Cooking From Scratch Cheaper Than Processed Foods?

chirpychick

I was reading today on another forum that it is cheaper to cook from scratch than it is to buy pre prepared foods.
However, it is my view that over time things have gotten more expensive and I now find it cheaper to eat processed food than cooked from scratch.
Do others find the same?

fuddle

I'm finding that it is more expensive to cook with ingredients than it is to buy processed - but I know what is in my food and as long as I can afford it I will continue to put my own meals together.

One of the chef's on TV a few weeks back said that he couldn't produce a family lasagne for what it costs to buy ready made.

The tricks are, for me, making meals that you can make yourself that doesn't cost the earth to source ingredients, batch cook and add cheaper ingredients to bulk out

dylan2011

I think it depends what you eat, how you cook it, what "brands" you choose, if you want to know what is in your food etc. and also, how many portions you prepare.
I have now started batch cooking. I never make less than 4 portions of a meal at a time. I also understand my portion sizes as well, which makes a big difference, and I am finding it much cheaper to cook from scratch for most of the foods we eat.
Curries, cottage pie, beef stew, pasta dishes, pies, quiches, lasagne etc. are all made with a full dinner portion size costing under a £1 in my house now, from scratch. If you shop well and take the time to get it "right" I think it is just as cheap, if not cheaper and much healthier too.

meg72

I think it depends on what you like to eat. I do find it cheaper per meal to batch cook my own and freeze rather than buy ready processed ones.

pigpen

No.. the meals are more expensive BUT.. you need smaller portions as it is more filling and the health benefits outweigh any savings. Lower fat and salt and sugar and preservative etc.

cutestkids

I think in many cases the processed ready meals are cheaper especially when they are on offer in the supermarket but I would still not buy them to be honest.

You just have to look at the ingredient list to see that they are largely made up of fillers and bulking agents, then there is the long list of numbers and chemicals.

If I was really struggling I would rather eat plain jacket potato or plain rice with a tin of tomatoes than many of the processed food available in the supermarket.

honeythewitch

I suppose it depends if we compare like for like or not.
A thirty-five pence packet of biscuits is a lot cheaper than any home made biscuit, but making your own is probably cheaper than buying similar quality.
Or with ready meals, we are unlikely to only put a couple of teaspoons of meat into it (like some brands do) if we make our own, so it will be more expensive from scratch, but might cost less than the best quality ready meal does.

Ben84

Ready made food that contains comparative ingredients to the food most people make at home is usually very expensive. I find the cheaper ones tend to rely on filler ingredients and flavourings.

Gothicfairy

I spend about £50 per fortnight on food and use the reduced meats/ cheeses as a starting point.
I buy tin toms and beans ( chick pea . kidney etc) and olive oil , herbs etc but most of my food comes from Morrisons when they double reduce it.
Just yesterday I got about £17 worth of cheese for £2.74 and a whole squid for 25p
it is about knowing your area and the shops and hitting them just as they are reducing to stupid levels. A freezer though is a must.
Scratch made food is always going to be better and if you can get a reduced bag of spuds for 55p it lasts over at least 3 meals and means it is cheaper to buy and make then buy and nuke

Steve-o

It definitely depends on what meals you are making, and if you can freeze any leftovers.

I went through a phase of wanting bubble & squeak, and was buying a pack from a supermarket for £2.50 (enough for one meal), which basically only contained potato along with a small amount of cabbage and onion. So I decided to make my own, and freeze portions. I spent about £4 on different veg, and made 6 good portions. That's a cost of 67p per portion versus £2.50 at the store, with a greater variety of veg in there. I do the same with curry and chilli, and they can also work out cheaper (depending on the cost of the ingredients that you choose).

thriftwizard

It may well be cheaper for one, but there are definitely savings to be made by batch cooking; I just looked up T*sco's value Spag Bol, which is £1 per portion & Heaven only knows what's in it. I've fed 10 people Spag Bol tonight for about £8 and only spent that much because I'd forgotten to take the mince out of the freezer, hence had to run up to the nearest butchers & buy some more at a higher price than I'd normally pay. There's a portion for OH to take into work for lunch tomorrow, too, and 5 of the 10 are young men who'd probably have thought one ready-made portion was a bit on the small side. Two went back for seconds.

When (and if) all of mine have left home, I'm hanging onto the freezer & will cook once, eat many times!