Most people know that cooking at home is cheaper than eating out, but few actually calculate the numbers. A home-cooked meal typically costs £1.50–£3.50 per portion for common family recipes. The equivalent takeaway costs £10–£15 per person. Over a week of three evening meals for two people, the difference between cooking at home and ordering takeaway is often £50–£80 - around £2,500–£4,000 per year.
Batch cooking and meal prep
Cost per portion improves significantly with batch cooking. Making a large pot of bolognese, curry or soup costs only marginally more in ingredients than a single serving, but yields four to eight portions. Freezing batches means the cost per meal approaches that of the cheapest supermarket ready meals while being substantially better nutritionally. The additional time cost per meal drops sharply - making eight portions in one session takes perhaps 45 minutes compared to 45 minutes per individual meal.
Hidden costs: your time
This calculator does not include the value of your time, which is a legitimate cost. If you value your leisure time at £15–£20 per hour and a meal takes 30 minutes to prepare, that is £7.50–£10 in time cost per portion - which changes the economics considerably for solo cooking. Batch cooking, slow cooker meals, and simple high-volume recipes minimise this cost. Ready meals bridge the gap in time but not in cost or nutrition.
Frequently asked questions
ONS data shows the average UK household spends around £68 per week on food and non-alcoholic drinks (2024). This varies significantly by household size and income - a single person household typically spends £35–£50 per week, while a family of four spends £90–£130. Households that meal plan and batch cook typically spend 20–30% less than those who shop without a plan, primarily by reducing food waste (currently estimated at £700 per year per UK household on average) and impulse purchases.
For most dishes, cooking from scratch is significantly cheaper per portion than buying ready meals. A supermarket ready meal for one person costs £2–£5. The equivalent home-cooked portion of the same dish typically costs £1–£2.50 in ingredients. The premium for ready meals reflects processing, packaging, and margin. However, for very small households cooking single portions, the economics can narrow - cooking a full batch and freezing portions recovers the efficiency of scratch cooking even for one-person households.
The cheapest protein sources by cost per 100g of protein in UK supermarkets are typically: dried lentils and split peas (around 30–50p per 100g protein), canned beans and chickpeas (50–80p), eggs (80p–£1.20), tinned sardines and mackerel (£1–£1.50), frozen chicken thighs (£1.50–£2.50), and frozen mince (£2–£3). Premium protein sources like fresh salmon, beef steak and branded protein products cost 5–10 times more per gram of protein. Building meals around the cheaper end of this spectrum significantly reduces the ingredient cost per portion.