How to Make a Living out of Food (Without Becoming a Chef)

As a passionate foodie, you no doubt want to spend as much time as you can surrounded by delicious dishes and sumptuous snacks. If you’ve already actively pursued a career that will allow you to indulge in your passion for food, you’ve probably considered becoming a chef… until you realized that you wouldn’t be able to deal with the pressure and the fast-paced environment of a working kitchen. There’s no shame in not wanting to become a chef — not everybody wants to be shouted out by a Gordon Ramsay wannabe for making the smallest of mistakes!

Rest assured, becoming a chef isn’t your only option if you want to make a living out of food. To find some of the career paths that you could go down in this instance, be sure to read on.

Get a job in the hospitality sector

If you don’t want to be a chef but would still like to work in a professional kitchen environment, then you could always get a job front-of-house instead. There are always plenty of jobs going in the hospitality sector, no matter how experienced you may be when it comes to waiting on tables and taking orders.

Your first port of call, in this instance, should be the food/beverage job section on LeoList. There, you will find all the current hospitality openings in your local area. Once you find the perfect role for you, it’ll then be down to you and you alone to ensure that you get the job. For advice on how to stand out from the crowd during the application process, be sure to check out this helpful article on the matter.

Get a job where you get paid to eat

Yes, you read that correctly — there are jobs out there in which you can get paid to eat! If that sounds like your idea of your dream job, then you should consider following the career paths listed below.

• Food critic
• Professional taster
• Food scientist
• Competitive eater (this one’s not for the faint-hearted!)
• Recipe tester
• Cheesemonger
• Baker

Start a food blog

If you’re looking for a foodie side hustle rather than a full-time culinary occupation, then stating a food blog could be the perfect course of action for you to take. Taking on this challenge will allow you to speak with authority about certain recipes, and it will allow you to engage in conversations about cooking with fellow foodies.

To start a food blog that actually makes you some money, you must:

• Decide what type of food niche you wish to hone in on (eg., gluten, sugar-free, vegan, or frugal cooking).
• Come up with a blog name that relates to the food industry.
• The technical stuff… purchase a domain name, choose a suitable web host, install plugins, and set up an email list.
• Come up with a constant string of new recipes (so that you have a constant string of fresh content to upload).
• Promote your blog via social media.
• Monetize the blog by seeking sponsorships and offering online courses.

Take the above advice, and you’ll be earning a living out of your passion for food in no time.