How Much It Actually Costs To Hire Your Own Private Chef

Ever wonder how much it actually costs to hire a private chef? It depends. Not every chef is offering Michelin-worthy meals on a daily basis. And not everyone is working for the rich and famous, so you'll find private chefs offering their services for less than you'd expect. 

The Takeout talked to Jazmin Unruh, a New York-based private chef who posts on TikTok as @qualiakitchen. "When I first started meal prepping, I'd visit a home and crank out four to six meals for the week at $30 an hour," she shared. "This included grocery shopping, or I'd make a grocery list and send it to the client if they wanted to do the shopping themselves."

The role of a private chef varies — some do simple, personalized meal prep, while others plate three-course meals daily. Some go as far as working with families to plan weekly menus, while others are on-call or even travel with their clients. Now in a staff role, Unruh has upped her rate. "I'm currently employed full-time at $40 with benefits, so it does behoove me to be on someone's payroll," she said. She admitted that experienced chefs tend to make more, though. "I'm relatively new to the industry so this wage is reasonable," she explained. "I see many job opportunities for private chefs with five-plus years experience ... going for $100,000 to $150,000 a year with benefits, with 45-plus-hour work weeks and travel requirements." 

Forking out $30 an hour may seem like a reasonable price for a much-needed helping hand. But before you commit, you should examine your expectations. Do you want someone to handle shopping and meal prep, as well as serve you dinner? Private chefs are often confused with personal chefs, who tend to own their own business and have multiple clients. Personal chefs may only meal prep once a week, but this may save you some money if you don't need that daily service or the fresh meals that private chefs often provide. 

Or, maybe food isn't actually your main source of stress — you're really looking for someone to help in multiple areas of the home. "I also see many sites advertise for a chef position that also includes housekeeping or nannying and any number of other tasks that do not involve the kitchen for as low as $25 per hour, so there really isn't any standardization in the field right now," Jazmin Unruh explained.

But just because you can hire a chef for $25 per hour doesn't mean you should. "It is very unlikely that you will find someone who can do excellent kitchen work and excellent housekeeping in the same eight-hour work week," Unruh said. She notes that lower-priced positions may not come with a food handling license, either. "A housekeeper that can do light meal prep is one thing ... but do you really want to sacrifice excellence in childcare to save a penny on hiring a professional chef?"