How long do you take to cook dinner/supper?

[Laura Corin]

I was cooking supper last night and wondered about how much time I really would save if I used convenience foods. It was baby new potatoes, steamed purple sprouting broccoli and sauted trout fillets. It took me about forty minutes, including washing the vegetables. There were actually about fifteen minutes in the middle when I wasn't doing much, so tidied up the kitchen - I include that in my preparation time.

 

Zero minutes on this poll represents take out that someone picked up on their way home (as opposed to a special trip).

 

ETA: you might like to post separately if you use very little time to cook from scratch, or a lot of time on convenience food.

 

Laura

Edited May 23, 2010 by Laura Corin

[Joker]

I voted 31-45 minutes. It would take me longer if I didn't spend Saturday doing as much of the prep work as I can. I hate to cook so I would much rather spend a Saturday afternoon washing, cooking, freezing so I can spend less time at night through the week.

[Veritaserum]

I voted 15 - 30 because unless I'm doing potatoes, everything can be cooked within that time. A big time saver for me is that I buy and pre-cook large quantities of meat. For ground beef, I cook it with garlic and onions. I then freeze it (~1 cup per bag). Because that's done beforehand, I can much more quickly make tacos, spaghetti, stroganoff, etc. (Brown) rice or noodles and a veggie are pretty quick. We eat a lot of Costco's organic frozen peas and corn, which may fall under "convenience".

[Parrothead]

We can run the gamut. If I've got sandwiches on the menu preparing dinner takes 10 minutes. A casserole can take an hour. But on average 45 minutes because I don't use much prepared food anymore.

[RoughCollie]

It usually takes me 45 minutes to an hour to cook dinner.

 

I spend at least 21 hours a week in the kitchen, cooking, baking, cleaning, menu planning, and making a grocery list. That's the equivalent of a part-time job.

 

I save time by tripling recipes and freezing the main dishes. When I grind beef, I do it in bulk and preform the hamburger patties and brown some of it with garlic and onion, before I freeze it for later use.

 

I make nearly everything from scratch.

[LauraGB]

I could probably get it done in under 30 minutes, but I like to stretch it out so I can enjoy a glass of wine while I prepare it, so I chose 31-45 min. And I usually thoroughly enjoy that time of the day, not just because of the wine ;), but because I like to cook. I don't often make meat, so that shortens my time, but I do make things like scalloped potatoes or eggplant parm or lasagna or something of that sort, which does take up to an 1 1/2 hrs, during which time I seem to still stay in the kitchen, prepping something or another, but taking my time.

 

ETA - I just saw your ETA. I cook 98% from scratch, however, I do make my own "convenience foods" for easy grabbing when I need them. That other 2% would include things like dried pastas and the occasional marinara, as well as condiments that I've purchased.

Edited May 23, 2010 by LauraGB
forgot an entire word

[Closeacademy]

I look for healthy low-fat, low-calorie recipies that are not time intensive. If I want to I can spend an hour in the kitchen cooking healthy alternatives to restaurant style foods but I don't have that much time.

 

We eat a lot of chicken breast--grilled, pan cooked, boiled and shredded (earlier in the day).

 

We also eat a lot of fresh/frozen veggies that are either baked (asparagus) or boiled/steamed. We like ours with a little of the fresh crisp taste rather than soggy/mushy.

 

Dinner is usually meat and healthy veggie. On occassion I will spend the day making baguettes and then we will just have a salad of fresh greens with olive oil, vinegar, parmesean, salt and pepper on it. Or we will make pasta.

 

:001_smile:

[Cedarmom]

I said 41-60 minutes. I think that is my average. There are days when it it less. It isn't longer usually unless it is a special meal. And it's not usually all cooking time-while something is cooking I'll be prepping breakfast or cleaning kitchen. Maybe we should have a poll on how long it takes to clean the kitchen. I feel like I spend at least half my life cleaning in the kitchen!

[lynn]

I try to plan ahead on roasting meat so I can get it started in the crockpot sometime during the morning or have time for spaghetti sauce to simmer. Then it's less than 30 min start to having a meal ready to eat.

[LibraryLover]

I said 45- minutes to an hour int he kitchen for supper prep, but that can vary. It really depends. I can do grilled fish and a large salad pretty quickly. Summer cooking is quicker than winter cooking. I simmer a lot of soups in winter. Not that I watch it simmer, of course. ;) Chopping and sauteeing takes more time than grilling fish. My oldest dd has been craving baked ziti, and I promised her I would make it tomorrow. That prep is a little more time- intensive. When I put it in the oven to bake, I'll make the salad.

[runamuk]

It depends on what I'm making. Some nights we have soup and sandwiches. If I pull the soup out of the freezer, it takes no time at all to warm it up. If I make something on the grill, I'll spend 30 minutes or so making dinner. And if I try out a crazy recipe to make homemade bolognase, it will take me 3 days (although it will only be a couple of hours work time total).

 

Most nights, I spend 30 - 40 minutes making dinner.

[Carrie12345]

Last night, I made mashed potatoes, fried chicken cutlets, and corn. I didn't time it, but I'd estimate 30 minutes.

 

I did use semi-convenient food. Frozen corn, canned bread crumbs and thin-sliced chicken from the meat department. I skipped making gravy b/c my family doesn't care if it's there or not. *I* prefer to have it, but I'd rather not put in the time just for myself.

 

I also do my mashed potatoes with skins, which saves a TON of prep work. Raw veggies were the appetizer, so I didn't feel a need to add a "real" vegetable to the meal.

 

If we're talking homemade pasta or a brown rice dish, it definitely takes me more than an hour. I aim to keep time consuming meals to 2x week, or double them (I'm prepping meatballs this afternoon) to make a subsequent meal faster.

 

I have an order in for the new 30-day gourmet book to try to develop my own routine. I love good food. I hate to cook.

[Emilylou]

I voted 31-45 minutes... but always remember you can cook more than one meal in those 45 minutes.

I just spend 45 minutes in the kitchen, but while I was baking some rice for a stir fry- I pre-bake some breakfast sausage for the kids to throw in toaster oven on mornings during the week. I also made 15 waffles to but in fridge for breakfast during the week. and since I was sauting' stirfry- I boiled some pasta and sauteed another batch of chicken and veggies with different spices for a pasta dish to be reheated either monday or tuesday. :)

 

That should cut down on my cooking time at least one night this week.

I only do this because I work a couple 3-11 shifts a week, and leave a dinner here for Dh to reheat. otherwise kids would eat cereal or McDonald's. :)

[Debora R]

I guess on average I'd be in the 45 minute range, but I too run the whole spectrum. I love to cook, I enjoy new recipies and flavors (I'm a big fan of Cooking Light magazine), but I don't always have the time or energy for it. I generally do a crockpot meal once a week and meals from the freezer once a week as well. My standard though, is a meat, a salad/vegetable and a starch...cooked using various methods, sauces, etc.

[Audrey]

I was cooking supper last night and wondered about how much time I really would save if I used convenience foods. It was baby new potatoes, steamed purple sprouting broccoli and sauted trout fillets. It took me about forty minutes, including washing the vegetables. There were actually about fifteen minutes in the middle when I wasn't doing much, so tidied up the kitchen - I include that in my preparation time.

 

Zero minutes on this poll represents take out that someone picked up on their way home (as opposed to a special trip).

 

ETA: you might like to post separately if you use very little time to cook from scratch, or a lot of time on convenience food.

 

Laura

 

 

It really depends on what I'm cooking, but on average, it's probably around the 30 minute mark. Obviously, a roast is going to take longer, and a stir-fry much shorter.

 

We don't use convenience foods. I don't feel that what it *might* save me in prep time is worth what it will cost me in dollars, taste, and healthiness.

[Caitilin]

I use very few convenience foods, and I voted for 31-45 minutes, on average. Some days are cereal-for-supper nights:glare:, but most are real.

[kalanamak]

I said other because I cook ahead and fill the fridge with brown rice, spinach noodles, WW elbows, cooked tortilini, cooked whole beans, cheese sauce, mac-and-cheese, veggie stews, little tubs of cooked corn or peas, tomato sauces, prepped lettuce, washed carrots, jars of applesauce, cheddar I have sliced or shredded, HB eggs, etc.

 

That way hubby and kiddo eat decently while I'm at work, and when I get home, I can just warm things up and not waste our evening-school time with cooking.

 

So, three hours on Sunday, tops, and 5-7 minutes to warm up. Kiddo eats 4 squares a day, plus snacks, plus a bowl of ice cream if he hasn't really acted up that day, so we are in the kitchen a lot!!

[edithcrawley]

It takes me about 31-45 minutes, sometimes less, sometimes more. However, only about 15-20 minutes of that is "active time" i.e. chopping veg, stirring whatever etc. The rest of the time the food is either in the stove or on the stovetop so I don't have to mess with it, aside from walking over every couple of minutes to give it a stir. I don't use many convenience foods as they are way more expensive than other food.

[Daisy]

Week night meals are probably right around 30 minutes. Typical meal around here would look like this...

 

Grill meat

Steam or grill some veggies

Make a green salad

Cut up some fruit

 

Most of our grains are eaten earlier in the day and that is what would take longer.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Average 30 - 45 min. But I love left-over nights - just heat things up!

[LarlaB]

Well, I don't count the time it takes for something to cook (i.e. roast, or marinara sauce simmering) unless I have to babysit it...like the delicious gumbo that takes 25 minutes of constant stirring just to get the roux to the correct color. :)

 

Usually, 30-45 minutes. Like everyone else, it depends but the vast majority of our meals are from scratch, so there is a lot of time spent processing veggies and I do the prep in stages

[Jolash]

I voted in the under 30 minute category, but I should have read on... it's more like 30 to 40 minutes total. If it's a roast or other long cooking meat, I'll put it on in the a.m. in the crockpot. The rest of the meal takes 20 minutes or so to complete. If I make it from scratch, I can usually be done in 40 minutes. We don't use a lot of prepared foods.

[Food4Thought]

I voted up to 60 minutes. I can't do convenience foods since we're gluten free and have additive/coloring allergies. On nights when I'm in a hurry, I do stir fry and it's usually ready in 30 minutes (although I have to wash and soak the rice 30 minutes before).

 

It can take longer if I'm doing something like a lasagna - maybe 2 or 3 hours from starting the sauce to eating it. But I like hanging out in the kitchen experimenting with stuff, so I don't mind it too much.

[Rosie_0801]

It completely depends on whether I am making a proper dinner or whether I am feeding them toast and cringing on here hoping they'll go and eat it somewhere they won't be touching me.

 

On the days I cook, I generally make dinner after lunch. It's a far less painful time of day than late afternoon/ evening. Also, my kids are little so they want food at 4.30, but may not be awake at dinner time, so I'd prefer to give them an early dinner than another round of toast.

 

I don't use packets a la macaroni cheez, but I might use tinned beans, tinned tomatoes and while I know it takes the same time to make my own pasta as to cook the dried stuff, I use the dried stuff... I would imagine most dinners take 40 mins, unless I'm cooking beans from scratch, but as I said, cooking earlier in the day is less painful. It's not even 3pm yet and dinner is already done, except for the pasta. I'll put that in the microwave when ds wakes up from his nap. It's a cooked salad for dinner tonight, but I've been cooking two different curries per night from my spiffy Indian vegan cookbook fairly frequently of late. Mm. Curry :)

 

Rosie

[Peela]

It really depends- I might put something in the over than took me 15 minutes to put together, but it takes an hour in the oven to cook. Meanwhile I go off and do other things and come back and make a salad 10 minutes before the oven dish is ready.

I probably generalyl take 15-30 minutes, but a couple of times a week might take a fair bit more just because I am making something more elaborate.

 

If I was making steamed potatoes and broccolli and some trout- I might consider that a 30 minute meal at most. That seems like a pretty quick meal and we often eat meals along those lines. I make mashed potato in the Thermomix (put milk and potatoes in TM, turn on for 20-25 minutes, when finished, add butter/parmeson and blend for 15 seconds) , cook something protein based, and make a salad. I am pretty sure its all done in 30 minutes most of the time.

 

The Thermomix is a big time saver though. I can make a white sauce very easily in it by just throwing all the ingredients in it and turning it on- I think it takes less than 10 minutes before its ready and most of that I am doing something else.

[orangearrow]

Yeah - we had veggie bagels for dinner. Which sounds sooo simple. Until you're chopping and cutting and chopping more vegetables. And more vegetables. And more....

 

Argh!!

 

I have eating issues - and can usually only eat a few bites and I'm full. For an hour - then I need to nibble something else small.

 

So, it's really annoying sometimes to spend over an hour making dinner for the family and only be able to eat a few bites while it's hot and ready. :glare:

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Ok, I do almost everything from scratch, so I put more than 60 mins, but that includes clean up as well. It does take longer when my 8 y/o dd does it (she likes to do it so I tell her how and what to do)

 

 

Now, tomorrow my 12 year old told me she will be making us curry chicken so technically tomorrow I can say 0 mins!!!! :D

[Amber in AUS]

I allow 30 - 45mins cooking time including prep for an average meal. If we are having a roast or something special then the actual cooking time can be 2 hours or so but i am not hands on in the kitchen for that time infact roasting probably is one of the quickest times, 10 mins to get everything in the oven, come back in an hour and turn, come back in an hour and dish up :D

[ElizabethB]

I didn't vote.

 

It used to take around 30 minutes. Now it takes over 60--I have to cook separate allergy food for me, it's a pain. My food is expensive and except of the millet flour pancakes which my son eats, no one likes it anyway, so I end up cooking 2 separate meals for lunch and dinner. I could have leftovers for dinner, but it all tastes even worse reheated, so I cook twice.

 

During summer when my husband BBQs, I get more of a break, I also like to save extra chicken to use later in other meals, that's a bonus time saver--it saves time on 2 or 3 meals.

[Tap]

We run the gamut here too. Tonight was frozen fish, baked potatoes and salad. Nothing that really took much time, but it still took 30+ minutes to cook it. I just wasn't in the kitchen the whole time.

 

Other meals, require me to stand at the stove the whole time. They may take the same amount of time to cook, but the amount of effort is the same.

[Mad Jenny Flint]

I make most dinners from scratch, and I don't consider frozen or canned ingredients to be convenience foods any more than I consider a package of meat from the grocer to be such, so gauge my response by that.

 

Yesterday I made a gallon of pancake mix, three loaves of wheat bread, and the pizza dough for Friday evening. We had leftover Italian vegetable stew with some of the homemade bread for dinner.

 

I nearly always cook from the cookbook Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely. I don't spice everything the way she does- she uses a lot of thyme and my family thinks thyme tastes a little too earthy. But that cookbook is a life saver for me, particularly on school days.

[DarlaS]

46 minutes to an hour is the year-round average most nights here from start to finish. I don't make everything from scratch, but I don't rush. Cooking dinner has somehow turned into a time to relax. I start earlier than needed, and take my time.

 

In the summer, I grill 4-5 days a week, so it goes a little quicker those days. I tend to make up the time though prepping salads or making a nice lunch--things I don't always do in the winter during busier school days.

[SquirrellyMama]

My time depends on the night. I picked 16-30 minutes because that is probably a good average. I make most things from scratch but I make more than I need so it doesn't take long to reheat from the freezer. I also don't count baking time or crock pot time because I'm not actually doing anything at that point.

[tricia]

However long it takes to open up the lid to the pizza box!:lol:

 

Don't I wish. We are very simple around here. We eat lots of potatoes, eggs, homemade bread, fruit and salad, beans, rice, etc. So dinner is pretty quick even with a family as large as mine. Of course maybe I'm deceived a little bit on the time since I have lots of helpers.

[MamaT]

I try to plan ahead on roasting meat so I can get it started in the crockpot sometime during the morning or have time for spaghetti sauce to simmer. Then it's less than 30 min start to having a meal ready to eat.

 

This is what I do. I try to get a head-start on dinner while I'm washing up lunch dishes. It usually only takes me about 15-30 minutes right before dinner to finish.

 

I cook about 95% from scractch (as in, I don't make my own pasta!)

[hsmom2girls]

I really need to plan ahead for meals. But since I am not that type of person at this time I sometimes use a "nuwave oven" to cook my meats because it does it much quicker than cooking it in a traditional oven.

 

I just sent the timer for 1/2 the cook time. Come back when the timer goes off. Turn the meat over and set it to finish cooking. 15 minutes before the meat is done I put on my veggies and cook them.

 

Last night I cooked a whole chicken in it. 1 hour on each side and it was done. Although it took 2 hours to cook the chicken I didn't have to stand over the stove. I was able to surf the net, watch tv, etc. My prep time therefore was only about 30 to 1 hour (for the veggies and turning over the meat).

 

It's the best investment I have made. But now if I can only remember to take out the meat the day before so it can defrost as I don't like the taste as much if I put it in the oven frozen. Beside I want to wash my meats off before I cook them.

 

I also bought a nice steamer off HSN. I was surprised how good steam chicken and red potatoes taste. Hubby needs to watch his cholestrol so I started getting things like the new wave oven and the steam so I could cook things fast and without oils.

[ubermomto5]

it is so interesting to hear everyone's response. i am impressed with how many of you enjoy cooking dinner. i don't. i love crockpot meals, meat that i've prepared and frozen so it is quick to add to something else. we also eat 95% from scratch (frozen veg and dry pasta for sure). a few nights a week we have a 'good dinner' that can take up to an hour. lasagna with all the good sides, or potato soup and cornbread. 2 or 3 nights a week, we have the quickies. whole wheat pancakes and smoothies, 'toasted sandwiches' like subway, and leftovers too. mostly these nights are ballet nights, soccer or date night. when your kids start getting older, there's not a lot of time to sit down together, but we do at least 5 nights a week.

[JoyfulMama]

46 minutes to an hour is the year-round average most nights here from start to finish. I don't make everything from scratch, but I don't rush. Cooking dinner has somehow turned into a time to relax. I start earlier than needed, and take my time.

 

 

:iagree:I amswered 60+ minutes, but if I count JUST cooking time it's less. Round about 3:30 or 4:00 I start cleaning up from the day, take a walk down to the barn freezer to get anything I need from there, and stop and get the mail on the way back. Then I leisurely get things started, and clean up along the way. Once things are all cooking I check my email, sweep the floor, and such things until the kids come to set the table. I really enjoy this time of day, as most often the kids are kicked outside, and it is nice and peaceful. Other times dinner is cooking away in the oven and I am outside weeding a garden. So actual time when I am working isn't really 60+, but I start my dinner routine that early.

Edited May 25, 2010 by JoyfulMama

[Orthodox6]

Anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. The longer time periods usually include oven time, should a meal require it. Typical dinner meal is "from scratch" entree, side/salad, and dessert.

[mcconnellboys]

Most things I prepare I count as about 30 minutes. Sometimes it's closer to 45, however. I also clean up in the kitchen while I'm monitoring the cooking of food. Even if I'm cooking the entire meal in the crockpot, it generally takes at least about 20 minutes to gather all the ingredients that are going into the pot, chop and add, etc.