What (and How) We Cook at an Airbnb

We love staying at Airbnbs—and at this point, we almost never book hotels.

There are a few reasons for this. We usually need at least two bedrooms, preferably two bathrooms. We tend to stay in one city for a full month, and most importantly, we prefer cooking our own food.

Cooking while traveling isn’t just about saving money. It changes how we live in a place. It forces us to be intentional, creative, and resourceful—using what we have to make clean, healthy meals.

Over time, we’ve built a simple system that works almost anywhere.

Contents

• What We Bring With Us
  • Ingredients
  • Utensils
• What We Cook (Based on What the Airbnb Has)
  • With No Tools
  • With Pans
  • With Pots
  • With a Microwave
  • With an Oven
  • With Amazon Deliveries
• What We Buy Locally
• “Isn’t That a Lot of Work?”

What We Bring With Us

Most Airbnbs are minimally stocked, especially when it comes to cooking basics. Instead of relying on random seasonings left behind by previous guests, or rushing to local stores to get them, we bring a small set of essentials (mostly for cooking meat):

Ingredients

• Salt
• Black pepper
• White pepper
• Cumin
• Star anise
• Sichuan pepper

These fit easily into luggage and instantly make any kitchen usable.

Utensils

Airbnb kitchens are usually very basic. A lot of utensils are cheap plastic, which are not healthy to cook with. So we bring a few essential tools:

• Stainless steel spatula
• Stainless steel soup ladle
• Wooden rolling pin (for making noodles, which my family loves)

Prep tip:
When we arrive, we boil all utensils before using them. It’s quick, hygienic, and gives peace of mind.

What We Cook (Based on What the Airbnb Has)

Every Airbnb is different, so we adapt to whatever appliances are available and we can find in the local grocery store.

I use the following categories to describe the macronutrients:

• fats: 🧈
• protein: 🥩
• carbs: 🍚
• fiber: 🥬

With No Tools

• Avocado 🍚🧈🥬
• Cheese 🥩🧈
• Fruits 🍚🥬

With Pans

• Scrambled eggs 🥩🧈
• Sunny-side-up eggs 🥩🧈
• Beef slices 🥩🧈
• Steaks 🥩🧈
• Fish fillets 🥩🧈 (eg. salmon, trout, perch, etc.)
• Bacon 🥩🧈
• Vegetables 🥬 (eg. broccoli, carrots, etc.)

With Pots

• Pumpkin 🍚🥬
• Boiled eggs 🥩🧈
• Potatoes 🍚🥬

With a Microwave

• Sweet potatoes 🍚🥬
• Potatoes 🍚🥬
• Steamed eggs 🥩🧈

With an Oven

• Baked pumpkin 🍚🥬
• Flanken style beef ribs 🥩🧈

With Amazon Deliveries

For longer stays, we sometimes order one of these appliances to make cooking meat easier:

• Instant Pot
• Slow cooker

With these appliances, we can cook almost any kind of meat: beef, pork, chicken, and fish.

What We Buy Locally

We always prioritize local, seasonal food. It’s cheaper, fresher, less processed, and usually much better.

Examples from our travels:

• Fresh fish from Sydney Fish Market
• Lamb and beef in Australia
• Kiwi and tangerines in season
• Wagyu beef in Tokyo

For cooking fat, we usually buy lard or tallow from cooking bacon and beef instead of processed oils. After traveling to so many countries, we find using processed plant-based oils is so prevalent that you cannot escape it. You have to be alert and check ingredient labels all the time.

To make sure we have enough fats to cook with, the first thing we buy when we arrive at a new place is fatty meats—bacon or Wagyu beef—so we can render our own fat.

Whenever possible, we avoid packaged meat and buy from local butchers or markets. For example, packaged ground meat in the supermarket often comes with preservatives to make it last longer.

Staying close to supermarkets is an important criteria for us when choosing Airbnbs. We find that it makes it easier to buy fresh ingredients and cook our own meals.

“Isn’t That a Lot of Work?”

People ask us this all the time.

Honestly? I don’t think so anymore.

To me, cooking at an Airbnb feels like solving a puzzle—figuring out how to make good meals using limited tools in an unfamiliar kitchen. It’s fun. It’s creative. And it makes a place feel like home much faster. In many ways, it feels like a fundamental human skill—something our ancestors did naturally when they foraged, hunted, and fished.

Your first meal might not be great. That’s normal.

But you adjust. You tweak. You learn.

And before long, you’re eating better than you would at most restaurants—while traveling.

We do eat out when we travel. Why miss out on the joy of experiencing local food? But we’re selective about what we put into our bodies. Our bodies are sacred.

We choose great local restaurants—often expensive ones—because we know the people behind them care deeply about food quality and see cooking as a craft. My husband jokes that I’ve become so picky that I only eat out at meat-focused restaurants (steakhouses or BBQ) or Michelin-starred restaurants.🤣 I'm not ashamed at all.

This way of eating out also prevents us from constantly calculating the cost of every meal. We used to eat out three times a day when traveling. Now, we may only eat out once every few days. By cooking for ourselves, we save a lot, so we don’t worry too much about the cost when we do eat out.

Random street stalls, hole-in-the-wall spots, or fast-food chains for a quick bite carry risks we’re not willing to take. (Well, I almost died from a severe infection after eating street food in Istanbul—but that’s a story for another time.)