What Does It Actually Cost to Cook a Meal? Smart vs. Conventional Kitchen Appliances

The Instant Pot Pro Plus pays for itself in 5.6 months. We know that because we computed the electricity cost of cooking 5 specific meals across 4 appliances, built a formula we call the SHE Cost Per Meal Score, and ran the payback math at the national average rate of $0.16/kWh. No other source has done this calculation for these specific products on these specific recipes. The Cosori Smart Air Fryer pays for itself in 9.5 months. The June Oven Premium takes 6.2 years. Every number in this article comes with the math attached so you can verify it yourself. For our full consensus-scored product picks, see the best smart kitchen appliances guide.

We aggregated cook times and wattage data from Wirecutter, CNET, Tom's Guide, PCMag, and Consumer Reports, then applied our own cost-per-meal formula to produce the SHE Energy Efficiency Scores below. If you're building out your kitchen setup, our smart home automation hubs guide covers the platforms that tie everything together, and our smart plugs guide can help you monitor real-time energy draw from any appliance.

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How We Calculated the SHE Cost Per Meal Score

Most "energy savings" articles say things like "air fryers use less energy than ovens." That is obvious. It is also useless without numbers. So we built a formula and applied it to real meals cooked in real products.

The SHE Cost Per Meal Formula:

Cost Per Meal = Appliance Wattage (kW) x Total Cook Time (hours) x $0.16/kWh

The SHE Energy Efficiency Score:

SHE Energy Efficiency Score = (Oven Cost - Appliance Cost) / Oven Cost x 10

Where:

• Appliance Wattage comes from manufacturer specs (confirmed by CNET and Consumer Reports testing)
• Total Cook Time includes preheat, pressurization, and active cooking — no hidden time exclusions
• $0.16/kWh is the 2025 U.S. national average residential electricity rate per the Energy Information Administration (EIA)
• Oven Cost is the conventional electric oven baseline (5,000W element) for the same meal
• Score range: 0.0 (identical to oven cost) to 10.0 (zero energy used)

This formula produces a single number — dollars and cents — that tells you what it actually costs to cook a specific meal in a specific appliance. The SHE Energy Efficiency Score then converts that into a comparable rating across products. Every number below is reproducible: plug in different wattage or a different electricity rate and the formula still works.

Here is a worked example for chicken breast in the Cosori Smart Air Fryer:

Wattage: 1,500W = 1.5 kW
Cook time: 0 min preheat + 20 min cook = 20 min = 0.333 hours
Energy: 1.5 kW x 0.333 hrs = 0.50 kWh
Cost: 0.50 kWh x $0.16 = $0.08

Conventional oven for same meal: $0.47
SHE Score: ($0.47 - $0.08) / $0.47 x 10 = 8.3/10

That $0.08 is not an estimate. It is arithmetic. And it is a number that did not exist before we computed it.

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The Data: Cost Per Meal for 5 Common Meals

This is the core dataset. We selected 5 meals that represent how most households actually cook — weeknight proteins, stews, sides, and batch roasts — and computed the electricity cost for each across every applicable appliance. All costs use the EIA national average of $0.16/kWh.

Meal 1: Chicken Breast (2 Servings)

Conventional Oven (5,000W):

• 10 min preheat + 25 min cook = 35 min = 0.583 hours
• 5.0 kW x 0.583 hrs = 2.92 kWh
• Cost: $0.47

Cosori Smart Air Fryer (1,500W):

• 0 min preheat + 20 min cook = 20 min = 0.333 hours
• 1.5 kW x 0.333 hrs = 0.50 kWh
• Cost: $0.08 (83% savings vs. oven)

Instant Pot Pro Plus (1,000W):

• 5 min pressurize + 12 min cook = 17 min = 0.283 hours
• 1.0 kW x 0.283 hrs = 0.28 kWh
• Cost: $0.05 (89% savings vs. oven)

June Oven Premium (1,800W):

• 5 min preheat + 22 min cook = 27 min = 0.45 hours
• 1.8 kW x 0.45 hrs = 0.81 kWh
• Cost: $0.13 (72% savings vs. oven)

Meal 2: Beef Stew (4 Servings)

Conventional Oven/Stovetop (2,500W):

• 3 hours continuous = 3.0 hours
• 2.5 kW x 3.0 hrs = 7.50 kWh
• Cost: $1.20

Instant Pot Pro Plus (1,000W):

• 10 min pressurize + 35 min cook = 45 min = 0.75 hours
• 1.0 kW x 0.75 hrs = 0.75 kWh
• Cost: $0.12 (90% savings vs. oven)

Beef stew is where pressure cooking dominates. The conventional method burns through $1.20 of electricity heating a large pot for three hours. The Instant Pot seals the chamber, raises the boiling point, and finishes in 45 minutes at lower wattage. The $1.08 savings per batch means a household making stew once a week saves $56.16 per year on that single recipe. If you track your home energy usage with smart sensors, you can verify these numbers against your own meter.

Meal 3: Frozen Fries (2 Servings)

Conventional Oven (5,000W):

• 10 min preheat + 20 min cook = 30 min = 0.5 hours
• 5.0 kW x 0.5 hrs = 2.50 kWh
• Cost: $0.40

Cosori Smart Air Fryer (1,500W):

• 0 min preheat + 15 min cook = 15 min = 0.25 hours
• 1.5 kW x 0.25 hrs = 0.375 kWh
• Cost: $0.06 (85% savings vs. oven)

Frozen fries are the air fryer's signature move. No preheat, 15 minutes flat, and the result is crispier than the oven version because the smaller chamber circulates air faster around the food. The Cosori sends a shake reminder halfway through via the VeSync app — the kind of smart feature that actually gets used every time. At $0.06 per batch versus $0.40, a household making fries twice a week saves $35.36 per year.

Meal 4: Whole Chicken (4 Servings)

Conventional Oven (5,000W):

• 10 min preheat + 60 min cook = 70 min = 1.167 hours
• 5.0 kW x 1.167 hrs = 5.83 kWh
• Cost: $0.93

Cosori Smart Air Fryer (1,500W):

• 0 min preheat + 45 min cook = 45 min = 0.75 hours
• 1.5 kW x 0.75 hrs = 1.125 kWh
• Cost: $0.18 (81% savings vs. oven)

Instant Pot Pro Plus (1,000W):

• 15 min pressurize + 25 min cook = 40 min = 0.667 hours
• 1.0 kW x 0.667 hrs = 0.667 kWh
• Cost: $0.11 (88% savings vs. oven)

A whole chicken is a weekend staple that costs nearly a dollar in electricity when you use the oven. The Instant Pot Pro Plus cuts that to $0.11 — an $0.82 savings per roast. Pressure-cooked whole chicken won't give you crispy skin (that's the tradeoff), but the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender in 40 minutes. If you want crispy skin at lower energy cost, the Cosori Smart Air Fryer delivers it at $0.18 — still 81% cheaper than the oven. Pair either with a smart thermostat and you also reduce the HVAC penalty from heating your kitchen for over an hour.

Meal 5: Rice (4 Servings)

Stovetop (1,500W):

• 25 min cook = 0.417 hours
• 1.5 kW x 0.417 hrs = 0.625 kWh
• Cost: $0.10

Instant Pot Pro Plus (1,000W):

• 5 min pressurize + 8 min cook = 13 min = 0.217 hours
• 1.0 kW x 0.217 hrs = 0.217 kWh
• Cost: $0.03 (70% savings vs. stovetop)

Rice is a smaller savings per batch, but rice is cooked more frequently than almost anything else. Three times a week at $0.07 savings per batch adds up to $10.92 per year. The Instant Pot also nails the texture — sealed pressure cooking produces evenly hydrated grains without the stovetop babysitting.

Summary Table: SHE Cost Per Meal Across All 5 Meals

Percentages show savings vs. conventional method. N/A = appliance not suited for that meal. All costs at $0.16/kWh (EIA national average).

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SHE Energy Efficiency Scores: Product Rankings