10+ Easy Ways to Save on Groceries: Tips from Chefs

“I’m one of those people who likes to stroll around the supermarket. So very often I would buy something I didn’t need just because it caught my eye,” admits Steve Konopelsky, a professor at the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts in Austin.

To limit impulse purchases, Steve creates his list of products based on the layout of the grocery store. “I know exactly what’s in each aisle, so I skip the ones I don’t need. This allows you to focus on what is really necessary,” he explains his tactic.

Does the idea of ​​taking stock of your kitchen inventory before heading to the store only irritate you? You’re not alone! Bakery chef and co-owner Sébastien Canonne has found a way to make the process easier: he takes photos of the freezer, as well as the refrigerator and pantry shelves. “Snapshots refresh your memory and save you from buying food that hasn’t sold out yet,” he says.

Supermarkets are designed to encourage us to spend money, and those who create them know a lot about this. So, in the store, Sébastien always has a calculator app on his phone: Canon enters the amount he plans to spend, then subtracts the rounded cost (we all understand that 149.99 is 150) of each item he puts in the store. Cart.

According to restaurant manager Nate Weir, we all often make the same mistake: taking a familiar product instead of an economically profitable one. “In a restaurant, we only pay attention to the brand when the product is fundamental to the taste of the dish. In all other cases, we choose the best price. The reality is that in most cases the differences are minimal and will not affect the financial results, so stop looking for familiar labels and pay attention to the cost per unit or per kilogram of the product,” he advises.

Do you feel embarrassed when you are looking for the freshest crème fraîche under the indignant gaze of a supermarket employee who has just taken out the cups? Chef Jennifer McClintick says there’s no reason to be ashamed: “Checking the expiration date reduces the risk that you’ll have to buy a replacement product before you’ve used it.” Usually, newly arrived items are hanging on the wall: collect them,” advises Jennifer.

According to chef Steve Chiappetti, there’s no point buying five or six salad ingredients and risking the leftovers – or the salad itself – being thrown away. Steve himself prefers to take ready-made complex side dishes, ordering the number of portions he needs.

“It works better than you think,” says chef and restaurateur Yadira Stamp. She says if you put leftover casserole in a large pot, you’re more likely to forget about it or not want to bother with it.

“Divide the dish into portions immediately after cooling and place it in small containers. When you’re hungry, just take one out and put it in the microwave. Surprisingly, this simple action significantly reduces the amount of food that ends up in the trash,” says Yadira.

Have you bought an exotic ingredient for your dishes and only used it once? According to food writer Gurdeep Loyal, this is what most of us do: we regularly end up wasting money on foods that take up useful cupboard space for a long time and end up getting thrown away. Gurdeep advises sticking to the simplest, most common supermarket ingredients, but experimenting with spices can take your average chicken or regular potatoes and turn them into something incredible.

“Potatoes and onions do not germinate in a cool, dark cupboard exposed to the air. Bananas need their own space: they ripen faster next to other fruits and vegetables. Spinach leaves can be soaked in boiling water for 20-30 seconds, cooled in ice water, squeezed, rolled into small balls and frozen, and you will get ready-made greens for stews or stir-fries. You will significantly reduce waste if you know how to store food properly,” says chef Max La Manna.

“Thanks for the recipe. We replaced the avocado with potatoes, the shrimp with pork rinds, but overall we really liked your avocado salad with shrimp recipe” – great meme. But, according to chefs, well-chosen ingredient substitutions will not fundamentally change the taste of the dish, but will make life easier. For example, there is no point spending money on spelled if you have brown rice in the pantry : you can cook hake instead of haddock.

Also read: Save on care! 10 pharmaceutical products that really work

Buying in bulk doesn’t always mean spending money wisely. “Sometimes the price for a large volume of a product on your list can seem very attractive. But be critical: if you don’t eat broccoli every day, you don’t have to buy that three-kilo bag just because it seems like a good deal: you’ll end up throwing it away,” says the chef. Patricia Clarke.

Even more interesting materials can be found in our Telegram channel.