90% of Americans don’t like to cook—and it’s costing them thousands each year

CNBC.com ^ | September 27, 2017 | Emmie Martin

[GuavaCheesePuff]

For some Americans, going out to dinner is a treat, planned and budgeted for. For others, it’s just another Tuesday night. And Wednesday. And Thursday.

And that second group of people is becoming the majority. The number of Americans who enjoy cooking is declining, while the prevalence of food delivery startups, and culinary-centric television shows grows.

In the Harvard Business Review, researcher Eddie Yoon shares data he’s gathered over two decades working as a consultant for consumer packaged goods companies. Early in Yoon’s career, he conducted a survey that determined that Americans fell into one of three groups:

[Army Air Corps]

I am proud to be in the 10% who do enjoy cooking.

[MinorityRepublican]

Well, sometimes you’re tired after work. Cook? Hell with that.

[W.]

I’d bet they don’t know HOW to cook...w

[BobL]

With Obamacare and now a $15 minimum wage kicking in, and the fact that trying to find carb-free menu items is still very difficult, I think MANY more people will be cooking at home, and they will have to learn to like it.

[Mariner]

Gee, I don’t like to eat out, ever.

I do it sometimes in a jam but mostly end up with the runs. And that’s after eating sh!tty food to begin with.

I cook at home. I shop for the finest ingredients I can find.

If you’re not doing that, you’re doing AT LEAST half a dozen things wrong and need a full reassessment of your life. Not just your culinary life.

I cannot even comprehend the alternative.

[wally_bert]

The dog enjoys me cooking for her.

She is ailing from cancer and some other things that have suppressed the desire to eat. Chicken and rice with kibble and a appetite stimulant help.

[Big Red Badger]

TV dinners count?
10 minutes, I’m
Eating and five
Minutes more,,,
I’m cleaned Up.

[Shady]

My Wife has become quite the social media sensation, her expertise is “creative leftovers, Re-purposing things in wonderful ways. We go out to eat about once a month or so.

[neverevergiveup]

I'm guilty of not cooking enough, but I do love to cook and want to do this more. I'm very interested in what you cook, how you determine which ingredients are best, and where you find them. Maybe you should write a FReeper cookbook!

[Rebelbase]

I like to cook but often spend more to make something than if I were to get it as take out.

[Pollster1]

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

-Robert A. Heinlein

I have done all but two of the items on his list, and I have butchered a deer so that's close. I hope to put off the last item on that bucket list for a long time.

[Lysandru]

I enjoy cooking—but like others I am often not in the mood after a long day at work. And being a bachelor, I also have to do all of the cleanup by myself.

[McGruff]

If you work who has time to cook. I’m retired and can do whatever I want to. When I’m out I love to stop a Taco Bell for a couple of Tacos for under 5 bucks.

[elcid1970]

Cooking ain’t rocket science. It’s a creative, productive, & enjoyable activity. The cost of ingredients is low compared to meals out.

When we were newlyweds, a Lean Cuisine reminded us of airplane food & travel. But it soon came to meals prepared together in the kitchen.

I was always reminded, however, that the same dish tastes even better with a restaurant wrapped around it.

[setter]

I take out clients 1-2 days per week for lunch and me and the wife eat dinner out or take carryout 2-3 times per week as we are both self employed and usually don’t get home until around 7:00 and just beat.

[elcid1970]

You are a kind, devoted owner. Lots of good karma coming your way.

[867V309]

Well, sometimes you’re tired after work. Cook? Hell with that.

right!

I'd much rather eat some slop an illegal spat on.

[MrEdd]

I have a cool device called a freezer.
I can make twenty two quarts of spaghetti sauce in a batch, pour the sauce over noodles, and freeze prepackaged spaghetti. Or tortellini. Or lasagna.

I can do the same thing with rice dishes.

I have a panini press, and I can throw two pieces of bread, three slices of cheese, and two kinds of deli meat on the grill and have a fancy looking sandwich in less than two and a half minutes.

All of those solve the problem of food when I don't want to cook although advanced preparation is required.

Eating out is mostly for when I am traveling.

[Black Agnes]

Get an Instant Pot.

Whole chicken with fixings in about 40m start to finish. Just put the chicken and fixings in the pot, add a little water, put the lid on and program it for 26m or so.

Eat leftovers for a couple days at least.

Chicken is good on sandwiches, on chips as chicken nachos, on a salad, etc.

Cook the one night and eat for several days including taking lunch if you wish.

Can do the same thing with a roast. Roast with potatoes and carrots, roast beef sandwiches, shredded roast beef on a salad, etc...

And you know nobody spit on your food while they were plating it. Unless you want that sort of thing.

There are (probably literally a billion) instant pot recipes out there.