Nearly half (47%) of 18-to-24-year-olds say they can only cook one or two meals from memory, while one in five Brits (22%) admit they can manage just two dishes or fewer without relying on a recipe. Alarmingly, 6% say they cannot cook a single meal without step-by-step instructions.

The findings point to a wider erosion of basic cooking know-how across the UK. Just over six in 10 feel confident boiling an egg (61%) or baking a jacket potato (63%), suggesting that even simple skills that older generations can easily navigate, are no longer guaranteed.

Yet this is not a nation that has given up on cooking altogether. In fact, 86% of Brits still see cooking from scratch as an essential life skill highlighting a clear disconnect between aspiration and ability. This nods to the increasing importance of reducing processed foods within every day diets.

“It seems that a lack of confidence and practical guidance are hampering people’s abilities to achieve success in the kitchen,” says Sebastian Goff, Brand Marketing Lead for home appliances at Samsung UK. “For many younger Brits, the growing confidence gap around preparing meals from scratch is increasingly becoming a source of stress rather than enjoyment. A worrying shift for something so central to everyday life.”

Almost two in five (39%) say preparing meals from raw ingredients feels like “too much hassle”, while 38% find cooking so stressful that they actively avoid it. The knock-on effect extends beyond the kitchen, with 17% admitting they shy away from cooking for others because they don’t feel capable enough.

Sebastian adds: “The challenge isn’t limited to what people cook but how they use the kitchen in general. Only half (50%) of Brits say they feel confident using the full range of functions on their oven, so many are missing out on features specifically designed to make cooking easier.

“This is where technology has the potential to close the growing generational cooking skills gap. Smart appliances such as our Samsung ovens can guide users, reduce guesswork and even set the correct temperature according to the dish. It can help turn everyday cooking back into a positive experience so you can enjoy healthy, home cooked meals.”

Helping rebuild cooking confidence at home

To help close the cooking confidence gap, Samsung shares three simple ways technology can support people in the kitchen.

1. Start small:
   Kitchen confidence grows through repetition. Mastering a few everyday dishes using reliable settings dedicated to simple dishes helps turn cooking into a habit. Consistent results build confidence and make it easier to take on bigger cooking challenges over time.

2. Take the pressure out of perfection:
   Cooking doesn’t need to be flawless to be successful. There are plenty of recipe videos, apps and appliance settings that can offer support and help people feel more relaxed in the kitchen. If it doesn’t work first time that’s ok! This makes cooking less stressful and far more enjoyable.

3. Let your kitchen do the thinking:
   Some modern ovens, cooktops and fridges are designed to take the guesswork out of meal planning and cooking. Features like automatic programmes, temperature sensors, burn detection and guided cooking modes take the uncertainty out of timings and settings. For example, AI Pro Cooking^[1] features in some Samsung ovens uses AI to suggest optimal cooking settings and can even alert you on your phone if your food is about to burn.

[1] Requires SmartThings App available on Android and iOS devices. An internet connection is required.

Jamie’s life-long mission to get more people cooking, and his passions for making home life simpler with new technologies have inspired the new recipes. With many people lacking time, confidence and knowledge in the kitchen, mealtimes can sometimes feel like a chore. Samsung has partnered with Jamie to create a range of recipes that make cooking joyful.

Jamie designed the new recipes with Samsung’s AI technology in mind, and how it can help us live smarter; from ovens that cook two dishes at two different temperatures at once, to refrigerators that suggest recipes based on the ingredients you already have at home.

New exclusive recipes from Jamie Oliver x Samsung 

The new recipes include classic favourites, such as a Whole Roast Chicken Tray Bake and Salmon Gravadlax, as well as an Irresistible Focaccia bread, and sweet Fruit Tarte Tatin. Each recipe has been designed to make cooking quality dishes easy for busy people who don’t have time to meal plan but want to home cook nutritious meals for family and friends.

“As a chef, I’ve always had the luxury of time to cook, and I love it. But we’re cooking less and less and I’m always looking for ways to help people fall in love with their kitchens” comments Jamie Oliver.

“If there’s something that’s going to make your home life simpler, I want to know about it. Whether that’s letting you know what ingredients you already have when you’re out shopping and giving you recipes to use them up, or an oven with AI that can sense the food you’re cooking and let you know if it’s burning. It’s exciting to think people can fall in love with their kitchen again, and cook quality meals while also getting more time with the family.”

Simple cooking with Bespoke AI

“Cooking can be one of the most fun experiences in the home, but often it’s done in a rush to get a meal on the family table” comments Benjamin Braun, Chief Marketing Officer, Samsung Europe. “The AI in our smart appliances brings the fun back to cooking, and makes it less time consuming so you can spend more time with the family. Everything, from watching your dish cook on SmartThings from the comfort of your sofa, to sending a recipe direct from the fridge to the oven and set the temperature automatically, is possible with Bespoke AI.”

Organising and cooking multiple dishes at the same time, at different temperatures, and making sure they don’t burn, are challenges when preparing meals for the family.

When you’re ready to cook Jamie’s dishes, Samsung’s Bespoke AI ovens and SmartThings Cooking^[1] make the kitchen experience more joyful. The SmartThings app pre-heats ovens to the perfect temperature according to Jamie’s recipe details, as the AI-powered oven knows the right temperature to set.

Once you’re cooking, you can remotely view the dish as it cooks on the AI Pro Cooking^[2] View Inside internal cameras, and adjust the oven on your smartphone as needed with SmartThings Cooking. AI Pro Cooking also monitors the food to stop it being overcooked, all in line with Jamie’s recipes.

Samsung’s Dual Cook ovens^[3] make whipping up two dishes at the same time simple – for instance Jamie’s Salmon Gravadlax and Fruit Tarte Tatin, with upper and lower cooking zones that work separately, at the same time, at different temperatures and settings. So you can cook both dishes in one oven together, and not end up with a suspiciously fishy smelling dessert.

Making the most of your ingredients with Bespoke AI

Jamie’s new recipes, combined with Samsung’s Bespoke AI refrigerators, can help with common challenges like meal planning, shopping for ingredients, and keeping track of food freshness.

AI Vision Inside technology uses a camera^[4] to identify up to 37 different fresh food items^[5], such as tomatoes, onions, peppers, lettuce, eggs, and more, when they are put in the fridge. It then creates a food list of items, which you can see at any time on the SmartThings app^[6] or the refrigerator’s built-in screen. So during the weekly food shop, you can see both the ingredients you have, and what you need.

The SmartThings Food app can also suggest the best recipes, including the new Jamie-created recipe range, based on the ingredients already in the refrigerator – making it easy to plan meals and make use of the food items you have to hand.

Reducing food waste

Food waste is a significant issue across Europe, and keeping track fresh expiration dates isn’t easy. Each person in the European Union generates an average of 129 kilograms of food waste according to estimates from Eurostat^[7]. People are also keen to reduce food waste, with almost most two-thirds (64%)^[8] of consumers from across Europe agreeing they’d like to take measures to “reduce food waste” when asked.

The SmartThings Food^[9] app tracks use by dates and helps reduce food waste by suggesting recipes that use ingredients close to expiring, such as using leftover vegetables for extra taste and a pop of colour in Jamie’s Whole Chicken Tray Bake and Irresistible Focaccia bread.

Recipes available on the SmartThings Food app

The first three of the exclusive new recipes from Jamie Oliver are available now on SmartThings app, in the Food section, with three more to follow later this year. The SmartThings app can be downloaded for Play Store or App Store for free. For more information on the SmartThings app visit Samsung.com/SmartThings.

The recipes can also be viewed directly on Samsung’s Bespoke AI refrigerator models that feature a 9 inch AI Home display or Family Hub display, and on JamieOliver.com.

For more information on the Samsung Bespoke range please visit here.

[1]Requires a wireless network, a Samsung account and the Samsung SmartThings App. The Samsung SmartThings App supports Android OS 8.0 (Oreo) or later, which is optimised for Samsung smartphones. This App also supports iOS 13 or later for iPhone models. The SmartThings App is available in the App Store and Play Store.

[2]Available on certain models where model code begins NV7B79*9***; NV7B79*7***; NV7B6**9*** or NV7B6**7***. Requires SmartThings. A dish should be placed in the center of the oven to achieve the best recognition. The accuracy of the recognition may vary depending on the actual usage conditions, such as the type of ingredients, cleanliness of the cavity and the brightness of the room light. For more detailed information, please refer to the user guide enclosed with the package.

[3]Requires the Dual Cook Divider tray to be inserted. Insert the divider in level 3 to separate the cooking chamber in two zones. The oven senses the divider to initialise Dual Cooking. Some cooking functions where the whole cavity is required are not available with Dual Cooking. Maximum temperature difference is 80℃

[4]A red light will turn on when camera is working. The user’s appearance can be captured, but surroundings other than the food item will be automatically blurred.

[5]As of March 2025, AI Vision Inside can recognize 37 food items like fresh fruits and veggies. If the food is not recognizable, it may be listed as an unknown item. AI Vision Inside cannot identify or list any food items in the fridge door bins or freezer. It recognizes food items based on deep learning models, which may be updated periodically to improve accuracy.

[6]The user may need to manually check and adjust the list to ensure its accuracy.

[7]Source: Eurostat, Food waste in kg per capita, EU27, 2021 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/env_wasfw/default/table?lang=en

[8]Source: Global Web Index data, percentage of people in 22 European countries who agree when asked “Which of the following do you think are the most effective measure(s) people can take to reduce their impact on the environment?”

[9]Available on Android and iOS devices. A Wi-Fi connection and a Samsung account are required.