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Cooking with pictures: recipes everyone can follow

By Scott Chapman, founder · 27 October 2026 · 4 min read

A long block of recipe text asks a lot of the cook: read, remember, measure, then find your place again with wet hands. A recipe with a picture for each step asks much less. You can see what the bowl should look like and get on with cooking. Here are some practical ideas.

This article is general information. If you have allergies, a special diet or difficulty swallowing, check with your doctor, dietitian or speech pathologist about what suits you.

Why pictures help

Pictures carry much of the meaning, so there is less to read and less to remember. They also give everyone in the kitchen the same plan to look at.

Picture recipes have a long history in teaching cooking skills. A 2002 review of research on teaching food preparation to people with intellectual disability found 16 studies that used picture instructions, on cards or on a computer, and described the overall results as encouraging.

Break it into small steps

The smaller the step, the easier it is to follow. A good picture step usually has:

One action. "Crack the egg into the bowl", not "mix the wet ingredients".
One picture that shows what it should look like when that step is done.
A few plain words, using the same names for things every time.
A way to mark it done, such as a tick, a peg moved along a card or turning the page.

To make your own, cook the recipe once and take a photo at each step, in your own kitchen, with your own bowls.

Get everything ready first

Setting everything out before you start makes the cooking calmer.

Gather the ingredients and put them on the bench in the order you will use them.
Measure ahead. Put each amount in its own small bowl or cup, so each step is just "add the bowl".
Lay out the tools you will need.
Check the use-by dates while you are getting things out.

Choose safer tools

The right tool can turn a job someone would skip into one they can do. Some options:

Kitchen scissors for herbs, spring onions or soft foods, instead of a sharp knife.
Pre-cut or frozen vegetables on days when chopping is not the right choice.
The microwave or a slow cooker in place of the stovetop for some recipes.
A timer with a loud sound or a light, so nobody has to watch the clock.

Picture symbols for "sharp", "hot" and "ask for help" next to a step can show at a glance where extra care is needed. For setting up the kitchen itself, see Making the kitchen work for everyone.

Give everyone a real role

Cooking together works best when each person has a job that matters to the meal, not just one that keeps them busy. A picture recipe is easy to split up: one person tears the lettuce while another stirs the sauce, or you take turns step by step. Let the cook choose which steps they do, and where they would like help.

Keep food safe

The NSW Food Authority and the Food Safety Information Council give simple rules for cooking at home:

Wash and dry your hands before you start preparing food.
Keep raw and cooked food apart, and use different chopping boards and knives for each. Do not let raw meat juices drip onto other food.
Cook meat through. There should be no pink left in mince or sausages, and chicken juices should run clear. Poultry and mince should reach 75°C in the centre.
Keep cold food cold. The fridge should be at 5°C or below, and food that should be in the fridge is best avoided if it has been left out for more than four hours.
Look after leftovers. Put them in the fridge once they have stopped steaming, and use or freeze them within three days.

Cooking with Able

The Cook door in the Able Wellness app has visual recipes with picture steps and safe-tool pictograms that show where care is needed, so the person cooking can follow along at their own pace.