The benefits of healthy home cooking

There was once a time where takeaway options were limited to the local businesses who had dropped a menu in your letterbox. If you were lucky it came with a meal-deal coupon. You placed your order over the phone and then got in your car to collect it. It’s fair to say, the world of fast food has come a long way. But what we’ve gained in convenience, we may have just lost in quality, nutritional-value and cost.

Let’s explore why it might be time to put healthy home cooking back on the menu.

The benefits of cooking at home

There are many benefits to cooking at home. It’s typically higher quality food, lower in calories, and saves money.

When cooking at home, you have a lot more control over what ingredients go into your meal than you do when ordering in or buying a pre-packaged alternative. You can ensure you use lean cuts of meat, fresh vegetables, and you can choose your own choice of herbs and spices for added health benefits. By doing this you’re ensuring you get important nutrients without the saturated fats, added sugar and salt that are often hiding in takeaway.

Tips for home cooking

Organisation

There’s no denying ordering takeaway often feels like the more convenient option. After a long day, a home cooked meal can feel like a huge task: thinking of what to have, food preparation, cooking, cleaning up. But with a little organisation, it can be simple and quick.
 

• Meal plan: We make thousands of decisions a day. Make it one less with a weekly meal plan and shop. You’ll not only reduce the mental load each night of deciding what to cook, you’ll also save yourself multiple supermarket runs. If meal planning is new to you, start with a few dinners a week.
• Cook more than you need: Save time by doubling the batch. It’ll take just a few more minutes prep but saves you a whole night’s cook in future. There are so many freezer-friendly meals that’ll future-you will thank you for.
• Partial meal prep: Meal prep doesn’t need to be Ziplock bags of frozen curry or stew. Instead, spend 10 minutes chopping up your veg for the week so they are ready to chuck in Wednesday’s stir-fry and Friday’s pasta bake. Little time-savers go a long way after a busy day. 

Swaps

Cooking at home allows you to make simple swaps to ingredients, preparation and cooking methods for a healthy dinner. Try these:
 

• Swap peeling vegetables for scrubbing: You may be losing nutrients by removing the peel.
• Swap boiling vegetables for steaming: You may be losing nutrients by boiling.
• Swap white bread for wholegrain or wholemeal: for a healthier sandwich.
• Swap to non-stick cookware: You’ll need less oil for cooking.
• Swap sour cream for natural yoghurt: for a healthier alternative.
• Swap greasing your baking tray with oil to lining it with baking paper: for a simple way to avoid unnecessary kilojoules.

5 healthy meals under 30 minutes

Need some inspiration? We've picked 5 of our favourite quick dinner recipes.

Pistachio crusted salmon super salad
Whip this dish together in less than 30 minutes for a quick and wholesome weeknight dinner.

Mediterranean baked fish
Sink your teeth into this easy, one pan Mediterranean style fish.

Kale pesto pasta with toasted walnuts
Super quick and simple to make in bulk to freeze for later.

Veggie-full beef bolognese with spaghetti
Simple, delicious and kid-friendly.

Chicken noodle stir fry
An easy weeknight dish, with a fresh ginger kick.