This paper discusses key learnings from an exploratory study on types of change occurring in energy related cook stove practice in rural India. Sharing these learnings is important for moving forward a research agenda on understanding how social practices such as cooking–and associated energy use behaviour–emerge, persist and change over time. The research draws on practice theory and contemporary literature on structure and agency to help make sense of how and why people use different energy fuels to achieve cook stove related demands. The study used an exploratory mixed methods approach, which was employed in two rural villages located in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, India. Preliminary findings reveal powerful structures at play that appear to ‘lock-in’existing cooking practice, while also identifying innovations in practice that have emerged from complex agency-structure relationships. In order to further explore these findings and gain meaningful insight for the design of policies and interventions aiming to enact a social change, a greater depth of research is recommended to better understand how cooking related energy practices co-evolve over time.