Tom zegt dat het recept makkelijk te volgen is, zelfs voor iemand die weinig kookt.

Dat here means that and introduces a subordinate clause:

• Tom zegt = Tom says
• dat het recept makkelijk te volgen is = that the recipe is easy to follow

So the sentence structure is:

• main clause: Tom zegt
• subordinate clause: dat ... is

This is very common in Dutch after verbs like:

• zeggen = to say
• denken = to think
• weten = to know
• hopen = to hope

Example:

• Ik denk dat hij thuis is. = I think that he is at home.

Because after dat, Dutch usually uses subordinate clause word order, where the conjugated verb goes toward the end.

Compare:

• Main clause: Het recept is makkelijk te volgen.
• Subordinate clause: Tom zegt dat het recept makkelijk te volgen is.

So in the subordinate clause:

• het recept = subject
• makkelijk te volgen = complement
• is = conjugated verb, placed at the end

This is one of the most important Dutch word-order patterns to get used to.

Dutch often uses adjective + te + infinitive to mean something like easy to do, hard to understand, nice to read, etc.

So:

• makkelijk te volgen = easy to follow
• literally: easy to follow

Other examples:

• moeilijk te begrijpen = hard to understand
• leuk om te lezen / leuk te lezen = nice to read
• gemakkelijk te maken = easy to make

So te volgen is the normal construction here.

Volgen means to follow.

In this sentence, te volgen means to be followed in the sense of:

• following the steps
• understanding the instructions
• keeping up with the recipe

So het recept is makkelijk te volgen means the recipe is easy for someone to follow step by step.

Yes. Makkelijk and gemakkelijk are very close in meaning here.

So both work:

• Het recept is makkelijk te volgen.
• Het recept is gemakkelijk te volgen.

In everyday speech, makkelijk is often a bit more common and informal-sounding, while gemakkelijk can sound slightly more formal or neutral. But both are correct.

Voor iemand means for someone.

So:

• zelfs = even
• voor iemand = for someone

Together:

• zelfs voor iemand die weinig kookt = even for someone who doesn’t cook much

The idea is that the recipe is so easy that it is manageable even by a person with little cooking experience.

It is a relative clause describing iemand.

Breakdown:

• iemand = someone
• die weinig kookt = who cooks little / who doesn’t cook much

So the full phrase means:

• someone who cooks little
• more naturally in English: someone who doesn’t cook much

Here, die is the relative pronoun referring back to iemand.

Because die is the relative pronoun used for common-gender nouns and for people.

Since iemand refers to a person, Dutch uses die:

• iemand die... = someone who...
• de man die... = the man who...
• de vrouw die... = the woman who...

Dat as a relative pronoun is used with many neuter singular nouns:

• het boek dat ik lees = the book that I am reading
• het huis dat we kochten = the house that we bought

So here, iemand die weinig kookt is the expected form.

Because the subject of that relative clause is iemand / die, which is third-person singular.

The infinitive is:

• koken = to cook

The present tense for third-person singular is:

• ik kook
• jij kookt
• hij/zij/het kookt
• iemand kookt

So:

• iemand die weinig kookt = someone who cooks little / doesn’t cook much

Yes, they are very close.

• weinig kookt = cooks little / doesn’t cook much
• niet veel kookt = doesn’t cook much

In many contexts, these are basically interchangeable.

Weinig often means:

• little
• not much
• not many

Here it refers to the amount/frequency of cooking, so a natural English translation is:

• who doesn’t cook much
• who rarely cooks (depending on context)

Yes. That would just be a simpler sentence without Tom zegt dat...

Compare:

• Het recept is makkelijk te volgen.
  = The recipe is easy to follow.

• Tom zegt dat het recept makkelijk te volgen is.
  = Tom says that the recipe is easy to follow.

The second sentence adds a reporting frame: it tells you that this is what Tom says.

Because Dutch main clauses and subordinate clauses follow different word-order rules.

Main clause

Dutch usually puts the conjugated verb in second position:

• Het recept is makkelijk te volgen.

Subordinate clause

After words like dat, the conjugated verb usually moves to the end:

• ... dat het recept makkelijk te volgen is

This difference is extremely common in Dutch and shows up in many sentence types.

In this sentence, zelfs voor iemand is the most natural placement because zelfs emphasizes the whole phrase for someone who doesn’t cook much.

So:

• ..., zelfs voor iemand die weinig kookt.

This means:

• even for someone who doesn’t cook much

Dutch word order with zelfs can vary a bit depending on what you want to emphasize, but in this sentence the given version is the most natural and standard.

Yes. Recept is a neuter noun in Dutch, so it takes het:

• het recept = the recipe

That is why the sentence has:

• dat het recept makkelijk te volgen is

This is just something you have to learn with the noun:

• het recept
• een recept

No. Volgen has several meanings, including:

• to follow someone physically
• to follow instructions
• to follow a lesson or explanation
• to understand and keep up with something

In this sentence, it means following the recipe’s instructions.

Examples:

• Ik volg hem op straat. = I follow him in the street.
• Ik kan de uitleg niet volgen. = I can’t follow the explanation.
• Dit recept is makkelijk te volgen. = This recipe is easy to follow.

So the meaning depends on context.