I Asked ChatGPT What to Make for Dinner. It Asked Me a Better Question.

Brooke Silva
Jul 21
3 min read

"Rosie was convinced I was getting cheese. I was just waiting for ChatGPT to tell me what to cook."

There are two kinds of nights.

The first is when you've planned dinner, everything is thawed, and you're feeling like you have your life together.

The second is... real life.

You open the refrigerator, stare for a minute, and somehow hope something new has appeared since the last time you looked. You know you have food. You just don't know what to do with it.

That was me. The hubby is traveling back to New England to bring the 10 year old for a visit, it was only me and the middle kid.

I had leftover chicken. Cottage cheese. Sour cream. Buffalo sauce. Shredded cheddar. A drawer full of vegetables. Plenty of ingredients, but absolutely no inspiration.

A few years ago, I probably would have opened Pinterest and searched "easy chicken recipes." Twenty minutes later I'd have 47 tabs open and still be standing in my kitchen.

This time, I opened ChatGPT. Or, as I call her, Bestie.

Instead of asking for a recipe, I told Bestie what I had in my refrigerator and asked for ideas.

Instead of immediately suggesting dinner, Bestie asked me a question.

"Are you in the mood for something warm or cold? Gooey or cheesy?"

That stopped me in my tracks.

Because the problem wasn't that I didn't have ingredients.

The problem was that I didn't even know what I was craving.

Once I answered that I wanted something warm, cheesy, and comforting, everything came together.

Leftover chicken became a creamy buffalo chicken dip packed with protein thanks to blended cottage cheese. It tasted indulgent without being heavy, and it used ingredients I already had in the house.

That little conversation reminded me of something I think we get wrong about AI.

Most people think it's a machine that spits out answers. I think it's a brainstorming partner. The magic wasn't that it wrote a recipe.

The magic was that it asked a better question.

My Favorite Way to Use AI in the Kitchen

I almost never ask ChatGPT for a specific recipe anymore.

Instead, I start with what's already in my refrigerator.

I'll say something like:

"I have leftover chicken, buffalo sauce, cottage cheese, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and a few vegetables. Before suggesting a recipe, ask me a few questions to help figure out what I'm actually in the mood for."

Those questions almost always lead me somewhere I wouldn't have thought to go on my own.

Sometimes it's soup.
Sometimes it's tacos.
Sometimes it's dinner boards.
And sometimes it's a buffalo chicken dip that earns a permanent place on the BrookeShelf.

Already have ChatGPT? I put all of these into a free GPT! Click here for CuliNerd. Sompy click that link and follow instructions! (and remember folks...is basic...ok? lol)

A Confession About Cottage Cheese

Here's something that might surprise you.

I don't like cottage cheese.

I've never been the person happily eating it with fruit out of a little plastic container. Not even a little.

But blend it?

Bake it?

Mix it into recipes?

Now we're talking.

Blended cottage cheese is one of my favorite ways to add protein without changing the flavor or texture of a dish. If you think you don't like it, maybe it just needs a different assignment.