Page 6 | Is “home cooking” becoming a luxury these days?

PetsNPaws · 2025-10-23T02:56:17+00:00

I was chatting with a friend the other day about how expensive cooking at home has become — not just food prices, but everything else too. Energy bills, cookware, ingredients that used to be cheap but now feel like treats. Even a simple pasta dish doesn’t feel “budget” anymore if you want decent olive oil and veg. It used to be that eating out was the luxury and home cooking was the sensible, money-saving option. But now, between the cost of groceries and the time it takes (especially if you’re working full-time or have kids), I’m not sure that’s true anymore. I genuinely enjoy cooking, but I’ve noticed I’m doing it less because I can’t justify the effort when it’s often cheaper or easier to grab something ready-made. Has anyone else noticed this shift? Do you still find cooking from scratch worthwhile, or is it turning into something only people with time and money can afford to do properly?

PrizedPickledPopcorn · 23/10/2025 09:07

Wasssuuuuup · 23/10/2025 08:19

That's a greay example of what the pp and I mentioned.
It's 10.70 a kilo. Probably what should be very cheap cut.
Wagyu brisket is 11.99 a kilo.
21 day matured roasting joint 9.99
Meat prices have nearly leveled on medium priced and cheap cuts.
Which is annoying.

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Oooh- where is the wagyu brisket from, please?

JeminaTheGiantBear · 23/10/2025 09:02

NJLX2021 · 23/10/2025 05:28

I would say it is still cheaper than the alternatives. like-for-like home cooking is still cheaper than ready-made food, or takeaways, or eating out.

The incorrect assumption that eating or getting ready made meals is cheaper, normally comes from comparisons that are either unrealistic (pricing in isolation, not by portion) or based on unfair comparisons between very healthy cooking and unhealthy alternatives.

That being said, Every year when I'm in the UK, it is notable how much more expensive it is... so I think your observation about things getting less affordable is 100% true. But for me it is across the board. Restaurants are crazy compared to what they used to be (not their own fault..) so are take-aways, so is everything. Its all gone up.

Also, there is a privilege to home cooking, but it isn't really a purely financial association. Its more of a time/culture/education based privilege. It is having the time, having the health, the energy, the lack of burdens/stress/problems etc. and having grown up in a family culture that prioritizes it over alternatives, making it the norm. Those are really where the inequalities in food/cooking come in, and it is finance's impact on those that impacts cooking, rather than just having money to buy or not to buy food.

This is so well put. Time, health, energy, stress levels - all hugely influenced by economic factors. Something which is too little taken into account in judging people who resort to ready made food.

Cooking dinner from scratch is very difficult when you’re so tired, or so in pain, that you can barely stand, in a small kitchen you haven’t had time to clean & clear, stressed, unhappy, with kids clamouring for food, and knowing you have to get up at 5.45 the next morning and the endurance test that is your life starts all over again.

UnderTheFridge · 23/10/2025 09:02

Katemax82 · 23/10/2025 08:52

Its actually 2.65. still bloody expensive for a small amount

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It’s showing as £2.95 for me on the app. And yes, only a small bottle.

Is “home cooking” becoming a luxury these days?

Thepeopleversuswork · 23/10/2025 08:57

I cook from scratch most days (or DP does). I think the key is routine and preparation. We have set meals for four days a week so for example it’s always salmon and salad on Wednesday. Then three “freestyle” days to allow a bit of variety.

The beauty of this is that you can shop and batch cook which takes the thought out of food prep.

The stress and cost mainly comes from having to think about meals on the fly after a day at work and ending up wasting food.

Home cooking can be very cheap if you plan it properly. Takeaways are not cheaper than a simple pasta dish or a salad with protein.

Wasssuuuuup · 23/10/2025 08:57

Exhausteddog · 23/10/2025 08:38

Iceland family size lasagne is £5. Im pretty sure i couldn't make a lasagne for £5. The cheapest pack of mince in Tesco is now more than that for a start(although im sure by stealth they gave also removed the smaller packs)

Also a MN favourite is batch cooking but that relies on being able to afford larger amounts of ingredients in one go. If you buy in bulk that is often cheaper per portion but again a bigger expense to start with.

Or being able to get to a supermarket with a decent selection of food. Larger shops are often out of town and less accessible without a car. Smaller supermarkets and corner shops are always more expensive. DD had uni halls in a town centre last year, and it was a 40 min walk to 30 min bus ride to Aldi or Asda. She noticed how much more expensive and less choice there was in the co-op or Tesco metro nearby

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You probably could if you use 200g of meat to make 1.5kg lasagne...

echt · 23/10/2025 08:54

I'm waiting for the inevitable thread where someone chastises the poster for daring to cook from scratch because it's a luxury.

Utter tossers. In advance.

Katemax82 · 23/10/2025 08:52

maras2 · 23/10/2025 08:19

Quite right.
Tescos own is £2.95 for 250 mls.

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Its actually 2.65. still bloody expensive for a small amount

Iwanttoliveinagardencentre · 23/10/2025 08:51

SumUp · 23/10/2025 08:13

Again, these are niche situations.

The majority of adults will have, at some point, had enough money to buy a few basic pieces of cooking equipment and enough time to teach themselves a few basic dishes. .

It’s more that they have not prioritised it, and could never envisage a day when eating ready made food would get too expensive.

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If only they were “niche”.

A career in community nursing and social work gave me an insight into the struggles that enormous numbers of people face.

It is easy to think that what are basic norms in your own life experience are pretty much universal.

Sadly that really isn’t the case.

Yogaandchocolate · 23/10/2025 08:50

CoubousAndTourmaIet · 23/10/2025 07:33

We still cook everything from scratch, we wouldn't be able to afford to eat out at restaurants and we don't like takeaways.
A big pot of veggie stew or soup will do three meals if we freeze some. Pasta, rice or lentils with a sauce made from tinned toms and olive oil is also still a very cheap and quick dinner.
It's alcohol that I can't comprehend, I don't know how people can afford to drink.

Edited

That’s an interesting point about alcohol - with current concerns about grocery prices we should be a nation of teetotallers!

Katemax82 · 23/10/2025 08:50

A normal family dinner cost me about 15 pounds average (there's 5 of us and a baby)
Anything remotely extravagant like pulled braised beef and crispy potatoes about 20 pounds plus. I used to batch cook huge mince dishes relatively cheaply but my daughter hates mince now 😡

Ginmonkeyagain · 23/10/2025 08:47

@TheGoddessAthena ooh I'm a big fan of a yellow sticker. My best find recently was a half price boned lamb shoulder in Waitrose. At £7 it was still a bit of a treat for the two of us but worth it.

Yogaandchocolate · 23/10/2025 08:46

BringBackCatsEyes · 23/10/2025 04:57

@Amba1998what’s this £2.50 virgin olive oil from Tesco ?

Presume they mean this (and have rounded down) https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/258061785

MagpiePi · 23/10/2025 08:45

PrizedPickledPopcorn · 23/10/2025 07:16

@DeafLeppard and @TattooStan if you work with people living in poverty, you’d see the privilege. We have to stock supplies at food bank for people who have one pan and a single burner to cook with.

Some homes are chaotic and children don’t see food being cooked. I have seen children cry when food was put into the oven- they were unfamiliar with the concept, and thought the food was being taken away. Their experience of food was instant. Open the packet, eat.

If you have nothing, home cooked food is an expensive privilege in comparison with a Greg’s sausage roll.

But this, while heartbreaking, applies to a specific section of the population. the majority of us are not living in these circumstances.

Wasssuuuuup · 23/10/2025 08:44

TheGoddessAthena · 23/10/2025 08:37

Reduced to clear. I don't have a single thing in my freezer which doesn't have a yellow sticker on it (apart from ice cream). In Asda yesterday picked up a massive 1.3 kg brisket beef for £8 reduced from about £20, that will feed us for at least 2 meals.

But I'm sure someone will be along shortly to say what a privilege it is to buy yellow stickers, have a freezer etc etc.

My asda is very disappointing compared to that! The best we got was 30-40% (not to be sneered at but it used to be better) and I would fight people for brisket🙈

Offloadontome · 23/10/2025 08:41

Exhausteddog · 23/10/2025 08:38

Iceland family size lasagne is £5. Im pretty sure i couldn't make a lasagne for £5. The cheapest pack of mince in Tesco is now more than that for a start(although im sure by stealth they gave also removed the smaller packs)

Also a MN favourite is batch cooking but that relies on being able to afford larger amounts of ingredients in one go. If you buy in bulk that is often cheaper per portion but again a bigger expense to start with.

Or being able to get to a supermarket with a decent selection of food. Larger shops are often out of town and less accessible without a car. Smaller supermarkets and corner shops are always more expensive. DD had uni halls in a town centre last year, and it was a 40 min walk to 30 min bus ride to Aldi or Asda. She noticed how much more expensive and less choice there was in the co-op or Tesco metro nearby

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Or having enough freezer space to freeze things you've batched! We don't have room for an extra freezer so batch cooking is limited for us.

Pharazon · 23/10/2025 08:40

We do everything homemade, except pizzas on Friday evenings. There’s no food delivery here and ‘grabbing something ready-made made’ means minimum 40 minutes driving by which time we could have cooked dinner.

Offloadontome · 23/10/2025 08:40

Home made food is way, way cheaper in cost than ready made food. I think the highest cost to me is time. As a working parent in a professional job, having the time to meal plan / prep / cook from scratch is what I struggle with. Not the cost of ready meals! And tbh if ready meals weren't so processed I'd buy them every day in a heartbeat, even if it cost a fortune!

Exhausteddog · 23/10/2025 08:38

Iwanttoliveinagardencentre · 23/10/2025 08:00

Yes, exactly.
For people with no financial leeway at all they have no option but to by the cheapest thing to feed themselves and their family now, today, this week.
I think many mumsnetters (and mps!) don’t appreciate the hand to mouth existence which living on benefits or minimum wage creates.
There is also the cost of energy to cook, and many people are on prepayment meters so can only afford that day’s heat and light.
Also may not have cooking equipment.

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Iceland family size lasagne is £5. Im pretty sure i couldn't make a lasagne for £5. The cheapest pack of mince in Tesco is now more than that for a start(although im sure by stealth they gave also removed the smaller packs)

Also a MN favourite is batch cooking but that relies on being able to afford larger amounts of ingredients in one go. If you buy in bulk that is often cheaper per portion but again a bigger expense to start with.

Or being able to get to a supermarket with a decent selection of food. Larger shops are often out of town and less accessible without a car. Smaller supermarkets and corner shops are always more expensive. DD had uni halls in a town centre last year, and it was a 40 min walk to 30 min bus ride to Aldi or Asda. She noticed how much more expensive and less choice there was in the co-op or Tesco metro nearby

TheGoddessAthena · 23/10/2025 08:37

Reduced to clear. I don't have a single thing in my freezer which doesn't have a yellow sticker on it (apart from ice cream). In Asda yesterday picked up a massive 1.3 kg brisket beef for £8 reduced from about £20, that will feed us for at least 2 meals.

But I'm sure someone will be along shortly to say what a privilege it is to buy yellow stickers, have a freezer etc etc.

Cleikumstovies · 23/10/2025 08:37

TattooStan · 23/10/2025 06:46

Also, there is a privilege to home cooking, but it isn't really a purely financial association. Its more of a time/culture/education based privilege. It is having the time, having the health, the energy, the lack of burdens/stress/problems etc. and having grown up in a family culture that prioritizes it over alternatives, making it the norm.

Imagine someone in Italy calling it a privilege to knock up a quick pasta dish. British culture is such trash in so many respects, and we've set the lowest standards for ourselves.

Surely it is "privileged" to expect someone to cook for you? Ok, you pay for it, but "I say, Mrs Patmore, cook me dinner"

AnnaQuayInTheUk · 23/10/2025 08:35

It's much cheaper to cook from scratch if you are comparing like with like.

I cook from scratch about 4 evenings per week, usually double portions so I can freeze half. DH doesn't really cook but he reheats something I've shoved in the freezer at least twice per week. And then once a week we eat something easy like beans on toast as we are out doing sports.

I very occasionally buy a Charlie Bigham or Cook ready meal - probably about once a month - as an easy option. They are probably twice the price of making it myself but the quality is similar.

Ginmonkeyagain · 23/10/2025 08:33

Lol at "steak for four at home was more expensive than a Chinese takeaway" steak is and always was a luxury meat.

We are having spiced fried rice with smoked mackerel tonight. It will cost about £2.50 per person and takes about 20 mins to.cook on a gas hob.

feellikeanalien · 23/10/2025 08:31

I've yet to find any ready meals which taste really good. Even the posh ones like Charlie or M&S.

Food is definitely much more expensive. I used to be able to do a weekly Lidl shop for £60. That would now be at least £80.

Still cheaper than eating out though. I can buy the famous Mumsnet chicken for DD and I and make a roast or Bombay chicken then make soup for the next day which I usually pad out with rice. There is also usually some soup left over for the day after that.

Even Macdonalds isn't cheap any more.

DD and I love eating out but we just can't really afford to do that much now. Even chain restaurants are horrendously expensive.

TattooStan · 23/10/2025 08:30

mumto2teenagers · 23/10/2025 08:26

We do still cook from scratch most nights, however food prices mean it is more expensive than it used to be.

I cooked steak last night and for a 2 pack of rump steak in Tesco it was £12.75 so that is £25.50 for 4 people just for the meat. Cooked a simple lasagne at the weekend and a 500g pack of meat is over £5 now.

In comparison we can order a chinese takeaway for the 4 of us for around £25.

We have the budget to cook what we like, but steak or lasagna would definitely be an 'occasion' meal for us.
A chilli made with a beef/pork mince mix, and padded out with value kidney beans, is the kind of cooking we do through the week.

DrinkFeckArseBrick · 23/10/2025 08:30

I don't think it's always a luxury in terms of cost (how much is a lentil and veg soup and crusty bread?) although will be for some people. I do think it's a luxury in terms of time for a lot of people who work, commute, knew in after school care etc when you've also got kids clubs and homework etc to fit in. Also in terms of knowledge, I'm not sure that as many people know how to cook cheap healthy meals as they used to