Pricing & PlansYour household decides the price.
Chef level, schedule, hours, meals and support shape the final plan. Build the service around your household first, then see exactly what it costs before anything begins.
Home Chef Dubai prices
Household plan prices, built from the role
Some families want a chef for three quiet hours in the morning. Some want dinner cooked and served every evening. Some want us to take food completely off their hands. Some want a chef in the house throughout the day.
Choose the time and rhythm that fits your household. We take care of the system behind it.
This calculator is home chef Dubai prices for a standing household chef — a chef who comes back, not a one-night booking. Displayed figures are Professional Chef on an ongoing monthly plan. If the role needs a Senior Chef, you see the difference before you book. The exact figure comes in writing, itemised, before you commit.
Independent licensed partners cook. myCHEF organises the service. You do not need a full day if you only want breakfast. Groceries stay at cost. A birthday, a yacht or a single dinner is a different product — see event prices and catering.
The real question
How much of your food life do you want us to take over?
We do not sell meals per day. Two meals could be a five-hour morning or a thirteen-hour spread — same count, completely different job. So you choose the chef’s working time and what it covers. Prices shown are per service at Professional Chef level, on an ongoing plan. Longer service days deliberately carry a lower hourly rate — a nine-hour day is better value per hour than a three-hour visit.
Prepare it for me
The quiet optionDaily Prep
Up to 3 hours
From AED 675 / service
The chef comes in, prepares the food your household needs, organises it and leaves. You provide the groceries — or add grocery management and the service becomes five hours.
What’s included
- Up to 3 hours of cooking and preparation
- Lunch ready · dinner prepared for you to finish or reheat
- Children’s food handled
- Components portioned, labelled and stored
- Kitchen left the way it was found
Choose this if: You want a private chef’s food — without another person in the house all day.
Cook dinner for me
Dinner Service
Up to 4 hours
From AED 825 / service
The chef arrives before the meal, cooks it fresh, serves it the way this house likes to be served, and leaves the kitchen handled. Choose dinner, breakfast or lunch — or more than one; each added meal adds service time.
What’s included
- Up to 4 hours around one served meal
- Add breakfast or lunch — each added meal adds 2.5 hours
- Fresh preparation, finished to serve
- Table service the way you want it — present or invisible
- Kitchen handled before the chef leaves
Choose this if: A served meal — usually dinner — is the one that matters in your house.
Run my kitchen for me
Full-Day Chef
Up to 9 hours
From AED 1,575 / service
The chef is there for the household through the day, in whatever rhythm the house has agreed. The number of meals is secondary; the time is the product.
What’s included
- Up to 9 hours — breakfast through dinner
- The day’s meals in your household’s rhythm
- Preparation, snacks and children’s meals between them
- Kitchen organised through the day
- Hours beyond nine agreed and charged separately
Choose this if: You want the kitchen staffed and food appearing through the whole day.
Which one?
Thirty seconds of guidance
“Good food handled, nobody in the house all day”
→ Daily Prep
“Never think about menus, shopping or what’s in the fridge again”
→ Daily Prep + Grocery Management
“Dinner cooked fresh and served, evening after evening”
→ Dinner Service
“A kitchen that runs from breakfast to dinner”
→ Full-Day Chef
Want prep on weekdays and a served dinner on Friday? Mixed weeks are normal — tell us. And if you are still unsure, describe how the house eats and we recommend the format. That is our job, not yours.
Build your household price
Six quick choices — format, people, days, zone, groceries, plan length. The figure includes the team and the chef’s transport.
Your plan
Daily Prep · 3 hours/day · 5 days/week · Up to 6 people
Per service day
AED 715
AED 675 service + AED 40 transport
Per week · 5 days
AED 3,575
Per month — what you pay
AED 14,300
Everybody pays monthly — the day and week figures are there so you can see exactly how the month is built.
Chef transport to Zone 1 · Central is included in these figures — AED 40 per visit, from the published zone formula below.
Groceries at actual cost. Always.
Prices shown before VAT — 5% VAT appears separately on your invoice.
Why this number
This is a monthly-plan price. Staying under one month costs 1.5× — because the start is where the work is: your Food Profile, the chef match, introductions and household setup, plus the administration a placement in Dubai really involves. Monthly clients let us spread that across the relationship. The full explanation is just below.
The only things that can change this number
- Chef quality — displayed prices are Professional Chef; if the role needs a Senior Chef, you see the difference before you book.
- People at the table — priced right here in the calculator, one assistant per ~12 guests above ten, at 25% of the service price each.
- Hours beyond your format — AED 150 per additional hour, agreed in advance, never assumed.
- Staying under one month — 1.5× the service rate, shown in the calculator.
Nothing else moves it. Groceries stay at receipts. Transport is already included in the figures above.
This is your plan. Send it to us and we will confirm the exact number in writing.
What you get back
The food loop you are currently running yourself
Food is not one task. It is a loop that runs every day whether you notice it or not — and it charges you twice: once in hours, once in attention.
01
Thinking
“What’s for dinner?” — every day, plus what the children will actually eat and what is still in the fridge.
02
Planning
The list, the dietary juggling, the week ahead.
03
Shopping
The trip, the traffic, the queue, the bags.
04
Cooking
An hour or two — at the exact end of the day when you have the least left.
05
Cleaning
The kitchen does not reset itself.
06
Restocking
Noticing what ran out before it matters.
Count your own week — the arithmetic is simple
Cooking five evenings (call it 7 hours) + one proper shop (2 hours) + cleaning up (2–3 hours) + planning (an hour) is roughly twelve hours a week — before the thinking, which never fully switches off. Your number may differ. Count it once, honestly.
A return, not just a saving
Most of our clients bill their own hours. If your working hour is worth more than the chef’s, handing over the loop is arithmetic, not indulgence.
- Roughly a working day of hours back every week on a five-day plan
- The 6pm decision — gone
- Evenings that start when you sit down, not when the kitchen is clean
- A mental tab closed: the fridge is no longer your responsibility
- Food that got better while you stopped managing it
The saving is not the point. What you buy back is the scarcest thing you have.
Why one month — and why short stays cost 1.5×
The beginning is where we do the most work
We match your chef, understand your household, build your Food Profile, learn the kitchen, understand what the children actually eat, record preferences, establish routines and correct what does not work.
Behind every placement also sits the administration a professional kitchen in Dubai actually requires: verified identity, visa and right-to-work status, scheduling, backup coverage, and a network of chefs we look after properly. None of that appears on your plate, but all of it is real work.
We treat that first month as our investment in the relationship — which is why displayed prices are for ongoing plans of at least one month, and why shorter arrangements run at 1.5× the ongoing rate: the same setup work, recovered over far fewer days. A single dinner is still catering, not this page.
What actually determines your price
Five things build the price. Nothing else does.
01
Service format
Prep, dinner, food management or full-day — the chef’s working time, defined before we start.
02
Days per week
One to seven. Seven-day households use chef rotation when required.
03
Chef quality
Displayed prices are Professional Chef. If the role needs a Senior Chef, you see the difference before you book — we recommend, you decide.
04
Plan length
Displayed prices are ongoing monthly plans. Under one month runs at 1.5× the ongoing rate.
05
Transport
A published per-visit zone rate: typical taxi fare + 50% for the chef’s time in transit. The table is on this page.
Service format × days per week + zone transport, on a monthly plan = your price.
Groceries are on top, at actual receipts — never marked up. Take over the whole food process and Daily Prep becomes five hours: the chef’s additional time is what you pay for.
The calculator above shows the real number at Professional Chef level. Whatever you choose, the full price arrives in writing — every factor itemised — before you commit to anything.
Working time
Your chef’s time is defined before we start
“Two meals a day” is not a price. Breakfast at 08:00 and lunch at 12:00 is one job. Breakfast at 07:00 and dinner at 20:00 is a completely different one — same two meals, very different day. That is why we price working time, not meal counts.
Before the first service, your agreement defines the time — so “full day” never means one thing to you and another to the chef:
- How many hours each service day includes
- What counts as working time
- When we handle the food, Daily Prep becomes a five-hour service — the two extra hours are the planning and shopping, priced as chef time
- What a split shift means, when mornings and evenings are far apart
- Additional hours beyond your format: AED 150 per hour — agreed in advance, never assumed
- How late service works
- How seven-day coverage rotates between chefs
No client should discover after booking what “full day” means. You will not have to.
Groceries at cost. Always.
We make money from providing the service, not from marking up your tomatoes
Normally you provide the groceries and the chef has three hours for preparation and cooking. If you want us to take over the complete food process, the service becomes five hours. Those additional two hours cover meal planning, shopping, ingredient selection and bringing everything to your home. The groceries themselves are charged at the exact cost. We add no markup.
You handle the groceries
Tell us what you want. We help establish your Food Profile and meal direction — and the ingredients are there when the chef arrives, so the chef’s time is focused on preparation and cooking.
We handle the food
The chef who cooks is the chef who shops: they plan the meals, build the list, buy the groceries in person or online, select the ingredients and check quality and freshness before cooking with them. That is one of the real benefits of the five-hour version — the person choosing your fish is the person cooking it.
- The principle
- The groceries are not marked up. The chef’s additional time is what you pay for.
- The ingredients
- Actual receipts. No markup, ever.
- How they are paid
- You shop yourself, authorise the chef to pay with your card or household account, or we order online for you.
How payment works in practice
01
We agree the arrangement with you in writing before the first shop — which supermarkets, roughly what budget, who pays how.
02
Most clients register a card or sign a short authorisation for the household account; some prefer to pre-order online themselves.
03
The chef shops against the agreed menu and keeps every receipt.
04
The receipts come with your monthly invoice — you see exactly what was bought, at the shop’s own prices.
Grocery responsibility is a choice, not a chef level. Agreed in advance either way — so a simple healthy house does not subsidise someone eating wagyu.
Transport, published
Getting the chef to your door — the formula is public
Transport is charged per service visit, and we would rather show you how the number is made than hide it in the price: we take the typical booked taxi fare to the middle of your zone, add 50% for the chef’s time spent in transit, and round to the nearest AED 5. That is the whole formula.
Swipe to see the full table →
| Zone | Areas | Typical taxi | Transport / service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 · Central | Downtown Dubai, DIFC, Business Bay, Jumeirah | ~AED 25–30 | AED 40 |
| Zone 2 · Mid | Umm Suqeim, Al Barsha, Dubai Hills | ~AED 40–45 | AED 65 |
| Zone 3 · Marina & Palm | Dubai Marina, JBR, JLT, Bluewaters, Palm Jumeirah, Emirates Hills, JVC | ~AED 60–70 | AED 95 |
| Zone 4 · Outer | Arabian Ranches and beyond | ~AED 80–90 | AED 130 |
- The calculator above already includes your zone’s transport in the displayed price — what you see is what the visit costs, chef’s travel included.
- Charged per service visit, on your monthly invoice — no surprises on the day.
- Taxi estimates follow RTA rates, which adjust with fuel prices; we review the zones when the meter changes, not per trip.
- If the chef also shops for you on the way, transport to the shops is at actual cost on receipts.
Specialists & Guest Chefs
Exceptional chefs are not a monthly subscription
Somebody who wants extraordinary Japanese food on Friday should not conclude they need the most expensive chef seven days a week. Specialists sit outside the recurring ladder and are quoted for the occasion. Keep your everyday chef. Add the specialist for the meal that needs one.
Quoted separately when required.
The team
We build the team around the workload
A chef preparing a normal dinner for two does not need an assistant, and you should not pay for one. The thresholds are published: one chef handles up to ten people alone. From eleven, an assistant joins — roughly one per twelve guests — each at 25% of the service price.
Above 49 people it stops being household service and becomes a Lead Chef event: a full team, a designed menu, one event price. The team is part of the calculator — itemised in your price, not hidden in it.
Where your money goes
The difference between a chef’s pay and your price is not unexplained markup
Your service price carries the whole system, and we would rather show the structure than have you guess:
- Chef compensation
- An assistant, where the workload requires one
- Assessment, verification and the chef-level system
- Matching and household management
- Scheduling and the backup / replacement system
- Administration
- Transport at the published zone rate
- Groceries at cost — no margin on food, ever; when we shop, you pay chef time, not a fee
Every standard service includes
- A team built around the workload — one chef where one chef is enough, an assistant where the work requires one
- myCHEF management and a dedicated client contact
- Food Profile, quality monitoring and regular feedback
- Scheduling, backup and replacement coordination
- Chef rotation and access to the wider network
- Right-to-work checks and service administration
The difference between levels is primarily the chef. See how Professional, Senior and Specialist are earned on Our Chefs.
How we match the chef
You do not pick a level from a menu. You describe the house. We calculate the role, recommend the chef, and you approve the profile before anyone starts.
See how chefs are selected and matched →Everyday, keep the chef level that makes sense for the house; for a special occasion, add the right specialist for one meal. Selection and matching are on Our Chefs. What the standing plan includes — Food Profile and backup — is on How It Works. Events sit on top of the household arrangement — a birthday or a yacht party is one complete event price. One night is event prices or catering. If you want food handled without a chef in the house every day, weekly meal prep is the lighter version.
Same logic, whatever you call it
Private chef hire, a personal cook, a part-time cook — priced the same way
People search for this service under different names: private chef hire, a personal cook, a part-time cook a few days a week, a full home chef in Dubai. The price logic does not change with the label. It is built from the role — format, days per week, chef level, plan length and transport zone — and the full figure arrives in writing before anything starts.
Not this page
One night is a different product
Household plans — Daily Prep, Dinner Service or a Full-Day Chef, week after week — are priced above. A birthday, a date night, clients for an evening or a yacht is a different product, with its own figure.
See event prices and catering. Chef level and matching — why Professional is the displayed rate — are explained on Our Chefs. What the monthly plan actually includes is on How It Works.
Questions about home chef prices in Dubai
From AED 675 per service at Professional Chef level — one weekly three-hour Daily Prep session is AED 2,700 a month. Dinner Service is from AED 825 and a Full-Day Chef from AED 1,575 per service. Add grocery management to Daily Prep and it becomes a five-hour service at AED 975 — the extra is the chef’s time, never a markup on the food. Monthly prices are the per-service rate × days per week × four weeks, plus a published per-visit transport zone rate (AED 40–130). If the role needs a Senior Chef, you see the difference before you book.
Yes — at 1.5× the ongoing-plan rate. Displayed prices are for ongoing household plans of at least one month, because most of our work happens at the beginning. A single dinner is catering — use the catering pages or event private chef prices.
Your choice. Normally you provide the groceries and the chef’s three hours go into preparation and cooking. If you want us to take over the complete food process, Daily Prep becomes a five-hour service. The groceries themselves are charged at the exact receipts — we add no markup.
Home chef Dubai prices start at AED 2,700 a month — one weekly three-hour Daily Prep session at Professional level. Dinner Service five days a week is AED 16,500 a month, and a Full-Day Chef five days a week is AED 31,500 — plus the published transport zone rate (AED 40–130 per visit) and groceries at receipts.
A direct hire can look cheaper per hour, but you carry the unpaid work: finding, vetting, backup, admin and quality review. Private chef hire through myCHEF includes that system — and you pay only for the days the house actually needs, from one day a week, instead of occupying a full-time salary.
Prices on this page are shown before VAT. 5% VAT is shown separately on your invoice.
This page is standing household plans. One night, a birthday, a yacht or clients for an evening is a different product — see private chef prices for events and catering in Dubai.
If this is the house you want
Get the household figure in writing
Choose a format and how many days a week. We calculate the role, recommend the chef level, and send the full price before anything starts.