how many times do you cook a week?
Posted by Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 95 comments
i just realised i only really cook once a week. breakfast is cereal and a coffee and i either eat lunch for free at work or just bring some snacks to keep me going
i only actually make dinner once a week. i only cook for myself and make one dish a week which i then freeze and eat four times out of the week. i have a takeaway once a week and then the other two days i either eat some instant ramen or have something from the freezer
some of my friends and colleagues cook on the daily which i cant imagine. i cook on sunday evenings and thats it. i can’t imagine having to make food everyday, i’m too lazy for all that
Ganache_53@reddit
5-6 days a week, evening meal. Go out for brunch most days, restaurant or takeaway at weekend.
Icy_Bit_403@reddit
It sounds like you've cracked it tbh.
We cook most nights, but there's 2 of us, and we try to pick easier meals. we do make all our own lunches which saves money (chickpea tuna sandwiches) also.
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
i just really hate cooking and constantly thinking about what i’m going to eat that evening. having to only think about it once a week suits me perfectly. those 30 minute meals are lifesavers!
alexterm@reddit
We think about it once a week, and buy ingredients at the weekend for 3-4 meals to cook throughout that week. Each day is planned out in advance!
insertitherenow@reddit
More or less everyday and more or less always from scratch. I love cooking and working from home a lot helps that I can.
Artificial100@reddit
Every day at least once for dinner. Lunch will usually be cold or warmed up left overs.
Mumstheword76@reddit
I cook from scratch once or twice a week but we have home cooked food daily. I just make extra portions and freeze them so I'm not cooking every day but still have a great variety of tasty, enjoyable food.
Oohoureli@reddit
My wife and I both like cooking from scratch, often together, so it's every day between us unless there are leftovers. The last convenience food we had was in 2015, and only because our kitchen was being re-fitted. We've never had a takeaway here.
elrond_thorondor@reddit
I use this app to help me to decide what is for dinner, it fetches youtube videos based on the ingredients in the fridge: https://dinquery-production.up.railway.app/
Squish815@reddit
At least 5 nights a week from scratch/mostly from scratch, can be more though when work is not busy! Breakfast is usually something easy (yoghurt, beans on toast etc) and lunch is normally leftovers, although sometimes if I'm working from home I'll make something quick/easy.
ARobertNotABob@reddit
Just once. Weeks are so easily overcooked. /jest
kernowgringo@reddit
6-7
Theratchetnclank@reddit
Everyday. I enjoy eating a variety of foods and actually enjoy cooking. To me eating the same thing 4 times a week sound miserable.
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
i wish i enjoyed cooking. it’s just so boring and long to me, i’ve always said i wish i could just take a pill that’d satisfy all my dietary needs. it’s not the most fun but to me it beats cooking four times a week instead
KnockOneOut178@reddit
The worst thing about cooking is the amount of time spent having to shop, prep, cook and then CLEAN UP afterwards all just to spend 10 minutes eating what you’ve made.
To me I’ve got other things I’d much rather be using my time for. So I’m more than happy eating the same thing days on end.
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
you get it! i like my food but after all that i’m too tired to actually enjoy what i’ve made, i just want to go bed. i’ll do anything to avoid cookinf
KnockOneOut178@reddit
I understand that for people with families that they have more of a responsibility to cook most days and have different meals. (Growing up, my parents would cook something different for me and my siblings everyday).
So it’s pretty damn easy for me as a young single person that I only cook a couple times a week, or however much I want to.
Theratchetnclank@reddit
A dishwasher and dishwasher safe pans like stainless steel helps a lot with this but yeah there is always some level of cleanup.
abstract_groove@reddit
Every day.
Only cooking fresh food once a week sounds really depressing.
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
spending half an hour in the kitchen after a long day of work every single day sounds a lot more depressing to me. food is just fuel
abstract_groove@reddit
Food isn’t just fuel.
And instant ramen, takeaways and pre packaged shite is barely ‘food’.
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
it’s fine, i don’t really fancy living until 80 anyway🤷♀️ to me, food is just something to keep me going. i don’t want my life to revolve around it by cooking every single day. if it gives me energy, it’s food 🤷♀️ whether it’s healthy or not. we all die at the end of the day
abstract_groove@reddit
What a truly strange and to be honest, quite worrying thing to say.
You sound like you’re not feeling very well.
Fyonella@reddit
21 times a week at the very least.
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
you cook four meals a day? how do you have time for anything else?
Fyonella@reddit
I cook breakfast, lunch and dinner for my husband. Then I cook my own dinner separately - I’m vegetarian, he is not.
Sometimes, that’s how it feels! Blink and it’s another bloody mealtime!
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
is he not able to cook his own meals? i am a vegetarian which is why i don’t eat my mum’s food as she cooks with meat. but i’d never expect her to go out of her away to cater to me
Fyonella@reddit
Nope, not really. He’s a man…😂
By which I mean…a man of a generation that thinks cooking is women’s work (along with absolutely everything else within a 50 mile radius of the house!)
He’s been retired around 6 months now and has still not lifted a finger in the house. 🤷♀️
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
oh love, please stand up to him and ask him to pull his weight around the house. my mum is just like you, she does everything for her husband even though he’s fully capable of doing things himself
my dad is also retired and mum goes to work while doing all of the cooking and cleaning. it’s tragic to witness and i wish she’d refuse to do it. you’re his wife, not his slave. he can make his own dinner and you need to stop catering to his every meal
Fyonella@reddit
I thank you for your understanding, truly.
I’ve tried to discuss it and on the surface, he agrees that it would be fair if he took on some of the tasks in the house (I gave him a full 4 months grace to just ‘stop’ when he retired, which I felt was reasonable) but, in practice it just doesn’t happen. 🤷♀️
Unless I want to wrangle and argue with him on a daily basis I’m not going to win the battle. It is life - either I’ll die of exhaustion or he’ll die from inactivity! 😂
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
a quick solution would be to stop cooking for him and stop doing his chores👀 that would make him fix his attitude! it’s not fair to you that he takes you for granted
AssumptionBudget279@reddit
My parents are both 65 and my Dad will cook now and again and same with my Mum, it just depends on who is home. They are both retired.
Age isn’t a excuse not to help out I have to say!
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
most definitely! my mum’s sister’s husband actually does all the cooking in their house while she does the cleaning and they’re both in their 50s. sometimes mindsets should be abandoned
Kvark33@reddit
How old are you ?
Every day, 2 times on weekdays, 2-3 times a day on weekends
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
i’m 22. that is a lot of time spent in the kitchen
Kvark33@reddit
I mean not really, 20-30 mins a day total in prep as most stuff is pressure cooked or slow cooked. Frying stuff is also pretty quick.
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
20 minutes is a lot when you only have 2.5 hours to decompress. i’d rather spend time with my family and do my hobbies
Rare-Grocery-8589@reddit
Family of four. We make dinner 6 days and week, and lunch on Saturdays and Sundays. We have takeaway or go out for dinner 1 night a week. Wouldn’t be affordable (or healthy) to feed all four of us on ready meals or takeaways.
Emergency_Pea_2232@reddit
Every day. Chicken is not good raw.
Trick-Station8742@reddit
Every week night, from fresh, without fail
Wild-Cauliflower9421@reddit
3 from scratch, as I work long hours on the others and eat at work.
Redgrapefruitrage@reddit
We cook almost every day from scratch. Sometimes we do bulk dishes which cover 2 days or so. I really enjoy cooking so it’s never a chore.
Aggressive_Chuck@reddit
Multiple times per day. I do some prep because I work long hours, but the fresher the better.
r_keel_esq@reddit
For most of the last decade, it was 5-6 times a week as I was 100% work-from-home, and my wife and I largely kept to that split when she started WFH too as we were both happy with it.
I've been hybrid working for just over a year now, so it's normally only twice a week, which I dislike as I enjoy making nice meals for my family. To compensate, today I made Tonight's, Tomorrow's and Thursdays tea so we're well prepared.
Gloomy_Custard_3914@reddit
I cook every day. I'm a single mother so I have no other choice really. I meal prep on Sundays for various weekly breakfasts. I make muffins, pancakes, waffles anything I can and freeze them for easier weekdays.
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
single parents are incredible! i don’t know how you guys do it, much respect to you
TomLondra@reddit
I cook 14 times a week = all my meals. I haven't said 21 because breakfast isn't cooked (unless you include coffee as "cooking").
Shmeckless@reddit
I work from home so I cook three fresh meals a day. I always have eggs of some kind for breakfast, make a noodle / cous cous / rice bowl for lunch then I cook dinner for the wife and I when she gets home. I love doing it and eating a variety of food, I also heavily need proper balanced macro aware meals due to training running & Triathlon every day. Couldn't imagine eating the same thing over and over.
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
i couldn’t imagine cooking three meals a day, sounds like my worst nightmare. it’s funny how we’re all so different. my being a lazy sod who doesn’t exercise probably doesn’t help me
PurpleOctopus6789@reddit
Once/Twice a week depends. I typically make the same meal that provides me with all the nutrients I need and is healthy and yummy and I don't feel the need to change it. I meal prep it in a slow cooker and just reheat it during the week. I don't eat breakfast, for lunch i will often have fruit, maybe a quick sandwich, and I like to eat a large dinner after I am back from training/gym which consist of most of my calorie intake during the day.
I would hate having to cook daily. It's such a chore to decide what to eat and cooking one/twice a week frees up so much free time.
DECKTHEBALLZ@reddit
Give your Mum some money so she cooks you a portion.. 14x a week + breakfasts on the weekends I can't eat ready meals/pre prepared food or food from restaurants/cafes/takeaways due to dozens of food allergies.
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
it’s not about the money. i’m a vegetarian and my mum cooks meat with every meal so i don’t eat it. it must suck to live with allergies, i’m sorry
Pale_Slide_3463@reddit
I live alone and cook 6/7 days a week, the way the world is right now no way could I afford to eat out. Also I’m probably healthier for it.
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
eating out is pretty expensive but i can justify it because my food shop is so little. most weeks i just spend a tenner at asda and that’s me sorted
Pale_Slide_3463@reddit
Must be very cheap to eat out where you’re then because it would cost me £20 a day with lunches and dinners.
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
most places do a meal for £10, kfc and mcdonald’s and the like often offer £5 deals. my local chinese also has a ‘happy deal’ where they serve a portion of rice with a dish of your choice for £6. it’s great
Pale_Slide_3463@reddit
So basically you act like you’re eating healthy but it’s all shite food
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
i never claimed to eat healthy though
isitmattorsplat@reddit
What is this mythical free lunch at work?
Maleficent_Day_3869@reddit (OP)
i work at a nursery and the chef always makes excess food and leaves it in the fridge for staff to help themselves :) it’s not michelin star food or anything but it fills a hole and we have free access to all of the seasonings
isitmattorsplat@reddit
Oh nice!
That's fantastic.
Active_Definition_57@reddit
Usually about 4 times a week.
genxerrr@reddit
Three times per day. 21 times per week.
AromaticVacation3077@reddit
Dinner probably 4 out of 5 week days (Monday is usually leftovers from Sunday). Weekend dinner twice and usually a cooked breakfast once. Some of these meals are barely cooking - like an omelette or carbonara. Saturday is fish night and I barely count that as cooking either.
Slagapuss@reddit
14
zZIceCreamZz@reddit
I cook myself breakfast each day usually, lunch is normally leftovers and then I cook 4-5 evenings a week normally. The other 2 days I am working as a waitress in a Thai restaurant and they give me more than enough food for the day.
Matchaparrot@reddit
I cook every day. Cereal doesn't taste good to me, it tastes of sugar. I prefer porridge, I don't get as hungry at work when I have it compared to cereal or toast.
Cooking from scratch is worth the time and money for me because it tastes better and fresher. I like zingy raspberries on porridge, limes and vegetables in my noodle salad tonight. When I have less energy after a day at work I'll make something that doesn't need much cooking like a tinned lentil bolognese. Fry onions and garlic, throw in a tin of tomatoes and lentils. Grate cheese, Boil pasta, eat.
Cooking from scratch isn't as expensive as you think. Every time I've eaten out recently it's been like £20 for just a main and drink. My last Tesco shop was £35 for a week.
VardaElentari86@reddit
Similar, not actually loads since I tend to go on a batch cooking spree and fill up the freezer - majority after that is just pulling out home made curry, chili or whatever.
I cook a bit more in spring summer since I prefer to eat a bit lighter and fresher than your typical batch cooking stuff.
AvoriazInSummer@reddit
Most days. I have cereal for breakfast too, but work from home so I tend to cook a few days meals at once and put the leftovers in the fridge to microwave or air fry. Since COVID I’ve started baking my own desserts too.
BillyJoeDubuluw@reddit
Myself and the other half eat home cooked meals every day of the week, however, about fifty per cent of these will be batch cooked meals.
It’s a great routine to get in to and allows for tasty home made goodness, removing the case of “being too busy” to eat properly.
I’ve done it for years, it ensured I had good quality dinners when working hard going shifts and it was also a great way to budget and plan out meals for the whole month when money was tight.
Strong-Librarian-OOK@reddit
Pretty much every evening I make a homemade dinner, and take leftovers to work for lunch the next day.
More on weekends when we tend to have cooked breakfasts (low effort ones like a bacon butty or egg and soldiers, not a full fry up) and maybe an easy cooked lunch too (again low effort, something like an omelette or a jacket potato).
nihilistkitty@reddit
7 evening meals, 2 breakfasts and usually a massive pot or two of soup / week for lunches. Thats split between both of us and its cook from ingredients pretty much every night. Sometimes will make double and freeze half but not often.
There are a lot of 10 - 20 min meals that taste good and are easy to make
Asleep-Software-4160@reddit
As a household 7 days a week, of which I do two or three. Sometimes cook for lunch, but more likely to be soup or a wrap (made at home).
TemporaryLucky3637@reddit
I cook a proper meal from scratch probably 4 nights a week. The rest is either left overs, convenience food to or eating out. Lunch is normally basic things that require minimal effort like salads, sandwiches, jacket potatoes etc.
I would like to be better at meal prepping so I could just reheat homemade food on the nights we currently have freezer specials 😂
spiderplant94@reddit
Probably somewhere between 4 and 7 times.
There are weeks when I cook every day, and weeks where I have leftovers or something batchcooked from the freezer half the time.
Manifestival1@reddit
I cook most days. But I love cooking so it's intentional. Just do what suits you.
Odd_Explanation558@reddit
Either everyday or I just don't for like a month. Food is the closest thing I have to a vice/luxury so occasionally I'll just piss money away day after day on new experiences in around London.
loveswimmingpools@reddit
Every day. Once a day. Lunch is usually a sandwich or poached eggs so that doesn't count! Butvi cook a meal every evening from scratch.
ContextRules@reddit
I could say 2, but that would be misleading since I prep cook for several weekday meals at once. I also purposefully cook too much for Sunday Lunch so an additional 2-3 meals come from that. If I get too much takeaway I start to feel lousy, so I try to limit that to a meal or 2 per week.
Illustrious-Air-7777@reddit
Cooked breakfast x 7, cooked evening meal x 7. Rarely cook lunch as it’s usually a sandwich (although I’ll have made the bread) or leftovers. Plus any odds and ends of baking.
Competitive-Fact-820@reddit
Depends if I'm working night shifts or day shifts. If I'm on days then I try and cook something every night, maybe twice a month I will just be too tired and takeaway it is. When I'm on nights, if it can't be airfryed in 20 minutes I don't want to know about it.
flohara@reddit
Pretty much every day. We may have a takeaway or a meal out sometimes, but we probably have cooked breakfast of days off just as often.
We usually bake something once a week too, something like cake, pretzels, bread etc.
CountTruffula@reddit
Normally at least once a day for dinner, often make my lunch in the morning or the day before
skratakh@reddit
at least a dozen times a week, lunch and dinner mostly for myself and my husband, i enjoy cooking, its how i like to unwind after work and i always look forward to it.
ClericalRogue@reddit
Almost daily for dinner, and so i have lefts overs for work the next day. Saturday is the only day I might not cook as i dont work weekends usually, so will sometimes get a takeout or buy something ready to eat when i do my food shop.
PKblaze@reddit
Varies by week. But usually 3 or 4 times.
Wednesday is always cooking day, Thursday is leftovers. Then I'll likely do something Fri/sat or monday. The other days are usually stuff from the freezer or whatever.
Ok-Constant-2683@reddit
Between 7-20 times depending on season. I have a toddler so will often cook her sole eggs or something for lunch, and I make breakfast for the family most days which is normally porridge..then I cook every night.
RelationKindly@reddit
6 or 7 nights a week. do like a meal out so probably nearer 6. I’ve tried to cut out as much UPF as I can so cooking from scratch is my go to
clfhw@reddit
I cook two to three times per week.
I live by myself, so I will cook 3 dinner portions on Sunday, a different 3 on Wednesday, and then treat myself to something nice on Saturday (cook/go out/Charlie Bigham’s if I’m lazy)
V1mbai@reddit
Yes everyday. well, sort of, i am not sure if it's considered cooking, as I tend to airfry everything. I am mostly on a meat and salad diet.
_isolati0n@reddit
I cook 5 or 6 days a week and get a takeaway once a week, occasionally go out for dinner one night also.
Careless_Count7224@reddit
Actual cooking? We do that six times a week. The seventh day we often chuck a frozen pizza in the oven.
L-0-T-H-0-S@reddit
Everyday, at least once. Twice on weekends and holidays.
frogotme@reddit
Pretty much 7. Takeaways every month or two. Sometimes I'll have leftovers for dinner but it's usually for lunch. Tend to split it with my partner though, which helps
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