10 Tips for Cooking for a First Date
These tips for cooking for a first date will help you enjoy your evening together without stress, anxiety, or pretensions! Cooking a meal at home on a first or second date can be more relaxing and fun than going out to a restaurant because your focus isn’t on each other.
“The trick is knowing when to compromise and when to go for it,” Dr Joy Browne writes Dating for Dummies. ”To do that, you have to know what’s really important to you, and once you know that, don’t settle.”
If he or she isn’t supportive and interested in your fulfillment…then don’t worry about what to cook on a first date. Focus on finding someone new to date! For more info about Dr Browne’s Dating for Dummies, click the image. And, read on for ten tips for cooking on a first dinner date…
10 Tips for Cooking for a First Date
Too much romance might be awkward on a first date, so these tips are geared towards relaxation and fun times. Note that these dating tips are geared towards a woman cooking for a man, just to make it easier to write. They just as easily apply to a man cooking for a first dinner date with a woman!
1. Ask your date to bring something. You can make interesting personality observations based on what dish he brings on your first date. Don’t be shy – this is fun – ask your date to bring dessert or an appetizer. If he ignores your request and brings a case of beer, then you know what you’ll be cooking on a second date (and it better be nothing). Asking him to bring something sets a great tone for the future, and makes him feel needed.
2. Cook something interactive. Slurping soup and buttering bread doesn’t give you anything to talk about. Whatever you cook on a first date should encourage you to talk about more than the usual “get to know you” stuff. (For tips on making small talk, read 10 First Date Conversation Starters). If you’re rolling fajitas or dipping bits of meat or veggies in a hot chicken broth fondue, you have a built-in conversation starter – and you won’t be as nervous.
3. Pick something you can cook together. Making sushi is one of my favorite things to do with my husband. It’s interesting, complicated, and fun to eat – and we’re equally inexperienced at it, so we’re learning new things together. When you’re thinking about what to cook for a first dinner date, consider something that involves your date. Even if it turns out horribly, it’ll give you something to laugh about on your second date!
4. Let go of the pressure to impress him. Don’t make your first date more stressful than it needs to be by cooking filet mignon, white truffle mushrooms, and organic purple cauliflower to be sautéed in a three pepper cheese sauce. Sure, he may notice the food – but it’s you he’s there to get to know.
5. Ask him what his favorite meal is. When you’re deciding what to cook on a first dinner date, do a little digging. What’s his favorite restaurant? His favorite type of food? Any allergies? I’m not saying you should cook his exact favorite meal; however, I do think it’s important to get a feel for what he likes. Plus it’s a good way to get to know him better.
6. Avoid stir fry noodles. I gotta say, it’s difficult to eat stir fry noodles or spaghetti and meat balls at the best of times, much less when you’re trying to make a sane first impression on your date. I think chopsticks for Asian food is a nice challenge, though – especially if you provide optional forks.
7. Consider a tapas meal. Tapas are “little dishes” – Mediterranean I think – and they’d be a fantastic meal to cook for a first dinner date. Arrange an assortment of cheeses, olives, meats, apple slices, hummus, pita bread, pickles and whatever you fancy on the table or coffee table. This is a interactive food to eat together, and it’ll help with the first date conversation struggles.
8. Avoid meals that require a lot of prep. You don’t want to be spending all your time in the kitchen cooking for your first date, and no time actually talking to him. If the meal does require preparation, try to get it done in advance. Or, invite him into the kitchen and give him some slicing and dicing to do.
9. Give him some slicing and dicing! Does he balk at the idea of putting on an apron, or is he right there beside you, chopping up those onions? It’s always good to know a man’s stance in the kitchen before things go too far…because you don’t want to be the only one in the relationship who knows where the garlic press is.
10. Remember that it’s not about the food. Whatever you decide what to cook on a first dinner date is the least important part of the evening! Do you have lots to talk about? Is he fun to be with? Do you feel comfortable with him? Focus on the things that matter - which are more important than deciding what meal to cook on a first date.
Here’s a great resource for dating couples: 1,000 Questions for Couples by relationship expert Michael Webb. And for more dating tips, read 5 Successful Dating Tips for Men and Women.
Do you have any tips for cooking dinner on a first date? I’d love to hear from you below…and if you have questions, fire away!
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Comment by alex farguson on 16 February 2009:
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Comment by Bruce on 10 April 2009:
This is also great for adding a bit of spice to your marriage. After all, how many first dates can you have once you tie the knot?!
Comment by LauriePK on 10 April 2009:
One of my favorite things to do as a married couple is to cook dinner together….put on relaxing or energizing music (depending on the day you’ve had), crack open a bottle of wine or hard liquor (again, depending on the day you’ve had!), and experiment in the kitchen….could lead to experimenting in other rooms, too!
Comment by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen on 16 May 2009:
I just realized that BBQing is a great way to cook together on your first date! Putting him in charge of the grill — or taking over the BBQ yourself, and letting him focus on the side dishes — is a neat way to get to know each other.
Better yet, put together a picnic and BBQ at a local park. That way you avoid the awkwardness of having him over to your place, especially if you don’t know him well.