24-07-2025
Teens branded 'Gen Air Fryer' as they can't boil egg or mash potatoes
Teenagers across the UK have no idea how to boil an egg or mash potatoes - and have been branded 'Gen Air-Fryer." Nearly 4 in 5 parents say they're concerned about their children's lack of cooking skills, with half of 16–18-year-olds admitting they've never used basic kitchen tools such as a rolling pin, potato masher, or even a whisk.
Instead of preparing meals from scratch, teens are turning to quick fixes like instant noodles, takeaways, microwave meals, and air fryer dishes. Two-thirds of parents say they still do all the cooking for their teens, with 73% feeling they had better kitchen skills at the same age.
Over half of teens say they want to improve their kitchen confidence, and nearly 4 in 5 regularly consume food content on social media. In fact, a third have hundreds of recipe videos saved on their 'For You' pages.
The research also revealed the skills teens want to learn in the kitchen, include:
Making pizza dough (45%)
Making fried chicken (31%)
Making Yorkshire puddings from scratch (30%)
Making homemade smash burgers (28%)
Cooking a perfect, medium-rare steak (21%)
Making homemade sushi (19%)
Properly carving a chicken (19%)
To help bridge the skills gap and prepare young adults for culinary independence, HelloFresh has launched 'HelloFresh Skills' - a new series of guided recipes designed to build confidence in the kitchen. Featuring six core cooking categories - Batter, Baking, Dough, Protein, Potato, and Sauce - each recipe is rated by difficulty and designed to help families cook, learn, and eat together.
Home cook Vogue Williams hosted a live cooking demo of the new Skills recipe range at The Great British Food Festival, showing her support for the campaign and encouraging families to get hands-on in the kitchen.
Vogue said, 'When I left home for uni, I had a limited selection of meals I'd cook for myself and didn't experiment much in the kitchen. Since then, I've built up my repertoire of go-to recipes I cook for the family, like smashed potatoes and pesto pasta, but I still think it's so important to keep learning and trying new things. That's why I'm working with HelloFresh on the launch of their new Skills recipes which have been designed to help families cook, learn and eat together, and to give people the confidence to try recipes and techniques they wouldn't ordinarily attempt. The whole family has benefitted from me sharpening my skills in the kitchen – I've made all sorts of delicious meals, from chocolate fondant to homemade sushi. Involving the kids in the prep work is a fun way to spend time together too.'
