Being frugal is about living within your means and ensuring every dollar adds value. Over recent years, homemade food alternatives have grown more popular than store-bought versions for various reasons. Besides reducing the environmental impact, making food at home also guarantees healthier meals and saves you money.
Here are 14 foods frugal people always make at home instead of buying:
Yogurt
Buying yogurt weekly is an expensive affair. Frugal people have learned the art of making yogurt at home and saving money. You’ll need a liter of whole milk and a small yogurt to activate the culture in the milk.
Add the ingredients in an instant pot bowl, click on yogurt, and switch to boil. Once the instant pot beeps, switch it to keep warm and let the mixture sit for 45 minutes to thicken. Transfer the mixture into a large bowl with ice to cool it until it is 115 degrees.
Replace the bowl in the pot and stir in the yogurt culture. Press on the yogurt function. Leave the yogurt for a few hours before packing it into containers and setting it in a fridge.
Bread
Store-bought bread can be boring over time. You can make your bread at home by mixing instant yeast, flour, and salt. Add other ingredients like nuts or raisins before kneading and leaving the dough to rise. Bake it for about 30 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius until golden brown. Adjust the ingredients if you prefer gluten-free bread.
Nut Butters
Store-bought nut butter can’t compete with the homemade kind. You can easily make peanut, cashew, or hazelnut butter at home to slather on your cookies, toasts, or pretzels. You should have your homemade nut butter in less than 30 minutes with a food processor, nuts, and salt.
Gravy
You can quickly make gravy at home by straining your already-cooked beef roasts and whole chicken. In a pot, melt some butter on low heat and whisk some flour and milk. Add your previous drippings and stir regularly to achieve the right consistency.
Bone or Chicken Broth
Making homemade broth from scratch allows you to use leftover meat bones or vegetable scraps with an instant pot. The best thing about making broth at home is that you can customize it by adding pepper, herbs, and other ingredients. For convenience, you can freeze in large ice cube trays or glass jars.
Granola
If you’re tired of always buying granola that tastes bland, consider making it at home. You can customize the flavor to your liking. You’ll need rolled oats, shredded coconut, vanilla extract, cocoa powder salt, pumpkin seeds, honey, chocolate chips, and hazelnuts.
Mix the dry ingredients before adding honey. Grease a baking sheet or mat and place the granola on it. Bake for 20 minutes and poke it before allowing it to bake for another 10 minutes. Let the mixture cool before storing it in an airtight container.
Hummus
Store-bought hummus needs more flavor and variety. It’s also costly, as the cheapest brand goes for about $4 for 10 ounces, and you could make it at home for about 60 cents. You can make homemade hummus with high-quality tahini, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and freshly cooked chickpeas.
Sauces and Dips
Making homemade sauces is simple and quick. For example, to make barbeque sauce, you’ll need to mix yellow mustard, ACV, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, molasses, barbeque seasoning, tabasco, and black pepper in a pan and simmer for at least 15 minutes.
You can make tomato sauce by combining fresh tomatoes, lemon juice, mixed herbs, and onion. Blend the mixture and transfer it to a pot to simmer for at least half an hour. The sauce can be used for your pizza base, pasta, soups, or stews.
Salads
Picking pre-made salads at the supermarket seems convenient but can also be expensive. Making salads at home allows you to control the ingredients and saves money.
Pizza Dough
Homemade pizza dough is soft and flavorful compared to store-bought pizza dough. You can easily make this dough if you’ve ever made sandwich bread or homemade bagels. You only need yeast, water, flour, oil, salt, and sugar. Knead the dough and allow it to rest to proof. Your pizza crust dough is ready in a few hours.
Energy Bars
Making energy bars at home allows you to control the amount of sugar and type of ingredients to incorporate for a customized flavor. A simple recipe with rolled oats, raisins, peanut butter, flax meal, honey, and vanilla extract all stirred in a bowl and rolled into balls makes you easy energy bars enough to last a week.
Mayonnaise
A homemade mayonnaise is the best condiment for fries, salads, or sandwiches. You’ll need oil, vinegar, lemon juice, and egg yolk. Some recipes use dry mustard for that flavorful kick. Whisk the egg yolk with some lemon juice and water. Heat the mixture in the microwave and keep stirring until it is thick.
Add the mustard, sugar, and salt to the egg mixture. Use an immersion blender to emulsify the egg mixture and oil. Your mayo is ready once all the oil is combined.
Baked Goods
Buying croissants, cakes, dinner rolls, and pie crusts can be expensive to buy every time. Fortunately, there are plenty of recipes for homemade goods that you can use to make these things easily at home.
Rotisserie Chicken
It’s tempting to grab that rotisserie chicken on sale at your favorite stores, but you’ll notice that it is dry and tastes less natural due to the extra additives. You can make your rotisserie chicken in the oven at home. Make the marinade with garlic powder, salt, paprika, sage, thyme, cayenne, and onion powder.
Rub the chicken inside and outside after patting it dry. Refrigerate the chicken for at least an hour before cooking. Place the chicken in the oven and roast at 45 degrees.
Making Food at Home
Making your food at home saves you money, allows you to enjoy a variety of foods, control your ingredients, and customize flavors. By preparing these homemade foods, you prioritize your health and contribute to kitchen sustainability.
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