Garlic is boiled in large metal pots.
The chefs add tomatoes and peppers and mix it with giant spoons.
What is being prepared is not just lunch, it is a lifeline.
American Relief for Near East Refugees (Anera) opened this community kitchen in al-Zawayda in central Gaza after the ceasefire began six weeks ago.
The American humanitarian organization also has another kitchen in al-Mawasi in the southern Gaza Strip.
At that time, two months after the start of the Israeli blockade, which prevented the entry of all food and other goods, supplies were dwindling.
Now, with more food allowed in, the situation has improved.
But Anera's Sami Matar says their kitchens are unable to provide essential proteins like meat.
Every day, Anera feeds more than 20,000 people with a hot meal.
"We are serving more than 4,000 families compared to just 900 families six months ago."
Access to food has been an ongoing concern since the start of the war in October 2023, with Israel severely restricting supplies allowed through Gaza's crossings.
This has worsened the dire humanitarian situation.
Famine was confirmed in Gaza City in August and is expected to spread to other areas of the Strip.
Meanwhile, the UN continues to call for more aid to be allowed in.
Israel has allowed hundreds of trucks of humanitarian aid to enter Gaza every day since the ceasefire began.
But while Anera is managing to secure more food, brought to Gaza by its partner, the American humanitarian organization World Central Kitchen, essential ingredients are still missing.
"We are mostly limited to cooking only three types of meals a week: rice, pasta and lentils," Matar said.
"We work hard to include vegetables like sweet peppers, onions and potatoes. This allows us to improve the taste and nutritional value."
"We need food to be more diverse, to provide fresh vegetables and essential proteins like meat and chicken," he continues.
"These essential products are not allowed to enter Gaza."
At the moment, the meat is only imported by commercial vendors and is very expensive to purchase.
Since the ceasefire, Anera has only served a meal of meat once, which came from canned goods.
Anera says her kitchens also lack utensils, which would make it cleaner to cook with.
Last week, the UN said the daily number of meals distributed in Gaza through a network of kitchens run by various organizations had reached 1.4 million - up from less than a million meals just a month ago.
The total population of the Strip is over two million.
Aid agencies are pressuring Israel to open all five border crossings into Gaza; currently only three are operational.
They also want restrictions on the operations of some established humanitarian organizations - caused by Israeli registration problems - to be eased so they can bring in their supplies.
At the moment, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) reports that a quarter of families in Gaza are eating only one meal a day.
Prices of basic products such as vegetables, sunflower oil and flour are said to have fallen in local markets, although they remain much higher than two years ago, before the war.
After the UN Security Council approved Trump's plan for Gaza, people are waiting to see what happens next.
They know that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains unstable, but they desperately need it to be implemented. /Telegraph/
