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

#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

#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

#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_

#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

#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

#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

#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

Have you ever turned a simple dish into a science experiment gone wrong? Maybe you’ve created a cake so horrifying that even your dog refused a bite? Share your funniest cooking fails in the comments!

And if you know someone who thinks they’re bad at cooking, send them this list—it might just make them feel like a five-star chef in comparison.