Making dinner at home is making a comeback. After decades of consumer preferences leaning toward dining out, a new survey shows that American preferences are starting to shift. The new momentum is largely a cost-saving move by millennials, but also a result of an increased interest in health and family time.

According to a recent survey, 73 percent of adults currently make dinner at home at least four nights a week, but millennials are pushing that trend even further. Fifty percent surveyed they have intentions to cook at home more often than that in 2018. And 79 percent of teens, or those in the temporarily dubbed post-millennial generation — surveyed that they wanted their parents to cook at home more in 2018. One in three teens expressed an interest in helping their parents cook at home more often as a way to help their family eat healthier.

So what’s causing the shift? About 43 percent of Americans report that cooking at home helps them spend more quality time as a family — up 11 percent from last year. Similar to last year, 72 percent say it helps them save money, and 52 percent say it’s for health reasons.

Many families employ some type of shortcut, to help them reach their cooking at home goals. Some have are turned to ready to serve or cook mixes including meal kits (41 percent) to help them eat home more often, and 25 percent have turned to grocery delivery as a time-saving shortcut. Parents more than non-parents took advantage of these services, while millennials were twice as likely as Boomers to perceive the value of these time-saving measures.


Also see, 10 healthy slow-cooker meals to this month.

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Meghan is a full-time writer exploring the fun facts behind food. She lives a healthy lifestyle but lives for breakfast, dessert and anything with marinara. She’s thrown away just as many meals as she’s proud of.