In-home & meal prep clients
Personal Chef
Restaurant cooking without the restaurant hours.
Typical pay
$40k-$95k
How you get in
Cooking experience plus food safety certification and insurance
Outlook
Growing with demand for at-home meal service
Personal chefs cook for private clients, usually preparing several days of meals at once in the client's kitchen. It is the most common escape route for restaurant cooks who want their evenings back, with a real cut in intensity and often a raise.
A day in the life
- 7:00aShop for the day's client menus
- 9:00aArrive at the first home and set up
- 9:30aCook five days of meals in a single session
- 1:30pPackage, label and clean the kitchen completely
- 3:00pSecond client or menu planning for the week
- 5:00pInvoice, order specialty items, done for the day
How to get in
Restaurant cook into private chef
Duration
3-9 months
Cost
$1,000-$5,000
Credential
ServSafe certification, business license and liability insurance
- Build real cooking speed and repertoire in restaurants first
- Get ServSafe certified and carry liability insurance
- Find your first clients through word of mouth, gyms and local groups
- Price per session including shopping and travel, not per hour of cooking
Meal prep service
Duration
2-6 months
Cost
$3,000-$20,000
Credential
Commercial kitchen access plus food handling permits
- Cook in a licensed commissary kitchen instead of client homes
- Deliver prepared meals on a subscription model
- Scales far better than one-client-at-a-time cooking
- Check cottage food and commissary rules in your state
Private estate chef
Duration
3-8 years
Cost
$0-$60,000 for culinary school
Credential
Culinary background plus references
- Build a strong résumé in restaurants or as a personal chef
- Work through household staffing agencies
- Full-time positions for families or estates, often with travel
- The highest-paying tier, and it requires discretion as much as cooking
What people love
- · Daytime hours, unlike restaurant work
- · Direct client relationships and creative control
- · Low startup cost — you use their kitchen
- · Recurring weekly clients mean predictable income
What wears people down
- · You are also running a business — sales, invoicing, insurance
- · Client turnover and vacation gaps hit income
- · Dietary restrictions can be extremely specific
- · Grocery shopping and driving is unpaid time unless you price it in