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How to Use Wen, the AI Cooking Assistant

by Wen Dinner Team(Updated May 12, 2026)

Wen is the Wen Dinner chat assistant. It can help you find recipes, understand cooking steps, plan meals, and use Wen Dinner features in plain language.

What Wen Can Help With

Recipe Search and Cooking Questions

Ask Wen for recipe ideas, ingredient explanations, substitutions, or cooking technique help.

Examples:

  • "Find a vegetarian dinner that takes about 30 minutes."
  • "What can I make with chicken and bell peppers?"
  • "What does it mean to saute onions until translucent?"
  • "Can I make this recipe dairy-free?"

Meal Planning and Cooking Schedules

Wen can explain recipe timing, compare active and total cooking time, and help you think through meals that need to finish together.

Examples:

  • "When should I start if dinner is at 7 PM?"
  • "What can I prep ahead for this meal?"
  • "Which steps can happen while something is in the oven?"
  • "Help me plan a dinner with a main dish and two sides."

Anonymous visitors can preview coordinated scheduling with one temporary meal. Saving meal plans, using calendars, sharing plans, and connecting inventory or shopping lists require signing in.

Cooking Notes and Recipe Feedback

When you are signed in, Wen can record private cooking notes after you make a recipe and summarize existing recipe feedback.

Examples:

  • "Save a note that I made this with extra garlic and would make it again."
  • "Summarize what people changed when cooking this recipe."

Calendars, My Recipes, and Shopping Lists

When you are signed in, Wen can help with saved meal planning workflows such as calendars, recipe collections, shopping lists, and food you have on hand.

Examples:

  • "Add this recipe to next Tuesday's dinner."
  • "Create a recipe collection for weeknight soups."
  • "What do I have in my pantry?"
  • "Make a shopping list for this meal."
  • "Mark this recipe cooked and update inventory."

Wen should only change saved data when you clearly ask for that action. If a request could affect recipes, calendars, lists, inventory, shopping items, or sharing permissions, Wen may ask a follow-up question before acting.

Site Feedback

Wen can save feedback about Wen Dinner itself, such as bugs, confusing pages, or feature requests. Site feedback is separate from recipe cooking notes. Use site feedback for the app; use recipe notes for what happened when cooking a specific recipe.

App Navigation and Account Help

Wen can summarize Wen Dinner help articles and point you toward the right page or workflow.

Examples:

  • "How do I add a private recipe?"
  • "How do shared calendars work?"
  • "Where do I manage grocery lists?"
  • "How do passkeys work?"

Tips for Better Conversations

Be specific about what you want to cook, when you want to eat, and whether you want Wen to explain something or take an action.

Useful details include:

  • Desired meal time
  • Dietary needs or dislikes
  • Ingredients you already have
  • Number of people eating
  • Whether you want a saved change or just advice

You can also ask follow-up questions. Wen keeps the current conversation context, and on recipe, meal, calendar, and inventory pages it can often use the page you are viewing as context.

Safety and Judgment

Wen can offer cooking guidance, but you are responsible for food safety. Use a thermometer when needed, follow safe handling practices, and rely on authoritative food safety guidance for questions about doneness, storage, allergies, or medical dietary requirements.