16 Easy Homemade Food Recipes to Make from Scratch

Make homemade food to eat better and slash your grocery budget with these recipe ideas and price breakdowns. Homemade food just tastes better from scratch!

You probably have different reasons for wanting to make homemade food.

• Some ingredients we want to avoid whenever possible.
• If you are determined to make homemade recipes and can squeeze in a few chunks of kitchen prep, it can make a BIG difference in your grocery budget.
• And some food just tastes better from scratch!

The downside is that it can take A LOT of time.

More time spent planning, preparing, cooking, and cleaning up… I’m guessing you don’t have all day to spend in the kitchen, right?

Whether you’re busy with little ones, school-age kids, multiple jobs, or other important aspects of life, it is a challenge to manage some extra time to cook from scratch. Sometimes it just isn’t worth it – your sanity IS important!

How do you know when to make something from scratch and when to buy it?

HOMEMADE FOOD VS. STORE-BOUGHT FOOD

When you are deciding whether it’s better to make homemade food or buy it from the store, consider these three factors.

1. What you eat or don’t eat often. Your time is best spent making food from scratch that your family will actually eat. You may discover that your family thinks the homemade version tastes better from scratch, too!
2. The nutritional value. When you make food at home, like salad dressings, you are able to avoid weird ingredients and processed sugars. Prioritizing foods your family loves that have a high nutritional value is time well spent in the kitchen.
3. The amount of savings. The amount of savings for you will vary depending on where you source your ingredients, but overall, your budget will look much better when you plan to make more homemade foods from scratch.

Note: I teach a whole lesson on cooking from scratch in Grocery Budget Bootcamp. This 8-week course goes in-depth on balancing food priorities, the value of your time, and how to make the most of your budget!

Enrollment is currently closed, but you can check out my FREE Fight Inflation Workshop. You’ll get access to three AMAZING video sessions focused on how to save money on food right now, despite rising grocery costs.

HOW TO SAVE MONEY WITH HOME MADE FOOD

Saving money cooking from scratch is simple. Once you’ve determined the three factors above, make a list of the foods you’d like to consistently make from scratch. Begin trying homemade recipes and start saving money!

There are 16 foods that I regularly make from scratch. I found that keeping these home made foods in my routine helps to keep my grocery budget in check.

THE BEST FOODS MADE FROM SCRATCH ON A BUDGET

It’s possible to make nearly any food from scratch, but the best place to start is to pick something your family eats a lot of or something that will save you the most money.

Once you’re used to making that food from scratch, you can pick another one to try! These are my favorite made from scratch food picks.

EASY HOMEMADE BREAD

With as few as four ingredients, you can make your own bread and avoid the unhealthy fats and processed sugars found in store-bought bread. You can also save A TON of money if your family eats bread on a regular basis.

And if using yeast is a little overwhelming, this beginner’s guide to yeast can help.

Our favorite, simple bread recipes include:

Facts:

• Time: varies
• Cost: as little as 79¢ per loaf
• Extra Tips:
  • Most breads can be started while you are cooking something else in the kitchen. Get the dough going and allow it to rise while the kitchen is already warmed up from cooking.
  • Making bread on the same day every week makes meal planning much simpler.
  • If you make extra bread one week, freeze it for the next!

YOGURT

Yogurt is full of probiotics and healthy fats and is a real food staple in my kitchen. I have it every morning in my smoothie, but you can turn it into Greek yogurt, use it as a base for dressings, and substitute it for sour cream in recipes.

Yogurt also freezes really well. Here’s how to make homemade yogurt.

Facts:

• Time: 5 minutes hands-on + 24 hours incubating + 5 minutes storing
• Cost: $3-$6 for a gallon, depending on the cost of the milk you use
• Extra Tip: Making yogurt doesn’t require any fancy equipment. I use a heating pad and incubate yogurt once a month on my countertop.

TORTILLAS

Homemade Tortillas are a family favorite. Besides just tacos, we love to use tortillas for wraps and breakfast burritos to mix up the meals.

You don’t need any fancy equipment to make tortillas either. We get it done with a rolling pin and a griddle, but we used our hands and a skillet when we were in Costa Rica. (I do have my eye on this tortilla press, which would make my tortilla making even easier!)

Facts:

• Time: 15-20 minutes depending on batch size
• Cost: $1.25 for about 20 tortillas
• Extra Tips: Like many other baked goods, tortillas freeze well. I love to make up a big batch at the beginning of the month and have them ready to go. Then I can thaw just what we need when we need it.

SALAD DRESSING

Homemade salad dressings are simple to make and a practical way to cut out processed ingredients.

Here are some of my favorite homemade dressings:

Facts:

• Time: 5 minutes or less
• Cost: $3 or less per batch
• Extra Tip: Make a few dressings at the beginning of the month so they are ready to go. Salads are much more appealing with a delicious topping!

For easy pouring out of a mason jar, try one of these reCAP mason jar lids! The pour-spout one is perfect for homemade salad dressings!

ROTISSERIE CHICKEN

It seems really convenient to grab an already-cooked rotisserie chicken off the rack at the checkout line. But honestly, you aren’t getting the most bang for your buck.

Most rotisserie chickens are very small (3-4 pounds) and often coated in less-than-desirable seasonings. A homemade whole chicken in the slow cooker is much more cost-effective.

Here are over 30 meals to make with rotisserie chicken.

Facts:

• Time: 5 minutes hands on + 8 hours cooking + 10 minutes shredding (optional)
• Cost: $2.00 per pound for organic chicken
• Extra Tips:

CHICKEN STOCK

If you eat chicken or soup, you need to make chicken stock. It’s essentially free food and doesn’t require much of your time. Chicken stock is a kitchen staple for real food families.

Facts:

• Time: 5 minutes hands-on + 24 hours cooking + 10 minutes storing
• Cost: 1 cent per quart
• Extra Tips: Use up kitchen scraps to add extra nutrients to your homemade stock.

SNACKS

When the kids are hungry on an extended outing, you need snacks if you want to avoid the drive-thru. Many snacks are extremely easy to make from scratch. And I know exactly what’s in them, which makes me confident I’m feeding my kids well.

Here are my favorite snacks to make at home:

Facts:

• Time: varies
• Cost: Granola bars $0.32 each
• Extra Tip: Bars, bites, and trail mixes are a great way to use up random nuts and dried fruits in the pantry. Throw in an assortment of flavors to give your snacks a one-of-a-kind taste!

SALSA

Homemade salsa is in high demand at my home. The savings on a big batch of salsa makes it well worth the time spent making it.

Facts:

• Time: 5 minutes
• Cost: $2.50 for about 24oz
• Extra Tip: You can adjust the spiciness of your salsa by adding more or fewer jalapenos.

BEANS

When comparing canned beans to cooking dried beans, the savings add up fast, especially when you incorporate a lot of bean-based foods into your real food menu.

Beans are an inexpensive protein, so even if your family isn’t a huge fan of beans straight up, you can add them to soups, treats, or even smoothies!

Our favorite bean recipes include:

Facts:

• Time: 16 hours soaking + 1 ½ hours cooking
• Cost: $1 per pound
• Extra Tip:

BBQ SAUCE

Like most store-bought condiments, BBQ sauce can have a lot of weird ingredients and unnecessary sugars. Making your own BBQ Sauce gives you knowledge of the ingredients and the flexibility of flavor to suit your taste.

Facts:

• Time: 10 minutes
• Cost: $2.20 for about 24oz
• Extra Tip: Making a delicious BBQ sauce requires tomato sauce or ketchup. Ketchup can also contain many of the weird ingredients typical in condiments, so be sure to check the labels.

HOMEMADE BAKING MIXES

Making baked goods from scratch is worth it for me on all levels. My Mini Chocolate Chip Scones are to die for and aren’t complicated to make.

I’d much rather take a few extra minutes to put together my own mix instead of opening a pre-made mix from the store. No funky ingredients, and I can tailor them to our favorite flavors!

Here are my favorite homemade mixes:

Facts:

• Time: 10 minutes hands-on + varied baking time
• Extra Tip: If you don’t eat baked goods very often, making them from scratch is still a great option. You can easily freeze bread and baked goods and thaw a serving when you’re ready to eat it.

MAYO

It’s hard to find mayonnaise at the store that tastes great and isn’t loaded with hydrogenated oils. This Failproof Homemade Mayo is easy to adapt to what you have in the pantry and to accommodate food allergies.

Facts:

• Time: 2 minutes
• Cost: $1.21 for about 16oz
• Extra Tip: This recipe is easy to double if you need a lot of mayo for a party or recipe.

KOMBUCHA

Kombucha is a fermented tea. Following this Kombucha Recipe saves you TONS of money compared to buying a jar at the store. Aside from the fermentation, making kombucha doesn’t require a lot of time.

An added benefit of making your own kombucha is mixing up your favorite flavors (like Strawberry Lemonade Kombucha)!

Facts:

• Time: 5 minutes hands-on + 2 hours steep + 4-7 days ferment
• Cost: Pennies per 16 oz
• Extra Tips: To save on the initial expenses of getting started, you can find some of your supplies at thrift stores or other shops. Or you can get a starter kit.

POPSICLES

Frozen treats are a necessity over the summer. And they’re one of the easiest things to make at home!

Here are some of my family’s favorites:

Facts:

• Time: 5 minutes hands-on + 6 hours to freeze
• Cost: 10 cents each
• Extra Tip: Save fruit juice from canned fruits like pineapples or puree overripe fruits to add to your next batch of popsicles. It gives you a wider variety of flavors without having to buy juice!

ICE CREAM

If you’re not a popsicle person, you can still enjoy cold homemade treats by making your ice cream!

Facts:

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

Instead of throwing away the peels and cores of apples, you can make apple cider vinegar right in your pantry.

We use ACV in dressings and chicken stock, but it’s useful beyond the kitchen for things around the house like natural conditioner and removing moles!

Facts:

• Time: 5 minutes hands-on + 3 weeks fermentation
• Cost: 2 cents per quart
• Extra Tip: Stock up when apples are in season and store apple cores and peels in the freezer until you are ready to make a batch of vinegar. Start a new batch when you are about halfway through the last quart.

HOMEMADE RECIPES FOR COMFORT FOOD

You may have noticed that most of the foods listed above are ingredients or meal components. I did that on purpose because making those types of food from scratch is where you’ll really make a difference in your grocery budget!

There are also plenty of home-cooked meal favorites that we always make from scratch and not from a box – homemade food just tastes better from scratch!

HOMEMADE FOODS FAQS

HOMEMADE FOOD TASTES BETTER FROM SCRATCH

Often, homemade food tastes way better than store-bought and is much better for you.

And I’ve just scratched the surface here. You can make even more homemade food, like hummus, marinara sauce, vanilla extract, granola, tortilla chips, and even hot chocolate mix.

The foods you prioritize to make from scratch may be different from mine. Come up with your own list of “best foods to make from scratch” and consider what your family eats, the nutritional benefits, and the savings you make when you decide to spend extra time in the kitchen.

Remember, your time is valuable and so is your sanity!

MORE STAPLE FOOD RECIPES

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