Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X & Boomers Have Very Different Ideas Of What A Home-Cooked Meal Looks Like
Drazen Zigic | ShutterstockNowadays it seems like each generation has a hard time agreeing on what counts as real cooking. Gen Z definitely has a different way of preparing a home-cooked meal than baby boomers do, and that could put them at odds.
Each generation follows its own traditions when making a home-cooked meal. There was a time when food wasn’t really considered home-cooked unless the chef had a hand in every part of its preparation. Now, people are more relaxed about what they let pass for a home-cooked meal.
Boomers take home-cooked meals seriously and don’t believe in using shortcuts.
As an older generation, boomers are known for being more traditional. Their cooking habits are no exception. They didn’t grow up with access to food delivery apps and meal kits, so they had to learn to fend for themselves in the kitchen.
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While a lot of cooking skills might seem optional now, boomers learned how to do pretty much everything themselves. That explains why so many older adults say they feel confident when they’re cooking.
Boomers are used to making pretty elaborate meals from scratch. Doing something like using the microwave is a shortcut in their eyes. They think home-cooked is a label that has to be earned, and it seems like it might be even more important to them now that cooking is an essential part of how they’re managing their health.
Gen X transitioned home-cooked meals into something they could make with fewer steps.
There were a lot of things that Gen X had to teach themselves how to do while they waited for their parents to come home from work, including cooking. They built on the traditional example boomers set but also felt comfortable taking shortcuts for the sake of convenience.
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Although Gen X doesn’t eat at home quite as frequently as boomers, they do make it more of a priority than younger generations. Their cooking skills are a bit of a melting pot, with them turning to YouTube for recipes just as much as family and friends.
This shows how they’re willing to combine traditional and modern techniques. Cooking from scratch isn’t as important to them. As long as they plan and put together a meal, they think it’s home-cooked, even if some parts of it came ready-made.
Millennials have had to change the definition of home-cooked meals because of their limited resources.
Millennials face two disadvantages to making traditional home-cooked meals. The generation is dealing with high levels of burnout that make them feel like cooking isn’t their top priority. They’re also feeling financial pressure that makes it hard for them to do the amount of grocery shopping their parents did.
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That’s why millennials are big fans of buying food that’s already prepared. They use frozen foods and meal kits when they’re cooking, and they don’t think that makes their meals any less home-cooked.
At the end of the day, millennials are really just doing their best. Many enjoy cooking, but they don’t have the resources to pull out all the stops as boomers did. As long as they have a hand in making a meal, they think it’s home-cooked. The details aren’t very important to them.
Gen Z doesn’t think that using convenient shortcuts stops them from making home-cooked meals.
The way Gen Z cooks is just as unique as everything else they do. They really enjoy getting experimental in the kitchen, and it’s no surprise that they turn to social media for new recipes to help them do that.
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Similar to millennials, Gen Z values convenience when they’re cooking. They don’t think it’s cheating to throw food in the microwave, or even to use something like an air fryer or Instant Pot. They definitely don’t have the same traditional standards as boomers.
Gen Z looks at home-cooked meals completely differently than previous generations. They want to have fun in the kitchen, and they don’t think fun should require a lot of time and effort they just don’t have to give. Shortcuts are totally acceptable to them as long as they’re happy with the finished product.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
