High Value Meals, Comfort Food Lead 2025 Home Chef Cooking Trends

Consumers will continue seeking out opportunities to save money on their grocery bills as they look to prepare easy-to-make quality meals at home in the coming year, according to a 2025 home cooking trends forecast from Home Chef.

"We expect 2025 to be a year we'll see demand continue to grow for ultra-convenient cooking routines and ingredient variation, with customers placing value at the center of meal decisions,” said Erik Jensen, CEO of Home Chef. 

Building off of 2024 when consumers sought to expand their palates and took a deep dive into flavor trends, Home Chef has put together six home cooking trends to watch in the coming year. 

• Low Effort, High Reward: Home cooks are firmly on the other side of pandemic-induced feasts of complex recipes that take hours, and instead are redefining what "convenient" means at mealtime. Not only do consumers crave fast meals but ones that also cut down on other mealtime demands like recipe planning, grocery shopping, and dishes.

• Value in View: As food costs impact all meal sources, customers are continuing to prioritize value when it comes to their mealtime routines. Food resellers of all types will need to provide competitive and innovative pricing structures to help customers' dollars go further.

• Conscious Comfort: Though the demand for better-for-you meal options naturally invites ingredient and flavor innovation, many consumers are looking for familiar flavors. Home cooks want to feel that serotonin boost that comes from recognizing a beloved, comforting meal – and even better if they don't have to sacrifice their wellness goals to enjoy it.

• Protein-Packed & Fiber-Filled: With more demand for wellness-minded meals, customers will seek sources of protein and fiber that are not only packed with those essential nutrients, but are delicious too. With the rise of GLP-1 medications, health-conscious consumers will look for foods tied to the body's natural production of GLP-1, which includes higher fiber, higher protein meals. This increase in demand is supported by recent insights from 84.51°, the market research division of The Kroger Co., which found that high-protein is the number one nutritional benefit for which consumers look while grocery shopping.

• Plenty of Fish in the Sea: Customers don't settle for just shrimp and salmon in their seafood rotation anymore. Many home cooks are exploring pescetarian options that were not previously as accessible or familiar, such as mahi mahi, petite scallops, and yellowtail.

• Spice It Up: Customers are going beyond jalapenos to add heat and depth to their everyday cooking. Home cooks are getting more familiar with a variety of pepper-based condiments from across the globe, bringing new layers of heat and flavor to dinner.