What Does "Let Him Cook" Mean?

• “Let him cook” means to give someone space and time to do their thing. It’s generally intended as a way to support someone.
• The phrase is also used ironically as a response to someone’s dubious or ridiculous statements or action.
• “Let him cook” was likely coined by the rapper Lil B and his fan base around 2010, and was popularized in American football media and other internet memes.

“Let him Cook” Definition and Examples

“Let him cook” means to let someone do their thing. It’s another way of saying “Give them some space, they’re on to something.” It’s generally used to show support for another person’s actions or words, especially when they seem unconvincing or unproductive at first. When you see someone use it online, they’re often telling other users to let someone keep talking, or to leave them alone while they practice something. The phrase might also appear as “Let that boy cook.” Example: “He’s a slow runner, but let him cook—he’s got a great arm.” Example: “She’s got some weird opinions, but let her cook a little and she’s actually pretty smart.” Example: “Just let him cook; he’ll figure things out eventually.”

The phrase is often used ironically to mock a controversial opinion. Frequently, users on Twitter or Tiktok use the phrase in response to a laughable or dubious statement. When used this way, it means something more like, “Let them keep talking, I want to hear how ridiculous this can get.” Person 1: “He keeps telling me that if fish had legs they’d be running the world by now.” Person 2: “Hold on, let him cook. I want to see where this goes.”

Origin & Spread of “Let Him Cook”

The term was likely coined by the rapper Lil B and his fans. In 2010, Lil B posted a video to YouTube explaining that the term “to cook,” which he used frequently, means “to take your time and care.” He also explained that “Let that boy cook” is another way to say “Let him do his thing.” In his video, Lil B also explains that the phrase refers to the process of becoming a high-ranking chef, and that it takes time, dedication, and lots of practice cooking for an ordinary chef to become a skilled chef. Shortly after, a fan of Lil B posted a video titled, "LIL B BASED COOKING (LET THAT BOY COOK)," which featured himself making stirring movements while dancing to a Lil B song.

The term gained popularity in a football meme in 2019. Twitter user Zach Whitman tweeted, “Let Russ cook,” in response to the Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback, Russell Wilson, performing well despite the Seahawks’ recent, overall poor, performance, meaning that the team ought to let Wilson carry them to victory. Sports news outlets soon found the tweet and used the phrase “Let Russ cook” to analyze and discuss the Seahawks’ strategies. The phrase was then featured in commercials and in American football-related memes, skyrocketing it to household popularity. Before the “Let Russ cook” meme, football players sometimes celebrated touchdowns by performing a stirring motion, possibly a reference to Lil B’s own phrase.

“Let him cook” became popular on TikTok in 2022. In December of that year, TikTok user @.slump posted a video of the popular character Luffy from the anime One Piece, featuring an original sound with the words, “Hollup… Let him COOK.” The video gained more than 1 million views, and the audio was quickly picked up by other users, who featured it in their own videos. TikTok users often use the sound to react to sports clips, or to comment on videos of people doing somewhat embarrassing things, like sloppy karate routines or poor attempts at flirting.

The phrase became a popular meme featuring Woody from Toy Story. It’s almost impossible to trace the origins of the meme, but it features the character Woody as he appears in the video game Kingdom Hearts III. In the image, Woody is holding out his hand to hold back another character. The image is often accompanied by text like, “Hold up, let him cook,” or something similar. The first known appearance of the meme was in a tweet posted on December 6th, 2022. The image of Woody has since been turned into an emote on Twitch, the popular video game streaming platform. Users send the emote to react to other user’s streams, often as a way to say, “Let him play the game, he knows what he’s doing.”

Related Terms

Cooking When someone is “cooking” it means they’re performing or doing well. The term is often used in reference to sports players, but can be applied to almost anything, like someone who’s making a strong argument. In this case, the person on the other, or “losing” end of the argument is said to be “cooked.” Person 1: “Wow, Dave is really on fire right now, look at him go.” Person 2: “Yeah, he’s totally cooking.”

Never let bro cook again This phrase is a spin on “let him cook,” intended as a follow-up joke. It suggests that letting the person do their thing resulted in disaster or generally didn’t work out. Person 1: “We really thought he was on to something making prosthetic legs for fish.” Person 2: “Now there’s fish running around everywhere. Never let bro cook again.”

Rizz A fairly recent term, this refers to someone’s charm or flirting skills, usually in a humorous way. “Let him cook” was notably used on Twitter to defend certain users’ flirting skills, or rizz. Person 1: “That guy has terrible rizz, nobody is attracted to his whole clown getup.” Person 2: “Oh, let him cook. It’s kind of endearing.”