What to say on Tinder to a girl who wrote that she's a terrible cook but tries anyway

The line is a little bit of a test without being a test. She's pre-empting a judgment she thinks you might make, so she gets to make the joke first. The fact that she added "tries anyway" tells you she doesn't see herself as someone who gives up on things, even things she's bad at. That's the trait worth noticing.

Read it as confidence with a soft edge, not as insecurity. She isn't asking you to fix anything. She's giving you a way to see her that's both funny and a little warm. Your reply should match that register, lightly and without treating the line as heavier than it is.

The first kind is a light riff that stays on the cooking but gives her a question about what she does try. You're asking about the effort, not the result. A message that works here names one specific thing she might attempt and asks how it's going, so she has a story to tell. Leave out any claim about your own skill, since that turns the message into a competition.

The second kind goes a step past the joke and mentions the "tries anyway" part directly. You're noting the trait, briefly, and asking what she's currently trying to get good at. This version works best when her profile has other signs of ambition. Keep it to one sentence of observation and one question. Don't compliment her, don't psychoanalyse her, and don't use the word "admire."

Send your reply when you'd be happy to get a quick answer back, usually the same day you matched or the next morning. A late-night message about cooking reads as more flirtatious than you meant, and she'll likely wait until morning to answer anyway. If you matched in the evening, a reply the following day is fine.

If she doesn't answer in three or four days, send one short follow-up that gives her an easy out, something like a question about her weekend. If that gets nothing either, let it go. Two unanswered messages is a clear enough signal, and chasing a third only makes the first two look like pressure.