Meal Prep vs Cooking From Scratch - What Actually Saves You Time and Money?
Everyone has an opinion on whether meal prep is worth it. Some people swear by their Sunday batch cook. Others say it is cheaper and tastier to just cook fresh every night. And a growing number of people are turning to meal prep delivery services instead of doing either.
Rather than give you another opinion, I want to look at the actual numbers. How much time does cooking from scratch really take? What does it actually cost per meal? And where does food waste fit in? The data tells a clearer story than any debate.
The Time Cost of Cooking From Scratch
According to the Office for National Statistics, UK adults spend an average of 46 minutes per day on food preparation and drinks. That is over five hours per week just making meals - and that figure does not include the time spent shopping for ingredients or cleaning up afterwards.
If you cook fresh every evening, a typical weeknight meal takes 30 to 45 minutes from start to plate. Over seven days, that is 3.5 to 5.25 hours of active cooking time for dinners alone. Add breakfast and lunch preparation, and you can see how the ONS figure of 46 minutes per day adds up quickly.
Batch meal prep - cooking multiple meals in one session - condenses that time. A well-organised two-hour Sunday session can produce eight to ten meals for the week. That is a significant reduction, but it still requires planning, shopping, and a solid chunk of your weekend.
The third option is having your meals prepared and delivered. That reduces your food preparation time to however long it takes to heat a meal - roughly three to four minutes in a microwave. For someone working long hours or training around a busy schedule, that time saving adds up to several hours per week that can go towards something else entirely.
The Real Cost Per Meal
The average UK household spends approximately £72 per week on groceries according to DEFRA's Family Food report for financial year ending 2024. For a two-person household eating three meals a day, that works out at roughly £1.71 per meal per person. That sounds cheap - until you account for what actually happens to those groceries.
The Food Waste Problem
WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme) reports that UK households throw away 6.7 million tonnes of food per year. That is 70% of all UK food waste, and crucially, 70% of that household waste was food that was perfectly edible. The financial cost is staggering - an estimated £14 billion worth of food wasted by UK households every year.
Per person, that works out at roughly 70kg of wasted food per year, which WRAP equates to around 140 meals. If you have ever bought a bag of salad that went slimy before you used it, or a pack of chicken breasts that you did not get round to cooking, you have contributed to that number. Almost everyone has.
When you factor in food waste, the real cost per meal is higher than the headline grocery figure suggests. If a quarter of what you buy ends up in the bin (which is roughly the national average), your effective cost per meal is closer to £2.28 - and that is before you add energy costs for cooking.
Energy Costs
Running an electric oven costs approximately 25p per use at current UK electricity rates of around 25 to 27p per kilowatt hour (based on Ofgem price cap data for 2025). If you are using the oven every evening plus a hob for lunch or breakfast, that adds roughly £1.50 to £2.00 per week to your food costs. Not huge on its own, but it all adds up.
Takeaway Spending
Then there are the meals you do not cook. Government data shows the average UK household spends around £25 per week on food eaten outside the home - takeaways, restaurants, cafes, and meal deals. That is £1,300 per year on food that is typically higher in calories, lower in nutritional value, and served without any macro information.
Many people who do not meal prep end up relying on takeaways or convenience food on the days they are too busy or too tired to cook. Those unplanned meals are usually the most expensive and the least aligned with any nutritional goal.
Nutrition: Where Cooking From Scratch Falls Short
Cooking from scratch gives you full control over ingredients, which is a genuine advantage. You choose the oil, the seasoning, the portion size. But control is only useful if you actually use it - and most people do not.
The honest truth is that very few people weigh their ingredients, calculate the macros, and track the calories of every home-cooked meal. They eyeball the rice, pour the oil freely, and have no real idea whether their dinner was 500 calories or 800. Over a week, that uncertainty can easily account for a 2,000 to 3,000 calorie difference - enough to completely stall weight loss or prevent muscle gain.
Meal prep - whether you do it yourself with a food scale or use a service that provides the numbers - removes that guesswork. When every meal has the calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fats printed on the label, you know exactly where you stand. There is no estimating, no rounding, and no "that was probably about 30g of rice" when it was actually 60g.
The Comparison Table
Here is how the three approaches stack up across the metrics that actually matter:
| Cooking From Scratch | DIY Meal Prep | Meal Prep Delivery | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time per week | 5+ hours (cooking only) | 2-3 hours (one session) | Under 30 minutes (reheating) |
| Cost per meal | £1.70-£2.30 (inc. waste) | £2.00-£3.00 | £3.50-£6.00 |
| Food waste | High (avg 70kg/person/year) | Lower (bulk buying, planned use) | Zero (exact portions delivered) |
| Macro accuracy | Low (unless weighing everything) | High (if weighed and tracked) | Exact (printed on every meal) |
| Variety | High | Limited (same meals repeated) | High (choose different meals weekly) |
| Convenience | Low | Medium | High |
| Shopping required | Weekly | Weekly | None |
No single approach is perfect for everyone. Cooking from scratch is the cheapest option per meal if you are disciplined about waste and do not factor in the value of your time. DIY meal prep is a good middle ground that reduces daily cooking time. Meal prep delivery costs more per meal but saves the most time and eliminates food waste entirely.
When Meal Prep Delivery Actually Saves You Money
This is the part that surprises people. If you currently spend £25 per week on takeaways (the UK household average), and you replace those meals with a meal prep delivery service, you are not adding a new cost - you are redirecting money you were already spending, but towards food that is fresh, calorie-counted, and aligned with your goals.
If you also factor in reduced grocery waste (saving potentially £10 to £15 per week based on national averages), the net cost of switching to meal prep delivery is significantly less than it appears at first glance.
And that is before you put a value on your time. If batch cooking takes three hours per week and you value your time at even £10 per hour, that is £30 per week in time cost. For many people - especially those running a business, working shifts, or training for events - time is the scarcest resource they have.
What We Do Differently
At Macro Based Diet, every meal is cooked fresh - never frozen. Each one comes with the exact calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fats clearly shown, so you know precisely what you are eating. There are no hidden oils, no unmeasured portions, and no guesswork.
Our Meal Builder lets you choose exactly what you want. Pick your calorie range, select your meals from the full menu, and we deliver them fresh to your door anywhere in the UK. No subscription required, no lock-in, no minimum order beyond what you actually want to eat.
If you want to see how our meals compare nutritionally to supermarket alternatives, we have already done that analysis in our supermarket meal prep vs fresh comparison guide.
The Bottom Line
Cooking from scratch is not going anywhere, and it does not need to. There is nothing wrong with cooking a fresh meal when you have the time and energy for it. But relying on cooking from scratch every single day is where most people come unstuck. Life gets in the way, willpower runs out, and the takeaway app opens.
Meal prep - in whatever form works for you - is the bridge between good intentions and consistent results. Whether you batch cook yourself or have it done for you, the principle is the same: have the right food ready before you need it.
The numbers show that meal prep reduces time spent cooking, cuts food waste, and improves nutritional accuracy. The only question is which version of meal prep fits your life.
References
- Office for National Statistics - Time use in the UK (2023)
- DEFRA - Family Food Financial Year Ending 2024 (GOV.UK)
- WRAP - UK Food Waste and Food Surplus Key Facts
- Ofgem - Energy price cap explained
- NimbleFins - Average UK Household Cost of Food 2026