I used to think cooking from scratch couldn’t possibly be cheaper than buying ready-made items at the store. I figured, the more ingredients I have to buy, the more expensive cooking becomes…but I was wrong. As long as I’m not buying lots of ingredients I’ll never use again, cooking from scratch is actually quite cost-effective. I picked three examples of foods we now always cook from scratch, and priced them. The cost differential is so glaring that now I’m determined to start cooking more things from scratch–starting with the pita bread recipe I’ve been eyeing for weeks.
Kristen’s whole wheat bread:
$.40 whole wheat flour
$.64 all-purpose white flour
$.16 salt
$.87 yeast (less when I start buying it in 2 lb bags rather than the little jars…it just took me forever to find the big bags!)
$.62 butter
$.83 honey
Practically $0 water
= $3.52, divided by 2 loaves = $1.76 per loaf.
We used to pay $2.79 per loaf for Sara Lee. That comes in a longer loaf, but it didn’t taste very good and was full of preservatives/ingredients I can’t pronounce. Our homemade bread is also much cheaper than the $4.75 per loaf we were paying at the farmer’s market for one of the same size, and we prefer Kristen’s recipe, anyway.
Pepperoni pizza:
$.35 yeast
Practically $0 water
$.69 all-purpose white flour
$.20? sea salt*
$.20? garlic powder*
$.20? black pepper*
$.92 olive oil
$.26 tomato sauce
$3.00 cheese
$1.00 pepperoni
=$6.82 for a 16-inch pizza.
That’s much less than the $17 or $18 per pizza we were paying when we got takeout, and what’s better? Each one of our pizzas lasts us for two dinners, so it really costs $3.41 per meal (or $1.70 per person, per meal) and is about a million times tastier than carryout, anyway!
Chicken stock:
$.30 carrots, tops and skins included
$1.00 onion, tops included
$.20 celery, leaves included
$.30? black pepper*
$.30? salt*
Practically $0 water
Practically $0 chicken carcass (the carcass actually ends up making us money, because after making stock, I’m always able to pick off some extra chicken that I wouldn’t have been able to get otherwise!)
=$2.10 for 6-8 cups of stock, so between $.26 and $.35 per cup.
That’s definitely cheaper than the $1/can we used to pay for about 1 1/2 cups of sodium and preservative-packed broth. Another plus is that we only buy organic, free-range chickens, and so that’s where our stock is coming from, too!
Many of the changes we’ve made to the way we shop, cook, and eat are small, but they make a big difference. Now that we buy fewer overpriced, processed foods, we’re able to splurge a little on things that are really important to us–like purchasing exclusively local, organic meat, eggs, and honey, as well as the occasional round of local cheese. We also buy as much of our produce as possible from local farmers, and I wouldn’t trade that in for anything.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post! I love you cost break down. I agree that if I make things from scratch from items that I have and will use (rather than some exotic ingredient that I will never use again) it is less expensive, tastes better, and usually healthier, than buying premade items from the store.
I do this too, because I was also wondering about cost comparisons.
Beans – 1 lb dried beans $.89, water $0 = 8 cups cooked beans, equal to 4 cans (even on sale, $.50 a can is the lowest I've seen).
Refried beans – add some onion $.10, spices $.20, and puree at the end. Again, equal to 4 cans usually no cheaper than $.89/can
Roasted Garlic – at a gourmet store, $3.49 for about 1 cup of cloves of roasted garlic. At Costco I can get a 2 lb bag of garlic for less than $5, and it makes about 6 cups of cloves.
Carolyn- I must admit, I do still buy canned beans, partly out of laziness and partly out of an unwillingness to keep the oven on that long, since I don't have a crockpot. But looking at your cost comparison makes me reconsider!