Not to know how to get teens cooking dinner?

I would agree it's unlikely to happen they they suddenly start offering, planning, shopping and cooking without input from you, in fact it's made me laugh out loud at the very thought.

You will need to support, particularly to get the new regime underway. Otherwise it will all seem too much - you want them to succeed in this so they know how to do those tasks, not set them up to fail. The objective is for them to develop the skills, not just save you a night's cooking each week.

Have you all agreed what night each will cook? Then sit with them to plan what they will cook, what ingredients they will need. Personally I would just add this to the weekly shop, it's great to get teens cooking but I see no reason to make 12 year olds trawl around the supermarket.

On their night, are they clear what time they should start to have the meal ready at a sensible time, are you around to answer questions, chat and help out - make it a part of the day when you spend time with your kids and teach them at the same time. Eventually they will be able to do more without you which will be beneficial for them, and for you.

You have to set clear expectations and assess their current skill set. If they have never had to plan, think about or shop for dinner, then it's unrealistic to expect them to have the skills. You first star by setting one task they are responsible for - for example every Thursday they pick what they are going to cook on a Friday. You then shop for the ingredients and they cook a Friday meal with your help and supervision. Next Thursday, they plan a meal, you shop, they cook with distant supervision. The week after that, they plan, they shop with supervision and cook unsupervised. Eventually you wind support right down to just prompting to plan on Thursday. You then withdraw prompting.
You may have to go back and forth adding or removing support depending on how their skills and confidence develop over time.

Meal kits are a really good suggestion, thanks. I'll look into it. Do you let the DCs choose the menu from a website ahead of time?

Mine are both vegetarian, so would they have enough options?

I think initially I’d ask them what they wanted to cook on their night, and get the shopping in. First time I’d hover round the kitchen if they had any questions like how long to cook this thing for/how big should I chop this veg etc.

How is meal planning for the week done currently? Just involve them and have a structure.

Start by getting them to cook with you, so they can master the basics. If they’ve never cooked before they won’t have a clue. Plus it always helps to have a sous chef.

Also, even with HF, youngest (13 I think) needed heavy input from us at first - and it would have been so much quicker and cleaner to just do it myself so I had to hold myself back from jumping in when he was getting the hang of it 😂

But after a couple of months I was able to step right back and other than the very odd question they just crack on now.

Someone has beaten me to the meal kit suggestion. Gousto is nice and their introductory offer is usually v good, you can cancel or reduce after a short while but it is a good way to get them going. My you gest has also started baking things he likes to eat which is a start. Or if I get so.ethjng like salmon and stuff for a stir fry he will cook that himself.

Go for hello fresh or gusto. How much do they cook with you? Or for themselves? How realistic is it for them really? It should be 100% realistic for them but it does depend on their existing habits/upbringing

Another one for hello fresh to start with

Hello Fresh is my suggestion.

Personally I'd never use it for all family meals for all of us as it comes in so expensive. BUT I did use it to train both teens to cook and it's bloody fantastic for that.

There are 5 of us...two teens that eat like horses, 7 year old, me and dh. We usually get a HF box for 4, twice a week. Each teen chooses the meal they want to cook and started off very basic then branched out.

The HF for 4 feeds the 3 dc plus a bit leftover for dh and I to taste. On the 2 x HF nights, dh and I have beans on toast or something or a takeaway.

Tell them they are cooking dinner on x night each week

dont get them to work together IME. One night per DC

Give them free rein and the budget. For the first few weeks remind them before hand and talk through with what needs adding to the shopping, look at if there are any particular cooking challenges on there (eg pastry or bread making, boning fish, mincing, or piecing chicken) that they might need talking through. Check for schedule clashes eg their chosen dish is braised over several hours but you aren’t home till late. And check portion sizes and amounts to make sure they make enough! Then leave them to it. After a few weeks you can stop checking so much and ask them to come to you if they have questions instead. And then eventually they’ll have their repertoire and it’ll be a matter of stretching them to make different things rather than their trusty standbys!