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A white van parked on a street, with a person standing next to it, ready to load or unload items.

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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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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.


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

Buy a cake for my boyfriend for christmas

$50

Shirley, Christchurch, New Zealand

25th Dec 2023

I want to send a cake to my bf in nz for christmas as a surprise - Due date: Needs to be done on Monday, 25 December 2023

Birthday Party decoration

$300

Auckland 0792, New Zealand

21st Dec 2023

Need a beautiful decoration for my wife 40 th birthday .. with lights - Due date: Needs to be done on Monday, 25 December 2023

Birthday Decoration

$250

Auckland 0792, New Zealand

21st Dec 2023

Need decoration for a birthday party with lights and best decoration possible - Due date: Before Monday, 25 December 2023

Decorate a small space for a surprise

$100

Stanmore Bay, Whangaparāoa, New Zealand

25th Oct 2023

One small room decoration for my wife’s birthday - Due date: Needs to be done on Friday, 27 October 2023

Meal prep my lunches for next week

$100

Porirua 5024, New Zealand

6th Sep 2023

I would like someone to drop off 5 lunch meals for me on Sunday that I can have during next week at work. Each meal should contain 20g of protein and be vegetarian. - Due date: Before Monday, 11 September 2023

Someone to decorate a venue for a 40th birthday

$800

Whangārei, New Zealand

10th Jul 2023

My daughter's 40th birthday her coloura are purple and gold - Due date: Needs to be done on Saturday, 16 September 2023

Rabbit boarding

$400

Palmerston North 4414, New Zealand

1st Jul 2023

I need rabbit boarding to cover from 16/7/23 to 16/8/23 - Due date: Needs to be done on Sunday, 16 July 2023

Decorate my 21st

$400

Winton, New Zealand

15th Jun 2023

Im wanting a rasta themed birthday ❤️💛💚 for my 21st birthday hopefully some red yellow and green coloured butterflies aswell - Due date: Before Sunday, 8 October 2023

Decorate balloons for my daughters 5 th bdy

$150

Thames 3500, New Zealand

7th May 2023

We are planning to celebrate our daughters 5th bdy at home. Prefer gold and pink balloons. Her cake design is unicorn. - Due date: Needs to be done on Friday, 16 June 2023

Same day cake delivery

$80

Christchurch 8041, New Zealand

2nd Apr 2023

Birthday cake for ramanjit - Due date: Needs to be done on Monday, 3 April 2023

Burlesque dancer for Vegas themed party

$150

Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand

17th Dec 2022

We're hosting a surprise vegas themed pre wedding party for the bride and groom. There will be roulette and blackjack, and everyone will be dressed in theme at a luxury penthouse. We would love a tasteful burlesque performance during the night to aid in the vegas feeling. Would be open to crowd involvement too if you'd like, will all be very respectful from our end. - Due date: Needs to be done on Saturday, 21 January 2023

Cake delivery

$40

Addington, Christchurch, New Zealand

19th Aug 2022

Cake delivery for birthday - Due date: Needs to be done on Friday, 19 August 2022

A birthday cake

$80

Rolleston, New Zealand

8th Jun 2022

I need a birthday cake for myself delivered to Rolleston please - Due date: Needs to be done on Thursday, 9 June 2022

I need my daughters 7th birthday cake done

$45

Hamilton 3216, New Zealand

9th Feb 2022

I needmy daughters 7h birthday cake for 10th febuary - Due date: Needs to be done on Thursday, 10th Feb 2022

Birthday cake

$25

Deanwell, Hamilton, New Zealand

24th Aug 2021

Can you deliver cake tomorrow

60th Birthday

$100

Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand

24th Jan 2021

ANZAC DAY 25TH OF APRIL. It wont let me choose this date. We have hired out a Private Function room in Wellington for my mum 60th Birthday. It's a Chinese theme so would like a nice backdrop or beautiful decorations to do with chinese Red and Gold colors. Something nice where we can set her cake and cupcakes on a table and than u have that beautiful backdrop behind it.