Affordable Cooking Tips to Combat Rising Food Prices
Rising food costs are impacting everyone. Recently, I was shocked as I checked out at my local supermarket. I hadn’t bought any meat and the two canvas bags of groceries were light enough to carry out myself. Yet, my total bill was almost $100. Here are some budget-friendly tips on how to deal with higher prices.
Restaurant meals and food in general are expensive. According to the latest data, the cost of food has risen about 25% since 2020. So, my husband and I are eating out less and cooking at home more often.
If you are like me, as prices keep rising, you adjust your grocery shopping habits based on the changing prices. Now, I walk right past the fresh seafood counter. The pricey lobster and sea scallops are not in my cart. Instead, I make different choices to lower my food costs.
I try to create healthy, great tasting meals for an affordable price. Sometimes I’ll still choose to splurge on a particular ingredient. This occurs if it enhances the flavor. It might also be specific to the dish that I am preparing, or it is for a special occasion. However, the meal will still cost less than going out to a restaurant.
Seafood
- Buy frozen shrimp instead of expensive fresh seafood. Take note that shell-on shrimp are considerably cheaper than peeled ones. I’ll put a bag or two in the freezer when they are on sale. When ready to cook, I can take out only what I need and leave the rest in the freezer.
- Shrimp Scampi is one of the easiest dishes to prepare. It is a favorite of ours and is a real crowd pleaser. You only need about 4 – 5 shrimp per person when serving them with linguine.
Poultry
- If you have a busy schedule, a store brought rotisserie chicken is a cook’s best friend. Serve whole as a main course. You can also take the meat off the bones to make chicken salad for lunch.
- Use the chicken bones to make a large pot of homemade chicken stock. You can freeze the stock in containers to use in sauces and soups such as an economical Mexican Chicken Soup.
- While boneless, skinless chicken breasts and thighs are more expensive, there is no waist. I keep a bag of individually wrapped vacuum-packed boneless chicken breasts in my freezer. They thaw out quickly and allows me to create multiple meals with different flavors.
- Chicken Marsala served with pasta or mashed potatoes is quick and easy to prepare. There is no need to go to a restaurant to enjoy this popular dish.
Homemade Ingredients
- Using homemade ingredients can save money. I’ll make a sauce using a large can of imported Italian tomatoes for about $4. It is half the price of a jar of Rao’s marinara sauce that costs around $8. This is beneficial even if you’re a small household of two.
- Homemade Chicken Parmesan not only tastes great but when you cook from scratch, you are eating less processed foods.
- Buy blocks and wedges of cheese and grate them yourself. Not only is it less expensive than buying a bag of already shredded cheese, but it is also less processed.
- Three Cheese Mac and Cheese is a great meal to serve a group of your friends for a weekend gathering. Consider adding a green salad and garlic bread and it is still affordable
Beans, Legumes, Eggs and Canned Fish
- Once or twice per week use beans, legumes, eggs, or canned fish. They are all less expensive and are nutritious sources of protein. Canned beans are cheap, versatile, low in fat, and high in protein. However, dried beans come in large bags and cost even less.
- A standard bag of dried cannellini beans will cook up to about 6 1/2 cups of cooked beans. Use part of them for White Beans With Lemon Parmesan Dressing.
- On another night, use the rest of the beans to make an Italian comfort meal. Pasta With Beans And Greens is budget friendly. This dish is perfect to serve your family during the week.
Pasta
- Pasta has almost doubled in price however it still provides more than one meal and is very economical. Spaghetti Carbonara, for example turns the simplest ingredients like bacon and eggs into a delicious and satisfying meal. This dish only takes 8 oz. of spaghetti, 3 strips of bacon and 4 eggs, serving 2 people generously.
Beef
- While I don’t buy steak as often as before, I make exceptions for a well-marbled steak. Instead of buying a steak for each of us, I buy one thicker steak. Cook, slice and serve it with your favorite sides. You will have a meal for two and it costs less than what one steak typically costs at a steakhouse. Perfect for date night or a special occasion.
- When you are in the mood for beef, you can also make substitutions with cheaper ingredients. For example, use a bottom round roast or a chuck roast to use in casseroles, soups, stews, and burritos. They are usually big meals with lots of leftovers.
- Osso buco is made from slices of veal shank. They are hard to find and very expensive. Substitute a chuck roast and serve pot roast Osso buco style. Its rich and hearty flavor goes well with soft creamy polenta that you serve on the side.
Other Cost Cutting Tips
- Walk the aisles and look for sales and discounts. Look for in-store savings like “buy one, get one free”. I recently saved over $9 when I bought two pork tenderloins.
- Buy non-perishable ingredients in bulk.
- Switch to cheaper store brands on many items. Generic brands can be 10 – 30% cheaper than the premium brands. Most are just as good. Some of the best ingredients to buy generic include canned beans, frozen fruits and vegetables and milk.
- When it comes to snacks like chips and dips, ask if you really want to pay a premium. No one will probably know the difference.
- Two-liter bottles of Coke and Pepsi cost over $8 for 2 bottles. Meanwhile, I can buy the store brand for 2 for $3.09. Buy one and do a taste test comparison. You might like the store brand. Choose large bottled-soda over cans. The cost of 12-ounce cans of soft drinks is up significantly.
****
If you are trying to save a few dollars on the cost of food, you don’t have to go without or skimp on quality. Think about the variety of meals you can prepare with a chicken. Use a box of pasta or try a bag of dried beans and get several meals from each one. You can treat your family to some healthy and great tasting meals. You just need to be a little creative.
I would love to know your own budget-friendly cooking tips or experiences in this time of high food costs.
Excellent suggestions, many of which I too implement. It has gotten to the point where we don’t enjoy dining out like we did years ago. Unfortunately, the restaurant industry is suffering due to the high price of food. They’ve had to find ways to save which in turn can impact the quality of the meal in a negative way. Great post. I’ll be checking out some of those recipes you’ve linked to.
Thank you Ingrid, I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
Great post and tips! And love all the recipes with links you added as well. These days, we prefer to eat at home, and better for our health as well simply because we know the ingredients we are cooking with. Love this!
Thank you for the compliment, and you are right about knowing that we are eating healthy when we eat at home.
Thanks for these tips Karen. It is crazy, isn’t it! Our prices have risen dramatically too, especially over the past few months, and I am now spending 50% more on groceries than in 2020. I have also started looking for special offers on basics like pasta or tinned tomatoes. And like you say, certain things are no longer on our menu (except for special occasions!). Soups and stews are cheaper and filling meals in winter. Your pasta with greens looks delicious!
I’m glad you enjoyed the tips Cathy, The pasta and greens dish makes a regular appearance on our table.
Lots of great, yummy-looking recipes! We don’t eat out very often either. We find that we enjoy eating our own cooking at home. Much healthier and less hassle. We are a bit concerned with produce prices rising in the few years to come. It’s not easy to find substitutions for fresh fruits and vegetables, and they are important for our health. Maybe “Victory Gardens” will become a thing again 🙂
Thank you Janis, these are some of our favorite dishes that we feel are better than some of the dishes available in restaurants. You are right about the possibility of “Victory Gardens making a come back.
Very good tips and the most important of all is, cook from scratch. I just put a pound of navy beans in to soak overnight and I’m cooking beef shank with beans tomorrow.
I recommend eating skirt or flank steak – it needs a very quick cook, but has a lot of flavour and is especially good marinated as Carne Asada.
Thank you Mad Dog, your beef shank and beans sounds good. And yes to Carbe Asada, a very flavorful dish.
These are all really wonderful ideas — and thanks for the recipes, all of which look delicious. I just noticed today that eggs have crept back up and not sure why that is, but they were 2.99 a dozen and just a few weeks ago, 2.29 or 2.39. I wonder if the bird flu is back.
Thank you Jeanie, I’m glad you like the recipes.
Very helpful tips, Karen. We don’t eat out any more since Covid, so the grocery price is still bearable. Meat price is getting ridiculously expensive here…I now have to pay at least 30% more.
Thank you, I’m glad you like the tips. It really is hard to find meat at reasonable prices. I look for sales and buy extra for the freezer.
Timely post both with good tips and recipes. It is down right discouraging to go grocery shopping. You now spend what you might have at holidays, and a lot of times for $100 you only have a meal or two if that. Challenging times.
Hi Judy, I’m glad you enjoyed this post. We are all feeling the crunch of high prices. I go up and down the aisles looking for the buy one, get one free. Even if I don’t need it at the moment, I’ll put the extra in the pantry,
Karen, you and I could easily do our grocery shopping together. I’m doing just about literally every one of the things you’ve mentioned these days! It’s unbelievable! I mean, $100 and you can easily carry it out of the store in one or two bags? One of the tactics I use is to buy family-size packages of meats or poultry – so long as the price-per-pound makes sense. (Because sometimes, some stores will make something look like it’s “bulk,” but it won’t be priced that way … you have to be wary. I’m talking about you, Target.) Anyway, I’ll buy a family-size pack of chicken breasts, for instance, and freeze half of them.
Hi Jeff, you are right about buying family sized and freezing the extra. And you are right, sometimes the bigger package isn’t the bargain we think it is.
Great tips and recipe suggestions Karen, thank you!
Jenna
Thank you Jenna, I’m glad to know that you liked the tips and recipes.
Great tips and the recipes look tasty.
Thank you for the compliment.
Great suggestions. I also do my own baking. Hubby has a sweet tooth and likes something with his tea. So instead of buying a package of cookies or muffins, I bake my own and cut the sugar in half. Cheaper and better for you.
So true Darlene, baking from scratch not only saves money, it is healthier without the preservatives and tastes extra special.
It’s incredible how rising food costs push us to rethink and adapt our habits, and your tips are such a practical guide for navigating this challenge! Thanks for sharing
Thank you for your nice compliment Raymund. It seems no matter where we live, we are all dealing with the challenge.
I am just glad I don’t have to cook for a large family. Thanks for all the good suggestions.
I’m glad that you liked the suggestions Gerlinde. I feel for large families trying to put meals on the table. That is where beans, rice and pasta can really help stretch a meal.
Like you, we try to make extra meals out of the meats/proteins we buy, especially those that can easily be added to other pasta’s, soups, or salads. You have some wonderful suggestions that looks quite delicious!
Thank you for your compliment Jan. You are right, it doesn’t take much protein when added to soups, etc. to get a filling and delicious meal.
These are such great tips! I also love using proteins in Asian-style stir-fry dishes, so that you bulk up with a lot of veggies and use the meat merely as a flavoring ingredient.
I love these helpful tips! I also like to use proteins in Asian-style stir-fry dishes. That way you can bulk up with a lot of veggies and use the meat merely as a flavoring agent.
Carolyn, stir-fry dishes are the best. They are a great way to use a small amount of protein and veggies and end up with a wonderful meal. Thank you for your compliment.
Karen, I really enjoyed this post as a friend brought up this very subject yesterday while we were having a rare restaurant lunch together. I’ll be revisiting this post in the coming days and checking out the recipes linked, which all looked really good. I always stock up on staples when they are on sale. And we rarely dine out anymore. We didn’t at all for two or three years of Covid, then just rarely after that. Instead, I cook “big” and make freezer-meals-for-two to pull out on those nights when we don’t feel like cooking; much less expensive than going out or getting takeout.
~ Jean | DelightfulRepast.com
Thank you Jean, I’m glad that you liked the post. Cooking a large quantity and making freezer meals for two is definitely less expensive than ordering take out. I’m sure they are healthier as well.
What great tips! I buy our proteins when they are on special, which is usually every weekday afternoon when they are at their sell by date. I also buy a lot of things from the best before stores, especially coffee which has got very expensive here.
I’m glad you liked the tips Tandy. Thanks for adding about foods going on sale because of the best before date. The date is to let people know when something is at its freshest and it is not a safety date. I often see lettuce that is being sold a day of two after that date and it is still perfectly good.
Yes it’s shocking how much groceries cost these days. You go into the shop for a few things, and have to take out a mortgage to pay for them… Thanks for the tips.
sherry https://sherryspickings.blogspot.com/
Hi Sherry, you are right. You go in to buy just a couple of items that you need for that night’s meal and can’t believe what they cost. I’m glad you enjoyed the tips, thank you.
These are great economizing suggestions and I like that you accompanied that with tasty recipes. My favorite quick and economical trick is to make either quiche or a frittata with all the leftover bit in the refrigerator.
Thank you Bernadette, I thought adding some recipe suggestions would help. So true about adding a small leftover item to quiche and frittatas. I’ve got roasted cauliflower that is going into a frittata this week.
Great post Karen! The cost of food is so high that it causing many folks to have to decide between life saving medical care and feeding their families. Something has to change as this is not a sustainable path moving forward. Take Care, Healthy World Cuisine.
Thank you for your compliment Bobbi. I do wonder how some people are managing. Thankfully, many communities have food banks that can help to some degree.
I’m definitely feeling the pressure of rising grocery costs too, and do everything I can to save. The most helpful thing for me is to shop produce sales, buy in bulk, and freeze/pickle/jam/can/otherwise preserve as much as possible.
Hi Hannah, canning and preserving food is a wonderful way to save ob grocery bills. Thank you for your comment.
These are fantastic tips Karen! I didn’t realise that grocery prices were rising in other countries too! The cost of groceries in Australia has risen astronomically in the past year or two.
Thank you Lorraine for your nice compliment. From all the comments here, it seems that wherever you live high prices are a concern.
Amazing! 😁
Thank you Eva.
We definitely eat out less. Especially, because we can often enjoy as good as dish at home. You share its of great tips for more budget friendly food shopping.
Wishing you, and your family a very happy Thanksgiving.
Velva
Thank you Velva for your nice comment and wish. I agree, many of the meals that we have at home are better than eating out at a restaurant.
Great suggestions Karen. I do buy a lot of food in bulk and freeze. Prices are out of hand. It used to be fun to shop. Now, it is rather depressing with the higher costs. Happy weekend. As for commenting as anonymous, you might want to allow third party cookies in your browsers. Blogger requires them. Most people can comment as themselves when this is allowed.
I’m glad you like the suggestions Linda. I don’t know when prices will stop going up. You are right, instead of being fun grocery shopping is now a challenge.
Thanks so much for sharing these fabulous tips, Karen. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the grocery store too and the other day I was shocked to see that a dozen eggs was almost $10. It was totally bananas. Thank you for always giving us your best no matter what the season of life we’re in. I can’t wait to try these ideas and recipes. Hugs, CoCo
These are wonderful tips, Karen! Food is getting more and more expensive, but it’s worth thinking through each purchase. Might add two additional tips?
If you are a small household, and don’t have a vacuum sealer, buy your meat and or poultry at the counter. When you buy prepackaged, do you have to buy four or five pieces, and so many times you freeze some for them only to go bad freezer burn. If you go to the counter and buy one or two chicken breasts, the price is generally the same as it is packaged. You save a lot of money in the end.
Similar to using the carcass of a roasted chicken for soup, save your shrimp shells for broth. Shrimp shells — along with carrot and celery ends, and bits of onion and tomato — enable you to make a wonderful shrimp broth for risotti and soups.
Thank you for adding two really good tips David. We do have a vacuum sealer and it is a great way to insure that frozen food doesn’t get freezer burned and need to be tossed out. I often ask the meat department to split a package of rewrapped meat and they are more than happy to help.
These are great tips, Karen. I am shocked every week when I go to the store and look at prices. I keep thinking it has to go back down right?? But sadly I think the higher prices are now the norm. Very good tips to make that dollar stretch a little further!
Great advice! I meal-plan each week and it helps us to save money and avoid waste from ingredients not getting used. We also regularly plan to make double quantities of meals that keep well and either have them for lunch or dinner the following day.
I eat out less than I used to. I often find that home-made food is tastier!
Your white bean dish looks delicious. One to add to my meal plan 🙂
I would add tofu to the list of affordable veggie proteins, I love cooking east Asian food and tofu features a lot, especially in vegetarian-friendly versions of Thai dishes.
Wonderful tips, Karen!
My hsuand and I are oldsters who remember very high inflation back in the early 70s when we were first amrried. We learned to shop sales –using the store flyers as our guide–and stocking up on items we used often when they were at lower prices. I clipped coupons to use and even did the practice of the time of clipping UPC’s off packages for refund offers. There were even “double and triple coupon” events that we took advantage of! It became sort of a game to see how much we could save and we still try our brst to cash in on bargains!
Hmm, I love the idea of Shrimp Scampi and have to consider that for Christmas Eve (along with our usual ham).