With the cost-of-living soaring, a new study has revealed that more than 12.2 million UK adults¹ are budgeting less than £2 per head for all meals each day, with a further 4.2 million² admit they budget even less at just £1 per head.
The research, which was conducted by cookware pioneers, Circulon, polled 2,000 UK consumers about both their budgets and general approach to cooking at home, and found that half of those surveyed (50%) are cooking from scratch in a bid to save cash.
According to the findings, Brits are allowing a daily average of just £8.40 per head to cover the cost of all meals, totalling £33.60 on average for a family of four.
Of the age groups, 25–34-year-olds budget the most per head for daily meals on average (£13.80), followed by 35–44-year-olds (£10.30) and 18–24-year-olds (£9.50).
This is significantly more than thriftier 45–52-year-olds (£5.60), 65+ year olds (£4.10) and 55–64-year-olds (£3.70), who all budgeted the least.
The study also polled Brits about the dishes they love to cook the most and found that a classic roast dinner was found to be the nation’s favourite homecooked dish (15%).
Spaghetti Bolognese (8%), pizza (8%), fish and chips (5%), and curry (5%), were also amongst the homestyle food options most loved by Brits.
Recipes that received the least votes included Thai green curry (1%), pub classic, hunters’ chicken (0%), toad in the hole (0%), fish pie (0%), and dippy eggs and soldiers (0%).
Eager to learn how much the nation’s top three favourite home cooked dishes cost to whip up, Circulon compared prices across eight of the UK’s leading supermarkets, calculating the average cost of the for a family of four.
A basic roast dinner with all the trimmings will set UK adults back £9.82 on average to feed a family of four. This equates to just £2.45 per head, which is more than double the budget allowed per day across all meals by almost a quarter of the nation (23%).
Carl Wright, Marketing Director for Circulon, commented on the findings: “As a brand, we were very interested to learn more about the nation’s approach to cooking from scratch, as well as their top motivations for doings so.
“It’s great to see that so many people are giving cooking from scratch a go, albeit often doing so whilst sticking for the most part to the dishes they feel most comfortable and confident with.
“We’re huge advocates for experimenting in the kitchen and would encourage people to be brave with their cooking and to step outside their comfort zone as far as budget allows – you never know, you may even find a new favourite dish!”
