Is Meal Prep Cheaper Than Meal Deals and Takeaways?
Meal deals feel cheap in the moment because each one is a single small purchase, but the weekly total adds up faster than home-cooked meal prep in almost every realistic comparison.
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Cost Per Meal Comparison
Representative UK costs for a single lunch, and what that looks like scaled up across a five-day working week.
| Option | Typical cost per meal | Weekly cost (5 lunches) |
|---|---|---|
| Home-cooked meal prep | £1.50-3.00 | £7.50-15.00 |
| Supermarket meal deal | £3.50-5.00 | £17.50-25.00 |
| Takeaway | £8.00-15.00 | £40.00-75.00 |
Why Meal Deals Cost More Than They Feel Like They Do
Each individual meal deal is a small purchase, which makes the running weekly total easy to underestimate. £4 a day across five working days is £20 a week and roughly £1,000 a year, spent entirely on lunch. A batch-cooked lunch built from ingredients bought once a week is almost always cheaper per meal, because you are paying supermarket prices for raw ingredients rather than retail prices for prepared food and packaging.
What Meal Prep Gives You Beyond Cost
The cost difference is the headline, but it is not the only reason meal prep tends to win out over time.
- Control over protein and calorie content, rather than accepting whatever a pre-made option contains.
- Consistency, since the same batch-cooked meals are available every day rather than depending on what is in stock.
- Less daily decision-making, which reduces the temptation to default to a more expensive option when short on time.
When A Meal Deal Or Takeaway Still Makes Sense
Occasional convenience has real value, and meal prep is not meant to replace every meal out. The comparison above is most useful for people currently relying on meal deals or takeaways as a routine daily habit rather than an occasional treat, where the weekly cost difference is largest and most consistent.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much cheaper is meal prep than a meal deal?
Typically £10-20 cheaper per week across five lunches, based on representative costs of £1.50-3 per meal-prepped meal versus £3.50-5 per meal deal.
Is it worth meal prepping just to save money?
If you currently rely on meal deals or takeaways most days, the weekly saving is usually substantial and adds up significantly over a year. If you already cook most meals from scratch, the savings are smaller.
Does meal prep save time as well as money?
It shifts time rather than necessarily saving it overall — one longer batch-cooking session replaces several shorter daily decisions and cooking sessions, which many people find more convenient even if total active time is similar.
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