5 Alternative Career Paths for Chefs in the Netherlands (Beyond the Restaurant)

Tired of the Restaurant Grind? It’s Time for a Change

Let’s be honest. Restaurant life is incredibly tough. It's a career that can completely consume you. You're working late nights while your friends and family are relaxing. You’re on your feet during holidays. Your body is sore, and you’re mentally exhausted. It’s easy to feel stuck, pushing out the same dishes day after day.

If you feel your passion for cooking is fading, it might not be the craft that's the problem—it might be the environment. Your skills as a chef are valuable, and in a country like the Netherlands where people truly appreciate good food, you have more options than you think. You can build a career with better hours, more creative freedom, and a healthier income.

If that sounds good to you, here are five realistic career paths for chefs ready to step outside the traditional kitchen.

1. Private Chef: Be Your Own Boss & Set Your Own Rates

What Does a Private Chef Actually Do?

As a private chef, or thuiskok, you bring the fine dining experience directly into a client's home. You are in complete control. The job starts with a conversation to understand exactly what the client wants. From there, you design a custom menu, shop for the best possible ingredients, take over their kitchen to cook and serve the meal, and then leave the place spotless. One job might be an intimate dinner for two in Amsterdam, and the next could be a large family celebration in a villa near Utrecht.

A Day in the Life of a Private Chef

Forget the basement prep kitchen. Your morning could start at a bustling local market, hand-selecting fresh produce and talking to the fishmonger. The afternoon is spent prepping calmly in your own space, listening to your own music. In the evening, you go to the client’s home, where you’re not just a cook but a central part of the experience. You might explain the story behind a dish as you serve it. The pressure is different; it’s about creating one perfect, memorable evening, not hitting 100 covers.

Income Potential: How Much Can You Earn as a 'Thuiskok'?

Let's talk money. You can make a good living, often better than in a restaurant kitchen. While rates vary, an experienced private chef in the Netherlands can earn over €55,000 a year. Because you work for yourself as a freelancer (ZZP'er), you decide your own prices. You can charge per person—anywhere from €75 to over €150—which gives you direct control over your earnings. Of course, freelance work has its ups and downs, so you need to be smart about saving for quieter periods.

Skills You Need to Succeed Outside the Kitchen

• Menu Planning: You need to be creative and flexible enough to design menus for any taste or dietary need.
• Client Communication: The job is personal. You need to be good at talking with people and making them feel comfortable.
• Organization: You must be ableto plan everything perfectly, from shopping lists to timing the meal in an unfamiliar kitchen.
• Problem-Solving: You need to be able to think on your feet when the client’s oven is weaker than expected or you’re missing a specific tool.

How to Get Your First Private Chef Clients

Start with people you know. Offer to cook a special dinner for friends at a reduced rate. In return, ask for good photos and a testimonial you can use. Create a simple Instagram page to show off your beautiful food. You can also connect with local luxury B&Bs or rental agencies; they often have guests looking for a unique dining experience. In this business, a happy customer is your best marketing tool.

2. Recipe Developer: Get Paid for Your Creativity

What Does a Recipe Developer Actually Do?

If you're the chef who loves the "aha!" moment of creating a new dish, this job could be perfect. Your kitchen becomes your creative lab. You'll spend your time developing, testing, and writing clear recipes for big companies like Albert Heijn, meal-kit services like HelloFresh, food magazines, or brands launching a new product. The work is all about precision—testing a recipe repeatedly to ensure it’s not only delicious but also easy for a home cook to get right every time.

A Day in the Life of a Recipe Developer

Your day is quiet and focused, not ruled by the chaos of service. You might spend your morning testing three slightly different versions of a vegan stew, carefully noting the exact gram measurements and cooking times. The afternoon could be spent writing up the steps in simple, clear language and calculating the nutritional info. It's a job that rewards patience, creativity, and attention to detail.

Income Potential: What Can You Make Creating Recipes?

If you land a full-time job with a company, you can expect a salary between €40,000 and €60,000 a year. If you choose to work freelance, you have more flexibility. You can charge per recipe—from €150 for a simple one to over €500 for something complex—or charge a day rate for your development time.

Skills You Need for Recipe Development

• Precision: You must be obsessive about exact measurements and clear instructions.
• Food Science: You need a solid understanding of how ingredients interact.
• Writing Skills: You have to write instructions that are so clear a total beginner can't mess them up.
• Audience Awareness: You need to know who you’re writing for. A recipe for a busy parent is very different from one for a gourmet foodie.

How to Get Your First Recipe Development Gig

You need a portfolio to show what you can do. Start a simple food blog or Instagram account where you post your own original, well-tested recipes with high-quality photos. Reach out to a small local food company and offer to develop a recipe for a low fee to get your first professional credit. Network on LinkedIn—marketing managers at food companies are the people who hire for these roles.

3. Culinary Instructor: Share Your Passion for Food

H3: What Does a Culinary Instructor Actually Do?

Do you genuinely enjoy teaching people and sharing what you know? Then you could get paid to be a cooking instructor. You can host workshops focused on specific skills, like how to make perfect pasta, or specific cuisines, like Thai or modern Dutch. You can partner with an existing cooking school, rent a commercial kitchen space, or even host small classes in your own home. The job is one part chef, one part entertainer—you need to be great at explaining things and keeping the mood fun and relaxed.

A Day in the Life of a Cooking Instructor

Your prep time is for your students. You’ll measure out ingredients into individual bowls (mise en place) so they can get straight to the fun part. The class itself is all about creating a great experience. You’ll be talking, demonstrating techniques, and walking around to help people who are struggling. The reward isn't a clean plate coming back to the kitchen; it's seeing the look of pride on a student's face when they sit down to eat the amazing meal they just made themselves.

Income Potential: How Much Can You Earn by Teaching?

This can vary widely. A single workshop might earn you a few hundred euros. However, if you build a strong reputation, you can earn over €50,000 a year. The most profitable work often comes from hosting private groups and corporate team-building events, as companies have bigger budgets for these kinds of activities.

Skills You Need to Be a Great Teacher

• Public Speaking: You need to be comfortable and engaging in front of a group.
• Patience: This is non-negotiable. You have to be happy to explain something for the third time.
• Planning: You need to structure a class that flows logically and is timed well.
• Adaptability: You must be ready to handle anything, from a student who accidentally doubles the salt to an oven that suddenly stops working.

How to Get Your First Class Started

Practice on your friends. Host a small, informal class for them to get comfortable and ask for honest feedback. Post about it on social media to show people what you're doing. A great way to start professionally is to contact your local community center (buurthuis) or a kitchen supply store; they are often looking for people to host interesting workshops.

4. Food Stylist: Make Food Look Beautiful

What Does a Food Stylist Actually Do?

Have you always been the chef who obsesses over the perfect plating? As a food stylist, you get paid for that obsession. You are a visual artist who works with photographers to make food look incredible for advertisements, cookbooks, and websites. Your job is to arrange the food and use a whole bag of tricks to make sure it looks perfect, even after hours under hot studio lights. It’s a highly creative role where your deep knowledge of food is your biggest advantage.

A Day in the Life of a Food Stylist

You show up to a photo studio with a toolkit that contains tweezers, paintbrushes, and spray bottles. The photographer needs to get the perfect shot of a burger, and it’s your job to make sure the cheese melts just so and the lettuce looks crisp and fresh for hours. It’s slow, detailed, and meticulous work that requires an artist’s eye.

Income Potential: The Rates for Food Styling

This is almost always a freelance career. When you are just starting out, you might earn €250 for a day of work. But top-tier food stylists in the Netherlands who work on major TV commercials or national ad campaigns can command daily rates of €600 to €1,000 or even more.

Skills You Need to Be a Food Stylist

• An Artistic Eye: You need a natural sense of color, composition, and texture.
• Incredible Patience: You can easily spend a full day working to get just one perfect shot.
• Creative Problem-Solving: You have to figure out clever ways to make food look good when it naturally wants to wilt, melt, or dry out.
• Networking: Building a good reputation with photographers and ad agencies is how you get consistent work.

How to Get Your First Food Styling Gig

The best way to start is to offer to assist an established food stylist for free. You will learn invaluable on-set skills and make critical connections. In the meantime, build your own portfolio. Cook, style, and photograph your own dishes to show what you can do. Reach out to small local cafes or new food startups; they often need great photos but have a smaller budget, which makes them perfect first clients.

5. Catering Entrepreneur: Build Your Own Food Business

What Does a Catering Entrepreneur Actually Do?

If you have the drive to be your own boss, starting a catering business has unlimited potential. This path lets you build a culinary brand from the ground up. You can choose to specialize in whatever you love—corporate lunches, upscale party snacks (borrels), or large-scale wedding feasts. You can start small, even from your home kitchen, as long as you follow the food safety (NVWA) regulations. This role means you are the CEO, the head chef, and the logistics manager all rolled into one.

A Day in the Life of a Caterer

Your days are incredibly varied. One day you might be doing a menu tasting with a couple planning their wedding. The next, you're deep in a spreadsheet, calculating the food costs for a 200-person corporate event. The day of an event is a rush of adrenaline—managing any staff you’ve hired, timing the food perfectly, and overseeing every detail. It's a huge amount of work, but every success is 100% yours.

Income Potential: The Reality of a Catering Business

Your income potential is directly tied to your business skills. A small, part-time catering business could add an extra €15,000 a year to your income. A full-time, well-run catering company can be a six-figure business. Profitability all comes down to pricing your services correctly, controlling your food costs, and running an efficient operation.

Skills You Need to Run a Catering Business

• Business Smarts: You need to understand pricing, invoicing, marketing, and how to find new clients.
• Logistics Mastery: You have to be a master planner to execute a big event without any mistakes.
• Consistency at Scale: You need to be able to cook your best food, whether it's for 20 people or 200.
• Calm Under Pressure: This is a different kind of stress. You have to stay cool when dealing with clients, staff, and last-minute changes.

How to Get Your First Catering Clients

Start with your circle. Cater a party for a friend or family member at cost. If you do an amazing job, their guests will become your first real leads. When you start, offer a very small and focused menu of things you can execute perfectly. This makes your shopping, prep, and service much less stressful as you find your footing.

How to Start Your New Culinary Career Path

Leaving the restaurant world is a big decision, but it's not the end of your life in food. It’s an evolution. It's about taking the skills you worked so hard to build and using them in a way that serves you. These career paths offer a level of freedom and control over your life, schedule, and income that you'll likely never find working on someone else's line.

Build Your Brand and Find Opportunities

No matter which path you choose, building your own personal brand is key. A great first step is to create a profile on a platform like HomemadeChefs.com. It acts as your online portfolio—a place to showcase your best recipes, explain the services you offer, and connect with people who are looking for exactly your kind of talent. Your next chapter is waiting.

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