Reading a Recipe with a Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich
Reading a recipe can be confusing the first time you do it, but, once you get the hang of it, cooking new foods gets so much easier. If you can read a recipe and follow directions, you can cook almost anything! We show you how to read a recipe, using a peanut butter & jelly sandwich recipe as an example.
A recipe tells you how to make a specific food item.
Most recipes include the following sections:
Title: The title tells you what you’re making.
Servings: Recipes usually tell you how much food or the number of servings your recipe will make. This is also called “yield.” Our recipe tells you that it will make 1 serving, which means it will feed 1 person. Some recipes will say, “Yields 1 serving” which means the same thing. You should know how many people you are cooking for when starting a recipe and make sure the recipe will serve as many people as you’re cooking for. In a later post, we’ll tell you what to do if these numbers don’t match.
Time: This section will tell you how much time you can expect to spend making a recipe. Our recipe tells you it will take you 5 minutes, which begins when you start cooking. Keep in mind that you will need to make sure you have extra time beforehand for gathering your ingredients as well as extra time afterwards to clean up the kitchen.
Ingredients: This section tells you what ingredients (food items) you need to complete your recipe as well as the amounts needed of each ingredient.
Directions: This section tells you the steps to follow in order to make the recipe. This might also be called “instructions.”
Supplies: Most recipes don’t include this section explicitly. If your recipe includes a supplies kitchen, it will tell you what kitchen tools and supplies you will need to complete your recipe. Our recipe below includes a supplies section, but our downloadable recipe does not. If your recipe doesn’t include it, you will have to read the directions section to find out what supplies you’ll need. Tip: If you want to make a list before you gather your supplies, we suggest printing out the recipe and underlining or highlighting every supply needed as you read the recipe. For example, if your recipe says, “Put two pieces of bread on a plate,” underline the word “plate.” Do this for all the steps and then gather all your underlined words.
Now that you know what a recipe is and all the sections that a recipe includes, you’re ready to get started.
Steps to reading and completing a recipe:
Know what you’re making by reading the title.
Make sure your recipe will make the right amount of food. If you’re the only person eating it, make sure the recipe makes 1 serving. If you’re cooking for multiple people, make sure there will be enough food for everyone.
Make sure you have enough time to set up, make your recipe, and clean up your kitchen afterwards.
Read the ingredients section. Then, one-by-one, gather all the ingredients listed and put them at your cooking station. You might need to look in multiple places for ingredients, move things out of the way to find them, or ask someone in your house for help.
Find the supplies section or read through the directions section to find out what supplies you’ll need. Gather all your supplies and put them at your cooking station.
If you haven’t already, read the full directions section so you know what to expect.
Wash your hands with soap and warm water.
Start cooking! Prep your ingredients if necessary. We skipped this part in our video because our ingredients didn’t need to be measured or prepped in any way. We tell you how to prep ingredients when needed in this post.
Read the directions, step by step, and complete each step as you go.
When you get to the end of your recipe, you’ll have completed your dish!
Clean up your kitchen. Put away all unused your ingredients. Throw out any trash. Clean the dishes you used or put them in the dishwasher. Wipe down your counter with a clean cloth or sponge.
Now you’re ready to eat. Put your food on a plate or in a bowl. Eat and enjoy!
Below, we’ve included a video tutorial showing how to read and complete a recipe, a written peanut butter and jelly sandwich recipe, and a printable recipe. Enjoy!
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich Recipe
Makes 1 serving.
Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
Peanut butter
Jelly or jam
2 slices of bread
Kitchen Supplies:
Plate
2 butter knives or spoons
Knife (optional to cut sandwich in half)
Directions:
Put two pieces of bread on a plate. The plate should be large enough to fit both pieces of bread side by side.
Use a butter knife or spoon to scoop some peanut butter out of the jar. Use the knife or spoon to spread the peanut butter over the entire piece of bread. You might need to pick up the bread to do this.
Use a different butter knife or spoon to scoop some jelly out of the jar. Use the knife or spoon to spread the jelly over the entire piece of bread. You might need to pick up the bread to do this.
Put the pieces of bread on top of each other with the peanut butter side and the jelly side touching in the middle to create your sandwich.
If wanted, cut the sandwich in half with a knife.
Eat and enjoy!