CHICAGO – Millennials are the largest generational group next to baby boomers, and source more than two-thirds of their dinner meals from home, making them the apple of food marketers’ eyes, finds The NPD Group. Although certainly not a homogenous group, there are similarities among Millennials in what motivates them to make in-home dinner meal choices.

Key among these motivators are satisfying and tasty, quick and convenient, and economical. Additionally, their significant cutback in restaurant visits — 49 visits less per Millennial in 2013 than in 2009 — make them long for an in-home dinner meal that looks and tastes like a restaurant meal, according to NPD food and beverage market research.

After satisfying and tasty, the need for speed is a key driver for Millennials’ dinner choices. Millennials are not willing to invest more than 15 minutes of time preparing dinner main dishes; clean up time is about half of preparation and cook time. Regardless of their reluctance to spend much time in meal prep and cook time, Millennials still consider themselves as good a cook as the average American with 57% rating themselves as a very good cook.

“Millennials with or without kids have distinct dinner behaviors and food marketers need to understand these behaviors in order to flesh out innovation opportunities for this generation,” said Darren Seifer, NPD food and beverage industry analyst, in a press release. “Convenience is an expectation for Millennials so provide dinnertime value while creating excitement and new experiences, and you’ll catch their attention.”