Meal prep statistics at a glance
Meal prep sits at the center of how Americans shop, cook, and eat at home. The numbers show a routine that is still heavily rooted in daily home cooking, but increasingly shaped by shortcuts, online grocery habits, food waste concerns, and the pressure to make dinner work for real households.
Quick takeaways
- 87% of Americans report cooking at home at least once a week, and nearly eight in ten cook at home multiple times a week (2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey).
- 69% report buying groceries in person at least once a week, while 18% report buying groceries online at least once a week (2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey).
- 81% use shortcuts like meal prep kits or ready-to-eat meals to get a hot meal on the table, and 39% use those shortcuts at least once a week (HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026).
- One-third of all food in the United States goes uneaten, and the average family of four spends almost $3,000 a year on food that does not get eaten (US EPA Preventing Wasted Food At Home).
- 74% of women report being the usual meal preparers in their household, compared with 34% of men (USDA ERS EIB-158).
Table of contents
- How often Americans cook and shop
- What drives meal prep choices
- How shortcuts fit into dinner
- Meal prep and household roles
- Time, equipment, and routine
- Food waste and the real cost of planning poorly
- What the statistics suggest for meal prep planning
How often Americans cook and shop
The strongest signal in the data is that home cooking is still mainstream. In the 2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey, 87% of Americans report cooking at home at least once a week, and nearly eight in ten say they cook at home multiple times a week (2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey). That is a broad base, not a niche habit.
Shopping behavior points the same way. 69% report buying groceries in person at least once a week, while 18% report buying groceries online at least once a week (2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey). The same survey shows weekly online grocery shopping at 23% in 2023, 25% in 2022, 20% in 2021, 11% in 2020, and 13% in 2019 (2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey). That pattern suggests online grocery shopping is important, but it has not displaced in-person shopping as the default.
Grocery and cooking snapshot
| Measure | Share | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cook at home at least once a week | 87% | 2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey |
| Cook at home multiple times a week | nearly 80% | 2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey |
| Buy groceries in person at least weekly | 69% | 2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey |
| Buy groceries online at least weekly | 18% | 2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey |
| Weekly online grocery shopping in 2023 | 23% | 2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey |
| Weekly online grocery shopping in 2020 | 11% | 2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey |
The broader context matters too. In the same IFIC survey, 35% report going out to eat at least once a week and 30% report ordering takeout at least once weekly (2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey). So meal prep is not replacing eating out entirely. Instead, it is coexisting with a mixed food economy where people move between restaurant food, takeout, groceries, and home-cooked meals.
What drives meal prep choices
Meal prep is rarely just about convenience. The stated goals show that people are trying to solve multiple problems at once. In the 2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey, 40% selected energy or less fatigue as a diet goal, 40% selected weight loss or weight maintenance, 37% selected healthy aging, and 37% selected digestive health or gut health (2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey). Those goals imply that cooking and planning are not only about filling a plate. They are also about how people expect food to affect how they feel, perform, and age.
The same survey reports that 57% have tried a specific diet in the past year (2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey). That number helps explain why meal prep often becomes a system rather than a single habit. When people are trying to hit a goal, they often need repeating meals, repeatable ingredients, or a routine they can sustain.
The HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026 findings reinforce that point. 93% expect to cook as much as last year or more in the next 12 months, and among those planning to cook more, 85% cite the economy and 81% cite health as a factor (HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026). Those are two strong drivers that usually work together. When budgets tighten and health remains important, meal prep becomes a way to control both cost and ingredients.
Why people lean into home cooking
- 93% expect to cook as much as last year or more in the next 12 months (HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026).
- 85% of those planning to cook more cite the economy (HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026).
- 81% of those planning to cook more cite health (HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026).
- 57% have tried a specific diet in the past year (2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey).
How shortcuts fit into dinner
A lot of meal prep is not about cooking everything from scratch. The data shows that households often rely on shortcuts to keep dinner moving. 81% use shortcuts like meal prep kits or ready-to-eat meals to get a hot meal on the table, and 39% use those shortcuts at least once a week (HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026). Among Millennials, 50% rely on those shortcuts at least weekly (HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026).
That matters because the line between “meal prep” and “prepared food” is blurrier than it used to be. Meal prep may now include pre-cut vegetables, frozen components, batch-cooked proteins, or ready-to-eat meal formats. In the NFRA 2023 Eating at Home Industry Report, 59% began cooking at home using precut frozen fruits and vegetables, frozen main dishes, or frozen fruit in recipes within the past three years (NFRA 2023 Eating at Home Industry Report). That is not a story about abandoning home cooking. It is a story about making home cooking workable.
Food inspiration is also less formal than it once was. 52% look to social media for new recipe inspiration, 56% get recipe ideas from cookbooks, cooking shows, or websites, and 55% get recipe ideas from friends and family (HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026). Meanwhile, 71% say beautiful food content is inspiring rather than intimidating, while only 10% say food photos on social media make cooking new things feel unattainable (HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026). That suggests inspiration is less of a barrier than execution. People are willing to try, but they still need practical ways to make dinner happen.
Shortcut behavior in context
| Shortcut or behavior | Share | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Use meal prep kits or ready-to-eat meals | 81% | HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026 |
| Use those shortcuts at least weekly | 39% | HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026 |
| Millennials using those shortcuts at least weekly | 50% | HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026 |
| Look to social media for recipe inspiration | 52% | HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026 |
| Get recipe ideas from books, shows, or websites | 56% | HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026 |
| Use pre-cut or frozen ingredients in recipes | 59% | NFRA 2023 Eating at Home Industry Report |
Meal prep and household roles
Meal prep is not distributed evenly across households. The USDA ERS EIB-158 data shows that 74% of women reported being the usual meal preparers in their household, compared with 34% of men (USDA ERS EIB-158). It also shows that 15% of men and 10% of women reported splitting meal preparation equally with other household members (USDA ERS EIB-158). Those numbers point to a clear gender imbalance in who carries the routine.
That imbalance matters because meal prep is not just about food. It is about time, planning, cleanup, and decision-making. The same USDA source reports that meal preparers who prepared meat spent 51 minutes in meal preparation and cleanup on average, while meal preparers who did not prepare meat spent 26 minutes on average (USDA ERS EIB-158). That difference is large enough to shape whether a meal plan feels realistic on a busy day.
The family context changes the experience too. 58% are fixing dinner for picky eaters, and 80% of parents are fixing dinner for picky eaters (HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026). When the people eating dinner have different preferences, meal prep often becomes a strategy for reducing friction rather than maximizing culinary ambition. That also helps explain why 86% are meal repeaters who eat the same meals over and over at least some of the time (HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026). Repetition is not always a sign of boredom. Sometimes it is a response to household complexity.
Who does the work
- 74% of women are the usual meal preparers in their household (USDA ERS EIB-158).
- 34% of men are the usual meal preparers in their household (USDA ERS EIB-158).
- 15% of men split meal preparation equally (USDA ERS EIB-158).
- 10% of women split meal preparation equally (USDA ERS EIB-158).
- 58% are fixing dinner for picky eaters (HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026).
- 80% of parents are fixing dinner for picky eaters (HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026).
Time, equipment, and routine
Meal prep is shaped by the tools people have and the way they use them. The EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey reports that 89% of U.S. households have a range with a cooktop attached to an oven, 38% use natural gas for cooking, and household cooktops were used an average of 8 times a week in 2020 (EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey). Ovens were used an average of 3 times a week in 2020 (EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey).
That gives a clearer picture of what “cooking at home” usually means. It is not always elaborate production cooking. It often means routine stovetop use, repeated oven use, and a kitchen setup that supports frequent, practical meals. The same EIA data shows 75% of households used an electric coffee maker at least occasionally in 2020, and 56% used one daily in 2020 (EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey). Even small daily kitchen patterns matter when you are trying to understand how people structure their mornings and evenings around food.
Regional differences also show that meal prep habits are not identical across the country. Washington reached 88% of households preparing at least one hot meal at home each day in 2020, Maine reached 86%, Alabama reached 69%, and Louisiana reached 68% (EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey). Those gaps suggest that local routines, household composition, and regional cooking habits all influence how meal prep shows up in daily life.
Equipment and frequency snapshot
| Measure | Share or average | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Households with a range attached to an oven | 89% | EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey |
| Households using natural gas for cooking | 38% | EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey |
| Cooktop use per week | 8 times | EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey |
| Oven use per week | 3 times | EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey |
| Households using an electric coffee maker daily | 56% | EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey |
| U.S. households preparing at least one hot meal at home each day | 79% | EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey |
Food waste and the real cost of planning poorly
Meal prep is often framed as a cost saver, but food waste can erase a lot of that benefit. The US EPA says one-third of all food in the United States goes uneaten, and in 2019 about 96% of households’ wasted food ended up in landfills, combustion facilities, or down the drain (US EPA Preventing Wasted Food At Home). The average family of four spends almost $3,000 per year on food that does not get eaten (US EPA Preventing Wasted Food At Home). The EPA also estimates the cost of food waste at $728 per U.S. consumer per year, or $2,913 for a household of four, with a weekly cost of $56 for a household of four (US EPA Estimating the Cost of Food Waste to American Consumers).
That makes meal prep a question of efficiency, not just planning. Buying ingredients without a realistic plan can lead to waste. So can cooking too much, storing food poorly, or relying on recipes that do not match household appetite. The EPA’s waste figures also matter at a systems level because food waste is responsible for 58% of landfill emissions, and emissions from wasted food are greater than the emissions from all domestic flights plus all international flights run by U.S. airlines (US EPA Preventing Wasted Food At Home).
Waste costs to keep in mind
- One-third of all food in the United States goes uneaten (US EPA Preventing Wasted Food At Home).
- The average family of four spends almost $3,000 yearly on food that does not get eaten (US EPA Preventing Wasted Food At Home).
- The cost of food waste is $728 per U.S. consumer per year (US EPA Estimating the Cost of Food Waste to American Consumers).
- A household of four loses $2,913 annually to food waste on average (US EPA Estimating the Cost of Food Waste to American Consumers).
- Food waste is responsible for 58% of landfill emissions (US EPA Preventing Wasted Food At Home).
What the statistics suggest for meal prep planning
The numbers point to a few practical truths. First, meal prep is still built around home cooking for most households. Second, it is increasingly supported by shortcuts, recurring meal patterns, and flexible ingredient choices. Third, it is tied to household responsibilities that are unevenly shared. And fourth, the biggest financial downside is not the grocery bill itself but the food that never gets eaten.
The clearest planning lesson is that meal prep works best when it reduces friction. That means buying and cooking with real household behavior in mind: how often people actually cook, how much time they really have, which meals repeat without complaint, and which ingredients are likely to be used up before they spoil. The data from IFIC, HelloFresh, NFRA, EIA, USDA ERS, and the US EPA all point in the same direction (2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey; HelloFresh State of Home Cooking 2025-2026; NFRA 2023 Eating at Home Industry Report; EIA Residential Energy Consumption Survey; USDA ERS EIB-158; US EPA Preventing Wasted Food At Home; US EPA Estimating the Cost of Food Waste to American Consumers). Meal prep is no longer just about cooking ahead. It is about building a routine that fits money, health goals, household roles, and the reality of a busy week.