I’m on the older side of Gen Z and absolutely love to cook (and consider myself pretty good at it). I don’t really like meal prep though. Something fresh each day for dinner, and if there’s time, lunch. I also try to source as much as possible (herbs, vegetables) from my terrace/“garden”.

I’d say it’s about 10% of the time trying a new recipe, 70% of the time just cooking from memory based on past recipes we liked (adapted for what’s available, of course), and 20% just trying something new from scratch.

Food is also one of my biggest expenditures each month. We don’t really eat out at all, but still. Good ingredients and not going by price in the supermarket is the main luxury I splurge on.

My younger brother is essentially the same, though a bit more budget-aware. He also cooks at least once a day. I quite often get pictures of his food, and it always looks delicious.

Funnily enough, we cook pretty differently, and both completely differently than our mom.

Friends in the same generation also all either like to cook, or, well, just cook.

So, can’t exactly confirm your hypothesis. We’re not US-American though.