Is “home cooking” becoming a luxury these days?

The one thing I will give, is that the prices are ridiculous is meat. Virtually no or very little difference between fresh and frozen and between what should be cheap cuts and standard/premium-ish cuts.
Now that grinds my gears tbh. They can fuck of with price of beef shin or chuck.
Meat used to be way too cheap for what it is so raises were expectable, BUT the difference between meat cuts have basically disappeared.

I made a cheap beef stew this weekend, the (cheapest cut available) beef shin was £6 alone. Add in veg and stock and this was quite an expensive meal for us. This used to be a cheap meal for the poor, I won't be making it for a long time.

I cook from scratch most days. Having a multi cooker makes cooking a really quick and easy, the pressure cooker is a godsend for pasta, stews, curries etc I can step away whilst it cooks itself and switches off when done.

I use chicken thighs instead of breasts, use pork instead of beef or lamb because those prices are ridiculous.

How old are you, @xla ? I’ve been there and done all that. They can cook.

But there’s a whole extra discipline involved in planning/shopping/cooking with other people.
Adult DS is cooking tonight, but he’ll make the easy meal I’d planned for an easy night for me.
When DH cooks it isn’t very nice and I begrudge the nice ingredients he hasn’t made the most of.
The other adult DS gets in too late to cook.

So I plan and cook and shop and cook and plan. It’s fine. I like food. But it’s a chore. I’m not sure why you don’t want to accept that, for me, it is.

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?

Are you writing an article by any chance?!

Honestly, my eyes couldn't have roll any further.

No, I haven't noticed this shift.
Yes, I do still find cooking from scratch worthwhile.
No, it's not turning into something only people with time and money can afford to do properly.

For example, Bang Bang Chicken for 4, shopping at asda:

Bang bang chicken kit - £2.48
600g chicken breasts - £4.38
3 pack of sweet peppers - £1.89
KTC 400g coconut milk - £0.98
Tablespoon of peanut butter
Asda egg noodles - £1.15

Total - £10.88 + whatever a scoop of peanut butter cost

So less than £3 per person, plus whatever it costs to heat 2 hobs for 10 minutes. It's not going to break the average persons bank is it?

You can argue that using the kit isn't cooking from scratch, but it just provides the pastes and herbs, so it kind of is. You could also make it cheaper by using chicken thighs, less chicken more veg, or cheaper peppers.

I agree on the working ft and still cooking side of things.

It's really about priorities and habits.

It's important to me and I grew up in a household where it was the norm so it feels natural to make space for it.

For me - it's like brushing my teeth, I would never say it's just too busy to fit it in.

I guess the other thing is skill - I have cooked very day for years and years, I grew up helping my parents cook as well, I am very fast and I have lots of lots of dinners I can get on the table in 20 mins

I really really dislike ready meals. We tried a few of the posh kind when we had our house renovated and no kitchen and a couple of times I just gave up and didn't even eat dinner! It was wonderful for my waistline

But I do agree that food has become expensive - we are comfortably off and used to not even really look at the cost of food. Now, I can no longer just throw onto the order anything I fancy without the cost being truly excessive.

What I now do is quite consciously plan in a couple of cheaper meals every week - e.g. ministrone soup - and when I do get salmon which our kids love, it is bulked out with a lot of veg and a big tray bake to avoid them asking for two fillets each

£2.50 for 250mls and it's delicious. Way tastier than more expensive olive oil.

Not at all. Dhand I homecook. Our bills have risen, but small amount.
But the swcond we touch something pre-made in shop... Different matter. The price of convenience has gone up considerably mote than ingredients from what we seen. It's really not cgeaper to grab something ready made in majority of cases.

I also do not understand the "if you work full time". Most world works ft and still manages to cook...

Our food expectations nowadays are vastly different to what they were in the past. We expect to eat unseasonably (asparagus in October being just one thing that’s been mentioned here) and daily animal protein and high levels of variety. All of this adds significant cost.
It does take a little time to learn what is cheaper and when, unless you learned that when young, also to maximise what you’re doing with your cooking, perhaps learning some base dishes that you can vary according to the day of the week and the time of year.
So I can see why you say what you say, but disagree.

I’m single (vegetarian) & I batch cook at weekends when I’ve got time, mainly using frozen instead of fresh veg, so I end up with a stack of home-cooked ready meals. I bought a couple of recipe books & try something different each time.
I’ve built up my store cupboard over time, mainly from my amazing Turkish grocery, & it now works out far cheaper than eating out would, plus I have a decent repertoire when hosting friends.
All that, though, comes with having the time to do it & a decent range of local shops.

Edited to add that it also probably helps that I only have to cook if I feel like it.

When your child hits 12/13 you should be teaching them to cook though, and involving them before that.

But if there's only 1 or 2 of you, you get to eat what you've made for 2 or 3 days. It can be frozen if needed.

Probably cheaper to cook from scratch if you are cooking for four or more but not so much for one or two

I don’t disagree. It’s also a burden. Like nappy changing, but day in day out until they leave home!

I used to love it, really enjoyed cooking efficiently, and I had a big family.

Round about COVID times it started to feel like a real drag and I haven’t really recovered that sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

35 years of feeding a family of various sizes. It’s got a bit old. Especially when budget comes into it.

It can be both a basic requirement and also a bit of a drag.

I did slow roast beef at the weekend , the joint of meat cost £26. But we had the roast on Sunday, and beef fajitas on Monday so it did 8 meals altogether. Still not a budget option but definitely cheaper than eating out.
We had a take away recently and it was £50 for 3 of us. Admittedly there were left overs so potentially £50 for 4 or 5 meals but still a significant proportion of the cost of a weekly shop.

Unless you're profoundly vulnerable, I think feeding your family with decent home cooked food is a basic requirement of parenthood and people should go into parenthood with that expectation in mind.
This speaks to my 'low standards' point above.

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.

Also re. Greggs sausage rolls - one is £1.30. If you’re getting one a day that’s £9.10 a week.

you can buy 8 pork sausages for £1.79 from Sainsbury’s and get puff pastry for £1.30, and make 8 sausage rolls (or more if you split the sausage meat!) for £3.09.

In any 'basic' cookery book (which you can pick up from a charity shop - Jamie Oliver, Delia Smith, Nadiya Hussain etc) there will be a list of basic ingredients. A bit of initial outlay, but once you have them you are never going to replace them all at once. Be organised with a shopping list and weekly menu, batch cook and let go of eating meat with every meal and there is no way cooking at home is more expensive than buying ready made food.

500g of 20% mince at Aldi is £3.25, or if you buy bigger packs it’s cheaper per gram and you can freeze anything not used

Right, but that’s where the ‘privilege’ narrative comes from.

I understand that narrative but I also understand it’s not much of a ‘privilege’ to have to cook a meal every day for a family- it’s a bit relentless, especially on a budget.

Everyone’s perspective is different!

As for Italy, food grows easily there which helps with the poverty situation!

And yet we have immigrants in hotels making home cooked food in their shower on a single burner from their £10/week budget, as per the recent BBC documentary.

i don’t see how those asylum seekers and refugees living in hotels have fewer barriers to home cooking than native UK people who are supported by social work and food banks.

I agree. It’s a niche situation. The vast majority eat ready meals because they lack time or just cannot be bothered.

Most adults, even those with poor literacy, are capable of searching for videos to watch on YouTube, so they are capable of finding simple recipe videos.

I doubt it’s cheaper unless getting real ‘value’ ready meals, which have always been cheap…!

I would say what I buy has changed due to the price. Salmon fillets used to be a weekly regular but are so expensive now.

Also if following a recipe which requires different fresh herbs etc it can add up a bit..!

What I really can’t believe the price of at the moment is ham. About a pound a slice in my local supermarket. Astonishing.

The only ingredient that is really pricey is beef mince - you can't really get that for a family of four under a fiver (if you can let me know where!). We've started mixing beef and pork or (if DH isn't looking) beef and red lentils.
As others have said, oil is available cheaply (we buy in bulk), veg and pasta ditto. Tin of tomatoes is pennies, onions likewise. Garlic is less of a faff and you waste less if you buy garlic paste (not "lazy cook" chopped in vinegar, KTC brand is good).

Edit: yellow sticker ready meals are possibly cheaper if they are from the Essentials range, but you can't be sure you'll even get enough for your family.