tend to avoid improvising. Unlike boomers, who value resourcefulness and were taught it early in life, young people often opt for convenience foods, using excuses like “I don’t have any food.”
They may make do with what they have at some points in their lives, but for the most part, they’re wired to seek ease and convenience over critical thinking, especially in the kitchen.
8. How to clean as they cook
Considering most Gen Zers aren’t comfortable in the kitchen, especially when they’re making a new recipe, it’s not surprising that their attention goes to avoiding a mess-up. They can’t multitask by cooking and cleaning at the same time because they’re too focused on making sure their chicken isn’t raw and their knife skills are safe.
Most of the time, the cleaning habits boomers regularly maintain are swiftly replaced by convenience for young people. Especially with such strong feelings of protection over their free time, they’re not willing to waste it on much.
9. How to store leftovers
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Whether it’s knowing what can go in the fridge and how long leftovers can last, many Gen Zers are ignorant about the kinds of food safety and storage regulations older people know by heart. From keeping cooked rice for too long and even letting raw meat linger too long in the sink, it’s boomers who are seriously careful about these things.
For most Gen Zers, it’s a matter of avoidance. They’d prefer not to cook or eat these things at all, so they don’t have to learn to handle the leftovers.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor’s degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
