Meghan Markle admits she has much to learn in the kitchen after recipes spark mixed reactions – UK Times

Meghan Markle knows she still has more to learn about cooking.

Last month, Meghan, 43, released her lifestyle show on Netflix, With Love, Meghan, which showed her cooking and gardening with some famous friends.

After putting her cooking and hosting skills on display in the series, Meghan has acknowledged that she’s not a professional cook. She said during an interview with The New York Times published on Wednesday that she still has a lot to learn in the kitchen.

The Duchess of Sussex admitted she barely uses the two pizza ovens in her home, and when she used them to make sourdough bread, she was not a fan of the results. “There are professionals who do that better than I ever will,” she said.

She also confessed that when she’s making dinner for just her and her husband Prince Harry’s children — Archie, five, and Lilibet, three — she often keeps it simple. She opts for items already in the freezer, like veggies burgers, chicken nuggets, or tater tots.

When With Love, Meghan launched in March, the royal raised eyebrows with one of her dishes: single-skillet spaghetti. Rather than boiling the pasta in a separate pot of water, Meghan puts all of her ingredients, including the uncooked spaghetti and raw garlic, in a large skillet. She then poured boiling water, which was heated in a tea kettle, into the skillet.

“You put the dry pasta in, you pour the boiling water on top and that’s it!” Meghan tells her friend, makeup artist Daniel Martin.

The recipe drew widespread mockery on social media.

“Netflix paid a lot of money just to let us know Meghan Markle doesn’t know how to cook pasta,” one person on X quipped at the time.

“The dish must be a gluey, sticky, starchy brick with so little water,” another wrote, while a third added: “That’s not food – that’s punishment.”

However, some fans on X said they gave that recipe a try themselves and were impressed. “Omg so I made Duchess Meghan’s pasta. I love to cook so I put my own spin on it… one of the best pasta dishes I’ve EVER had,” one wrote.

“I also made Meghan’s one pot pasta, super easy, fresh ingredients, amazing flavours. Chef’s kiss,” another wrote.

Amid the mixed reactions to Meghan’s cooking and show — which received a one-star rating from The Independent — the director of the program, Michael Steed, chimed in to defend her.

“Her cooking is pretty spot-on,” he told People in March. “She’s not a chef, and it’s definitely not meant to make it seem like she is, but there’s just a love of cooking that is palpable.”

He added: “For me, imperfection is a wonderful thing. It was fun watching her trying to get used to the kitchen, because it’s not her place, so we didn’t hide that fact, and she’s kind of walking and looking for things. I really wanted to embrace and celebrate all of the mistakes and mess and all that good stuff.”

Today, Meghan continued her journey as a businesswoman, launching her lifestyle brand, As Ever. The company sells some of her signature products that were used in her show, like her raspberry jam, flower sprinkles, honey, and an assortment of teas.

However, all products are already sold out — a milestone Meghan celebrated on her Instagram. “Our shelves may be empty, but my heart is full! We sold out in less than one hour and I can’t thank you enough…for celebrating, purchasing, sharing, and believing. It’s just the start @aseverofficial,” she wrote in her post. “Here we go!”