Dinner, handled.
At the right price.

It can be, when you want meals cooked around your family’s tastes, diets or allergies and will eat them most nights. A weekly cook day typically costs $240–$300 in chef fees for four dinners of four servings, plus groceries at cost. If you mainly want time back, prepared meal delivery usually buys most of it for less.

In-home chef bookings for two to four people cost $370–$600 per evening in the U.S., groceries included, so three dinners a week runs about $1,110–$1,800. Ongoing arrangements are often negotiated lower. A weekly personal chef cook day costs far less: about $240–$300 plus groceries for four family dinners.

A personal chef serves several households, usually cooking a week of meals in one visit and leaving them packed for reheating. A private chef works for one household—often several evenings a week or full time—cooking fresh meals, serving and cleaning up.

Usually. Prepared meals from CookUnity cost $10.39–$12.69 each plus delivery, so four dinners for a family of four comes to about $176–$215 a week. A personal chef cook day for the same dinners runs $240–$300 before groceries. The chef buys customization; delivery buys convenience.

Americans 15 and older average 43 minutes a day on food preparation and cleanup across all meals—55 minutes for women and 31 for men. A family dinner with shopping and cleanup often takes an hour or more, which is why the comparison asks how long yours takes.

Usually, yes. A cook working in your home is your household employee when you control how the work is done. In 2026, paying one $3,000 or more in cash wages means withholding and paying Social Security and Medicare taxes, and paying $1,000 in any quarter can bring federal unemployment tax. Hiring through an agency that employs the chef avoids this.