What is an outdoor kitchen - and is it worth it?
You've probably spotted one at a friend's house or scrolled past a beautifully equipped garden on Instagram. But what actually is an outdoor kitchen - and is it just a luxury for the few, or something genuinely worth considering for your garden?
The honest answer is that it depends entirely on how you use your outdoor space and what you want to get from it. This guide will walk you through exactly what an outdoor kitchen is, what it includes, and how to decide whether one makes sense for you.
An EO kitchen at our outdoor living showroom in Cheshire
So, what actually is an outdoor kitchen?
An outdoor kitchen is a permanent or semi-permanent cooking and entertaining installation built into your garden - a far cry from the portable, single-purpose barbecue most British households are familiar with.
Where a standard BBQ is something you use and put away, an outdoor kitchen is something you design around. It occupies a dedicated zone in your garden, typically set into a built surround, and it's designed to be there for the long term. The materials used in our outdoor kitchens - stone, porcelain, stainless steel, weatherproof composite - are chosen specifically to handle the British climate, year after year, without deteriorating.
The cooking element is usually at the heart of it, but what makes an outdoor kitchen genuinely different is everything that surrounds the grill. A well-specified setup gives you counter space to prep and serve, storage so that everything you need is exactly where you need it, and often a sink and refrigeration so you're no longer making constant trips back inside. The goal is a cooking environment that's as functional as your indoor kitchen - one where you can host, cook, and socialise in the same space at the same time, without the usual compromises of outdoor cooking.
At the higher end, an outdoor kitchen can include a pizza oven or kamado cooker like the Big Green Egg alongside the main grill, integrated lighting and heating, and a pergola overhead to create a fully sheltered, year-round zone. But it doesn't have to start there. Even a more modest setup - a quality built-in grill, a run of worktop and some weatherproof storage — represents a fundamental upgrade on what most gardens currently offer.
So an outdoor kitchen is:
A fixed, designed installation — not portable equipment
Combines a grill with prep space, storage, and often a sink and fridge
Built from weatherproof materials designed to last long-term
Can include a pizza oven or Big Green Egg, integrated lighting and heating, and a pergola overhead
Can be as simple or as comprehensive as your space and budget allow
A Roostr Rubix outdoor kitchen featuring built-in BBQ and Gozney pizza oven
Who actually buys an outdoor kitchen?
This is a question worth addressing directly, because there's a persistent assumption that outdoor kitchens are exclusively for large country properties or people with unlimited budgets. That's increasingly not the case.
The category has expanded significantly in recent years, and brands like Roostr and EO Kitchens have developed high-quality modular ranges that offer the look, functionality, and durability of a bespoke installation at a more accessible price point. You don't need an acre of land, you need a garden that matters to you, and a sense of how you want to use it.
In our experience, the customers who get the most from an outdoor kitchen share a few common traits. They tend to love cooking - not just doing it, but the social dimension of it. They entertain regularly, and the garden is central to how they do that. They often have families, and outdoor cooking becomes a way of keeping the activity and the mess outside while still being present with everyone. They've typically already invested in their garden in other ways - through garden design, landscaping, or outdoor furniture - and an outdoor kitchen feels like the natural next step. What unites all of them is that the garden isn't an afterthought. It's part of how they live.
That said, an outdoor kitchen isn't for everyone, and we'd rather you make the right decision than the wrong one. If you currently use your garden occasionally in summer and store the BBQ in the garage for most of the year, a significant outdoor kitchen installation probably isn't the right call. The value of an outdoor kitchen is realised through regular use and that requires the right combination of space, lifestyle, and genuine enthusiasm for outdoor living.
Is it actually usable in the UK climate?
This is, without question, the objection we hear most. Outdoor kitchens originated in the US and Mediterranean markets, where the climate makes cooking outside a straightforward proposition. Bringing that category to the UK requires a different approach, and the answer is that an outdoor kitchen's usability in Britain depends almost entirely on how well it's been designed for the conditions.
The kitchens that get used year-round here are almost always the ones that sit within a sheltered, covered zone. Whilst it isn’t needed to maintain a high-quality outdoor kitchen built for UK climate, a quality louvred pergola - such as the Renson Algarve or the KE Kedry Skylife - provides adjustable overhead cover that deals with rain and direct sun simultaneously, while integrated outdoor heating extends the season well into autumn and even winter.
An EO outdoor kitchen sits comfortably under a Renson pergola for year-round use.
Many of our clients add motorised side screens to close off the space on wetter or windier days, effectively creating an outdoor room that functions regardless of the forecast. Once you've cooked in a setup like that on a November evening, the 'is it usable in the UK?' question tends to answer itself.
The other piece of the puzzle is positioning. An outdoor kitchen that's placed thoughtfully — tucked into a corner of the garden, adjacent to the house, oriented to catch afternoon sun — will naturally get more use than one that's exposed and distant. This is something we spend real time on during the design process, because the best equipment in the world won't compensate for a kitchen that's uncomfortable to use six months of the year.
What does an outdoor kitchen cost?
Cost is one of the most searched questions in this category, and it's also one of the most difficult to answer cleanly, because the range can be wide.
A basic modular setup can start at a few thousand pounds. A fully bespoke, integrated outdoor kitchen with high-end appliances, premium worktops and a matching pergola can easily run to five figures. It can be worth considering that an outdoor kitchen is a home improvement project, not a product purchase - and like any home improvement, the cost is shaped by the quality of the materials, the complexity of the installation, and the level of customisation involved.
For most of our residential clients at Walker Landscape & Design, the practical range sits somewhere between £5,000 and £20,000 for the kitchen itself, depending on the brand and specification. All of our outdoor kitchens are built to last - this isn't a category where you're buying something that needs replacing in five years.
It's also worth thinking about cost in terms of what it replaces. Households who invest in outdoor kitchens tend to spend less on restaurants and catering, more time at home, and — anecdotally — more time together as a family. That's not a financial calculation, but it's a real one.
Does it add value to your home?
An outdoor kitchen won't deliver a guaranteed return in the way that a loft conversion or an extension might - the relationship between outdoor improvements and sale price is harder to quantify.
What it does do, for the right buyer, is add significant desirability. A well-designed outdoor entertaining space — with a kitchen that's clearly been specified rather than improvised, and that sits within a coherent garden design — reads as a premium feature in the same way that a well-fitted kitchen or a luxurious bathroom does. For buyers who value outdoor living, it can be a genuine differentiator.
We supplied and installed the Fire Magic outdoor kitchen, Renson pergola and Solus fire pit for this lovely project.
There's also an argument that the value question is slightly the wrong frame. The people who get most out of an outdoor kitchen aren't primarily doing it as a financial calculation. They're doing it because they want to change how they live in their home and by that measure, the return is immediate and personal.
Families who install outdoor kitchens consistently tell us they spend more time outside, entertain more often, and enjoy their garden in ways they didn't before. That's a form of value that doesn't show up in a surveyor's report, but it's real.
So — is it worth it?
If cooking, entertaining and spending time in your garden are genuinely part of how you live - or how you'd like to live - then an outdoor kitchen is very likely worth it. Not because it's a statement purchase, but because it fundamentally changes the way you use the space. It removes the friction from outdoor cooking. It keeps you present with your guests rather than isolated at a grill. It makes the garden usable on days you'd otherwise write off. And it does all of that for a long time - these are installations that last decades, not seasons.
The caveat, as ever, is that the right setup depends on your specific garden, your lifestyle, and your budget — and the best way to understand what's right for you is to see the options in context rather than on a screen. The range is wide: from a beautifully simple modular kitchen through to a fully bespoke outdoor room with integrated cooking, dining and shelter. Somewhere in that range, there's likely something that fits.
Our outdoor living showroom allows you to explore what’s possible. Book your appointment today.
We'd recommend visiting our showroom in Cheshire, where you can see a range of outdoor kitchen configurations alongside pergolas, fire pits and outdoor furniture — all in context, so you can start to picture what would work for your space.
Ready to explore? Download our Outdoor Living Brochure or book a showroom visit to see our full range.
