It’s no wonder that takeaway foods like fish and chips, pizzas and burgers make you gain weight.
But cooking the same meal at home could save you hundreds of calories.
Making your own fish and chips could save you over 500 calories and making your own kebab over 700 calories. Making burgers at home could also help you cut 380 calories.
To put this into context, the average woman is recommended to consume 2,000 a day to maintain a healthy weight and a third of the 2,500 recommended for a typical man, so these savings could really make a difference.
Here, MailOnline compares the calories in online fast food recipes with those in restaurants and takeaways for the same foods.
Making your own fish and chips could save you over 500 calories and making your own kebab could save you over 700 calories. Making burgers at home could also help you cut 380 calories.
Nearly all of the 20 recipes this website compared showed that making your own version of takeout at home is much lower in calories, with some takeout meals having twice as many calories as a “takeout meal.”
A recipe on the Tesco website for a Beer battered fish and thick chips In total, 778 calories per serving.
White fish battered in cornflower and amber beer is fried in sunflower oil and served with oven-baked chips and homemade tartar sauce.
By comparison, eating the real thing at Wetherspoons comes in at 1,303 calories – more than half the recommended daily calorie intake for an adult.
Another recipe for a Easy chicken korma Still made with double cream and mango chutney, it has just 454 calories per serving.
But at Wetherspoons a similar dish, Chicken Tikka Masala, has almost double that amount, at 830 calories.
A recipe for smash burgers On Tesco’s website, which contains two burgers, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles and a homemade burger sauce, it has 749 calories per serving.
A Tesco recipe for beer-battered fish and thick chips has a total of 778 calories per serving. By comparison, eating the real thing at Wetherspoons has 1,303 calories – that’s more than half the recommended daily calorie intake for an adult.
But at Five Guys a burger with cheese, mayonnaise, lettuce, pickles and mustard has no less than 1,130 calories.
To put that into perspective, that’s more than two McDonald’s Big Macs, or 493 calories per burger.
Opting to make your own pepperoni pizza could save you almost 500 calories.
A Waitrose recipe for a Spicy pan pizzaPrepared with a jar of tomato basil sauce, it has 710 calories per slice, but at Domino’s even a small pepperoni and passion fruit pizza has 1,205 calories.
Making your own chicken enchiladas It will also save you hundreds of calories, according to one recipe on Tesco’s website which has 577 calories per serving.
The recipe is full of fiber, contains fresh bell peppers and a can of black beans.
Ordering chicken enchiladas at Las Iguanas could cause you to gain weight, as just one serving has 1,036 calories.
A Waitrose recipe for a spicy pan pizza has 710 calories per slice, but at Dominoes even a small pepperoni and passion fruit pizza has 1205 calories.
But one of the most dramatic differences is between a homemade kebab packed with fresh, fiber-rich vegetables, versus indulging in a greasy takeout kebab.
A recipe from BBC Good Food for Turkish Kebabs With tomato and chili sauce, accompanied by flatbread, vegetables and salad, it has only 276 calories per serving. This recipe contains fresh tomatoes, chili peppers, Greek yogurt and fresh cilantro.
However, at German Donner Kebab, their original chicken kebab, served with three types of sauces, has 1,026 calories, 750 calories more.
However, it’s not just calories you’re cutting when you decide to cook dinner at home.
When cooking from scratch, you can opt for ingredients that are lower in fat, sugar, and salt and higher in fiber, as seen in many “made-from-scratch” recipes.
Government guidelines recommend that adults consume 30g of fibre a day, as part of a healthy, balanced diet.
That’s because eating plenty of fibre is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer, according to the NHS.
Adding more vegetables to your meals, eating fruit and whole grain bread are ways to incorporate more fiber into your diet.
Rob Hobson, registered dietitian and author of Unprocessed Your Life, emphasizes that “it’s up to your choices,” but explains that cooking at home gives you more “control.”
She told Mailonline: ‘Both can be equally healthy or unhealthy depending on what you cook or order.
‘Cooking at home gives you control over ingredients and portion sizes, which is crucial since takeout food often comes in large portions, which encourages overeating.’
Rob Hobson is an award-winning nutritionist. His book, Unprocess Your Life, is packed with recipes and ideas to help you cut down on processed foods.
“Takeaway food is often high in saturated fat, sugar and salt, which can be harmful to health,” she added.
By cooking at home you can also avoid eating too many ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which have long been vilified for their links to health problems including cancer and diabetes.
An easy sign that a food might be a UPF is if it contains ingredients you wouldn’t find in your kitchen cupboard, such as unrecognizable colors, sweeteners, and preservatives.
Another clue is the amount of fat, salt and sugar hiding inside each packet, and UPFs often contain high amounts.
Mr Hobson said: “Home-cooked meals allow you to focus on whole, unprocessed, nutrient-dense ingredients packed with vitamins, minerals, fibre and other plant compounds that protect against disease.”
WHAT SHOULD A BALANCED DIET LOOK LIKE?
The average woman is advised to consume 2,000 a day to maintain a healthy weight and one-third of the 2,500 recommended for the typical man.
• Eat at least 5 servings of a variety of fruits and vegetables every day. Fresh, frozen, dried and canned fruits and vegetables all count.
• Base meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally whole grains.
• 30 grams of fiber per day: This is the same as eating all of the following: 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, 2 whole grain crackers, 2 thick slices of whole wheat bread, and one large baked potato with skin.
• Eat some dairy products or dairy alternatives (such as soy drinks) and choose lower-fat and lower-sugar options.
• Eat some legumes, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins (including 2 portions of fish per week, one of which should be fatty)
• Choose unsaturated oils and creams and consume in small quantities.
• Drink 6 to 8 cups/glasses of water a day.
• Adults should consume less than 6 g of salt and 20 g of saturated fat for women or 30 g for men per day.
Fountain: NHS health guide