Salma Hayek Pinault doesn’t just make meals, she creates experiences. Whether it’s a casual family dinner or a festive holiday spread, the Oscar-nominated actress approaches the kitchen the same way she approaches her life, with imagination, improvisation, and heart.
These days, Hayek keeps her culinary exploits intimate, often saving them for family rather than the public eye. She hasn’t written a cookbook, and that’s by design. “I love to go look at the food and make up the recipe as we go,” she told People. “That’s my special thing.”
For Hayek, cooking isn’t about perfect measurements or following strict recipes but about connection. “When you have kids, you learn to do that,” she says, referencing her daughter Valentina and three stepchildren she shares with husband François-Henri Pinault.
Improvisation, however, doesn’t mean sloppy. A recent example was a roasted chicken, which was transformed the next day into a spicy tinga-style dish, and the following day, the leftovers were used in a quesadilla for Valentina and her friends.
“I made the chicken very small, kind of like a tinga, but it was more tasty and spicy and with a little bit of chipotle, and then I melted the cheese and beans,” she said. “It was very successful, I have to say.”
“Maybe that’s why I can be very eclectic when I’m cooking and have a lot of imagination,” Hayek told Today. “Her father was from the south of Spain, and my grandmother from the north, so they’re two completely different cuisines. We had all the Mexican dishes, all the Spanish dishes, and all the Lebanese dishes in that house.”
This eclectic culinary background shows in everything she does, from traditional labneh to a perfectly mashed guacamole. Hayek recalls watching her mother make labneh as a child. “You would see the cloth hanging in my kitchen,” she told the publication, explaining the process of making the thick and creamy Middle Eastern strained yogurt. “In my house, sometimes you would put labneh into the beans; it was like a mixture.”
Her love for cooking isn’t just about flavors; it’s about family. Hayek believes it’s a way to bring people together. During a particularly memorable Thanksgiving, she flew to the home of Linda Evangelista, who had fallen ill, to ensure the holiday didn’t pass unnoticed for their blended family.
“I was sick,” Evangelista recalled to Vogue. “And Salma got on the plane with her daughter, came here, and made Thanksgiving dinner. Spent the day in the kitchen and cooked it herself. No help. The kids helped her at the end. She made a feast—a beautiful, beautiful meal. I had told her that I wasn’t going to have Thanksgiving, I wasn’t feeling well. And she said, ‘Oh yes you are. I am coming.’ And poof, she was here.”
Her approach to family extends beyond the kitchen. Hayek has embraced her role as a stepmother to Pinault’s three children, taking them in as her own while also raising Valentina. “I always wanted to have a lot of children, and I was not able to. My body, as a miracle, had one,” she told Red in 2017.
“The huge blessing I've had is that my husband has three other children. So I have four. And they are all so different.” The family frequently celebrates milestones together, including high school graduations and festive dinners, a testament to Hayek’s dedication and love.
Despite her fame, she keeps the culinary spotlight on those she loves, rather than herself. “The kids helped her at the end. She made a feast—a beautiful, beautiful meal,” Evangelista said.
Even without a cookbook, Hayek’s approach is admired and enviable, and for those closest to her, every meal is a masterpiece. Hayek’s holiday menus reflect her blended heritage and playful creativity. From beans with labneh to inventive quesadillas, the recipes are less about rules and more about transformation, imagination, and joy.
“Just in the kitchen, whatever is left, how do I transform it? How do I make something?” she detailed. Above all, she refuses to waste food, which makes sense given her talent for turning leftovers into something new, flavorful, and memorable.
Salma Hayek Pinault’s love language may be cooking, but it’s really about the people gathered around the table. Every dish tells a story of her childhood, her family, and her life lived fully and generously.