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4.3

Excellent rating - 4.3/5 (10900+ 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

Thank-you!! Beautiful food, perfect for our busy family

Meal Preparation & light house duties - Reservoir

$30

Extremely helpful and friendly service. Thanks so much for your help with the meal prep Josie. Will certainly be getting your help again.

Weekly meal prep

$120

Julie did an awesome job. She was very helpful. Thanks a lot, Julie.

Decoration for a surprise Birthday party

$100

Christine made me a week’s worth of beautiful healthy meals and was incredibly accommodating of my Low FODMAP diet needs. She’s super friendly and nice and the food is great.

Meal Preparation & Shopping

$100

Yummy food and great communicator / service! Thank you Julia!

QUOTE:Meal prep 24 meals for 2 people - VEGAN & GF

$200

Christine was great at meal prepping for me. She was very nice and passionate about cooking.

Looking for someone to meal prep for me

$60

What's the average cost of a cook

$80 - $210

low

$80

median

$140

high

$210

Low, median and high bar chart distribuiton

Average reviews for Cooking Services

based on 502 reviews

4.92

477
15
5
3
2

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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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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

Weekly meal or monthly meal prep.

$70

Hawthorn VIC, Australia

20th Mar 2025

Looking for a home cook to prepare meals for two people. I need: • 4 vegetarian and 3 non-vegetarian options per week • Meals to last up to two weeks • Someone to come in once every two weeks to cook and prepare meals • Budget: $70 per visit Let me know if you’re interested!

Meal preparation

$300

Malvern VIC, Australia

20th Mar 2025

Casual meal preparation, 3 days of food for 2 people, one visit in home per week. Please estimate number of hours for the visit, labour cost and average meal costs.

Meal prep for the week

$300

Elizabeth Bay NSW, Australia

19th Mar 2025

Prepare a weeks worth of healthy meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner). Must meet specific macronutrient requirements. I’m happy to pre purchase ingredients but would need you to plan the recipes and give me ingredients and quantities. I have a small kitchen which you’d prepare the meals in. Requires good cooking / meal preparation experience.

Birthday decorations

$150

Hurstville NSW, Australia

19th Mar 2025

Birthday decorations for 22nd birthday

Meal prepping

$70

White Gum Valley WA 6162, Australia

19th Mar 2025

I want some good bulk food prepped and packaged at an affordable price. Any Ethnic cuisine is fine, but the food has to be reasonably healthy and hold well in the freezer. The price I list is per 10 meals, which would be 7$ a meal, but we can agree for a larger order.

Birthday decoration

$100

Merrylands NSW, Australia

19th Mar 2025

Birthday decoration at home

Birthday cake

$100

Umina Beach NSW, Australia

18th Mar 2025

Need a cake made for a 1 yr old birthday for approximately 25 people. Pink in colour with red velvet flavour and mini mouse theme as shown in the image .

12 Person Cake

$5

Wyreena Ward VIC, Australia

18th Mar 2025

I need a basic christening cake for this Sunday. Only for 12 people. I have attached the rough cake I would like with writing on the top. We are located in Kilsyth South.

NEED A BIRTHDAY CAKE TOMORROW

$250

South Yarra VIC, Australia

22nd Feb 2025

Hello Need a cake 15 servings 20th birthday blue theme

Thank you! Keep up the side hustle :)

Support Worker and Meal Preparation

$120

Essendon VIC 3040, Australia

20th Feb 2025

I am looking for a person to assist me with organising my space, as well as any tasks I find difficult, such as completing complex paperwork, following up on emails, organizing appointments come on communicating on my behalf, planning travel, making purchases comma and problem solving (for example, comparing credit card providers or finding an accountant that is appropriate). If possible, the person would also do grocery shopping and a full meal preparation for the week, ideally twice per week if possible. If desired, we can break these tasks up in that one person could do the cooking, and the other person could do the complex organisational tasks. Note, you must have good English and be able to problem solve effectively. The rate is negotiable and will be based on the person's competence and efficiency with the tasks.

Richard went above and beyond to help me, even helping out with tasks I had forgotten about. He also had a very positive attitude and friendly demeanor. I would highly recommend him for cleaning, home assistance, and support work - he is awesome!

Say Happy Birthday to a mate for me and let off a party popper.

$50

Austral NSW, Australia

11th Feb 2025

It’s my mates 40th birthday at Austral Bowling Club and I can’t make it. Can you just go there and say “Happy Birthday from Ben” and then let off a party popper (not supplied). Closer the 6pm is best and another mate will find you and point out the birthday boy.

Great bloke, happy to help. Went above and beyond.

Meal prep for 1

$5

Werribee VIC 3030, Australia

5th Feb 2025

Looking for someone to meal prep and deliver meals for full week. Ideally 2 meals per day 7 days. Looking for healthy lower calorie meals that's also filling. One of the two meals need to be ready to eat without heating etc.

Great communication throughout, big list of meals to choose from. Thanks :)

Colombian Cake Made

$249

Allenby Gardens SA, Australia

31st Jan 2025

Need a cake made for my partner. She loves Star Wars and favourite ones are Qui Gon and Mace Windu. I would like it to have Colombian national flag on it. Her favourite cake is 3 milks cake. I don’t know what that is. Let me know if you’re up for it and thanks. Name is Kelly. Just want cake to say “Happy Birthday Kelly”

Finally someone who could help me and even delivered. Thanks for making my Colombian Cake 🎂

Meal preparation and planning (Dairy & Peanut Free, Low FODMAP)

$500

Officer VIC 3809, Australia

10th Jan 2025

I am looking for someone to assist me in meal planning and preparation that caters to my dietary requirements. I am allergic to all dairy products and peanuts (tree nuts are ok) and try to be low FODMAP as possible for gut health. If I could sign up to something like Lite n Easy, I would but I can't. I need to get back to a healthier weight and lifestyle and someone to take the above in consideration, plan the meals and ideally prep them so it is really clear to me what I eat and when, this would be life saving. I know I have put down Officer but I am also available in Caulfield as well. Price is negotiable

Tabatha was a cut above the rest who responded to my Airtasker request. She was great at communicating what was included in the offer and kept me in the loop at every stage and was able to cater to my specific dietary requirements. I have yet to try the meals but they look delicious!

Meal Prepped (Ferntree Gully)

$5

Ferntree Gully VIC, Australia

2nd Jan 2025

Low FODMAP meal prep delivered to Ferntree Gully. Looking for around 10-14 meals per week - would be on going if happy with the service. Would ideally be high protein and medium to high calories (600+ cals), easy to take to work, reheat etc

Adam did a great job preparing my meals

A tower cake with coco melon theme for 2-year-old boy's birthday.

$100

Williams Landing VIC, Australia

9th Dec 2024

I'm looking for a talented baker to create a stunning Cocomelon-themed tower cake for my son's 2nd birthday! The cake should be big enough to feed around 14 people. I’m aiming for a fun, colorful design inspired by the popular kids’ show, Cocomelon. The cake should be tiered (tower-style). Cocomelon-themed decorations such as the Cocomelon logo, characters (like JJ and his friends), and colorful accents (rainbows, balloons, etc.). Flavors: Please suggest options that would appeal to both children and adults (e.g., vanilla, chocolate, or something kid-friendly). The cake should be sturdy enough to transport and set up at the venue. Delivery to Williams Landing on 26th Jan before 1PM (or willing to discuss pickup details). Please share photos of similar cakes you've done, along with an offer. Looking forward to working with a creative baker to make this birthday extra special! Example cake images shared.

Was on time, the cake was above average (good)

Cooking lesson (Turkish, Persian, Egyptian or other)

$90

Sydney Olympic Park NSW, Australia

1st Dec 2024

I'm interested in having someone teach me how to cook a dish from their own culture. Currently interested in Middle Eastern, North African, or West African. Ideally on a weekend, or weekday evening (Mon/Wed/Fri). Not sure what's easiest but let me know what works for you in terms of location. Happy to come to you, or here in Sydney Olympic Park. For example: Persian (e.g. Khoresht-e Fesenjan) Turkish Algerian Egyptian Syrian Senegalese (e.g. Chere or Thieboudienne) Maqluba, Mansaaf, etc.

Nina was the perfect Tasker! I absolutely loved my Egyptian cooking lesson with her. She was organised, kind, friendly, everything was planned so well. I would highly recommend booking Nina!

Art classes for 7 year old son, loves sketching and any form of art.

$40

Eltham North VIC, Australia

1st Dec 2024

My son is 7 years old and loves to sketch. Looking to develop his skills in all mediums of art.

Bianca is great and a very nice person to deal with. Recommended

Meal preparation

$100

Perth WA, Australia

1st Dec 2024

I need someone to meal prep for me according to macros/calories that my coach has recommended. This will involve cooking and weighing my carbs, protein and fat for each meal and allocating them in separate containers for the week.

Thank you Priscilla!

Romantic balloon decoration to celebrate our wedding anniversary

$5

Chinatown District VIC 3000, Australia

18th Nov 2024

I want a romantic decoration for our first wedding anniversary. Some balloons and a board would be fine near the setup I have posted. This would be in CBD on 22nd Dec afternoon. I have attached sample photos.

I'd highly recommend Ruchi and her team. She did an exceptional job. Goes above and beyond your request to make the event worthwhile. She is very flexible and keeps your needs ahead at all times.