A new study has revealed that more than half of UK adults (54 per cent) only know how to cook just five or fewer dishes without resorting to looking up a recipe.
As many as one in eight would not be confident cooking an omelette without consulting a recipe, while almost a third (31 per cent) cook a new recipe just once a year or less frequently.
Chinese stir fry is the most well-known dish people know how to cook from scratch, with 81 per cent of people knowing how to cook one without having to resort to a recipe book.
Spaghetti Bolognese came a close second, with 80 per cent knowing how to cook the Italian classic, while 77 per cent of of respondents to the Tesco-commissioned research can cook a traditional Sunday roast dinner unaided, bringing the British favourite home in third place.
The survey was commissioned to launch a new online cooking series, Let’s Cookalong, delivered by the Tesco Eat Happy Project in partnership with the Children’s Food Trust.
The research, conducted with 2,000 people around the country, looked into aspects of our kitchen habits from the recipes consumers do and don’t feel confident cooking from scratch, to how Brits learn new recipes, what inspires them and how the country's children are learning to cook.
The research found more than half of UK adults (54%) have committed just five or fewer recipes to memory and a similar proportion (51%) say they roll these out on a weekly basis, if not more often. As many as one in eight would not be confident cooking an omelette without consulting a recipe, while almost a third (31%) cook a new recipe just once a year or less frequently.
Let’s Cookalong aims to help boost the culinary knowledge of parents and children throughout the summer with new videos added to YouTube each week.
The plan is to make parents and their children able to follow a chef cook a variety of child-friendly recipes and meal ideas, starting with picnic-themed recipes, and moving on to Morocca food, barbecue food and Indian food in the coming weeks.
Josh Hardie, Group corporate responsibility director at Tesco, said:“We know families around the country love to cook together, which is really important because children that grow up learning to cook and eat healthily go on to lead healthier lives.
“Trying a new recipe can seem daunting but tasty, healthy meals needn’t be complicated or need lots of expensive ingredients – this is the inspiration behind our new Let’s Cookalong summer series and we want as many families as possible to take part this summer.”
