Are you beating restaurant prices by cooking at home?

My first thought was DUH! But many people still believe it’s cheaper to eat out. Well, it may be if you’re eating ONLY fast food, and you have a family of 2. But that’s not most of us. Many folks now have food sensitivities they need to watch out for or simply choose to treat their bodies better than that overall. But how much are you beating restaurant prices by cooking at home? You’d feel a LOT better if you knew!

In case you’d like to run this little experiment yourself, I’ll tell you how at the end, but first let me share two examples from my own kitchen recently. And yes, I DID eat out at a restaurant, too (I even saved there, but most people won’t do what I did). Let’s dig in!

Hamburger Fry Pan Supper (original recipe here)

I’ve noted this recipe before (check it out here) but this is my pricing more recently, along with photographic proof of my prices (just in case you doubted).

This is one of my favorite recipes. This time I didn’t shortcut it using frozen cubed hashbrowns or cole slaw mix. I found a good price on red potatoes and cabbage and prepped those myself. Didn’t remember to set a timer, but I’m certain it was still under an hour before we were eating!

I do add my own Cajun seasoning to this at the end because I love it SO much. But if Cajun heat isn’t your thing, salt and pepper or a good mixed seasoned salt would be just fine, too.

As you can see in the pic (underlined), here’s how my prices broke down:

• $1.12 for Red potatoes
• $2.79 for 1# Ground beef (3# for 8.37)
• $0.96 for ½ Cabbage (head for 1.92)
• $0.50 for ½ onion (couldn’t find that receipt so I’m guessing)
• $0.50 for Cajun seasoning (just no way to figure the cost of 1T)
• $5.87 total for the dish (4 servings)
• $1.47 per serving

Even when I add the nectarines at $0.75 each, that’s still only $2.22 per person. Not bad! Plus, I had lunch left over for both of us!

Shrimp and Veggies

I love the ease of cooking these shrimp that were once in a recipe from Publix. It’s no longer on their website, but basically you peel the shrimp, sprinkle with chili powder and garlic powder and either cook them in a skillet with a 1 or 2T olive oil or broil them…about 2 minutes each side either way till they are no longer translucent. Seriously, that’s all there is to it!

Can’t find my favorite roasted cauliflower recipe on the net now either. (It was featured on The Better Show which ended in 2015.) Aren’t you glad I saved these jewels to share with you?

One head of cauliflower cut into florets and washed. Place in large bowl, pour 5T melted butter over top (or less depending on the size of your cauliflower), toss to coat. Sprinkle with 3/4t garlic powder, ½t salt and 1/4t pepper and toss again. Pour florets onto parchment or silicon mat-lined half bakers sheet (YES, I use this combo ALL the time!) and roast at 400 degrees 18-22 minutes until lightly browned. I set my timer for 10 minutes and stir them around, then cook 8 or 10 minutes more.

One of my dearest friends taught me the squash recipe. Cut squash down the middle and score both sides. Top with a pat of butter and microwave 90 seconds in the microwave covered (more if you need it just to get it tender). I didn’t put salt or anything on this…just no need.

Here’s my cost breakdown:

• $6.99 for 1# shrimp (13.98 for 2# bag)
• $2.15 for large head cauliflower
• $0.00 for squash (a gardener friend gave me that one)
• $0.50 spices for shrimp and cauliflower (another guess)
• $9.64 total for shrimp and cauliflower (4 servings plus extra cauli)
• $2.41 per serving

Again, I added a fruit (pears at a cost of $0.59 each so $3 per person for the meal this time) and had enough for 2 more lunches and extra cauliflower (I’ll be swiping that for a snack!). When’s the last time you had ANY shrimp meal for less than $10 at a restaurant??? And BOTH these meals were fully Whole 30 compliant!

Home-cooked beats the price of restaurants hands down!

We went out for a meal with friends Sunday night and paid $10.99 per plate. Depending on where you live, that may be a low price even. I did do one thing that made me feel better about the cost. I split my meal in half and had the 2^nd half for lunch the next day. So, each serving really only cost me $5.50 before tax and tip.

But when I can eat at home for $2.22 or $3 or less per serving (meat prices are higher right now), AND I’m needing to save up for some home repair and remodeling, you can BET I’ll be eating more at home!

Conduct your own cost experiment

If you want to check this out yourself, you’ll wanna keep track of your grocery receipts, AND you may even want to mark some of your pantry items for figuring costs later. (I’ll admit my pantry looks a little funny with all the prices, but I make a game of this and find it fun to see how low I can go.) Just write down the price by each ingredient as you go, total, then divide by the number of servings.

How low can YOU go? I wanna hear about it in the comments below!!!

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