35 ways to save money with scratch cooking

With grocery prices reaching new highs, it’s time to take control of your food budget. Check out my 35 ways to save money with scratch – one meal at a time.

The benefits of scratch cooking extend far beyond your bank account. You’ll likely see improvements in your health as you eat fewer processed foods, improve your cooking skills, and drastically reduce food waste. All it takes is a little time to adjust your habits, and these straightforward, easy-to-action ideas will help you get there:

1. Start meal planning and prepping

Meal planning and prepping ingredients are great ways to prevent food waste and save money. By doing those, you’re less likely left with surplus produce in the fridge that needs throwing out come the end of the week. You’ll also be able to plan your meals with ingredients that are already in your fridge or freezer or are hiding in the back of your pantry.

Watch me ingredient prep for the week and download my ingredient prep cheat sheet:

2. Become an ingredient household

Packaged, ready-to-eat foods cost more because you are paying for the additional “value” the food producer has added in processing, packaging, transporting, and marketing the item. Buy raw ingredients instead and save money by adding the value yourself.

My homemade sunflower seed pesto and other sauces are great examples of that. They’re super easy to make at home and you can make them cheaper yourself by using high quality ingredients.

3. Eat at home

Create themed dinner nights, organize a potluck, or simply make your favorite Friday take-out at home. Homemade burgers, a pizza party, or taco Tuesday with a large pot of birria de borrego are some easy ways to indulge at home while keeping the cost down.

Cutting down on take-away drinks such as coffees and hot chocolates has been one of the biggest savings in terms of our food budget. Check out my hot cacao drink or hot vanilla drink recipe to make delicious hot drinks at home.

4. Batch cooking

Economies of scale do work in your home as well. Double batch your recipes and freeze extra portions to take advantage of bulk offers.

I’ve been batch-making and freezing my cookie dough, bulk-prep sandwich breads, and proteins such as Italian meatballs and BBQ pulled chicken to reduce our food bill for example.

5. One meal or ingredient at a time

Choose one staple meal or processed ingredient to cook from scratch at a time to avoid overwhelm. Pick the meal you frequently buy ready-made or simply make a portion of it from scratch to get started.

I started off with making stock myself as I tend to use them all the time. Good quality stock and bone broths are pricey and you can make both using some basic ingredients. Vegetable, beef, chicken, and lamb broth can be made from scraps so it’s the perfect item to start making yourself to money.

6. Shop online

Shop online with a detailed list. Once you’ve planned out all your meals and decided which ingredients you’ll make yourself, write a detailed list and shop online. No impulse buys, no distractions, and I promise, you’ll save money (and time) in the process.

I greatly reduced our food bill by shopping online. I click and collect the shopping once a week for a few years now and every time I attempt to shop in-store I blow the budget on special deals.

7. Shop the outer aisles

If you do shop in store, stick to the outer isles. Packaged and processed foods are typically positioned in the center of the supermarket. By shopping the outer parameter only, you will naturally save money and buy ingredients instead of ultra processed foods.

8. Bake bread

You can save a lot of money by baking bread at home, especially if you like artisan loaves like sourdough or seedy bread. A traditional loaf of sourdough bread is made from flour, water, and salt only – ingredients that are inexpensive and probably already in your pantry.

But you don’t need to become a sourdough bread baker to save money. Yeasted bread still works out to be much cheaper when baked at home and speeds up the process.

Here’s a list of breads and rolls I started making myself to save money:

• Sandwich loaves: Cold-fermented bread, rye sandwich bread, and no-knead spelt bread
• Buns: Yeast-free dinner rolls
• Bagels: Cottage cheese bagels, pretzel bagels
• Hamburger buns
• Flatbreads: Cottage cheese flatbread and Greek yogurt flatbread

9. Buy on special

Start your meal plan by checking in-store specials on fresh produce – fruit, vegetables, meat, and seafood. Shop around, the butcher might have higher quality meat for the same price that week and the road stall has a large bag of fruit for $3.

10. Buy in bulk

Start buying food that has a long shelf-life in bulk and avoid single serves. Oats, rice, pasta, oils, spices, and dried legumes are good examples. Check out bulk stores and coop retailers such as Azure Standard.

I started buying spices, meat, and grains in bulk to save money. Do consider your storage space before going wild in specials though. Freezer, cool and dry storage space needs to match your stock piling – speaking from experience here!

11. Freeze leftovers

Even if there is only one small portion left of a meal, freeze it if you can and you’ll quickly end up with a selection of meals that make up a “surprise” or Smörgåsbord dinner one night when you’re in a pinch.

Keep a selection of freezer-friendly containers and freezer bags on hand for easy storage.

12. Make snacks

Buying snacks when you are out and about not only adds to the food bill but easily to the waistline as well.

Once a week, I set some time aside to make some easy snack options, such as my five seed crackers, energy cookies, or chewy granola bars.

13. Buy in season

In-season produce not only tastes better, but it is cheaper too. Buy large amounts of in-season fruit, vegetables, and meat and freeze them. My quick and easy swede mash makes the most of this seasonal root vegetable for example.

14. Seek alternatives

Try new foods and seek alternatives to keep the budget in check. If oils and butter are too expensive, buy cream and make butter yourself or render animal fats into lard or tallow. Stay flexible and consider all your options.

15. Barter produce

If you’ve got a neck for bread baking and your friend Jenny down the road is famous for her strawberry jam, start bartering for a win/win all around.

We have 14 chickens and get a lot of produce from our neighbours in return for fresh eggs. It’s a great way to stay connected to your community as well.

16. Buy second hand

If a bread maker, juicer, or yogurt maker helps keep the food budget down but the appliance is too expensive, check local op shops and online marketplaces.

I bought each of those near new for a fraction of the original cost at our local second hand shops.

17. Make granola

If you’re a granola or cereal family it might be worth to start making your own. You can not only dial in the cost per serve to suit your budget, but you can also tailor it to your taste.

I make frequently make this nut-free honey granola for our family. Granola is so easy to make and you can easily adjust the type and quality of ingredients to suit your budget, dietary requirements, and taste. A great cost-saver!

18. Team-up

Get together with some friends and take turns batch cooking freezer meals within a set budget for each other. You will receive a great selection of freezer meals for one large batch of cooking and everyone is winning.

19. Reduced to clear

Imperfect or close to expiry produce is often reduced in price while it will still meet your needs. Keep an eye out for the “reduced to clear” stickers and seconds area in the fruit and vegetable, and butcher section.

I frequently buy overripe bananas at half-price and freeze them for smoothies. Past its best fruit is also great for stewing or jam making.

20. Start fermenting

Kombucha, sauerkraut, kefir, and kimchi are all pretty expensive considering the cost of the raw ingredients. Start fermenting some foods at home and your gut will be as happy as your wallet.

21. Become a farmer’s friend

Check with your local farmer if you can buy produce in bulk. Half a cow, 6 months’ worth of whole chickens, 20kg of tomatoes. Strike a deal and load your freezer with local and most likely organic produce for a fraction of in-store prices.

22. Grow your own

Even if you only have a balcony, some fresh potted herbs not only add extra flavor to your dishes, but are also much cheaper than buying fresh herbs in-store. Lettuces, radishes, and tomatoes are also worth growing if you have some more space.

I used to have a large vegetable garden but I currently only have time to tend to one herb garden bed. Growing fresh herbs saves a lot of money and takes your meals to a whole new level.

23. Slow cook

Cheaper cuts of meat suit slow-cooking and are budget-friendly. A slow-cooked beef cheek beats a steak in my books.

My slow-cooked lamb goulash or lamb curry are great examples.

24. Support a local CSA

Check if you have a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) scheme in your area. The quality of the produce is often much higher than store bought and the costs are often the same.

25. Sauces from scratch

Dressings, pesto, sauces, syrups, and dips easily eat into the food budget. Make these condiments from scratch and save. My lemon cordial, arugula pesto, and smoked tuna dip are good examples.

26. Talk to Gran

Previous generations have done it, they survived and thrived on lower budget and through periods of food shortages. Ask your Gran for budget tips and please share them with me if they are not included in the list.

27. Stews are your friend

A little bit of meat goes a long way. I grew up on stews and while they weren’t my favorite as a kid I can see the clear cost benefit now. This stovetop beef stew is an easy recipe to get started.

28. Batch baking

Double the cookie dough you’re making and freeze half in a roll for another time. Simply cut 1 cm slices off the roll and bake them.

My chewy Anzac biscuits are a great example. Enjoy fresh cookies in under 20 minutes which leaves you plenty of time to cook another budget saver from scratch.

29. Sunday roast

Revive the Sunday roast tradition by saving a special cut of meat for a special dinner such as my Moroccan lamb shanks.

Add meat-free days to your meal plan and focus on quality rather than quantity of higher prices ingredients by eating less of them.

30. Cook legumes

Legumes such as beans, chickpeas, and lentils are much cheaper dried than buying them tinned. Buy them in bulk and soak them in water overnight prior to cooking them.

31. Make your coffee at home

If you buy a takeaway coffee every day for say $5, that’s $1825 a year. I know! That’s a lot of money. Check out my Moka pot guide for brewing delicious coffee at home.

32. Gather your food

Foraging, fishing, and hunting are great ways to keep the food budget in check. Make sure to follow relevant permits and regulations and add fresh produce and protein to your diet for free.

33. Root-to-leaf and nose-to-tail

Embrace Root-to-Leaf or Nose-to-Tail Cooking. This goes beyond just using scraps for broth. It’s about consciously using every edible part of fruits, vegetables, and even some animal products that are often discarded.

I use broccoli stems in stir-fries, render beef or pork fat for cooking oil, and make pesto or other sauces from wilted herbs for example. This drastically reduces waste and extracts maximum value from your purchases.

34. Turn waste into food

Someone’s trash is someone else’s treasure. Keep the chicken carcass and vegetable peels and turn them into nutritious stock, bake with the yogurt that’s lurking at the back of the fridge, and make crackers with the pulp from your nut milk.

Check out my homemade stock recipe as an example.

35. Food gifts

Homemade fudge, eggnog, jam, pecan pralines, or my honey lavender syrup make generous gifts and are a lot less expensive than artisan products from a deli.

Home baked cookies such as my chocolate cornflake cookies, German gingerbread, or coconut macaroons also make fantastic edible gifts.

Share your tips

There you have it. 35 easy ways to save money with scratch cooking. Please leave a comment with your top tips and I’ll keep growing this guide to help more people in need.