By Henry Firth and Ian Theasby, Co Founders of BOSH!.
Home cooking is changing fast. Rising food costs, new work patterns, and a growing focus on long-term health are transforming the way people shop, prepare food, and think about their meals. Across the country, people are cooking with more intention, more creativity, and a clearer sense of what makes them feel good. Here are five key trends reshaping the future of home cooking, along with simple ways to bring them into your own routine.
1. Plant-Protein-Forward Eating
More home cooks are centring meals around how much plant-based protein they eat. Interest in energy, strength, and healthy ageing is driving people to design meals that intentionally include generous amounts of beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, chickpeas, peas, and edamame.
How to apply it:
- Add a meaningful portion of plant protein to every meal.
- Boost everyday dishes with lentils in pasta sauces, chickpeas in salads, or blended beans in soups.
- Keep two or three high-protein plant recipes on repeat to make consistency easy.
2. Convenience Without Compromise
Convenience has evolved. People still want speed, but they want freshness and nutrition too. Instead of relying on ready meals, home cooks are blending scratch cooking with clever shortcuts that make good food quicker to prepare.
How to apply it:
- Use frozen vegetables, pre-chopped ingredients, and ready-cooked grains to cut prep time.
- Batch-cook versatile components like sauces or roasted vegetables.
- Keep reliable spice blends and pastes on hand to lift simple meals.
3. The Rise of the “More Plants” Lifestyle
We’re seeing a shift from a solely plant-based diet as a niche choice to a more-plants lifestyle becoming mainstream. People want to eat more plants for health, sustainability, and cost reasons, but they’re doing it flexibly and without strict labels.
How to apply it:
- Add extra vegetables, beans, herbs, nuts, and whole grains to dishes you already make.
- Aim for a wide variety of plants each week to support gut health.
- Treat vegetables with care, roasting and seasoning them so they become the centre of the plate.
4. Creative Cooking and Culinary Exploration
People are becoming more adventurous at home. Whether inspired by social media, travel, or curiosity, many are cooking outside their usual comfort zones and experimenting with new cuisines, flavours, and techniques.
How to apply it:
- Choose one evening a week to try something new.
- Use accessible ingredients to recreate flavours from global cuisines.
- Build a small “creative pantry” filled with spices, condiments, and flavour boosters.
5. Cooking for Healthspan
Food is increasingly seen as a long-term wellbeing tool. Instead of cooking purely for convenience, people are choosing ingredients and techniques that support energy, strength, immunity, and mood.
How to apply it:
- Base meals on whole, minimally processed ingredients.
- Plan weekly menus that balance comfort with nourishment.
- Prep tomorrow’s lunch while cooking dinner to make healthy choices easier.
About the Experts
Henry Firth and Ian Theasby are the co-founders of BOSH! – a plant rich food company that helps millions of people eat more plants through products in supermarkets, social media content and cookbooks.
