Over a third of Brits have cut back on cooking Sunday roasts because of the soaring cost of energy bills, according to a recent survey.
The survey, which was carried out by Opinium for Tesco, found 38% of the 2,000 UK adults polled felt overwhelmed by the prospect of spending their Sunday cooking a roast.
Despite the nation’s love of a Sunday dinner, 36% of the adults surveyed said the cost of living crisis had made them reconsider cooking a traditional roast dinner at the weekend.
This figure rose higher among those within the 16 to 34 age range, with 47% saying they have decided against cooking a Sunday roast.
From April 2023, it is thought that energy bills will rise by roughly 40% for millions of households as the energy rebate scheme comes to an end, and the price cap increases to £3,000.
The soaring energy costs, coupled with rapidly rising inflation have resulted in the average food shop bill increasing by £788 a year. Market Research firm Kantar has been tracking the figures since 2008 and reports the price of milk, eggs and dog food increasing the fastest.
28% of those asked said they would cook a Sunday roast more often if they had access to an air-fryer, while 46% said they would like to find a more cost-efficient way of doing a roast.
Air-fryers and slow cookers, which use less energy than a conventional cooker or oven, have been in great demand because of consumers’ concerns about soaring energy bills and other living costs. According to the survey, a third of UK adults have access to an air-fryer, while nearly 46% have access to a slow cooker.
Jamie Robinson, the executive chef at Tesco, commented: “The rise in energy costs is understandably leading many of us to look for the most efficient ways of cooking, from using existing store cupboard ingredients, cooking from scratch, and looking at alternative cooking methods to an oven.
“However, whichever way you cook it, the core components of any Sunday roast – a tender cut of meat, perfectly risen Yorkshire puddings, crispy roast potatoes and delicious vegetable sides, can be easily achieved.”
