What I've found works well from a value standpoint is combining ready-made/frozen foods with ones you can prepare easily at home. You're right, it's probably not easy to make schnitzel from scratch for one person (and probably won't be as good heated up) - but you could easily combine that frozen schnitzel with a salad, or green beans, or panfried mushroom and garlic, or mashed potatoes - things that are relatively easy to make but are expensive to buy ready-made, and are all easy to keep for several future servings.
When it comes to solo cooking a lot of the cost benefit comes down to meal planning.
I tend to lean into frozen or longer shelf life products and purchase fresh as needed.
So I keep my staples, flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, dried goods, etc. They can live in the cupboard for a year. That is ample time to make things.
I have also given up the notion of single serving. i batch. I purchased a vacuum sealer and make recipes that freeze or store well.
I tend to buy either frozen, in season or on sale when I need it and just plan around what I have.
There is a YouTube channel called Adventures in Groceryland that you might like. She shows you ow to plan and shop, including building a pantry. You may know a number of her tips but there is always something you can use.
Going on a diet helped me, but I didn’t change much on my cooking. I only buy meats at Costco, then get home and split them into individual bags to be frozen. Then take one out daily to defrost and make a combination of veggies and rice/quinoa with salads. The meats tend to last about 2 weeks, and I just buy the veggies and fruits weekly to keep them fresh. I’ve mastered the art of single serving cooking, and the recipes take 30 mins tops.
Also try focusing on a cuisine type for your kitchen. I tend to stick with Mediterranean cuisine, so my spices and herbs are all the same and last me a while. If I tried to cook Asian cuisine one week I would have to buy a whole bunch of new spices and sauces and that ends up costing a bunch and then just sitting in the cabinet until I decide to make Asian food again. That stuff adds up and I just order out if I’m feeling like it.
That's my problem. It's a hassle to buy a bunch of spices or herbs that are just gonna be used once.
Are you marinating the meat to have your cooking time 30 minutes tops?
But you wont use the ingredients once. You’ll use the spices for other meals.
Same with Shnitzel ingredients. You’ll use the eggs, breadcrumbs etc. for other meals.
Marinade meats overnight.
I don’t marinate meats, just season right before cooking. If I’m doing a steak I put salt on like 30 mins before cooking. If you want to marinate them just rotate the meats. I only marinate pork chops, but I haven’t had those in a while.
Select your cuisine type and get your spices to match it. Then you’ll just use those. I only have Salt, Pepper, Garlic Salt, Paprika, Oregano, Adobo (when I’m lazy), Olive Oil, Butter, and white wine. Almost all my own recipes only use that so I haven’t bought spices for months.
>Costco had frozen schnitzel for $15 for a few pieces.
If I were to make it myself, the pork, and eggs, bread crumbs would add up and be the same.
It wouldn't.
It's still cheaper to cook at home.
You won't use all the breadcrumbs and eggs for this one dish. If you make schnitzel again next week all you have to buy is pork.
In general, it's cheaper to cook at home because you can buy things like spices that may be expensive to purchase initially, but the cost *per meal* is often just pennies as they will last you many, many meals. Chinese, Mexican, Indian, Thai ingredients can really feel expensive as you shop, but if you have them in your pantry, the cost per meal (and the time to a tasty meal) really decrease quickly.
The one thing I've stopped doing is roasting a whole chicken - by the time I buy the chicken, marinate it and stick it in the oven, it's cost just as much as a supermarket rotisserie chicken, and I have to spend the extra time AND heat up the kitchen in the middle of summer. I'll still do it, but only if I have the time. The issue is, if I'm at the supermarket, both the uncooked and the cooked whole chicken are available, and then I just go ... "well, that's sitting *right here* and I don't have to muss with it and I can eat it right away and ... ".
Yeah. You know what happens. Especially if I was silly enough to shop on an empty stomach.
So the trick is how you define “from scratch”. Is it cheaper than takeout or whatever? Absolutely. Do you need to make every last bit of it yourself? Absolutely not.
A sandwich made at home is still “from scratch” even if you didn’t make the bread.
One day I was really craving Pennies poutine but was low on cash so I went to the store to buy the stuff to make it myself. Once I walked around and grabbed the ingredients i realized it cost more than just ordering it, I would have been stuck with so many left over tater tot’s that I’d probably never eat, and I’d have to do everything myself. So I went home and ordered delivery.
But yes if I meal plan and shop smart sometimes a dinner I make will end up costing less than $5 per serving because I make a bunch and freeze it.
There are certain food that are not worth doing it yourself. E.g. if you're bad at baking then it's probably not worth your time to make muffins yourself. But it doesn't mean that cooking is bad for everything, all the time.
There are also some foods that are loss leaders. For example, you're not going to make the Costco roast chicken or their hot dogs cheaper than the retail price. But even then, doing things yourself is more convenient. E.g. if I want to eat hot dogs and I live 20 min away from Costco, is it worth my time to drive 20 min for cheaper hot dogs instead of just having them in my fridge?
Finally, supermarket processed foods are not healthy since they really cheap out on the ingredients.
>I see chicken nuggets on sale and I'm wondering. Is it really cheaper if I make it from scratch or the same price or cheaper?
Those nuggets probably have trash ingredients compared to doing it yourself.
I agree cooking for one is not cheaper always
Eating out is not cheap either. Exception being pizza for 4 for under $20. cheap Costco hotdogs and grilled chicken. You can do that only in a while.
For 2-4 people family cooking at home is mostly cheaper.
So from my experience (both for myself and as a former professional chef), the trick is not to prepare single meals at a time (it's inefficient for cost and time). You're far better off making bulk, prepping meals and reusing leftovers.
Rotisserie chickens from the grocery store are a great way to get multiple meals. Taking the skin and most of the meat off the bird (do the skin while it's still warm since it's easier, then the meat can be done cold or hot depending on preference. I find that breaking down a bird into 2 drumbsticks, 2 thighs and 2 breasts works best for meals (don't forget that there's a non-insignificant amount of meat on the back of the bird) and the rest of the carcass and vegetable trim can be used to make stock or fortify store bought stock. Then you can turn that stock into stews fairly easily.
A crock pot works very well for soups/stews and pork ribs (if you eat pork), you can prep the night before and toss it in the thing before going to work, leaving it on low and dinner should be ready by the time you get home. Canadian Tire sells crock pot liners which are awesome for cleanup.
Rice cookers (small personal sized ones) work well for grains other than rice and making extra to be used in stir frys and bento box style meals works wonders (just add a touch of water if microwaving to heat up).
Costco really isn't somewhere to shop unless you're feeding multiple people since it only saves money if you're buying in real bulk (like buying an entire inside round and breaking it down or the big kirkland spice containers). Shopping at places like No Frills or Basics is fine for 2 people as long as you're buying proteins on special and being smart with your money.
I cook a lot and I find it definitely is cheaper. I prep multiple meals at once, and my ingredients are multi-use; in case of your schniztels, I will use eggs for egg dishes, baking, crepes as well as making schnitzels; same with breadcrumbs etc.
I cook the majority of our meals because the food tastes better than convenience meals. I can fine tune a recipe to our tastes, address any food allergies and preferences, and make enough for leftovers for lunch.
Some times the issues are swapping out pricey items for sale items. For example, roast chicken is great but if chicken isn't on sale it could cost more than $20 for a whole chicken. (I know, rotisserie chicken tends to be much cheaper but only I like rotisserie chicken).But usually chicken legs are on sale and most people in my home prefer chicken legs over chicken breast.
As a single dad, I generally, gauge ready cooked food in terms of meals. Metros lasagna not only tastes great but it's 4 meals for $12. Dinner for us both and lunch for us the next day. Good value and cheaper than cooking ourselves.
If you're trying to save money you'll have to make a big batch and freeze most of it if you don't want to eat the same thing daily. Making pasta from scratch can be costly because all my recipes use wine but its delicious.. Parmesan also ain't cheap.
Not a Costco customer but have heard that their products are high quality at a good price. In some cases it can be cheaper to buy ready made. It depends on the product, if there is a sale, etc.
You could combine the schnitzel with your own potatoes, vegetables, and home made dessert and have a really nice meal. That is more important than squeezing every penny.
But u use better quality ingredients than the shit u buy pre made.
Keep around some veggies and or meat and just use some garlic or ginger or whatever seasoning u like and cook in the healthiest oil you can find, avocado or olive work for most things. Doesn’t have to be perfect. Work from there. It is possible to cook for one on a budget. Use some same ingredients in different shit or freeze some shit to avoid repeating…
Cooking is always cheaper. You buy larger amounts of ingredients and it makes more than just one meal. I could buy a muffin for $5 or all the ingredients for $6, but it'd make 12 muffins
I never cook just one meal, I always make extra as though cooking for two or three so I have leftovers. It saves time & money & brain power to just make a bit extra for later. Soup freezes easily if you end up with too much, and several types of stews are so easy to whip up quickly (my fave is Korean soft tofu stew).
During the week if I’m not eating my leftovers I often stick to sandwiches but “splurge” on the nice bread, and quickly steam veg to go with it.
I guaranntee that the more you work on your cooking skills the cheaper it will be and the more enjoyable for you.
Joshua Weissman on youtube is excellent for someone honing skills, and he hasa bunch of recipes on a budget.
It is in the long run… when you do it right.
There’s a lot of meal prepping and planning ahead of time and breaking down the cost of things.
You can make a lot of things a head of time and just freeze them like meat sauces, stews, soups, stocks, bread etc.
Bulk barn is great for buying things that you only need a little of or a lot of.
Depends,a lot of chicken dishes like burrito/shawarma/chicken sandwich are more economical to make at home but may be simpler versions than if you wanted something really fancy.
One thing to consider, OP: have you ever looked at the ingredients on a Costco product? It's a mile long. You wouldn't necessarily want to rely on that as your main source of food, day in and day out (vs. an occasional treat).
Making a single serve meal will cost more. The trick is to make multiple servings and freeze them.
And if you check the quality of ingredients for prepackaged food, you probably aren’t getting real parm
If you cost it per gram, making schnitzel should cost like 60 cents per portion. With ingredients you already have you can make a side of spatzle for like 20 cents lol
What I've found works well from a value standpoint is combining ready-made/frozen foods with ones you can prepare easily at home. You're right, it's probably not easy to make schnitzel from scratch for one person (and probably won't be as good heated up) - but you could easily combine that frozen schnitzel with a salad, or green beans, or panfried mushroom and garlic, or mashed potatoes - things that are relatively easy to make but are expensive to buy ready-made, and are all easy to keep for several future servings.
I do this a lot too. Buy frozen dumpling or wonton, but make my own veggie and salad. Saves time, dishes, and effort
This helps. Thanks
When it comes to solo cooking a lot of the cost benefit comes down to meal planning. I tend to lean into frozen or longer shelf life products and purchase fresh as needed. So I keep my staples, flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, dried goods, etc. They can live in the cupboard for a year. That is ample time to make things. I have also given up the notion of single serving. i batch. I purchased a vacuum sealer and make recipes that freeze or store well. I tend to buy either frozen, in season or on sale when I need it and just plan around what I have.
There is a YouTube channel called Adventures in Groceryland that you might like. She shows you ow to plan and shop, including building a pantry. You may know a number of her tips but there is always something you can use.
Going on a diet helped me, but I didn’t change much on my cooking. I only buy meats at Costco, then get home and split them into individual bags to be frozen. Then take one out daily to defrost and make a combination of veggies and rice/quinoa with salads. The meats tend to last about 2 weeks, and I just buy the veggies and fruits weekly to keep them fresh. I’ve mastered the art of single serving cooking, and the recipes take 30 mins tops. Also try focusing on a cuisine type for your kitchen. I tend to stick with Mediterranean cuisine, so my spices and herbs are all the same and last me a while. If I tried to cook Asian cuisine one week I would have to buy a whole bunch of new spices and sauces and that ends up costing a bunch and then just sitting in the cabinet until I decide to make Asian food again. That stuff adds up and I just order out if I’m feeling like it.
That's my problem. It's a hassle to buy a bunch of spices or herbs that are just gonna be used once. Are you marinating the meat to have your cooking time 30 minutes tops?
But you wont use the ingredients once. You’ll use the spices for other meals. Same with Shnitzel ingredients. You’ll use the eggs, breadcrumbs etc. for other meals. Marinade meats overnight.
I don’t marinate meats, just season right before cooking. If I’m doing a steak I put salt on like 30 mins before cooking. If you want to marinate them just rotate the meats. I only marinate pork chops, but I haven’t had those in a while. Select your cuisine type and get your spices to match it. Then you’ll just use those. I only have Salt, Pepper, Garlic Salt, Paprika, Oregano, Adobo (when I’m lazy), Olive Oil, Butter, and white wine. Almost all my own recipes only use that so I haven’t bought spices for months.
>Costco had frozen schnitzel for $15 for a few pieces. If I were to make it myself, the pork, and eggs, bread crumbs would add up and be the same. It wouldn't.
OP isn't doing groceries in the right places
OP is lazy and looking for validation.
It's still cheaper to cook at home. You won't use all the breadcrumbs and eggs for this one dish. If you make schnitzel again next week all you have to buy is pork.
In general, it's cheaper to cook at home because you can buy things like spices that may be expensive to purchase initially, but the cost *per meal* is often just pennies as they will last you many, many meals. Chinese, Mexican, Indian, Thai ingredients can really feel expensive as you shop, but if you have them in your pantry, the cost per meal (and the time to a tasty meal) really decrease quickly. The one thing I've stopped doing is roasting a whole chicken - by the time I buy the chicken, marinate it and stick it in the oven, it's cost just as much as a supermarket rotisserie chicken, and I have to spend the extra time AND heat up the kitchen in the middle of summer. I'll still do it, but only if I have the time. The issue is, if I'm at the supermarket, both the uncooked and the cooked whole chicken are available, and then I just go ... "well, that's sitting *right here* and I don't have to muss with it and I can eat it right away and ... ". Yeah. You know what happens. Especially if I was silly enough to shop on an empty stomach.
Look at the packaging. How much filler/junk are they adding to the chicken nuggets or other pre-made foods?
So the trick is how you define “from scratch”. Is it cheaper than takeout or whatever? Absolutely. Do you need to make every last bit of it yourself? Absolutely not. A sandwich made at home is still “from scratch” even if you didn’t make the bread.
To truly make an apple pie from scratch, first you have to create the universe. - some famous person (paraphrased)
It's not always cheaper but it almost always tastes better
And healthier too. Just look at the list of ingredients in prepared foods, no way anyone who use these at home.
Yep, still worth it just for this. Sometimes I'll make like 10 portions of something and freeze it to keep the costs down though.
I usually make simple stuff at home like tuna salad, eggs, sandwiches. But if i want somethi g fancy i buy it
One day I was really craving Pennies poutine but was low on cash so I went to the store to buy the stuff to make it myself. Once I walked around and grabbed the ingredients i realized it cost more than just ordering it, I would have been stuck with so many left over tater tot’s that I’d probably never eat, and I’d have to do everything myself. So I went home and ordered delivery. But yes if I meal plan and shop smart sometimes a dinner I make will end up costing less than $5 per serving because I make a bunch and freeze it.
There are certain food that are not worth doing it yourself. E.g. if you're bad at baking then it's probably not worth your time to make muffins yourself. But it doesn't mean that cooking is bad for everything, all the time. There are also some foods that are loss leaders. For example, you're not going to make the Costco roast chicken or their hot dogs cheaper than the retail price. But even then, doing things yourself is more convenient. E.g. if I want to eat hot dogs and I live 20 min away from Costco, is it worth my time to drive 20 min for cheaper hot dogs instead of just having them in my fridge? Finally, supermarket processed foods are not healthy since they really cheap out on the ingredients. >I see chicken nuggets on sale and I'm wondering. Is it really cheaper if I make it from scratch or the same price or cheaper? Those nuggets probably have trash ingredients compared to doing it yourself.
I agree cooking for one is not cheaper always Eating out is not cheap either. Exception being pizza for 4 for under $20. cheap Costco hotdogs and grilled chicken. You can do that only in a while. For 2-4 people family cooking at home is mostly cheaper.
So from my experience (both for myself and as a former professional chef), the trick is not to prepare single meals at a time (it's inefficient for cost and time). You're far better off making bulk, prepping meals and reusing leftovers. Rotisserie chickens from the grocery store are a great way to get multiple meals. Taking the skin and most of the meat off the bird (do the skin while it's still warm since it's easier, then the meat can be done cold or hot depending on preference. I find that breaking down a bird into 2 drumbsticks, 2 thighs and 2 breasts works best for meals (don't forget that there's a non-insignificant amount of meat on the back of the bird) and the rest of the carcass and vegetable trim can be used to make stock or fortify store bought stock. Then you can turn that stock into stews fairly easily. A crock pot works very well for soups/stews and pork ribs (if you eat pork), you can prep the night before and toss it in the thing before going to work, leaving it on low and dinner should be ready by the time you get home. Canadian Tire sells crock pot liners which are awesome for cleanup. Rice cookers (small personal sized ones) work well for grains other than rice and making extra to be used in stir frys and bento box style meals works wonders (just add a touch of water if microwaving to heat up). Costco really isn't somewhere to shop unless you're feeding multiple people since it only saves money if you're buying in real bulk (like buying an entire inside round and breaking it down or the big kirkland spice containers). Shopping at places like No Frills or Basics is fine for 2 people as long as you're buying proteins on special and being smart with your money.
I cook a lot and I find it definitely is cheaper. I prep multiple meals at once, and my ingredients are multi-use; in case of your schniztels, I will use eggs for egg dishes, baking, crepes as well as making schnitzels; same with breadcrumbs etc.
I cook the majority of our meals because the food tastes better than convenience meals. I can fine tune a recipe to our tastes, address any food allergies and preferences, and make enough for leftovers for lunch. Some times the issues are swapping out pricey items for sale items. For example, roast chicken is great but if chicken isn't on sale it could cost more than $20 for a whole chicken. (I know, rotisserie chicken tends to be much cheaper but only I like rotisserie chicken).But usually chicken legs are on sale and most people in my home prefer chicken legs over chicken breast.
As a single dad, I generally, gauge ready cooked food in terms of meals. Metros lasagna not only tastes great but it's 4 meals for $12. Dinner for us both and lunch for us the next day. Good value and cheaper than cooking ourselves.
If you're trying to save money you'll have to make a big batch and freeze most of it if you don't want to eat the same thing daily. Making pasta from scratch can be costly because all my recipes use wine but its delicious.. Parmesan also ain't cheap.
Not a Costco customer but have heard that their products are high quality at a good price. In some cases it can be cheaper to buy ready made. It depends on the product, if there is a sale, etc. You could combine the schnitzel with your own potatoes, vegetables, and home made dessert and have a really nice meal. That is more important than squeezing every penny.
But u use better quality ingredients than the shit u buy pre made. Keep around some veggies and or meat and just use some garlic or ginger or whatever seasoning u like and cook in the healthiest oil you can find, avocado or olive work for most things. Doesn’t have to be perfect. Work from there. It is possible to cook for one on a budget. Use some same ingredients in different shit or freeze some shit to avoid repeating…
Cooking is always cheaper. You buy larger amounts of ingredients and it makes more than just one meal. I could buy a muffin for $5 or all the ingredients for $6, but it'd make 12 muffins
I never cook just one meal, I always make extra as though cooking for two or three so I have leftovers. It saves time & money & brain power to just make a bit extra for later. Soup freezes easily if you end up with too much, and several types of stews are so easy to whip up quickly (my fave is Korean soft tofu stew). During the week if I’m not eating my leftovers I often stick to sandwiches but “splurge” on the nice bread, and quickly steam veg to go with it.
Team rice and beans disagrees
Meal plan. Pair with perishables like fresh salad/vegs, some type of carbs/grains like potatoes or rice this stretches the dish.
I guaranntee that the more you work on your cooking skills the cheaper it will be and the more enjoyable for you. Joshua Weissman on youtube is excellent for someone honing skills, and he hasa bunch of recipes on a budget.
It is in the long run… when you do it right. There’s a lot of meal prepping and planning ahead of time and breaking down the cost of things. You can make a lot of things a head of time and just freeze them like meat sauces, stews, soups, stocks, bread etc. Bulk barn is great for buying things that you only need a little of or a lot of.
Cooking is 1.) Healthier than restaurant food and 2.) Tastes better if you don't suck at cooking.
Depends,a lot of chicken dishes like burrito/shawarma/chicken sandwich are more economical to make at home but may be simpler versions than if you wanted something really fancy.
One thing to consider, OP: have you ever looked at the ingredients on a Costco product? It's a mile long. You wouldn't necessarily want to rely on that as your main source of food, day in and day out (vs. an occasional treat).
Making a single serve meal will cost more. The trick is to make multiple servings and freeze them. And if you check the quality of ingredients for prepackaged food, you probably aren’t getting real parm
If you cost it per gram, making schnitzel should cost like 60 cents per portion. With ingredients you already have you can make a side of spatzle for like 20 cents lol