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What type of food is popularly prepared at home in the UK?
Hi there! Thank you for your question on what type of food is popularly prepared at home in the UK. The short version is, based upon the data found, the most popularly prepared meals in the UK include the following: 1) Full English breakfast, 2) Roast, 3) Apple crumble. I have provided you with a more detailed listing in the section "Answer." Below is a deep dive into my research and methodology.
METHODOLOGY
To answer your question, I used Wonder's resource database and Google to search for relevant academic and industry studies as well as news articles. My research resulted in finding various lists and references to data from studies, from which I was able to provide you a final answer. Below, I have shared with you the data found on this topic via 9 articles that date from 2009 (only 1 article) to 2016.
ARTICLES ON THE TOP FOODS IN THE UK
This list was generated from the "Great British Home-Cooked Menu Survey," which was commissioned by UKTV.
1. Spaghetti Bolognese
2. Roast dinner
3. Chilli con carne
4. Lasagne
5. Cottage or shepherd's pie
6. Meat or fish stir fry
7. Beef casserole
8. Macaroni cheese
9. Toad-in-the-hole
10. Meat, fish or vegetable curry
B) DAILY MAIL - "How do you like your eggs in the morning? Britain's best-loved breakfast is still a full English, closely followed by a bacon sandwich" (Published: June 2014)
The article states that approximately 31% of people in the UK tend to eat full English breakfasts with English breakfast tea, while 12% prefer to eat a bacon sandwich with ketchup (approximately 17% said that bacon sandwiches are perfect for dealing with hangovers, and thus it is most often eaten on Saturday mornings). Third to the full English and bacon sandwich breakfasts is toast and tea. Beyond that croissants and coffee featured as sixth popular. Two-thirds of people in the UK were found to eat breakfast on the go.
Thus popular breakfast foods/meals are:
1. Full English breakfast with English breakfast tea
2. Bacon sandwiches with ketchup
3. Toast and tea
C) DAILY MAIL - "Fish supper by the sea, strawberries and cream at the tennis and Sunday lunch in the pub: The nation's favourite British foods (and where we like to eat them) revealed" (Published: May 2015)
This article reveals findings from a poll conducted by Discover Cornwall. The poll found the following foods as the 10 most popular in their list of the Top 40 British Foods:
1. Fish supper
2. Roast dinner & Yorkshire puddings
3. English breakfast
4. Bacon butties
5. Apple crumble
6. Strawberries and cream
7. Bangers and mash
8. Cream tea
9. Shepherd's pie
10. Crumpets
This article reveals shifts in trends in food purchase over the past 42 years. Specifically, it notes that people in the UK are purchasing
LESS
- white bread,
- full-fat milk,
- sodas/soft drinks
- liver
- pork
- mutton
- canned/tinned foods
- canned vegetables
- tea
- white fish
... BUT MORE
- fresh fruits
- chicken
- minced beef
- pizza (frozen and not frozen)
- frozen dinners/ready meals
- convenience meat products
- coffee
- chips (frozen and not frozen)
- shellfish
- salmon
E) INDEPENDENT - "Many elderly people turn to ready meals, but can they compete with a proper dinner?" (Published: April 2015)
This article addresses the growth in the ready meals industry and its popularity with senior citizens in the UK. The article identifies traditional British meals as being a staple for senior citizens. These meals include:
1. Salmon in watercress
2. Beef casserole
3. Lamb and potatoes
This article discusses findings from BBC Food, which revealed that the most popular recipes researched on the website were for pancakes. The list offers the following recipes as the most popular:
1. Fluffy American pancakes
2. Basic pancakes with sugar and lemon
3. Vanilla cupcakes
4. Basic buttercream icing
5. Shortbread
6. Apple crumble
7. Mary Berry's perfect Victoria sandwich
8. Easy chocolate cake
9. Banana bread
10. Great sausage casserole
11. Scones
12. Gingerbread men
13. Pancake Day pancakes
14. Roast pork with crackling
15. Cheese sauce
G) BUSINESS INSIDER - "9 foods that Brits are obsessed with, according to Google" (Published: June 2016)
This list was generated by data from Google on the most searched food items and meals in the UK.
1. Apple crumble
2. Fish and chips
3. Greek salad
4. Sea bass
5. Yorkshire pudding
6. Soft-boiled egg
7. Sweet potato fries
8. Flat iron steak
9. Beef stew
H) MIRROR - "Brits' favourite breakfast food has been revealed - is it what you eat in the morning?" (Published: August 2016)
This article focuses on a study by Kantar Worldpanel that shows the increasing trend in people in the UK consuming bacon and sausages for breakfast, stating "that bacon appeared in a whopping 87 million more breakfasts over the past year, an increase of 14.3%."
I) THE SUN - "Women get recipe ideas from their MUMS not celebrity chefs, says new poll" (Published: September 2016)
The meals discussed in this article are from a new research study by food assurance organization Red Tractor Lamb. The study found that 64% of UK mothers use family recipes for their meals. It also revealed people in the UK own an average of 6 cookbooks. The food item that was named the favorite is lamb.
The specific meals named as favorites were the following:
1. Shepherd's pie
2. Roasts
3. Cottage pie
4. Curries
5. Spaghetti bolognese
ANSWER
It is apparent that, although people in the UK have made significant changes to their daily diet, there are still many traditional British foods that remain staples in households. The most popular foods, based upon the data that I found, are as follows:
BREAKFAST
- Most popular meal prepared at home: full English breakfast, followed closely by bacon sandwiches.
These meals are more likely cooked on the weekend. During the week, people are more likely to eat something simpler at home, such as toast and tea or croissant and coffee. However, there is increasing interest in American-styled pancakes (pancakes in general).
- Most popular food item: bacon, followed closely by sausages
LUNCH
- There was no specific data found on lunches prepared at home.
My perception is that it would likely be something easy to make:
- Greek salad or bacon sandwiches
DINNER
- Most popular meal prepared at home: Roast, followed closely by Yorkshire pudding, and shepherd's pie.
Outside of traditional British meals, Italian meals have grown in popularity, specifically spaghetti bolognese and pizza.
- Most popular food item: beef
DESSERT
- Most popular meal prepared at home: Apple crumble, followed by pancakes.
- Most popular food item: Fresh fruit (likely)
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, based upon the data I found, it appears that people in the UK enjoy a diet that focuses on meat and fresher ingredients (no tinned/canned items). Many continue to prepare meals handed down to them from their parents as well as try meals from other cultures (Italian, Asian, American, etc.). Thanks for using Wonder! Please, let us know if we can help with anything else!