Qualitative interviews are essential for capturing the lived experiences of those facing food insecurity, yet developing a contextually appropriate and trustworthy interview instrument can be challenging in culturally diverse settings. This pilot study refined a semi-structured interview guide designed to explore food insecurity among low-income urban households in Malaysia, drawing on the FAO/HLPE six-dimensional food security framework, the Household Food Security Model, as well as the Maxwell and Smith coping strategies framework. Two pilot interviews, conducted in Kuching, Sarawak, and Shah Alam, Selangor, were used to evaluate the clarity, relevance, and cultural sensitivity of the questions. Comparative analysis revealed location-specific dynamics, such as promotion-dependent purchasing, festive-period price spikes, and the mitigating role of kin networks, that were not adequately captured in the original guide. Key refinements included narrowing participant criteria to primary household food purchasers earning below RM4,500, adding location- and culture-specific probes, and rephrasing questions to elicit richer, experience-based narratives. The process enhanced the guide’s credibility, dependability, and transferability, demonstrating the value of piloting as a reflexive, iterative process rather than a procedural formality. By integrating theoretical frameworks with context-specific insights, the revised instrument is now better positioned to discover the intricate, culturally embedded realities of urban food insecurity in Malaysia. This study contributes to qualitative methodology by showing how framework-informed piloting can strengthen the trustworthiness of interview instruments in diverse, resource-constrained urban contexts.