Home Cooking Challenge

Flour dusted across a wooden countertop. Steam curling off a pot that's been simmering for hours. The moment someone tears into fresh bread and the inside is exactly right. Kitchens are where people show love, argue about seasoning, and pass down recipes they'll never actually write down.

This challenge is for the photographers and videographers who know that the best food photography doesn't happen in studios with fake grill marks and glycerin droplets. It happens at home, mid-chaos, somewhere between the chopping and the eating.

What We're Looking For

Photos and videos that capture what cooking actually looks and feels like when nobody's staging it:

* 🍳 **The process** – Hands kneading dough. Onions hitting a hot pan. Sauces being tasted straight from the wooden spoon. The messy, real, mid-recipe moments that make cooking feel alive.
* 🥕 **Ingredients before they become something** – Market hauls spread across a table. Spices lined up like they're about to perform. A single lemon doing more work than it gets credit for.
* 🔥 **The kitchen itself** – Stovetops that have seen things. Morning light hitting a coffee pot. The organised chaos of someone who actually cooks versus someone who just has a nice kitchen.
* 👨‍👩‍👧 **The people** – Grandparents who don't measure anything. Kids "helping" (loosely defined). The person who insists on tasting everything before it's ready.



Both photos and videos welcome. A 60-second video of pasta water reaching a rolling boil? We absolutely want to see it.

What's In It For You?

* 💸 **Cash prizes:** First place gets $500 USD, two runners-up get $250 USD each
* 🤝 **Community recognition:** Your work featured to 30M+ monthly visitors
* 📈 **Real impact:** Watch your home cooking photos and videos power food blogs, recipe sites, restaurant menus, and editorial spreads worldwide



Food bloggers need photos that don't look like they were styled by a committee. Recipe developers want videos of real hands making real food. Your kitchen moments are solving creative problems for people who are tired of the same overhead flat-lay on a marble countertop — and your stats will show you exactly how.

How To Enter

1.  Review our [photo and video quality guidelines](https://www.pexels.com/blog/resource/upload-guidelines/)
2.  Upload your best home cooking work to Pexels (tap "Join the Challenge")
3.  Submit as many as you want until April 30th - if you've been photographing every meal for years and your camera roll is 40% dinner, this is your moment



Whether you're documenting your grandmother's Sunday sauce or filming yourself attempting croissants for the first time (brave), we want to see it.

The (Fun) Fine Print

* Challenge ends April 30th at 11:59 PM UTC
* Photos and videos must be your original work
* Winners announced mid-May
* Basic photo and video quality guidelines apply

$1000 USD in Cash prizes

Real kitchens, real recipes, real chaos. Show us what cooking looks like when nobody's staging it.

The Home Cooking Challenge celebrates what happens when real people make real food in real kitchens - flour-dusted countertops, simmering pots, recipes passed down without ever being written down, and the beautiful chaos of cooking at home. Submit your best home cooking photography and videography for a chance to win cash prizes (up to $500 USD). Challenge ends April 30th.

Home Cooking

Asian woman mixing ingredients in a kitchen bowl, baking.

A Young Woman Mixing Ingredients in a Glass Bowl 

Fresh homemade pasta being prepared on a wooden board with ingredients in a kitchen setting.

Noodles ready for storage and cooking on kitchen table

Overhead view of homemade ravioli preparation on a marble table with wooden tools.

Raw ravioli on table near rolling pin

Male chef expertly chops onions in a rustic kitchen setting.

A Man Cutting An  Onion

Cozy kitchen with cooking pans on a stove and spices in the background.

Food Cooking on the Stove

Close-up of hands kneading dough with herbs on a rustic blue table, showcasing food preparation.

A Person Preparing a Dough for Baking

500$ USD in cash

250$ USD in cash

An elderly woman cooks indoors using a traditional stove surrounded by vegetables. Shadowy, atmospheric setting.

Home Cooking: Winners

Home Cooking

About this Challenge

Where your photos and videos meet the world