We firmly believe homemade food tastes better, whether it’s a warming bowl of chicken soup, a gooey batch of brownies or fresh-from-the-oven sourdough. We took this question to our audience on social media, asking them for the one thing that they always make from scratch, rather than buy.
Most people agree that homemade simply tastes better, often referencing ultra-processed foods as a reason to cut back on shop-bought varieties. Below we’ve gathered the list of foods which home-cooks swear by cooking at home:
1. Sauces and condiments
Quick and easy sauces topped the list (25.5%), with mayonnaise the most mentioned, followed by pesto, tomato sauce and gravy.
- “Cheese sauce, pasta sauce, most sauces actually. In fact, pretty much everything, just so I know it’s so much better, and I know what’s in it!” – Kathleen Mary.
- “White sauce/cheese sauce. The jars are not the same at all!” – Rebecca Straney.
- “Mayonnaise & peanut butter. Sooo easy, seems silly to buy them” – Julie Dale.
Make our top-rated sauce recipes:
2. Fresh pasta
Interestingly, fresh pasta (11.3%) was the second most popular choice, with many saying the texture and flavour are far superior to shop-bought. Ravioli, tagliatelle and homemade lasagne sheets were among the most frequently mentioned favourites:
- “Pasta 🍝 x” – Sophie Baber.
- “Pasta … just about any kind of…” – Jan Whitmarsh.
- “Shepherds pie and lasagna” – Babs Trypuc.
Try our pasta recipes here:
3. Yorkshire puddings
A Sunday lunch staple, the humble Yorkshire pudding (11.0%) was also a firm favourite, with home cooks agreeing homemade versions are crispier, lighter and much tastier than ready-made.
- “Yorkshire puddings they taste so much better 🤗” – Sue Ranson.
- “Gluten free Yorkshire puddings and gluten free pastry” – Karen Hope.
Make one of our tried-and-tested Yorkshire pudding recipes:
4. Cakes
It’s no surprise to see that cakes (9.5%) completed the top four, with the classic Victoria sponge, chocolate cake and lemon drizzle all among the favourites, praised for their freshness and flavour.
- “Always make from scratch especially cake” – Julie Roberts.
- “Lemon cheesecake” – Josephine Stokes.
- “Almost everything, but love baking cakes and cookies” – Sheila Baker.
- “Victoria sponge cake and trifles” – Sharron Machin.
Check out our most popular cakes:
5. Pastry and pies
Making your own pastry is often considered more hassle than it’s worth – taking both time and skill – however our audience believes the pay-off is worth it. They also believe you can’t rival a homemade pie, spanning sweet and savoury varieties.
- “Bread, cake, sauces, wraps, pastry … If you’ve made it at home and got the hang of it you can’t find anything like it in the shops 😬” – Louise Garrett.
- “Pie. Any sort of pie” – Sue Doyle.
- “Lemon Meringue pie” – Suzie Warren.
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