Meal Prep vs Eating Out UK Calculator
See how much you could save by cooking at home
Average UK household spends £1,278 per year on takeaways and restaurants. That number jumps to £1,758 when you add fast food. Meanwhile, the same household drops £3,745 on groceries. Do the maths—you’re already paying for food twice.
Londoners? You’re spending £709 annually on takeaways alone, nearly double the UK average. Under-25s drop a staggering £2,580/year on delivered meals and fast food. That’s enough to fund a holiday to Southeast Asia or knock a serious dent in your overdraft.
How This Works
This calculator is dead simple. It takes your weekly eating-out habit, multiplies by 52 weeks, then compares it to what you’d spend cooking the same meals at home.
Annual Meal Prep Cost = (Meals per week × Home-cooked cost) × 52
Your Savings = Eating Out Cost – Meal Prep Cost
Data comes from trusted sources:
- Nimblefins 2025 UK household food expenditure report
- Gov.uk Family Food Survey (FYE 2024)
- KPMG UK Takeaway Spending Analysis
- Ninja Kitchen British Takeaway Survey
- Regional pricing data from Reddit UK communities and OpenTable UK
Important: This uses average data. Your actual spending depends on where you live, what you order, and whether you’re buying Tesco Value beans or Waitrose organic quinoa. Regional multipliers adjust for London, Manchester, and other cities, but your mileage will vary.
Why Your Wallet’s Screaming
UK restaurant prices have doubled since Brexit. A pub burger with chips? £16 minimum unless you hit Wetherspoons. Three-course dinner? Average £30 per person, but predictions say it’ll hit £85 by late 2025 at mid-range spots.
Meanwhile, grocery inflation cooled down from the 2022-2023 spike, but prices haven’t dropped—they’ve just stopped climbing as fast. Per-person weekly grocery spend sits at £31, which covers 14-21 home-cooked meals depending on your appetite and whether you’re batch-cooking lentils or pan-frying ribeye.
Here’s the kicker: Brits now order 34 takeaways per year on average, spending £10-15 each time. That’s £451 annually just on delivered food. Add sit-down restaurants and you’re easily north of £1,200. For comparison, cooking that burger and chips at home costs about £3.50—less than a quarter of the pub price.
The Office for National Statistics reported household food spending hit £47.19 per person per week in FYE 2024, with £32.30 going to groceries and the rest to eating out. Young professionals aged 25-34 are driving the shift back to scratch cooking—58% say they’re meal-prepping more to dodge inflated restaurant bills.
Real People, Real Numbers
Habit: Grabs lunch near the office 5 days/week (£12/meal), Friday night curry (£18)
Annual eating out: £3,744
If she meal-prepped: £1,248 (assuming £4/meal for homemade lunch, £6 for Friday dinner)
Habit: Orders Deliveroo 3 times/week (£10-15/meal), occasional pub meal (£16)
Annual eating out: £2,184
If he cooked: £624 (£4/meal, basic pasta/rice dishes)
Habit: Family takeaway Friday + Saturday (£25/night), occasional Sunday roast at pub (£60)
Annual eating out: £3,120
Home-cooked alternative: £1,092 (£7/meal for family of 3)
The Numbers, Side by Side
| Scenario | Eating Out Cost | Meal Prep Cost | Annual Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily lunch (5×/week, £12/meal) | £3,120 | £1,040 | £2,080 |
| Casual diner (3×/week, £15/meal) | £2,340 | £624 | £1,716 |
| Weekend warrior (2×/week, £25/meal) | £2,600 | £624 | £1,976 |
| Takeaway addict (7×/week, £10/meal) | £3,640 | £1,456 | £2,184 |
| Occasional treat (1×/week, £20/meal) | £1,040 | £208 | £832 |
These figures assume £4/meal for home cooking. Go budget with batch-cooked rice and veg? Drop that to £3. Want organic chicken and fancy spices? Maybe £6. Either way, you’re still miles ahead of restaurant pricing.
FAQs
How much does the average UK person spend on eating out?
The average UK consumer spends £451/year on takeaways (34 orders at £12.73 each). Add sit-down restaurants and the total jumps to £1,278 annually per household. Londoners spend nearly double—£709 just on takeaways. Young adults under 25 top the charts at £2,580/year including fast food.
Is cooking at home actually cheaper than eating out in the UK?
Yes, by a massive margin. A home-cooked meal averages £3-5 depending on ingredients. The same meal at a restaurant costs £12-18. Even accounting for your time, groceries are 60-75% cheaper. A £12 pub burger costs about £3.50 to make at home—bread, mince, cheese, chips included.
How much can I realistically save per month by meal prepping?
Depends on your current habit. If you’re eating out 3 times/week at £12/meal, you’re spending £156/month. Swap to meal prep at £4/meal and you’re down to £52/month—saving £104. Daily lunch buyers save £170-200/month. That’s real money that compounds if you redirect it to savings or debt repayment.
What’s included in the £4 home-cooked meal cost?
This covers ingredients only—protein (chicken, fish, beans), carbs (rice, pasta, potatoes), veg, and basic seasoning. It assumes you’re buying smart at Tesco, Aldi, or Asda, not premium organic at Waitrose. Electricity/gas for cooking adds maybe 20-40p per meal. Doesn’t include your time, but neither does sitting in a restaurant waiting for food.
Does this account for food waste when cooking at home?
Not directly, but UK households waste about 10-15% of groceries on average. Even with that factored in, home cooking still wins financially. Meal prepping reduces waste—you buy exactly what you need, cook in batches, and freeze portions. Restaurants bake waste into their pricing, so you’re paying for their bin contents either way.
Why is eating out so expensive in the UK now?
Brexit supply chain issues, staff shortages pushing wages up, energy costs tripling for commercial kitchens, and general inflation. Restaurants operate on thin margins—10% is typical—so when costs rise, menu prices spike fast. A three-course meal that cost £29 in 2017 now averages £50-60, with predictions of £85 by late 2025.
Are there regional differences in eating-out costs?
Massive differences. London averages £15-20 per casual meal; Manchester and Birmingham around £12-16; Wales and smaller cities closer to £10-12. London takeaway spend is £709/year vs the UK average of £451. But grocery prices are more consistent nationwide, so the savings gap is bigger in expensive cities.
How long does it take to meal prep for a week?
About 2-3 hours on a Sunday to cook and portion 10-15 meals. That’s less time than you’d spend commuting to restaurants during the week. Batch-cook rice, roast a tray of chicken and veg, prep overnight oats—it’s not complicated. First-timers take longer, but you’ll get faster. Reddit’s r/MealPrepSunday has solid starter guides.