30 Foods To Make at Home Instead of Buying

There are many benefits to cooking at home instead of buying prepared foods and theres nothing quite like the satisfaction of knowing you made something from scratch, all by yourself. It’s something to take great pride in, especially when cooking at home for your nearest and dearest.

When you’re out at the supermarket, you probably pick up certain items repeatedly, which, when homemade, will not only taste better but are simple to throw together and save you money. It’s time to whip up a storm in the kitchen and make those supermarket staples on your grocery list even better.

Bread

There’s nothing like the smell of freshly cooked bread; you merely need to mix flour, dry, fast-acting yeast and salt together before combining it with a bit of oil and honey. Then, knead for about 5 minutes before leaving it to rise for about an hour.

Once it has sufficiently risen, whack it in the oven at 200C and leave to bake until golden-brown for about 25-30 minutes. Then you can enjoy your own warm bread, slathered with butter, and it wasn’t even that difficult to make.

It can go with some warm and comforting soup, be part of a tasty sandwich or just be enjoyed on its own.

Croutons

If your homemade bread is stale, you can make some simply chop into cubes, brush with olive oil, season and sprinkle with your choice of herbs and bake until golden brown. Bingo, crunchy, crispy croutons ready to top your salads or soups immediately.

Breadcrumbs

If you still have bread left over, you could also use the bread to make breadcrumbs. Either toast the bread, or if it’s already stale, put the breadcrumb in the blender until you are left with just the crumbs.

Then bake in the oven until they’re golden brown. Once they’ve cooled down, you can use them straight away or you can bag them up and put them in the freezer for later use.

You can then defrost them to coat fishcakes, fish fillets, chicken, prawns, mozzarella etc. to give them a bit more crunch and bite.

Granola

The best bit about making your own granola, in addition to being cheaper, better tasting and using less added sugar and additives, is that you get to choose exactly which ingredients to put in your granola.

Simple combine oats, sugar and your choice of nuts and dried fruit to make a glaze. Using honey or maple syrup and oil, combine the two mixtures and bake until you’ve achieved that typical granola crunchiness.

Then, you can enjoy your own granola for breakfast, brunch or even when you fancy a tasty yet healthy snack.

Vanilla Extract

Making your own vanilla extract is so easy that you’ll wonder why you never did it before. Simply all you require are two ingredients – vanilla beans and alcohol, you can choose between vodka, bourbon, rum or brandy.

Then, put them together in a jar or a bottle and wait for the vanilla flavor to infuse fully. It will usually take about a month up to three months, depending on how strong you want the vanilla flavor to be. Then, you’ll find excuses to use your homemade vanilla extract in cookies, brownies and other tasty baked goodies.

Coconut Milk

Fresh, homemade coconut milk is a revelation, especially when all you need is shredded coconut, water, a blender and a strainer. First, warm some water, and before it gets to boiling point, take it off the heat, put shredded coconut in the blender, add the warmed water and blend until it’s thick and creamy.

Next, pour the mixture through a mesh colander to get rid of most of the shredded coconut bits and squeeze the mixture through a cheesecloth to get the remaining coconut bits out.

And then you’re left with your own coconut milk, which you could use in curries, soups, as a dairy alternative to cream and in desserts too.

Soup

Making soup is relatively fail-safe. You fry off some onions and garlic, add vegetables, meat and pulses or grains of your choice, add stock and water, and let them all simmer away until all the ingredients are cooked.

Then you can leave it be as it is if you like the chunky texture, or you can blend it, and then you’re ready to serve. If you’re meal planning, you can make soup in bulk and then freeze it, free to defrost whenever you want a steamy, hot bowl of comforting, homemade soup.

Store-bought soups are also infamous for having astronomical levels of salt. So there’s that added health benefit, making delicious hearty fare that could (almost) rival your mother’s chicken soup.

Ricotta Cheese

You may think making cheese should be left to the experts, but when it comes to making ricotta, it only takes half an hour of your time. Simply bring whole milk to a simmer, add lemon juice and salt, take it away from the heat and leave it for ten minutes.

If the curds and whey haven’t separated, add some more lemon juice and salt. Otherwise, drain the curds for 10-60 minutes, depending on how wet or dry you want your ricotta, and then you’re good to go.

You have your own homemade ricotta – it really is that easy. You can then use ricotta to stuff ravioli, top lasagne or simply spread it on top of bruschetta with a little bit of salt and pepper. 

Pizza Dough

Making your own pizza dough doesn’t have to mean working hard away in the kitchen. Get a bowl of warm water, add some active dry yeast, wait for the reaction to happen until it’s foaming, then add sugar, oil and salt.

Then mix in flour and knead until it’s a sticky dough mixture. Transfer into a bowl, put a tea towel on top, place in a warm room and wait for an hour until the dough has doubled in size.

Then roll out on a floured surface, and there you go, homemade pizza dough! You could even combine homemade ricotta and tomato sauce to make it a triple whammy.

You could even roll out pizza bases in advance, freeze them and defrost them when needed to save you even more time, yet still have homemade pizzas made from scratch.

Refried Beans

To go with your guacamole, you could also whip up some refried beans without buying the canned variety. Fry off some garlic, stir in some pinto beans, cumin, chili powder and salt and give it some 5 minutes or so, before mashing lightly the bean mixture.

Refried beans – done. You could then serve your freshly cooked refried beans with fajitas or on their own, as a great vegetarian alternative, with some warm tortillas to scoop them all up.

Pancake Batter

You may find yourself reaching for the pancake mix when you’re at the supermarket. Still, when you’ve got all of the ingredients at home and all it requires is mixing them before leaving to settle for a while, it really couldn’t be easier.

All you need to do is whisk flour, eggs and milk together, go for about half an hour, and you’re left with pancake batter at a fraction of the price and just as, if not more, delicious. It’s so easy you may have to limit yourself making pancakes for breakfast to only a few times a week.

You could even use the pancake batter to make your own Yorkshire puddings, which are miles better than any version you could buy at the supermarket.

Buttermilk

We often only need a little bit of buttermilk for a specific recipe. Then the rest of the carton is usually wasted. Making your own buttermilk is fool-proof and straightforward; it only takes seconds to make.

All you have to do is add vinegar or lemon juice to some milk, leaving you with buttermilk. It’s so easy. You’ll wonder why you bothered tracking down buttermilk before.

You’ll probably find more excuses to incorporate your newfound buttermilk hack into all-American dishes such as buttermilk biscuits.

Use it as an alternative to milk or cream in dishes such as mashed potatoes, pancakes or flan. 

Energy Bars

Energy bars are overpriced, and to think you can easily make them at home without having to bake them makes it a no-brainer – making your own energy bars is the way to go:

1. Mix oats with nuts, fruit and chocolate as you see fit.
2. Whisk nut butter and honey together before mixing the liquid and dry ingredients.
3. Pop the mixture into a baking tray, pack it down as much as possible to ensure it stays together, and then refrigerate for at least an hour.

They make a great addition to your lunch box or an excellent but healthy emergency go-to snack, which you’ll keep stocked up in the cupboard.

Hummus

Once again, a recipe requires simply adding all the ingredients together before blending. You’ll be so surprised at how much tastier homemade hummus is that you’ll never want to buy another pot from the supermarket ever again.

Instead, put chickpeas, garlic, olive oil, tahini paste, cumin and salt in a blender and purée until it’s the desired thickness. Then you’re ready to serve hummus made by yours truly, preferably with some tortilla chips and crudités and shared with friends and family.

Guacamole

Once you’ve made your own guacamole, you will realize how much shop-bought guacamole pales in comparison. Grab some avocados, and check to see if they’re ripe by pinching the top of them.

If they have some give, you’re good to go – mash them up, add in some lime juice, salt, chopped coriander leaves, chopped onion and garlic.

You can even add a pinch of Serrano chilies if you fancy a bit of a kick, and there you have it – delicious guacamole made in a matter of minutes.

You could serve it alongside your homemade hummus for chips and dips to accompany Mexican dishes such as fajitas, enchiladas and quesadillas.

Salsa

Homemade salsa takes a small amount of preparation. All you need to do is roughly chop tomatoes, onion, coriander and chili, add a generous squeeze of lime, season to taste and leave to chill for half a day.

Then, when you have guests around, you’ll have delicious salsa to go with your tortilla chips. It could also accompany some guacamole for a burrito dinner, some grilled meat or fish. You could also go with some refried beans, tortillas and cheese for a hearty meal.

Peanut Butter (or Nut Butter)

You only need some peanuts (or nut of your choice), oil and a blender, and you’re good to go to make your own peanut butter. First, toast the peanuts before warming up the oils, which will make a creamier, smoother consistency, then blend until it’s the consistency of your choice.

Of course, it won’t ever achieve the same smoothness as your bog-standard supermarket peanut butter. Still, it will be without all the salt, sugar and palm oil and taste just as good.

Then, you can decant it into containers and store it in a cool place. You are then free to smother it on toast, eat it with fruit, use it as a base for satay sauce or simply consume it by the spoonful.

Nutella

In a similar guise, making your own Nutella at home is similarly straightforward. Toast blanched hazelnuts until they’ve browned, melt the milk chocolate in a pan or microwave, and blend the hazelnuts until they form a paste.

You can then mix in cocoa powder, oil, sugar and vanilla extract. Once it’s a smooth consistency, blend in the melted chocolate, transfer into a jar and leave to cool. It may look runny initially, but once it cools, it will take on the usual Nutella appearance.

Then you’ll be left with your own homemade Nutella, without any palm oil once again. You’ll be able to make it at home whenever Nutella cravings hit. You can have it smothered on pancakes, have it for breakfast with toast, use it as a dip with fruit or, of course, just on its own.

Curry Paste

The world is your oyster when making your own curry paste. Depending on the curry of your choice, you could make an Indian curry paste. Whether it’s a Korma, Madras, Tikka or a Thai curry paste, it could be Green, Red or Yellow.

But regardless of your final decision, the only thing which particularly changes are the ingredients, the process of making curry paste is just a matter of mixing all the ingredients. First, creating a curry paste requires you to fry off some garlic and ginger (if needed).

Next, you put all the ingredients in a pestle and mortar, add a bit of oil, and mash them together until it’s a nice, smooth paste thickness. Then invite friends and family around for a curry night and wow them with your curries made from scratch.

Pesto

You can pick up pesto everywhere, but it’s not the same as making your own. All you need is basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, parmesan cheese and a blender. Throw basil, garlic and pine nuts and blend until roughly chopped. Add oil and mix until smooth.

Then take the mixture out of the blender and add in Parmesan cheese, and voilà, homemade pesto that is ready to smother in pasta, sprinkle on top of pizzas and flavorful tomato sauce. It’s simple to make, but it will surely wow the crowds when you announce you made your own pesto.

Pickled Ginger

Pickled ginger consists of a few basic steps to make your own homemade version. First, peel fresh ginger root into thin slices and then place in a bowl, covering the slices with a generous sprinkling of salt. Leave for approximately half an hour.

Then heat rice vinegar and sugar in a pan until the sugar dissolves when it has come to a boil. Put the ginger slices in a jar, pour the boiling mixture, and leave to cool. Once cooled, you can seal the jar and refrigerate it.

Next time you get the bamboo mats out and turn your hand to making your own sushi with friends, you can push the boat out by bringing your homemade pickled ginger to accompany your sushi.

Jelly

You may think making jam will take hours of boiling and reducing, but it doesn’t have to. You can make homemade jam in the microwave. Yes, all you need is frozen fruit, pectin, lemon and sugar. Put them all together in a bowl and microwave.

In a matter of minutes, you’ll have some homemade jam, which you could use at home for breakfast, on toast for a snack, or give as a present to loved ones.

The only problem with the microwave method is the jam doesn’t last as long. Still, considering how tasty it will be, it will probably be gobbled up in a matter of minutes, if not seconds.

Tomato Sauce

Making tomato sauce couldn’t be any simpler – get some canned or fresh tomatoes, add some lemon juice, seasoning and then mix and match onion, garlic and mixed herbs to your taste.

Blend the tomatoes, simmer the tomatoes and depending on your preferred consistency, leave to gently cook for 30-90 minutes for easy-peasy homemade tomato sauce.

Once it’s cooled, you can refrigerate the sauce in jars. The possibilities are endless with tomato sauce – you can use it for pasta sauces, pizza bases, stews and soups, and much more.

Salad Dressing

It could not be any simpler – simply all you need is three parts oil to 1 part acid (vinegar or lemon juice), and you’re good to go. Of course, you can add mustard and yogurt to make the dressing more enjoyable.

Then throw in some seasoning, and you’ll consume more than your usual 5-a-day with your very own tasty salad dressing.

You could even bottle and bulk make salad dressing if you’re particularly organized. Then, you’ll never find yourself reaching for some salad dressing in the supermarket again.

BBQ Sauce

Making barbecue sauce is easy as all you need to do is combine all the ingredients together, put it on to simmer and leave it to work its magic. Just mix tomato ketchup, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, molasses, yellow mustard, tabasco sauce, barbecue seasoning and black pepper in a pan simmering for 10-15 minutes.

You’ll be left with barbecue sauce ready for consumption. Easy peasy. Then imagine what you could use your barbecue sauce for – smothered on chips, as an accompaniment to a fantastic burger creation or as a marinade for ribs or chicken wings.

Tomato Ketchup

You may think this is blasphemy, trading in your usual Heinz for tomato ketchup, but making your own ketchup is, without a doubt, better. Ingredients for making your own tomato ketchup vary greatly, so you can adopt a trial and improvement strategy to create tomato ketchup that would have Heinz quaking in its boots.

Generally, the ingredients will include tomatoes, white wine or apple cider vinegar, garlic and onion powder, molasses or some form of sweetener and water. Then boil all the ingredients for 10-15 minutes and remove the heat once the mixture has reduced to the perfect tomato ketchup consistency.

Once it’s cooled, it’s ready for bottling, and you can store it in the fridge, ready to use for your next BBQ.

Mayonnaise

If you’ve got an immersion blender, you can (literally) whip up your own mayonnaise. Using just three ingredients, egg yolks, lemon juice and oil, you need to blend the mixture for about 5 minutes. Finally, you’ll have your mayonnaise, which beats shop-bought mayonnaise any day of the week.

You can impress your friends and family at the next barbecue with homemade coleslaw or the best mayonnaise to compliment the grilled food. If you wanted to give your mayonnaise even more flavor, you could mix it in with mustard, garlic or chili to give it a little more kick.

Smoothies

Making your own smoothies doesn’t require any advanced preparation or skill. Blend your desired mixture of fruit, and you have your own freshly blended smoothie, which will immediately quench your thirst and satisfy that 5-a-day quota.

They are so quick to make; smoothies are a fantastic option for breakfasts on the go, as you can easily take them with you and have your fill to start the day off on the right foot.

Lemonade

Factory-made lemonade, even the supposed ‘traditional’ lemonade, doesn’t compare to making your own lemonade. When the temperatures are rising and the day is getting longer, there is nothing like freshly made lemonade to quench your thirst:

1. Make a simple sugar syrup by heating water and sugar in equal quantities before squeezing lemon juice to taste and adding the cooled syrup mixture along with water and ice.
2. You can modify the recipe by mixing lemon and lime juice, adding mint or basil leaves and grenadine to give the lemonade a lovely, rosy color.

You can wow yourself and any witnesses with your homemade, freshly-squeezed lemonade.

Flavoured Water

Not only will you save money, but you will also not need to buy a plastic bottle if you make your own flavored water. This is because it’s so easy to make you’ll never need to specifically go to the shops to get your eight glasses of water a day again.

Simply add the ingredients of your choice, such as lemon and lime, mint, berries or orange, and leave to infuse for approximately an hour. You’ll be left with flavored water that you will be gulping down.

Flavored water also makes a fancy chance to your bog-standard water, especially if you’re throwing a fancy dinner party too.

The Last Word

Making your own food at home is not only cheaper, but healthier and more satisfying than buying pre-made foods. With a little effort and planning, you can make delicious and nutritious meals that will save you money and time in the long run.