Maids who can cook in the UAE

She plans and cooks meals for the household as part of her job. Depending on what you agree, that can include:

• Cooking daily meals, such as breakfast, lunch and dinner for the family
• Children's meals and snacks, cooked to your rules
• Planning menus and shopping lists, and keeping the pantry stocked
• Keeping the kitchen clean, and storing food safely
• Cooking for guests on special occasions, if you agree it in advance

It depends on how much of her day will be cooking. A maid who can cook fits meals around cleaning, laundry or the children, while some families want a helper whose day is mostly the kitchen.

As of September 2026, MOHRE (the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation) lists cooks as an occupation of their own in its employer guide, in its rules on paying salaries through the Wage Protection System (WPS). Paying a domestic worker through the Wage Protection System is mandatory for private trainers, private tutors, personal healthcare providers, personal PROs and private agricultural engineers, and optional for housemaids, nannies, cooks, drivers, housekeepers, gardeners, security guards and similar roles.

We found no official page that says which occupation covers a helper who mainly cooks, so if cooking will be most of her job, ask MOHRE on 600 590000 which one fits before you apply. Either way, agree the cooking when you hire her. Federal Decree-Law No. 9 of 2022, the UAE's law on domestic workers, sets what her contract must cover. A domestic worker's contract must be on MOHRE's standard form and state, among other terms, the nature and place of the work and the worker's total pay and how it is paid.

Three cuisines: Lebanese, Khaleeji and international. On the helpers page you can choose one or more under More Filters, and each helper card then says whether she has cooked that cuisine before. The count on this page covers every helper who lists cooking as a skill, whatever the cuisine. If your family eats something else, ask at interview what she has cooked and whether she is happy to learn.

Real cooking experience, and good hygiene in the kitchen. Choose on the food she has actually cooked, not on nationality: the cuisines on her helper card and her references tell you far more. Look for:

• Experience with your family's food: the cuisines she has cooked, and for how many people.
• Kitchen hygiene: washing, storing and handling food safely.
• Care with allergies and diets, if anyone at home has them.
• Planning: whether she can plan a week of meals and a shopping list.
• References from families she has cooked for.

Through her references and a detailed conversation. Ask the families she cooked for what she made and how often, and whether they would have her cook for them again.

Then ask her to describe a few meals she cooks often, and how she makes them. A detailed answer tells you a lot: how she seasons, what she prepares ahead, and how she keeps the kitchen clean as she goes. Her video CV and the cuisines on her helper card give you a first impression before you speak.

Ask about her cooking in detail:

• Which dishes does she cook most often, and which cuisines has she cooked for families?
• How does she plan meals for a week, and who did the shopping in her last job?
• How does she keep raw and cooked food apart, and how does she store leftovers?
• Has she cooked for children, or for someone with an allergy or a special diet?
• How many people did she cook for, and did she cook for guests?

Which meals she cooks, for how many people, who buys the food, and which other tasks she does. Write it all down, so that the job is clear from the first day.

Changing her job later has a condition under the Decree-Law. An employer may not give a domestic worker a different kind of work from the contracted job unless the worker explicitly agrees and the new job is one of the listed domestic occupations. We found no official page that says which everyday tasks count as a different kind of work, so talk any change through with her first. Plan cooking times, including late dinners, around the rest the Decree-Law protects. A domestic worker is entitled to at least 12 hours of rest a day, of which at least 8 must be consecutive.

It depends on her experience and the job. Each helper lists her own salary range on her profile. When enough helpers match this page, it shows the median and middle range of what helpers who list cooking ask. Budget for the food itself separately, and agree how the shopping is paid for.

In five steps:

1. Browse the helpers on this page, or choose a cuisine on the helpers page.
2. Watch her video CV and check the cuisines on her helper card.
3. Contact her directly. Families contact helpers directly on WhatsApp, through the Hire button on each profile.
4. Agree the job in writing, cooking included.
5. Arrange her visa. Sponsorship is the employer's responsibility; families can manage the visa themselves or ask MaidMatch to connect them with its visa partners.