Weekend food preparation in the United States takes more time per participant on weekend days and holidays than on weekdays, even though fewer people report doing it. In 2025, people age 15 and over averaged 0.74 hours of food preparation and cleanup on weekend days and holidays, compared with 0.70 hours on weekdays. The figures below put that pattern alongside cooking, kitchen cleanup, grocery shopping, planning, and weekly home-food routines.
Contents
- Weekend food-preparation time
- Cooking and kitchen cleanup
- Grocery shopping and food acquisition
- Differences by sex
- Planning and household organization
- How weekend preparation fits the week
Weekend food-preparation time
The Bureau of Labor Statistics measured both average time for the whole population and time among people who participated. That distinction matters: a population average includes people who did not report the activity, while a participant average describes the time commitment on days when the activity occurred.
For U.S. people age 15 and over, food preparation and cleanup averaged 0.74 hours on weekend days and holidays in 2025 annual averages. The weekday average was 0.70 hours. Among participants, the weekend figure rose to 1.18 hours, compared with 1.06 hours on weekdays. Participation moved in the other direction: 62.9% reported food preparation and cleanup on weekend days and holidays, versus 66.2% on weekdays. These are annual average daily measures, not a forecast of a particular weekend. BLS Table A-2 reports the figures.
Food and drink preparation alone followed the same pattern. The population average was 0.59 hours on weekend days and holidays and 0.55 hours on weekdays. Among participants, the activity averaged 1.00 hour on weekends and 0.87 hours on weekdays. Participation was 58.9% on weekend days and holidays, compared with 63.0% on weekdays. In other words, the typical participating person spent longer preparing food on the weekend, while the share of people preparing food was lower.
Eating and drinking also occupied more time on weekends: 1.33 hours per day for people age 15 and over, compared with 1.16 hours on weekdays. That measure covers eating and drinking time rather than preparation time, but it helps describe why weekend food routines may feel less compressed.
| BLS measure, U.S. age 15+ | Weekend day or holiday | Weekday |
|---|---|---|
| Food preparation and cleanup, all people | 0.74 hours | 0.70 hours |
| Food preparation and cleanup, participants | 1.18 hours | 1.06 hours |
| Food and drink preparation, all people | 0.59 hours | 0.55 hours |
| Food and drink preparation, participants | 1.00 hour | 0.87 hours |
| Food preparation and cleanup participation | 62.9% | 66.2% |
| Food and drink preparation participation | 58.9% | 63.0% |
Cooking and kitchen cleanup
Preparation is only one part of the weekend kitchen routine. Kitchen and food cleanup averaged 0.15 hours for U.S. people age 15 and over on both weekdays and weekend days or holidays in 2025. The participant averages were different: 0.63 hours on weekend days and holidays versus 0.57 hours on weekdays. Participation was 23.0% on weekend days and holidays, compared with 25.9% on weekdays.
This combination suggests two separate patterns in the BLS data. The average time across everyone was unchanged at 0.15 hours, but people who did kitchen and food cleanup spent more time on a weekend day. The lower weekend participation rate means the longer participant sessions did not raise the all-person average above the weekday figure. These statements describe the reported annual averages; they do not identify why an individual household cleaned up more or less.
Men’s weekend measures also show a longer participant session. Men age 15 and over averaged 0.60 hours of food preparation and cleanup on weekend days and holidays, compared with 0.47 hours on weekdays. Among participating men, the averages were 1.05 hours and 0.80 hours, respectively. Participation was 57.0% on weekend days and holidays and 58.3% on weekdays.
For food and drink preparation, men averaged 0.50 hours on weekend days and holidays and 0.39 hours on weekdays. Participating men averaged 0.93 hours on weekends and 0.70 hours on weekdays. Participation was 53.3% on weekend days and holidays, compared with 56.0% on weekdays. Men averaged 0.10 hours of kitchen and food cleanup on weekends and 0.07 hours on weekdays; participating men averaged 0.62 and 0.47 hours, while participation was 16.5% and 15.9%.
Men also averaged 1.34 hours eating and drinking on weekend days and holidays, compared with 1.20 hours on weekdays. Together, these measures show more time per participating man for preparation and cleanup on weekend days, alongside longer eating and drinking time.
Grocery shopping and food acquisition
Weekend preparation often begins before anyone turns on the stove. Grocery shopping averaged 0.15 hours for U.S. people age 15 and over on weekend days and holidays in 2025, compared with 0.10 hours on weekdays. The activity was reported by 17.2% on weekend days and holidays and 14.1% on weekdays. Among people who grocery-shopped, the activity averaged 0.89 hours on weekends and 0.72 hours on weekdays.
The wider consumer-goods category was also higher on weekends. People averaged 0.41 hours on consumer-goods purchases on weekend days and holidays, versus 0.26 hours on weekdays. Participation was 38.7% on weekends and 33.1% on weekdays. These figures include consumer-goods purchases broadly, so they should not be treated as grocery-only measures.
Travel connected with purchasing goods and services averaged 0.28 hours per weekend day or holiday, compared with 0.26 hours on weekdays. Among people who made that trip, the average was 0.74 hours on weekends and 0.69 hours on weekdays. The travel measure is broader than grocery shopping and includes trips related to purchasing goods and services.
The 2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey provides a separate weekly frequency measure: 69% of Americans reported buying groceries in person at least once a week. This survey result is not directly comparable with a BLS average day because it measures reported weekly behavior rather than time spent on a particular day. IFIC’s 2025 report is the source for that survey measure.
Differences by sex
Women’s 2025 BLS measures show a different weekend-versus-weekday profile from men’s. Women age 15 and over averaged 0.87 hours of food preparation and cleanup on weekend days and holidays, compared with 0.92 hours on weekdays. Among participating women, the averages were 1.27 hours on weekends and 1.25 hours on weekdays. Participation was 68.6% on weekend days and holidays and 73.7% on weekdays.
For food and drink preparation, women averaged 0.68 hours on weekend days and holidays and 0.69 hours on weekdays. Among participating women, the weekend average was 1.06 hours, compared with 1.00 hour on weekdays. Participation was 64.3% on weekends and 69.7% on weekdays. Kitchen and food cleanup averaged 0.19 hours on weekends and 0.22 hours on weekdays; participating women averaged 0.64 and 0.61 hours, with participation at 29.1% and 35.4%.
Grocery shopping was slightly more common in the weekend-day measure for women: 17.8% reported it on weekend days and holidays versus 17.0% on weekdays. Women averaged 0.17 hours of grocery shopping on weekends and 0.12 hours on weekdays. Among participating women, the activity averaged 0.94 hours on weekends and 0.73 hours on weekdays.
The sex-specific measures are averages for people age 15 and over and do not describe every household’s division of labor. They also use 2025 annual averages, so they should not be read as a claim about a specific family or a specific weekend.
Planning and household organization
Meal preparation can include planning, list-making, scheduling, and other organizational work that does not appear as cooking time. BLS recorded household and personal organization and planning separately. U.S. people age 15 and over averaged 0.15 hours on weekend days and holidays in 2025, compared with 0.13 hours on weekdays. Participation was 15.7% on weekend days and holidays and 15.2% on weekdays. Among participants, the activity averaged 0.96 hours on weekends and 0.85 hours on weekdays.
For women, household and personal organization and planning averaged 0.17 hours on weekend days and holidays and 0.18 hours on weekdays. Participation was 18.4% on weekends and 19.1% on weekdays. Among participating women, the averages were 0.93 hours on weekend days and holidays and 0.96 hours on weekdays.
Older BLS figures add household context but are not weekend-specific. Among married mothers with a household child under 18 who were employed full time, 77.5% did food preparation and cleanup on an average day in the combined 2015–2019 period, compared with 49.1% of married fathers employed full time. The corresponding average times were 0.83 hours for the mothers and 0.38 hours for the fathers. Among those not employed, 91.6% of married mothers and 60.6% of married fathers did food preparation and cleanup on an average day. BLS Table A-6 reports these 2015–2019 measures. They are legacy figures and are not presented as independently rechecked here.
How weekend preparation fits the week
The 2025 IFIC survey places weekend preparation inside a broader weekly food pattern. Eighty-seven percent of Americans reported cooking at home at least once a week. At the same time, 35% reported going out to eat at least once a week and 30% reported ordering takeout at least once a week. These categories can overlap because the survey reports separate weekly behaviors, not mutually exclusive groups.
Online grocery shopping was reported by 18% of Americans at least weekly in 2025. The same IFIC survey reported 13% in 2019, 25% in 2022, and 23% in 2023. Those are separate survey waves rather than a continuous daily time series, so the figures show reported levels in the named years and should not be used to infer a specific trend cause.
A USDA Economic Research Service analysis of U.S. time-use data from 2003–2021 found an average of 36 minutes spent on meal preparation and cleanup on weekends. The same analysis found 126 minutes on Thanksgiving, compared with 36 minutes on weekends. Thanksgiving is a special holiday comparison, not a forecast for ordinary weekend behavior. USDA ERS identifies the 2003–2021 survey period and the comparison.
Taken together, the measures describe weekend preparation as a mix of longer sessions among participants, more time around eating, measurable grocery activity, and planning that is reported by a smaller share of people than cooking itself. The appropriate comparison depends on the measure: BLS reports average daily time and participation, while IFIC reports weekly survey behavior and USDA ERS summarizes a longer historical time-use period.