How ChatGPT Became My Go-To Meal Prep Sidekick

I’ve never been the type to eagerly adopt new tech. Blame it on too many Twilight Zone reruns or a college thesis rooted in dystopian novels, but I’ve always viewed artificial intelligence with a healthy dose of suspicion. That said, in 2025, curiosity finally nudged me to try ChatGPT not for deep philosophical conversations or writing assignments, but for something far more practical: meal prep.

As someone who cooks daily, travels often, and loathes food waste, I was intrigued by the idea of a virtual kitchen assistant that could help me cook better, smarter, and with what I already had. What started as a tentative experiment turned into a surprisingly helpful routine and, yes, I still side-eye the tech from time to time. But when it comes to cooking, AI and I have struck an unexpected truce.

Groceries Made Easier in a Foreign Language

Living in Seoul as a digital nomad, my grocery runs are a complex dance between language barriers and cultural food gaps. I usually visit multiple markets just to track down ingredients for the recipes I crave. That’s where ChatGPT stepped in not only recommending markets where I might find harder-to-source items, but also providing the Korean characters to search for them, and offering alternative ingredients when necessary.

Instead of juggling translation apps mid-shop, I now head out with a list that’s local-language ready and optimized for my neighborhood. It’s taken a lot of stress out of my weekly routine and saved me from many wild goose chases.

DIY Hacks That Actually Work

While I’ve always relied on intuition in the kitchen, ChatGPT has taught me clever prep tricks I wouldn’t have known otherwise. Take my favorite Thai-style chicken lettuce cups, for example. In Korea, pre-minced chicken is nearly impossible to find, and my basic Korean made asking for it a challenge. Instead, the AI suggested partially freezing boneless chicken thighs, removing the skin, and finely chopping them for a ground texture.

Not only did it work it elevated the flavor and gave me a huge sense of accomplishment. It’s the kind of advice you’d expect from a seasoned cookfriend, not an algorithm.

Less Waste, More Improv Meals

Cooking for one often means watching vegetables wilt before you can finish them. But now, when I see leftovers lingering in my fridge, I turn to ChatGPT for ideas on how to turn them into something new. One night, I had leftover cabbage, herbs from another recipe, some frozen beef, and konjac noodles. A quick prompt later, I had a Vietnamese-inspired stir-fry that tasted planned not patched together.

This small shift has helped me reduce waste, save money, and get more adventurous with my cooking.

Sparking My Creativity, Not Replacing It

I don’t always follow the chatbot’s advice to the letter. In fact, I often challenge it which has actually made me more confident in the kitchen. I’ll question a method, suggest an alternative, and ask for validation. Like the time I reversed the cooking order of beef and aromatics for better flavor, and ChatGPT agreed. It feels less like following a script and more like having a collaborator to bounce ideas off.

Macro Tracking Without the Math Overload

These days, I’m strength training and paying closer attention to how much protein and fiber I’m getting. I use ChatGPT to estimate the macros of meals I create not to obsess over numbers, but to keep a general sense of balance. It helps me adjust on the fly, like choosing Greek yogurt with granola and fruit to meet my goals when I’m still a little short.

The Verdict? Surprisingly Helpful

I may not be fully sold on AI’s role in shaping society, but when it comes to meal planning, I’ll admit: ChatGPT has made my life easier, my meals more creative, and my kitchen habits more efficient. I still keep my human instinct in the driver’s seat, but having a digital sous chef doesn’t feel so strange anymore.

And yes, I still say “please” and “thank you” just in case the sci-fi stories turn out to be right.

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