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Dietary cook skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted experts
Melinda Valliant Ph.D.,
Melinda Valliant Ph.D.
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical dietary cook skills. We ranked the top skills for dietary cooks based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 15.8% of dietary cook resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a dietary cook needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 dietary cook skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how dietary cooks use patients:
  • Interviewed patients and family members according to nutrition care plan under supervision of dietitian or non-commissioned officer.
  • Prepare food for all residents regarding dietary or nutritional of individual patients.

2. Food Handling

Here's how dietary cooks use food handling:
  • Followed sanitary food handling procedures when preparing food.
  • Prepare dietary recipes as planned for scheduled meals and snacks, follow proper food handling requirements and clean all prep/cooking areas.

3. Food Service

The food service industry is a vast industry comprising of restaurants, caterers, cafeterias operating in institutions and any other business offering a meal not prepared at home. Foodservice operators require necessary utensils for preparing food for the consumers, foodservice distributors are the people who take care of this need for them.

Here's how dietary cooks use food service:
  • Maintained a sanitary food service environment.
  • Direct other employees in the absence of The food service director, oversee the day-to day operation,

4. Kitchen Equipment

Kitchen Equipment refers to all those essential items which are crucial for the task of cooking.

Here's how dietary cooks use kitchen equipment:
  • Maintained and recorded temperatures for all kitchen equipment.
  • Instructed new staff in proper food preparation, use of kitchen equipment and utensils, sanitation and safety issues.

5. Meal Service

A Meal Service is a service provided by a company or an organization in which food is provided to a group of people. Homeless shelters provide a meal service, for example, but so do many education facilities, like high schools. Some companies provide their employees with meal service, though unlike for some of the other kinds of meal service, employees must pay for this food out of their own pocket.

Here's how dietary cooks use meal service:
  • Observed strict dietary regulations and critical time-management skills in order to provide timely meal service.
  • Assisted with meal service and determination of amount and type of food and supplies required for daily menu.

6. Rehabilitation

Here's how dietary cooks use rehabilitation:
  • Position required supervising approximately 13 other employees within kitchen area of rehabilitation center.
  • Prepared and cooked food for rehabilitation facility, specialized diet menu planning

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7. Diet Orders

Diet Orders are the instructions given to a patient and/or the family and caretakers of a patient, by a medical and healthcare professional, in relation to said individual's dietary and generally food and drink-related needs. These might be given to a person for a number of reasons and can apply for a short, specific amount of time or can be life-long. Some surgeries, for example, require that all or some specific foods are not ingested a number of hours prior to the surgery, while some diseases, like diabetes, can affect a person's whole diet.

Here's how dietary cooks use diet orders:
  • Followed recipe directions, diet orders, tray cards, and work assignments for the preparation of special dietary meals.
  • Prepared a nutritious and palatable meals according to menus and diet orders * Cleaning, assisting manger with inventory

8. Compassion

Here's how dietary cooks use compassion:
  • Assist residents with menus, questions, complaints and concerns, with compassion.
  • Provided attention and compassion to all resident's.

9. Therapeutic Diets

Here's how dietary cooks use therapeutic diets:
  • Prepare meals, followed therapeutic diets, maintained sanitation levels, Obtained Dietary Managers certification during employment
  • Assured menus were prepared/ served as written, including adherence to recipes, correct portion sizes, and therapeutic diets.

10. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how dietary cooks use customer service:
  • Provided courteous and informative customer service in an open kitchen
  • Maintain excellent customer service through ongoing departmental training.

11. ServSafe

Here's how dietary cooks use servsafe:
  • Cooked food in a timely manner, usage of ServSafe guidelines.
  • Demonstrated the ServSafe Sanitation guidelines every day.

12. Culinary

Here's how dietary cooks use culinary:
  • Achieved a certificate of completion with the 2012 Premier Culinary Clinic, held in Cleveland Ohio.
  • Provided knowledge of culinary skills as our kitchen was restaurant style type cooking.

13. Cleanliness

Here's how dietary cooks use cleanliness:
  • Conformed to all MN State health code regulations for equipment/facility cleanliness, nutritional/sanitary meal preparation and food, testing.
  • Maintained kitchen cleanliness and quality standards based on federal guidelines for licensed long-term care facilities.

14. State Regulations

State regulations are the rules made by the state authorities under a specific Act. When a government intervenes in the private market to implements policies, they are known as state regulations. These policies help in achieving the economic, political, and social targets which might not be able to achieve otherwise.

Here's how dietary cooks use state regulations:
  • Maintain excellent kitchen policies per Indiana State regulations- Department of Health.
  • Follow all state regulations and health department guidelines.

15. Quality Food

Here's how dietary cooks use quality food:
  • Prepared and dished quality food accurately and attractively according to diet and menu.
  • Follow policies regarding handing food to prevent waste and assure high quality foods.
top-skills

What skills help Dietary Cooks find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on dietary cook resumes?

Melinda Valliant Ph.D.

Professor and Chair, Director, Center for Health and Sports Performance, The University of Mississippi

Volunteer or paid experience in a health-related or food service field; knowledge of general nutrition, food allergies, texture modifications, special diets, factors that impact dietary intake, i.e., economic, environmental (access), social (living arrangements), etc.

What hard/technical skills are most important for dietary cooks?

Melinda Valliant Ph.D.

Professor and Chair, Director, Center for Health and Sports Performance, The University of Mississippi

Word processing, excel, timely communication/documentation
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about dietary cook

List of dietary cook skills to add to your resume

Dietary cook skills

The most important skills for a dietary cook resume and required skills for a dietary cook to have include:

  • Patients
  • Food Handling
  • Food Service
  • Kitchen Equipment
  • Meal Service
  • Rehabilitation
  • Diet Orders
  • Compassion
  • Therapeutic Diets
  • Customer Service
  • ServSafe
  • Culinary
  • Cleanliness
  • State Regulations
  • Quality Food
  • Food Storage
  • Tray Line
  • Kitchen Appliances
  • Ensure Cleanliness
  • Safety Standards
  • Quality Standards
  • Meal Preparation
  • Steam Tables
  • Functional Operation
  • Cooking Equipment
  • Fine Dining
  • Cooking Food
  • Nutritious Meals
  • Nutritional Restrictions
  • Stoves
  • Dietary Guidelines
  • Food Temperatures
  • Food Products
  • Food Carts
  • Diet Restrictions
  • Dietary Aides
  • Allergies
  • Food Orders
  • Clean Kitchen
  • Departmental Policies
  • Prep Food
  • Dementia Care
  • Slicers
  • Broilers
  • Cold Food
  • Steamers
  • Food Preparation
  • Portion Control
  • Food Trays

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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