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I was wondering if someone could tell me if the following is incorrect or unnatural:

I made a lot of food.

食べ物をたくさん作りました。

In the context of the sentence, multiple food items were made. Things that don't necessarily constitute as a complete meal (e.g. only pasta, only beef, etc) in my opinion. I understand that this sentence does not convey this information, but I've had it corrected to 料理をたくさん作りました。 before. However, I cannot tell if this is a valid correction or not due to the word choice.

To me 食べ物 is just food in general. In this case it seems to make the most sense because the things that were made are one off items (e.g. pasta, beef, etc). Things that could be combined to make up a complete meal in the future. Where as 料理 is a complete / true meal (e.g. Spaghetti and Meatballs, Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry, etc) from the start.

So is it incorrect or unnatural to say 食べ物を作りました when talking about making (cooking) any sort of food? Even if it's not something that would be considered a full / complete meal by someone?

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I wouldn't say it's incorrect but it does sound a bit unnatural.

料理 refers to both the act of preparing food and its product. It certainly works for individual dishes and it's more suitable in your context.

食べ物 are things that are there for you to eat. Its focus is on the purpose of you eating them and doesn't collocate too well with a verb that refers to the process of preparing them.

By the way, 食事 refers to a whole meal. You can say 食事を作る.

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