Is your family one of the 46 percent that confessed in a national survey that they eat a home-cooked dinner just two to three times a week?

What are you eating the other four or five nights?

We’re guessing takeout, because survey after survey and study after study tells us so. It seems like such a time saver to stop by Boston Market or your favorite Chinese restaurant on the way home, doesn’t it? Then, when you get home, you and the family can just flop on the couch and eat.

So is time the reason you choose takeout?

“Time saving is important,” said Meredith Deeds of Dallas who, with co-author Carla Snyder of Cleveland, wrote “The Take-Out Menu Cookbook: How to Cook In the Foods You Love to Order Out” (Running Press, $19.95), a roundup of recipes for takeout favorites from the 10 most popular ethnic cuisines. “But once you’ve got your pantry set up (to include Asian or Indian ingredients, for example), those dishes are quick and easy to cook. That’s why they’re popular in their original countries. And they’re inexpensive. That’s why so many people no longer go out with their friends — it’s gotten so expensive.”

Ah, you may say: Your favorite takeout joint isn’t that pricey. Heck, $20 for dinner for four — that’s only $5 apiece.

Think again, said Andrew Hoff, a personal banker with Chase Bank in Chicago. “From the finance angle, if you break it down by the numbers, you go out and spend $10 or $20 per meal.” If you’re doing takeout five times a week, that’s $100 a week, Hoff said.

“That $10 or $20 would last you for two or three meals if you cook at home. If you have an extra $600 in your pocket, a perfect place to put it is in a savings account. Spend $30 a day on lunch and dinner out, that’s $12,000 a year — and that’s almost a down payment on a condo.”

The 27-year-old Hoff, who’s single, said another way to invest that money might be in equipment and cooking classes. “Get multiple lessons, and invest in the right tools. Especially for bachelors, a George Foreman grill is foolproof. And a grocery delivery service will save you money in two ways: It delivers, which saves you gas, and it limits your impulse buys.”

Hoff also suggested forming a dinner co-op with friends. In his, he said, “we rotate between houses once a week. It can be potluck or one person can feed everybody.”

Well, time is money, too, you might say. Spending the money gives you back the time you would spend in meal preparations at home. You can talk with the kids as you drive from soccer practice to restaurant to home.

Maybe you do talk, but it’s a good bet you’re not really connecting, said Niquenya D. Fulbright, a life coach and speaker who blogs at chicagolifecoach.blogspot.com. “In a car, you may have the radio on, they may have their earphones on, and you’re not able to make eye contact with the kids,” Fulbright said. “With the kids safe in the back seat, it’s not the best time for conversation.”

So if you don’t gain time or save money by grabbing takeout, what benefits do you get from cooking at home?

“You’ll eat better, cheaper and fresher at home,” Deeds said.

“You control portion sizes, and the content and quality you’re providing your family,” said Fulbright. She said these issues can be especially important in an era of rising childhood obesity.

“Cost savings, that’s a no-brainer,” said Hoff. “It’s just a question of making that disciplined commitment to cook a meal and do a little bit of cleaning up afterward.”

Fulbright, a mother of two, said that family meals “can leave a legacy, and in some instances, that becomes important in not losing yourself in society’s ideals. You can hold onto your culture. I have several family recipes that teach my children about members of the family who have gone on before us.

“You can have your children help create that meal, and you’re teaching them the skills they’ll need. There are ways to prepare meals ahead of time so that it doesn’t have to seem like this pressing task. If I know I’m going to have a busy day, I’ll do the vegetable prep ahead and later my older kid can stick that roasting pan in the oven. Then it’s ready when I get home.”

Mealtime, Fulbright said, is “a chance for conversation. A lot of my clients aren’t talking to their kids, and their kids aren’t talking to them, so they’re living in a complete environment of disconnect. In the meantime, children aren’t learning some important skills — like table manners and how to be an active listener, by listening to others, understanding what they’re saying and being able to summarize what’s been said.”

Table manners in particular, Fulbright said, equip children to be confident adults. “Most people have been put in this situation, in a fancy restaurant, an important event, where they don’t know what to do with all those forks. If you’ve been at table meals with your family, you’re more confident, knowing how to observe, or how to ask. You can’t do that if you haven’t been given a chance to test out those skills with people you trust.”

For Deeds, who has three sons, “the important thing is sitting down to eat together. If you cook at home, you’re so much more likely to eat together. You’ll get to know your family and get to know what’s happening in each other’s lives. That will give you a lifetime of memories, and your kids will never forget that.”

So Deeds and her sons — ages 14, 13 and 9 — prepare meals together. “They’re kids, of course, and if I let them, they would eat things that aren’t all that great. But they will eat if it looks good, smells good and it’s fresh. Once they’ve learned what good food is, they’re going to take that with them. It’s a gift that you’re giving them that will last for the rest of their lives.”

She recognized that every recipe in her book isn’t a 30-minute meal, she said. “Some take longer than others. If you’ll cook on the weekend, you’d be shocked to find out how many things you can turn that into during the week. Carnitas, for instance, are made with pork butt, a very inexpensive cut of meat. That recipe serves a good many; if you took your seven best friends out to eat carnitas tacos, it’s going to be way more than the $20 it costs to cook it at home — and that includes the fixin’s.”

Persuaded, but intimidated? Hoff has a final tip: “You don’t have to go cold turkey. Just decide to cook one night a week.”

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BEEF AND BROCCOLI STIR-FRY

Takeout — $15

At home — $12.50

— Pick up precut stir-fry beef, precut broccoli florets and bottled stir-fry sauce for a semihomemade dinner that’s faster than takeout.

— Beef and broccoli from a Chinese restaurant can easily set you back $15 or more for four servings. Ingredients for this stir-fry cost about $12.50.

— Substitute chicken, shrimp or tofu for the beef, if you wish.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

2 tablespoons canola oil

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1¼ pounds sirloin steak, cut into thin strips

1 red or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 bag (12 ounces) broccoli florets

1/3 cup each: water, stir-fry sauce

Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the garlic and steak; stir-fry 1 minute. Transfer steak to a plate.

Add the bell pepper; stir-fry 2 minutes. Add the broccoli and the water. Cover; cook until crisp-tender, 6 minutes. Uncover; return the steak and the steak juices to the pan. Add the stir-fry sauce; cook over medium heat until heated through, about 1 minute.

Adapted from “The 5:30 Challenge: 5 Ingredients, 30 Minutes, Dinner on the Table” by Jeanne Besser and Susan Puckett.

Nutrition information per serving: 347 calories, 49 percent of calories from fat, 19 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 89 mg cholesterol, 11 g carbohydrates, 33 g protein, 783 mg sodium, 3 g fiber

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PIZZA WITH PEPPERONI, GREEN PEPPER AND ONION

Takeout — $17.48

At home — $12.75

We compared the cost of ingredients for this pizza to a same-sized pizza from a national delivery chain.

The results: Our ingredients total $12.75, which will include enough leftover toppings to make another pizza; the delivery pizza costs $17.48 (not including tip).

Time difference: Virtually none, since the home-baked pizza will be ready before the delivery guy arrives. Improve the pizza’s nutrition value by adding thinly sliced vegetables, such as zucchini, asparagus or red peppers.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 11 minutes

Standing time: 5 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

1 prepared pizza crust, such as Boboli

1 cup prepared pizza sauce

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon dried basil

1½ ounces sliced pepperoni

1 each, chopped: green bell pepper, onion

1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella

Heat oven according to package directions for crust. Remove crust from packaging; place on baking sheet.

Spread pizza sauce over crust, leaving a ½-inch margin around outer edge. Sprinkle with oregano and basil. Scatter pepperoni over sauce; add the pepper and onion. Sprinkle mozzarella over all.

Bake, as directed, until cheese melts and browns lightly and crust is golden, about 11 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into 8 pieces.

Nutrition information per serving: 486 calories, 30 percent of calories from fat, 17 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, 40 mg cholesterol, 61 g carbohydrates, 25 g protein, 1,033 mg sodium, 5 g fiber

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SPANISH POTATO OMELET (TORTILLA DE PATATA)

Takeout — $25.56

At home — $9

— If tapas are your favorites, here’s how to make the classic Spanish potato omelet called a tortilla in Spain.

— A single wedge of tortilla Espanol costs $4.25 at one Chicago tapas place; the ingredients for a whole tortilla to serve six cost just less than $9.

— A salad on the side turns this into a meal, and you may already have all the ingredients in the house.

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

— “This dish more closely resembles a frittata, and is so sturdy that it is often eaten out of hand,” wrote Meredith Deeds and Carla Snyder in “The Take-Out Menu Cookbook.”

1 large baking potato, peeled, diced

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

2 onions, chopped

1 red bell pepper, trimmed, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tomato, seeded, diced

1½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

7 eggs

2 tablespoons chopped chives

¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Steam the diced potato in a steamer basket over simmering water until tender and easily pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl; set aside.

Meanwhile, heat an oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat; add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the onions and bell pepper; cook, stirring, until vegetables soften, about 3 minutes. Lower heat to medium; add the garlic. Cook, stirring, until garlic is softened, about 1 minute. Add the tomato, 1 teaspoon of the salt and ¼ teaspoon of the pepper. Cook until tomato juices have reduced, about 10 minutes. Transfer to the bowl containing the potatoes; mix well. Wipe the skillet out with a paper towel.

3. Meanwhile, beat the eggs with chives and remaining ½ teaspoon of the salt and ¼ teaspoon of the pepper. Move an oven shelf to the second-highest rack; heat the broiler. Heat the skillet over medium heat; add remaining 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add potato-onion mixture; spread evenly in the pan. Pour the eggs evenly over; cover. Cook over low heat 10 minutes. Uncover the skillet; transfer to the oven. Broil until eggs are set, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand, covered, 15 minutes. Slide the tortilla onto a serving plate; garnish with parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into wedges.

Nutrition information per serving: 235 calories, 64 percent of calories from fat, 17 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 247 mg cholesterol, 13 g carbohydrates, 9 g protein, 670 mg sodium, 2 g fiber

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RUSTIC CHICKEN STEW WITH WHITE BEANS AND KALE

Takeout — $37.40

At home — $16

— If you have onions and carrots on hand, this dish costs less than $4 per person, even with the relatively high cost of the whole rotisserie chicken ($7.50, in our research). Buying a 10-ounce package of shredded carrots makes prep even faster.

— Adding some of the bones to the pot contributes flavor. Substitute fresh spinach for the kale, but add it at the last minute. Smoked sausage can stand in for the chicken.

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

— “To our minds, there is no greater saving grace for the time-starved cook than a supermarket rotisserie chicken,” write Jeanne Besser and Susan Puckett in “The 5:30 Challenge: 5 Ingredients, 30 Minutes, Dinner on the Table.”

1 rotisserie chicken

2 carrots, shredded

1 onion, chopped

2 cans (15 ounces) each: chicken broth, rinsed cannellini or Great Northern beans

1 bag (6 to 8 ounces) chopped kale or Swiss chard

Salt, if needed

Remove the chicken meat and skin from the bones. Place the skin, bones, wings, carrots and onion in a Dutch oven; cook over medium heat until vegetables soften, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, chop or shred the chicken meat; set aside.

Add broth and beans to the Dutch oven; heat to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower heat to a simmer; cook 15 minutes. Remove and discard the skin and bones. Add kale and reserved chicken meat; cook until kale is tender, 5-10 minutes. Serve in shallow bowls.

Nutrition information per serving: 695 calories, 39 percent of calories from fat, 30 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, 156 mg cholesterol, 39 g carbohydrates, 63 g protein, 1,309 mg sodium, 11 g fiber