Contributed by Info Guru Oliver VanDervoort

It seems that one of the most popular traditions in almost every culture is handing down family recipes from one generation to another.

Of course, before a young future chef can master grandma’s famous Veal Parmesan, they have to be able to get the basics of food preparation down. As the old saying goes, you must be able to crawl before you can walk. That is why we have brought you the Top 10 Learn-to-cook recipes. These are foods that someone can cut their teeth on and develop good preparation habits before they move on the bigger and more complicated meals.

10. Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce

Spaghetti with sauce is one of those learn-to-cook recipes with gourmet pasta that can both train the initiate and be improved upon without much effort. This is also a recipe that is easy to change to taste, allowing the newbie a chance to experiment.

9. Hamburgers

Hamburgers are another food that are great to cut your cooking teeth on because they can start out simple and get more difficult as the cook matures. Merely forming meat into a patty and grilling it allows practice in determining cook times, and you can become a gourmand with higher quality meats when you feel more comfortable.

8. Pancakes

Learning to make something like pancakes will also give the less than wonderful cook the ability to mix something up simple and easy for breakfast. Very few ingredients makes this a pretty hard recipe to mess up, which is a must when starting out using the stove. Top them with yummy syrups or fruit preserves and even the funny-looking ones will taste amazing!

7. Bagel Pizzas

Bagel Pizzas are a great recipe to start your culinary career off with because it really isn’t a difficult meal to make, but it can be tweaked to make it a little more complicated. Sauce, cheese and a bagel are the only ingredients you need but you can add other pizza ingredients to give it a new taste.

6. Macaroni and Cheese

Much like spaghetti this particular meal looks a lot more complicated than it is to prepare. You can either go with a variety that is boxed and incredibly easy, or you can go with a more homemade mac n cheese that gives the rookie cooker a little more control over how the finished product turns out.

5. French Toast

The name of this particular dish makes people think it is really harder to make than it is. Because French toast is actually a fairly easy recipe, a new chef can feel good about making a perfect batch.

4. Tacos

There are basic ways to make tacos, heating up the shells from a kit, adding a little powder to browned meat and you have some tacos. Like most of the other recipes on the list, you can actually spice this up with other ingredients and toppings.

3. Scrambled Eggs

Milk and eggs are the only two things you need in order to make a very good order of scrambled eggs. There are literally dozens of different ways you can whip up this particular dish, and there are even some types that only need eggs. There are others that allow you to mix in ham or onions or other veggies to add some taste.

2. Hot Dogs

One of the easiest foods on the planet to prepare, there is still enough involved as far as getting the right temperature and timing that newbies can get something out of the experience of preparing hot dogs.

1. Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Grilled cheese sandwiches are incredibly easy to make, but you also have to have some skill in order to make sure you don’t burn them or get the cheese melted just right. These sandwiches are such a staple that restaurants have built their entire menus around it. Start with good cheeses and quality bread, and you’ll end up with a tasty treat for lunch.