How To Become A Special Diet Cook: What It Is and Career Path

What is a special diet cook and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a special diet cook. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.24 an hour? That's $33,777 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 16% and produce 419,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSpecial Diet CookUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,777

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.2

Growth rate 16%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.38%

Asian 8.46%

Black or African American 10.60%

Hispanic or Latino 17.92%

Unknown 5.34%

White 56.31%

Gender

female 40.77%

male 59.23%

Age - 37

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 37

Stress level

6.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.3

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.4

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a special diet cook

Explore special diet cook education requirements

Most common special diet cook degrees

Associate

36.0 %

Bachelor's

28.0 %

High School Diploma

22.0 %

Start to develop specific special diet cook skills

Skills	Percentages
Food Handling	41.08%
Food Preparation	35.17%
Food Safety	20.20%
Allergies	3.55%

Complete relevant special diet cook training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New special diet cooks learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a special diet cook based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real special diet cook resumes.

Research special diet cook duties and responsibilities

Coordinate with in-house & outside counsel, practice development
Prep individual food plates for children with allergies, intolerances, and special diets.
Prepare three meals daily for individuals with dietary restrictionsKeep organize lists of all dietary restrictions and allergies.
Cook with convection oven, large tilt skillets, flat grills, fryers, large chef knives, and measuring utensils.

Prepare your special diet cook resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your special diet cook resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a special diet cook resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable special diet cook resume templates

Build a professional special diet cook resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your special diet cook resume.