Cooking at home has always been considered a cheap alternative to dining out. But that isn’t always the case. Sometimes your recipe will call for expensive ingredients that will bring the cost of your homemade dish closer to the prices in restaurants that you are comfortable with. But there is a way around this.
A number of expensive ingredients can actually be swapped with cheaper alternatives, and it won’t even affect the dish. Check out some examples below.
Kale
The prices of kale have skyrocketed recently thanks to its great nutritional benefits. But you don’t have to be the one paying the price for its popularity. Instead, opt for collard greens or spinach, which are just as good and healthy but cost less.
Pine Nuts
Pine nuts are notoriously scarce and pricey, but you can’t have a good pesto without them, right? Well, you actually can. Just use toasted sunflower seeds or toasted cashews.
Fresh Berries
Fresh berries are not cheap, even when they are in season. This is why your preferred choice should be frozen berries. They are just as good for making desserts and cakes as the fresh versions, but you’ll get them for half of the price.
Saffron
Saffron is known as one of the world’s most expensive and rarest spices, but some dishes really benefit from its sweet/bitter nature and distinctive color. If you want to achieve the latter but avoid paying a lot of money, turmeric will do for the majority of the recipes.
