The cost of cooking crisis: Grocery bill for putting a family meal together rises by up to 27% in just a year with family favourites like spaghetti bolognese and a Sunday roast chicken some of the worst hit

• A standard spaghetti bolognese recipe went up by some 20 per cent to £6.63
• The prices for an average Sunday roast chicken rose by an average of 13 per cent

Popular family meals such as pasta bake and homemade spaghetti bolognese have surged in price by up to 27 per cent in a year.

At the same time, many key ingredients used by home cooks have doubled in price in a year, according to analysis by Which?

The consumer champion examined the prices of almost 26,000 food and drink products for its inflation tracker at eight major supermarkets.

It looked at the price of the ingredients needed for some everyday favourites for a family of four, including a three-ingredient pasta bake, a spaghetti bolognese, a fish finger supper and a Sunday roast chicken.

The quick pasta, using jars of sauce, penne pasta and cheddar cheese, came in at £3.39 (85p per portion) for the three months to the end of May, up by 27 per cent on the same period 12 months earlier.

Which? found a standard spaghetti bolognese recipe went up by an average of 20 per cent to £6.63, equivalent to £1.65 per portion (file image)

A fish finger supper with chips and beans went up 24 per cent to £3.79 (95p per portion). This was mainly driven by baked beans which went up by an average of 36 per cent. Frozen chips have risen by an average of 23 per cent.

Which? looked at a standard spaghetti bolognese recipe, which included beef mince, onion, carrots, stock, garlic, chopped tomatoes and dried spaghetti, as well as olive oil.

It went up by an average of 20 per cent to £6.63, equivalent to £1.65 per portion.

Prices for a Sunday lunch of roast chicken, potatoes, peas, broccoli, carrots and gravy as well as vegetable oil were examined. These found an average rise of 13 per cent taking it up to £7.28 (£1.82 per portion). Sue Davis of Which? claimed the ‘pleasure of mealtimes with loved ones’ had been turned into ‘a nightmare for the millions that are struggling to afford food’.

Popular family meals such as pasta bake and homemade spaghetti bolognese have surged in price by up to 27 per cent in a year (file image)

She added: ‘Supermarkets must put customers first by stocking budget lines in all of their stores, including convenience stores, to ensure easy access to basic, affordable food ranges as well as provide transparent pricing so people can easily work out which products offer the best value.’

Supermarkets insisted prices had been driven up by global factors and high energy prices. They said they had announced price cuts and price locks to help shoppers.

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