Cooking 101 – NYT Cooking

Chefs demonstrate techniques and share essential recipes that are fundamental to making great food.

Linda Xiao for The New York Times

Published June 25, 2025Updated June 25, 2025

Welcome to the home base of Cooking 101, our series on essential cooking skills. Every edition of the series covers a different technique, tool or ingredient, and each host shares the tips, recipes and kitchen wisdom that they believe will set you up for success, no matter where you are in your cooking journey. View all the recipes featured in Cooking 101.

Hosted by the chef and cookbook author Sohla El-Waylly, each episode focuses on a different ingredient, how to shop for it and the best ways to prepare it. Watch her as she shares the culinary methods she believes are truly worth mastering.

Episode Seven

An image of a woman in glasses standing before a background of steaks. The bottom of the frame reads “Beef 101.”

What You’ll Learn: What to look for when buying steak; all about labeling, like what fat percentages mean and how you can use them to your advantage; how to cook tough cuts; how to test for doneness and more.

Make the Recipes

Buttery Steak and Potatoes

Taco Salad

An overhead image of a bowl topped with lettuce, cheese, tortilla chips and beans.

Beef Suya

Skewered beef topped with red onions and red peppers on a dark background.

Episode Six

A woman in glasses and a yellow dress stands in front of an image of a plate of spaghetti. The words “Spaghetti 101” are at the bottom of the frame.

What You’ll Learn: How to correctly boil your pasta; how to easily measure 12 ounces of pasta; what to do if you accidentally threw out your pasta water; why you generally shouldn’t rinse your pasta and more.

Make the Recipes

Grated Tomato Pasta

Photographed from above: a bowl of spaghetti with tomato sauce, garnished with basil. To the left sits a spoon and fork.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti Stir-Fry With Chicken

Photographed from above: A large white oval dish with chicken, spaghetti, carrots, peas, string beans, drizzled with red sauce.

Episode Five

A woman in a striped button-down shirt stands in front of an image of roasted broccoli on a sheet pan.

What You’ll Learn: How to buy the freshest heads of broccoli; how to slice and chop it perfectly; how to cook it to bring out maximum flavor and more.

Make the Recipes

Broccoli With Sizzled Nuts and Dates

Quinoa and Broccoli Spoon Salad

Two light bowls filled with broccoli, quinoa, apples and nuts are photographed from overhead.

Sesame Broccoli

photographed from above: a large white oval serving dish with broccoli, garnished with sesame seeds. a serving spoon and fork are on the dish.

Episode FOUR

A woman in glasses stands in front of a fillet of salmon on a sheet pan.

What You’ll Learn

How to shop for fish; the difference between farm-raised and wild-caught; how to get crispy skin; how and why to dry brine fish; how to braise frozen fish; how to shallow fry and more.

Recipes in This Episode

Roasted Salmon With Dill and Cucumber Salad

An overhead shot shows roasted salmon with crispy skin on a baking sheet and a dill-cucumber salad in a white bowl.

Coconut Curry Fish

A Dutch oven holds a colorful coconut fish curry with red peppers and green cilantro sprigs. A bowl of rice is nearby.

Fish Tacos

Episode THREE

A woman with dark hair and glasses bites into a piece of chicken stands in front of an image of a spatchcocked chicken on a sheet pan.

What You’ll Learn

How to handle raw chicken safely; how to spatchcock a whole bird; how to ensure your chicken doesn’t become dry; how to braise and more.

Recipes in This Episode

Spatchcock Roast Chicken

A spatchcocked roast chicken is shown on top of burnished onion slices on a cooling rack set inside a baking sheet.

Coconut Milk Chicken Adobo

overhead shot of a blue bowl of chicken adobo, garnished with a bay leaf. A large pot with serving spoon sits to its right.

Hara Masala Murgh (Green Masala Chicken)

An overhead shot of chicken with an herby sauce, garnished with a lemon wedge.

Episode TWO

A woman in glasses and a button down stands in front of an image of a bowl of rice.

What You’ll Learn

How to shop for rice; the differences between short-, medium- and long-grain rice, brown rice and white rice; how to make a perfect pot and rescue a failed one; and how to cook pilaf, fried rice and more.

Recipes in This Episode

Butter Pilaf

An overhead shot shows a pot of white long-grain rice.

Basic Stovetop Rice

A side image of a black bowl filled with white rice.

Whatever You’ve Got Fried Rice

An overhead image of rice stir-fried with vegetables and topped with herbs.

Episode OnE

A woman in glasses stands in front of an image of a fried egg in a skillet. The bottom of the frame reads “Eggs 101.”

What You’ll Learn

How to shop for eggs and expert tips for all the ways to cook them: scrambled, fried, over easy, over hard, sunny-side up, hard-boiled, soft-boiled, poached and more.

Recipes in This Episode

Cheesy Frittata