NYT Cooking’s AI assistant helped with chicken, not cake

At about 7 p.m. on weeknights, the refrigerator can present a familiar problem: what to cook that won’t prompt a complaint of “Chicken again?” One NYT Cooking subscriber turned to the app’s new AI assistant for help, with mixed results.

Corp and Tech·November 7, 2026·reads: 1,789

NYT Cooking’s AI assistant helped with chicken, not cake

The writer says AI tools have become a regular kitchen aid, helping with ingredient swaps, meal ideas and cooking mishaps. Those include Alexa Plus on an Echo smart display, Samsung Food on a refrigerator and an AI-powered cooking robot. NYT Cooking’s newly introduced assistant was a natural next test for someone who has subscribed to the recipe service for several years.

The tool was available at launch only to subscribers using iOS. The writer understands why some NYT Cooking users and recipe purists are wary: the service’s appeal lies in thousands of recipes from reputable sources, including the New York Times archives, restaurants, cookbooks and food columnists, tested by people. The writer adds that experiments with fully AI-generated recipes have gone poorly.

Reader comments are another feature the writer values. The account’s headline sums up the results of trying the assistant: it rescued a weeknight chicken dish but nearly ruined a cake.