40 Epic Cooking Fails To Remind You That You’re Not Alone In The Struggle
Cooking is supposed to be a joyful, creative experience—a way to nourish the body and impress your loved ones. But let’s be real: for many of us, the kitchen is a battleground, where perfectly good ingredients go to meet their untimely demise.
Whether it’s burnt-to-a-crisp disasters, collapsed cakes, or pasta that looks straight out of a horror movie, these 40 epic cooking fails will remind you that you’re not alone in the struggle. Even the best chefs had to start somewhere… probably by setting off the smoke alarm.
So grab a snack (preferably one you didn’t cook yourself) and enjoy this collection of culinary catastrophes that prove some meals are best left to delivery apps.
#1. Apparently using a syringe to inject the filling of a jelly bun doesn’t work that well…
Source: 9999monkeys
#2. Dumplings from the hell’s gate
Source: 27thdivision
#3. This was way cuter when I pictured it in my head
Source: howierid
#4. I couldn’t have done it better if I had intended to do so. The taste is delicious though.
Source: EphiXorE
#5. Wife doesn’t trust me with our Tupperware anymore. Spaghetti lunch in ziploc.
Source: aRoofer
Every photo in this collection was carefully selected from the internet’s most beloved cooking disaster hubs—especially the legendary subreddit r/CookingFails. With over 450,000 members, this community exists solely to celebrate our worst kitchen attempts.
You’ll also find gems from Instagram accounts like @nailedit and @cursed_cookbook, where brave souls submit their culinary catastrophes for the world to see—and commiserate with.
From pizza that looks like it fought in a war, to cakes that could double as abstract sculptures, these platforms remind us that failing in the kitchen is universal. And oddly beautiful.
So if you’ve ever Googled “can I still eat this if it’s black on the outside and raw in the middle?”—trust us, you’re not the first.
#6. Spider Man saving his own cake
Source: Bumble-Bee-Butt
#7. Hell’s sweet potato..
Source: 27thdivision
#8. My friend was cooking a frozen pizza
Source: Extis83
#9. This elegant yet understated bracelet my daughter made out of spaghetti and a black olive
Source: joelman0
#10. Coffee from the coffee machine at my uni
Source: Kvas_HardBass
You ever try to “eyeball” measurements like the pros do, only to end up with cookie dough soup or an entire pot of cinnamon rice? Yeah. Us too.
The kitchen can be a stage for love and laughter… or for silent screaming while scraping burnt cheese off a pan you borrowed from your roommate. There’s a certain pain in watching your hopeful dish morph into a cursed creation—especially when it was meant to impress someone.
But there’s also something deeply human about it. Because cooking, at its core, is an act of care. Even when it goes hilariously wrong.
#11. Kuwaiti police have shut down a fish store that was sticking googly eyes on fish to make them appear more fresh than they are. 🙂
Source: Anatolysdream
#12. My first attempt at making lemon tea
Source: Unusual-Tone-2974
#13. The dinner my husband was cooking for 3 hours
Source: UnluckyDayOfMe
#14. TIL if you cut lotus root into wedges, you end up with f*cking aliens in your frying pan
Source: 9999monkeys
#15. 6 hours of slow cooking later
Source: sloshncrunch
I remember one Thanksgiving when I decided—very boldly—that I would recreate my grandmother’s famous pecan pie. It was a disaster from the start. I misread the recipe, used baking soda instead of baking powder, and somehow managed to boil the crust.
When it came out of the oven, it looked… angry. Like the pie itself resented being born. But I served it anyway. Everyone laughed, no one ate it, and that moment—funnier than any perfect pie—still gets talked about years later. Turns out, the memory of the fail lasts longer than the flavor of success.
#16. Sandwich uses camouflage to avoid being consumed
Source: Stranger1982
#17. How do you like your spectacles cooked? Was making a breakfast and put in some toast. Smelled something “chemy” but carried on. Looked at the toaster and it was smoking. Here is what I found. I had taken my glasses of and set them down on something above the toasted and must have knocked them in.
Source: Youlookcold
#18. Sweet Sue’s Chicken
Source: PHIL-yes-PLZ
#19. When you love the smell of bacon but get a little too close to the frying pan on the stove…
Source: strooticus
#20. I decided to upgrade to an electric kettle this week, a detail I remembered as it burst into flames on the gas stove.
Source: notsewfast_
According to cognitive psychologist Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett, humor arises when our expectations are violated—but in a way that feels safe. Source: Barrett, L. F. (2017). How Emotions Are Made.
Cooking fails hit that exact spot. We expect dinner. We get disaster. And as long as no one ends up in the ER, it becomes entertainment.
Our brains also love the visual absurdity—cakes with collapsed centers, pizzas folded like tacos, and omelets that look like modern art. These moments feel both surprising and oddly satisfying.
#21. I’m baaaack! I made another!!
Source: JustAnotherElsen
#22. After 2 days of cookin’ beans, the pot explodes the night we were to feast on them
Source: Rigatonicat
#23. Under a tight deadline, I had to stop everything to post my wife’s dinner.
Source: Roscoe_P_Trolltrain
#24. I was boilling the egg but i forgot to turn off the stove
Source: Intelligent_Ad7273
#25. Thought you guys might like this pie I baked
Source: JustAnotherElsen
Chef Claire Saffitz, a pastry expert and host of Gourmet Makes, once said: “Some of my best discoveries came from mistakes. If you’re not failing, you’re not really experimenting.”
Failure isn’t a sign of incompetence. It’s a sign of courage. When we try to cook—even when it flops—we’re building skills, memories, and usually, a funny story to tell later. That willingness to mess up is what separates home cooking from performance cooking.
#26. Cooked this 2$ instant noodle while I was high
Source: mlastovski
#27. This is why I don’t cook
Source: eo326
#28. Came home late from work, drop my open sandwhich in the parking lot. Go to make pasta, the first pot slips and I pour it all on the ground. Make a second pot and the handle straight up breaks and my pasta goes everywhere. Didn’t eat; had a lil cry.
Source: SuitsAndStripes
#29. My grandparents were planning on fixing up this old stove, guess they’ll have to wait
Source: MJMaggio14
#30. Put some oil on the stove to fry some chicken before bed
Source: chill_cat_character
Cooking fails hit three psychological notes at once:
- Dopamine (humor): Unexpected visuals trigger joy.
- 2. Empathy: We’ve all been there—it’s instantly relatable.
- 3. Safe tension: It’s failure… but no one’s hurt. It’s funny because it’s harmless.
That’s why posts from r/CookingFails often outperform perfect recipes. They’re not staged, not filtered. Just pure, honest attempts at making something good—with real results, good or bad.
It’s comforting to know perfection isn’t the standard. Trying is.
#31. Today I learned that a coffee pot can explode
Source: BronxBelle
#32. Came home to a very smoky house. Knocked on my brother’s door asking if he was cooking something and I heard him pause for a second before saying “oh f*ck.”
Source: NumberOneSeinfeldFan
#33. Sliced homemade sourdough bread topped with creamy light brie cheese. Preheat oven to 350 and bake for 11 hours. Enjoy.
Source: nick122221
#34. When the wife cooks salt potatoes. Looks like pot is growing out of stove.
Source: Salt-Fee-9543
#35. Parents went away on vacation and I’ve been going to their home periodically to check on everything and clean here and there. Just noticed this pot of rice sitting out for the last 2-3 weeks 💀
Source: Burger_slayer
So, next time your cake collapses or your soup evaporates, don’t panic. Laugh. Take a picture. Share it (maybe). And remember that you’re part of a deliciously messy tradition of people who try, fail, and try again anyway.
No Michelin star? No problem. You showed up. You chopped something. You made a memory. That’s enough. And hey—fire alarms make great timers. Sort of.
#36. I turned the wrong stove burner on and exploded my made from scratch pumpkin pie.
Source: TheGidget007
#37. Pot of chili decided to waterfall out of the fridge
Source: EyeDrops4Cyclops
#38. Housemate’s dog got into my 6 hour Butter Chicken. No dinner for me tonight.
Source: DopeCalyps0
#39. Bottom of the slow cooker pot fell off spilling 6 liters of hot pinapple juice everywhere, the kitchen will be sticky until the end of time.
Source: OceanSupernova
#40. I was really craving these frozen I was really craving these frozen dumplings and cooked up our last few for my husband and I. Got a credit card fraud notification and had to call my bank. Promptly forgot about the dumplings. Now I have inedible dumplings and a cancelled credit card. and cooked up our last few for my husband and I. Got a credit card fraud notification and had to call my bank. Promptly forgot about the dumplings. Now I have inedible dumplings and a cancelled credit card.
Source: welfordwigglesworth
At the end of the day, these 40 epic cooking fails aren’t about food. They’re about the people who tried. The stories behind the splatters. The intentions behind the explosions.
Cooking is one of the most human acts we can do. It involves risk, timing, memory, creativity—and sometimes, disaster. But those moments are often the most real, the most joyful, the most unforgettable.
At Grumpy Sharks, we celebrate those who dare to whisk without fear. Who keep the humor alive even when the lasagna is lost. Who find joy in the flop.
So share this with a friend who’s ever melted a plastic spatula into the soup. Or bookmark it for the next time your toast turns into charcoal art. Because no matter what the recipe says—you’re doing just fine.
