do you need a recipe or do you improvise?

I'm like ratatouille

Depends on what it is.
I no longer feel like I NEED sloppy Joe sauce any more 😄

I improvise most of the time, but i like recipes for techniques and flavour combos.

I usually start by following a recipe, with maybe a slight adjustment based on personal taste. Depending on the outcome, it will be further modified. Once it is where I think it needs to be, it ends up in my file as a recipe. I've improvised some things and never documented, sometimes to my own chagrin being unable to duplicate.

Recipe most times lol

Depends what I'm making

A bit of both. Last night i had mushrooms, sourcream, and smoked garlic to use up. So i also added chillies and cheese to pasta and served with fresh basil. It was very tasty. Then i followed a receipe to make a German apple cake.

I usually follow a recipe the first time or maybe more if it’s a baked item. But for salads and other things I often improvise adding what I like.

Once I got all the basics of cooking, I can improvise. Once you learn some skills and theories, you can just do substitutions.

I use a recipe and rarely deviate from it. I'm a coward in the kitchen and won't experiment.

I always improvise on making crystal meth: glass edition

I usually look up several variations of the same recipe and make a hybrid of all of them.

I do collect cook books - but I don't use them. Improvisation is far more fun

Recipe the first time. Second attempts I make it more to my liking.

The most I'll do is read the cooking instructions.

My moms recipe. I’m really not a good cook. 👀

I follow a recipe. It’s easier that way.

I follow my instincts.

Both

Both

I used to avidly collect cookbooks until I realized I never used them.
Not all of us have a fully elaborately stocked pantry, or enjoy cooking for hours on end.

I'm more of a 'what have I got' and ' what do I feel like having' type person.

When I cook I kinda get in the zone and cook via my taste buds....it's a little like a frenzy with me going taste, taste, taste, add, add, add.

But things like cookies and cakes I get the feel of a recipe....and when I know it well, I start experimenting.
I like to make things as healthy as possible, so I often try to remove sugar and replace sweetness with fruit, honey or more natural sugars.

I thicken a lot of dishes now with egg, or ground flax seeds instead of flour if I can.

I'm also a lazy cook ....it has to be quick or I end up not wanting to eat it.

If it’s new to me I need a recipe, but with some of the dishes I learned from my mother and grandmother, I can wing it to the point of substituting ingredients if necessary and still having it turn out well.

I improvise

I burn the house down