做饭 (zuò fàn) is the everyday phrase for 'to cook a meal' — it's the general word you use at home. Unlike specific cooking methods like 烧 (shāo, to burn/roast) or 煮 (zhǔ, to boil), 做饭 covers all meal preparation. For the formal art of cooking, use 烹饪 (pēng rèn).