Hello, readers. If there’s one thing I’m sure my friends would say about me, it’s that I have expensive taste. What folx might not say is that I also have a pretty strict grocery budget, and I usually stay well within it. Today, I want to show you how I eat gourmet food on a budget. (Hint: the trick is to stop wasting food.)
1. Store Everything Correctly
One of the simplest ways to stretch your grocery budget, reduce waste, and therefore eat better food is by storing ingredients properly, especially since gourmet recipes usually call for fresh ingredients. I have a few tricks up my sleeve:
- Store fresh herbs like flowers in the fridge: Hear me out. When you bring your bunch of parsley home, trim the edges of the stems and put the bunch in a jar of water. Then, put the jar on the bottom shelf of your fridge, where it’s usually warmest. I keep bunches of fresh herbs good for a month at a time this way. Note that this isn’t the best method for hard stem herbs, like rosemary or thyme.
- Store hard herbs in the freezer: You’ve heard of freeze-dried products, but what about dry freezing? This is when you stick a bunch of hard-stem herbs (thyme, rosemary, etc.) in a Ziploc, push out the air, and throw it in the freezer. This is an AMAZING way to keep ingredients ready to go for up to a year, sometimes longer. This is the best method for storing herbs if you’re throwing them in a cooked dish. You can even do this with greens like kale and spinach.
- Store potatoes and onions away from each other: They make each other go bad. Idk how else to explain it. Just don’t keep them together.
2. Choose Recipes Based on What’s in the House
To truly eat gourmet on a budget, you need to maximize the use of what you already have. When you plan your meals based on what’s already available in your kitchen, you’re not only saving money but also learning how to stop wasting food.
- Take inventory: Before deciding on your meals, take a look at what’s in your pantry, fridge, and freezer. You might be surprised at the gourmet dishes you can create with just a few ingredients.
- Be creative with substitutions: If a recipe calls for an ingredient you don’t have, get creative. Or don’t, and just Google whether or not something can be used as a substitution.
- Build meals around leftovers: Leftovers can be transformed into entirely new dishes. For example, the tuna salad in my meal planning post from last week can be used in sandwiches, but also as a dip! Roasted some veggies for dinner? Throw them in a salad the next day.
- Use small amounts of leftovers to make side dishes: For example, my soup last week called for a certain amount of potatoes, and I had half a potato left over. I chopped it up and made breakfast potatoes the next day. You can also use small amounts of yogurt or ricotta cheese in smoothies.
By focusing on what’s already in your home, you’ll reduce your shopping trips and make better use of your groceries, saving money and minimizing waste. And, of course, eating gourmet food on a budget.
3. Create fresh ingredient “rules” to enjoy gourmet food on a budget
I have a certain list of ingredients that I will always buy fresh, and certain ingredients that I always buy canned or prepared. This is a bit of a process:
- Keep track of what you tend to waste. These are ingredients that you always end up throwing away at the end of the week, forcing you to repurchase later. For me, this is carrots. So, while I have bouquets of herbs in my fridge and an endless stock of fresh celery and kale, I always buy canned carrots. Yes, canned. They are going in the soup. You will not notice the difference in a soup, I promise.
- Simply opt out of using fresh herbs and spices if you can’t keep track of when they’re going bad. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using dried herbs. In fact, I have a huge spice rack mounted to my wall full of herbs and spices that I use so sparingly, it doesn’t make sense to buy them fresh. Having a robust stock of dry herbs and spices is way better than wasting tons of fresh ones.
- Consider buying recipe “components” that you hate making. My go-to example is taco seasoning. I don’t really enjoy making my own, and I don’t notice a big difference in taste when I buy the premade packets. I’m making Tex-mex on weeknights, after all. See also: marinara sauce, tzatziki, etc. Look for shelf-stable stuff that you can store for a longer period of time than their homemade counterparts.
- Prioritize buying high-impact items fresh. What’s “high-impact” for you might not be for someone else, so take a critical look at the ingredients that have the biggest effect on your finished meals. For me, I always buy fresh protein sources since I’m saving money with my storage tactics, and I also frequently buy fresh greens for dishes that are more raw, like salads, as long as I promise myself I’ll eat a salad every damn day to avoid waste.
By fine-tuning the purchasing of fresh ingredients vs. shelf-stable options, you can pinpoint where in your grocery budget you’re saving money and prioritize what you really find value in.
4. Choose High-Quality Basics or Make Your Own
First of all, let me just say that we have to splurge somewhere in our grocery budget. The most expensive stuff I buy every week is truly worth it to me, so consider this section an outlet for your self-care purchases. Sometimes, you really do just need to shop. But what are the best things to spend on when it comes to cooking for yourself and eating gourmet meals on a budget?
Basics. Your basics are going to carry you from mac and cheese every night to truffle ravioli. Here are the ones I prioritize:
- Olive oil: Try an import store – a lot of olive oil sold in America is rancid. I am super sensitive to the taste of olive oil, and I use it in basically every dish I make. In order to develop your olive oil tastes, consider buying a nice bottle once and seeing how you like it over time. If you think it can be improved, buy a different nice bottle next time.
- Hard cheeses: When I’m making anything that calls for fresh grated parmesan, I always have a nice one in the fridge. Hard cheeses don’t go bad as quickly, and they can be trimmed if they do start growing mold.
- Broth, Stock, and Bouillon: I actually don’t buy broth at the store anymore. Instead, I keep a jar of Better Than Bouillon in the fridge, and I use vegetable scraps (yes, scraps, like skins) to make veggie broth in my slow cooker that I then store in the freezer, since I don’t add preservatives. This is the world’s easiest hack. Broth or stock can greatly impact the final flavor of your dish.
- Salt: I keep a box of Maldon Sea Salt Flakes by the stove and I don’t use any other salt in my dishes. I absolutely swear by this stuff. Even though it’s pricier than Morton salt, it lasts just as long, and it tastes far superior to me. The impact is MASSIVE.
Other ritzy basics that folx I know like to prioritize are butter (Kerrygold, anyone?) and specialty stuff like gluten-free bread, tortillas, etc. So take a look at which ingredients you use the most – the foundation of your cooking practice, if you will – and consider splurging on those.
5. Buy in Bulk to Eat Gourmet Food on a Budget
Buying in bulk is one of the most effective ways to stretch your grocery budget while still enjoying gourmet food. You basically save money by purchasing high-quality ingredients at a lower price per unit (per ounce, per pound, per can, etc.).
- Focus on non-perishables: Items like grains, pasta, spices, and canned goods can be bought in bulk and stored for months. Literally – months. When you have those essentials on hand, you can create a variety of gourmet meals without needing to shop nearly as frequently.
- Consider shopping at discount stores or wholesale clubs: Stores like Costco or Sam’s Club offer bulk deals on gourmet ingredients like cheese, olive oil, and specialty meats.
By bulk shopping, you can indulge in luxurious meals more frequently while keeping your overall grocery costs down.
6. Plan Splurge Meals
Even when trying to eat gourmet food on a budget, it’s important to allow yourself occasional splurge meals. These are meals where you intentionally spend a little more to create an extra special dining experience. So, when I want to eat clam chowder or filet mignon, I plan to do so once every month or two.
My “rule” is that if any dish I want to make requires me to purchase additional ingredients that cost more than $25 (think skirt steak or fresh crab meat, truffle oil, saffron, things like that), I won’t cook a meal that costs more than $25 for eight weeks. I’ve never felt a desire to push up against that rule, honestly. Having an eight-week break from the “filet mignon” genre of meals is totally fine by my body!
By planning your splurge meals, you can enjoy gourmet food without guilt, knowing that it’s part of your carefully budgeted lifestyle.
Conclusion: Build Your Dream Life and Eat Gourmet Food on a Budget
Learning how to eat gourmet food on a budget is not just about saving money—it’s about crafting a lifestyle where you can have your expensive taste without financial strain. By storing food properly, using what you have, creating grocery rules, choosing high-quality basics, buying in bulk, and planning splurge meals, you can indulge in gourmet experiences regularly while keeping your budget in check. Keep in mind that it will take time to shake out your grocery rules and build up your stock of basics, especially if you’ve just started cooking for yourself, so make sure you keep track of spending over time.
As you learn to stretch your grocery budget and incorporate these strategies, you’ll realize that you truly can build your dream life, full of flavorful, luxurious meals that nourish both body and soul on a semi-regular basis.
Curious about more ways to build your dream life? Try financial journaling.
Not sure where to start with cooking for yourself, or even deciding what to eat? Read my ultimate meal-planning guide.