We all want to save some money on our food shop. It’s crazy how quickly the amount of money we spend can add up, by simply adding in a few basic items. The price of food seems to be on the increase too. However, by having some supermarket staples in your pantry or kitchen cupboard, you can make your food stretch further. You can start to be frugal with food. Let’s have a look at some of the supermarket staples you should be buying.
Dried Pasta
Make sure you have pasta in your kitchen and you’ve got a meal sorted. Boil it up, serve with some sauce and cheese and you’re laughing. You could create a pasta bake, cook it and serve it cold as a pasta salad or have it as the base for a dish with some delicious meatballs. Pasta is available to buy it bulk. Huge bags that won’t go off and you an dip into each time you need to. Buy a large bag and then top up a jar on your countertop so it’s easily accessible. Sometimes smaller bags on offer are actually cheaper than buying in bulk though, so watch your price per 100g!
Eggs
If you have nothing else in the cupboards but eggs, you’ll not go hungry. From whipping up some scrambled eggs, poached eggs or boiled eggs and soldiers, you’ll be well fed. Use them in cakes, add to rice to create egg fried rice or simply fry one and drape over some potato cakes. You could even just hard boil one for a snack on the go. Delicious!
Tinned Tomatoes
There is so much you can do with tinned tomatoes. Turn them into a pasta sauce, serve them alongside a fry up, add them into a casserole. With tinned tomatoes you have the base for a soup, curry, chilli and lots more! They’re vegan too, so are ideal for everyone. Perfect for a homemade pizza as well!
Flour
Flour is perhaps one of the ultimate supermarkets staples. You don’t need to buy expensive flour either, value bags are fine. Having a bag of it in the cupboard allows you to make bread, cakes, biscuits, cookies, pancakes, donuts, focaccia, tortillas, scones, naan bread and lots more! Make your own gravy, thicken up sauces, stews, casseroles, curries and soups. If you wanted to try making fresh pasta, give that a go.
Tinned Fish
Tinned fish such as mackerel, tuna or sardines lasts for ages. The shelf life on these tins is a good few years and if you can find them on a decent offer, you can stock your pantry shelves. I always suggest getting the fish in olive oil. It’s usually the same price as brine or water, but you get the amazing olive as a bonus. Drain it off into a cup and use it for frying. Maybe drizzle over your fish salad. Mix with pasta for a bold flavoured pasta bake, make your own fishcakes or simply enjoy as a snack.
Make Use Of Your Freezer
As well as storing in your cupboards, start to make better use of your freezer. Buy items you see which are reduced to clear or have yellow stickers on them. op them in the freezer when you get home and you can enjoy plenty of delicious meals at the fraction of the cost. It’s usually cheaper to buy meat in larger quantities, so if you know you’re going to use it, buy the larger pack and freeze it in portions. You might only use 200g of mince for a meal but buying it in 1kg packets will be much cheaper per 100g. Start making use of your freezer and begin batch cooking too! Learn what you can freeze too, its more than you might think!
When you look at the supermarket staples that you so often buy, you can find ways to save money on the cost of them. We don’t want to be paying high prices for things we use so often. Discover your supermarket staples and start saving money today!
