From the humble baked potato to spicy steamed fish, the microwave oven is having a resurgence as households turn to the ping dinner to help save money on energy bills.
Almost one main meal a week is now cooked primarily with a microwave in the UK, according to the market research firm Kantar, which found usage rose 8% compared with last year.
Cheaper, easier meals – from warming canned soup, pasta or frozen vegetables to “nuking” a ready meal – are replacing baking or roasting using an oven or dialling up a takeaway, analysts at Kantar say. It estimates 100m more meals are now cooked using a microwave compared with in 2019.
First invented in 1945 and made widely available in the 1970s, the microwave had fallen out of fashion until recently when it was given a new spin by a mix of TikTok experimenters and households looking to cut bills.
Now even Vogue has declared the microwave is having a moment, as chefs embrace the possibilities of the quick fix while fears rise about the potential health hazards of gas hobs.
The retailer John Lewis said its sales of microwaves had risen 13% year on year. Karen Sime, an electrical buyer for the department store chain, said: “The cost of living crisis has helped to change attitudes towards these fantastic, time- and energy-saving kitchen gadgets.”
Its sister supermarket chain, Waitrose, said internet searches for how to cook eggs or brownies in the microwave were up by 52% and 50% respectively, while more than a fifth more people were seeking to learn how to make “mug cake” in the microwave.
The US engineer Percy Spencer is credited with inventing the microwave oven from radar technology after realising the device he was standing next to was melting his chocolate bar. The first commercially available Radarange models weighed more than 300kg (660lb).
Britons bought 5.4% more microwaves in the first three months of this year than in the same period a year ago, according to the market analysts GfK, quite a feat given that most homes already have one. It is part of a shift to more energy-saving cooking led by the air fryer, sales of which tripled in January to March, compared with the same period in 2022, to more than 1m.
Nathan Ward, the business unit director at Kantar, said: “With household budgets being squeezed, people are looking to save however they can, including through cooking. Energy prices have been rising quickly and it seems many have turned to microwaves as a cheaper alternative to hobs or ovens.
“In particular, we’re seeing a growth in people microwaving their veg, as they look to consume their five a day on a budget. There’s also been an increase in people opting to eat cheaper, easier meals such as soups and canned pasta, saving money by heating them in the microwave rather than on the hob.”
It is not all about a cheap lunch and ready meals. The number of chilled ready meals sold was down almost 3% last year, according to data from the Grocer magazine in partnership with analysts at Nielsen IQ, while frozen and packaged meal sales were virtually flat.
Jen Creevy, the director of the food and drink division at the trend agency WGSN, said: “Michelin-starred chefs like David Chang have called out the ease of microwave cooking, offering tips and recipes and pointing out that it’s a great vehicle to seal in nutrients. Microwaves are most popular for heating something up quickly but can also be used, for example, to steam fish or vegetables more quickly than the oven.”
The chef behind New York City’s Momofuku chain, Chang has co-written a cookery book in praise of the appliance. Cooking at Home: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Recipes (And Love My Microwave): A Cookbook includes recipes for steamed rice made with frozen spinach and salmon, all cooked in the microwave.
Nigella Lawson, who was teased relentlessly for her playful pronunciation of microwave, has said using one “is like being rewarded for impatience”. She recommends a speedy syrup sponge.
Rick Stein has said he likes to cook green vegetables such as broccoli and kale in a mug in the microwave with chopped garlic and olive oil.
Creevy said brands and retailers were responding to demand for healthier microwave meals by using more “real food ingredients”, even overhauling humble instant pot meals, such as PotNoodle.
She said brands such as Huel were creating vegan, plant-based instant meals such as yellow coconut curry or cajun pasta. “This behaviour will continue as products get overhauled and choices rise.”
