EveryPlate and Parenting Expert Emily Oster Help Parents Take the Mental Load Out of Dinner This Back-to-School Season

New research reveals the hidden mental load behind weeknight meals as EveryPlate launches a back-to-school campaign combining consumer insights, trusted parenting expertise, and affordable meal solutions.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As families prepare for the return of packed lunches, homework, extracurricular activities, and hectic schedules, new research from EveryPlate, America’s lowest-priced home cooking box, reveals the hidden back-to-school challenge parents are quietly navigating: the invisible load of getting dinner on the table.

To help families navigate that daily decision fatigue, EveryPlate has partnered with bestselling author and parenting expert Emily Oster, whose practical, data-driven approach has helped millions of parents feel more confident in their everyday decisions. As part of the collaboration, Oster has curated a back-to-school recipe collection, Emily Oster’s Picks, featuring simple, family-friendly dinners designed to make weeknight meals feel easier, more manageable, and less stressful. The campaign combines new consumer research, practical parenting insights, and affordable meal solutions to help lighten the mental load of dinner.

EveryPlate Unveils The Invisible Load of Home Cooking Survey, Examining the Hidden Decisions, Planning, and Responsibilities Behind Getting Dinner on the Table

The campaign is grounded in new EveryPlate research examining the hidden mental load behind dinnertime, revealing just how much planning and decision-making happens before cooking even begins.

According to a new national survey* commissioned by EveryPlate and conducted by Talker Research, the hidden work behind dinnertime is placing a significant burden on parents:

• One Parent Carries the Load: Nearly 8 in 10 households rely on one parent to manage the family’s meals.
• Dinner Is a Daily Time Commitment: Meal planning, grocery shopping, coordinating schedules, cooking, and cleanup consume nearly two hours each day.
• Dinner Never Leaves Parents’ Minds: 85% of parents think about dinner even when they aren’t actively cooking or meal planning.
• Dinner Can Create Daily Tension: 30% of parents say disagreements arise every day over what to eat or who’s responsible for making dinner.
• The Mental Load Takes an Emotional Toll: Parents most commonly associate managing family meals with feelings of stress (30%), overwhelm (25%), and burnout (21%).
• Delegating Isn’t Easy: 69% say it’s easier to handle meal planning themselves than to hand it off to someone else.

Together, the findings reveal that the biggest burden of dinner often isn’t cooking itself – it’s the invisible work that comes beforehand.

EveryPlate Introduces Emily Oster’s Picks Collection, Featuring Recipes That Make Back-to-School Dinners Simpler, More Convenient, and Less Stressful

Oster’s curated collection includes five family-friendly dishes each week, including Cheesy Charred Corn Tacos, Garlicky Roasted Pepper Penne, and Saucy Italian Pork Sausage Flatbreads – chosen for their simplicity, convenience, and family appeal. The collection is available on EveryPlate’s site now through August 29, 2026. She’ll also feature in social content exploring the realities of back-to-school meal planning, her expert tips on how to navigate the back-to-school season, and the everyday meal decisions that shape family life.

“Back-to-school often brings back structure, but it also brings more decisions,” says Emily Oster. “Dinner is one of those responsibilities that shows up every single day, and yet it’s often the planning – not the cooking itself – that becomes exhausting. Families don’t need perfect routines; they need systems that reduce unnecessary decisions and make it easier to get a healthy meal on the table without adding more stress.”

EveryPlate believes dinner shouldn’t be another source of stress. With pre-portioned ingredients, foolproof recipes, and weekly delivery, the brand removes some of the biggest pain points before cooking even begins – from meal planning and grocery shopping to ingredient prep. EveryPlate’s approachable recipes are also designed so that partners and older children can easily step in and help, making dinner feel like less of a one-person responsibility.

“When families think about the cost of dinner, they usually think about dollars,” says Benjamin Grebel, senior culinary development manager at EveryPlate. “But our research shows there’s another cost that’s often overlooked: the time, planning, and mental energy required to get dinner on the table every night. EveryPlate was created to take those decisions off parents’ plates and make meals feel more manageable. Emily has built a trusted relationship with parents by helping them navigate everyday decisions with confidence, making her a natural partner for this campaign.”

The campaign also reinforces EveryPlate’s commitment to delivering good food for real life. With more than 35 recipes available each week, EveryPlate offers affordable, approachable meals that fit into busy schedules without sacrificing taste or variety. In fact, 98% of customers say EveryPlate makes dinner planning less stressful**, showing that simplifying the path to the dinner table can make a meaningful difference for busy families.

For more information and to start your order, visit EveryPlate.com.

*Talker Research surveyed 2,000 parents of school-aged children online July 9-16, 2026, for EveryPlate.
**Based on an incentivized survey of Active EveryPlate customers.

About EveryPlate
EveryPlate is a flexible meal kit subscription service providing filling, classic, home-style recipes and fresh ingredients at an everyday budget, starting at $5.99 per meal, right to your doorstep. Every box includes all of the ingredients you need to make three delicious meals and recipe cards with step-by-step instructions for each meal. EveryPlate was founded in 2018. For more information, visit www.everyplate.com.

About Emily Oster
Emily Oster is on a mission to empower parents by providing the data and tools they need to make confident decisions. In addition to being a Professor of Economics at Brown University, Emily is the founder and CEO of ParentData, a data-driven guide to pregnancy, parenting, and beyond. ParentData’s weekly newsletter now has hundreds of thousands of subscribers, along with a strong social media community. Emily is also a New York Times best-selling author, whose books include Expecting Better, Cribsheet, The Family Firm and The Unexpected. She has sold over 1 million copies thus far. Emily is co-host of the podcast, “Wellness, Actually.”