Ready meals ditched for fresh, home-cooking

Of the 3,000 people surveyed by leading kitchen manufacturer Magnet, more than half said they were cooking more than ever, with the ratio of home cooked meals to ready meals at 9:1.

Britain is returning to more simple, home-cooked comfort foods such as Shepherd’s Pie and Casserole, with 55% of us still having a traditional Sunday Lunch.

Encouragingly, nine out of 10 meals eaten at home are now freshly prepared and not packaged ready meals.

It is a turnaround for traditional British Cuisine which had suffered the perils of our fast-paced, convenience-led 21st Century lives.

The study has discovered that 58% of people earmarked the classic dish, Shepherd’s Pie as the favourite and most regularly cooked, followed by old-fashioned Egg & Chips and Lamb chops.

Simple meals are are now much desired, with an incredible 54% of Britains stating they are eating fewer ready-meals, and 79% saying they are using their oven rather than a microwave.

Magnet Spokesman, Alison Coleman said: “It is clear that there has been a distinct change in our kitchen habits in recent years. That may be because of the recession and the need to tighten our belts but could also be because we have rediscovered our passion for good, traditional English fayre.

“The fact that neither curry nor Spaghetti Bolognese made it into the top five favourite foods is telling. It is also significant that we are now cooking fewer ready meals and using our ovens far more than our microwaves.”

By Deepika Dudakia