Ok, I know there are a zillion threads on saving on lattes and loopholes on grocery store bills. I just wanted to share some observations I’ve had over three decades of cooking and inadvertently saving a lot of money doing it.
- Go international — The cuisines of China, Laos, India, Thailand, Senegal, Mexico and basically anything other than “western food” is just cheaper, especially if you have a local grocer of a particular country. What I would suggest is if you have a kickass Indian or Filipino or [Insert Country] grocery store in your area start shopping and attempting some dishes from that country. Chances are the owner or staff will even be friendly and give you some tips. I promise you, you’ll never pay $11 for a bag of lentils or $1 for the exact same tomato you’d find in the certain supermarkets.
- Often “thriftier” food is more delicious. The gnarly hunks of meat that take longer to braise, the slow cooked stews and all those ingredients that need a bit more love and time (not necessarily standing over the stove) and technique often churn out more delicious food.
- Learn to cook WITHOUT recipes, it will save you boat loads. Listen, if you want to go full coupon Karen I respect it but walking the aisles and pulling out ingredients on special for say a giant pot of delicious soup because you know how to ADAPT is a huge skill. Example? You’re walking the grocery aisles to make split pea soup but sausage is 3x cheaper than the ham hock so you get that, next farro is on 2-for-1 so you buy two bags, turns out split peas are too much for too little so you toss in cans of white beans that are on special, you grab some swiss chard (weirdly cheaper than kale today, must be a weather issue in Oxnard) and boom you are on your way home to make a delicious rustic sausage, chard and farro soup for 40% the cost of your original vision. This is just a simple story but you get the picture, the more you aren’t fixed to a recipe the more you can lower variable costs.
- Make big batches. Duh, but had say it. I often find it’s almost the same price to make 2x the servings of a particular dish if utilizing all the groceries.
- Think like a Nonna. This is the mindset I have when cooking. Would my figurative Nonna cuss me out for throwing away the leek greens or should I add them to soup later? Can I use the carrot tops for pesto? I like potato skins at TGIF’s when I was 17, why don’t I use my peelings and do that myself? You would be shocked how few food scraps are inedible and can’t be used to make something tasty. Here’s the rub, if for some reason you have too much pride to be this thrifty it’s about flavor. Those juiced lemons can be zested and the zest added to sugar for grilling fruit later and the half can be thrown in ice water with mint for a refreshing drink. F*ck throwing stuff out, you work too hard to not just use everything. It can also be fun, like a little Iron Chef: Battle Food Scraps, a nice challenge.
- If you have a fridge door full of nearly expired condiments, make a killer broth, don’t throw them out. Mustard, worcestershire sauce, ketchup ect. are all loaded with umami and deep flavor and if you boil them with a couple bones for a couple hours and whatever odds and ends you have in your fridge you will have a delicious broth to add noodles to or make dishes out of ect. I promise you 98% of things will taste good if simmered with aromatics for an hour or so.
Ok i want to know, what’s an underrated thing you do that saves you money cooking?
PS: If you found this helpful, you may enjoy our online cooking school because you’ll learn to cook like grandma (with Ai)
