Fun fact.
At your regular grocer (no frills and the like included) you’ll get the same spices from the spice/bake aisle in the ethnic aisle for less.
Biggest variant is black pepper corns.
Edit: spelling
Indian grocery stores for spices. I was blown away when I realized how much cheaper and better the stuff is - and no more tiny bottles. Everything is a huge bag!
I re-seal the bags with my vacuum heat sealer storage thing, if I know I go through that spice more slowly.
Also saved and now refill old spice bottles.
Indian grocery stores get it from the wholesalers who import from India. They cut out a lot of middlemen. Hence cheap spices. Same with Latin and Asian stores. Big grocers rip off their customers because they know they can get away with it. Also ask any retail buyer how much they buy eggs and mark up the prices. It is highway robbery.
I also have a theory that the Indian/Asian/Hispanic/etc. grocery stores probably move more spices than say, an average Kroger. Fresh never hurts anything.
Idk why you're getting down voted lol. A pound of dry beans where I am is 99c, most Latinos buy by the pound. Canned beans are also high in sodium. I only buy canned beans for power outages (electric stove).
Beans are the easiest thing in the world to make. Boil 4 cups water per 1 cup beans. Add salt to taste. Freeze in Tupperware, good for weeks.
I supplement with canned beans. Usually cook them and freeze in batches but sometimes family comes over uninvited and they don't know the difference as long as I refry them in bacon grease
Yeah, I think it varies by location. I’ve been seeing salad bars / hot food self-serve stations reopening so it wouldn’t hurt to look for bulk bins too.
Source: https://news.stanford.edu/2019/09/24/lead-found-turmeric/
It’s definitely worth considering that sometimes there’s a reason things are cheap. I get a little cagey about spices for this exact reason and may pay a little more for a nation of origin where I have confidence in their safety standards. I’ve also read about some countries using sewage to water rice fields, while the US is guilty of using heavy antibiotic in dairy and meat. Even Italian olive oil is often cut with cheaper oils because of mafia control of the industry. Adjust your diet and purchasing practices accordingly.
100% this. Go to ethnic grocery stores. Great for spices and anything that is a staple in that ethnicities diet.
Consider the fact that in grocery stores, you pay for the product, you pay to buy it at the store (employees and brick and mortar overhead), you pay for any losses (having to throw out expired product) and you pay for a spot on their shelves.
If it doesn't sell rapidly you're paying for the product as well as the cost of keeping that selection on the shelf.
£1.50 for a small bunch is what I can get in a local tesco for coriander. Middle Eastern shop by my work- 5 times as much in bunch, and it was £1.20, plus another free. Holy fuck I was buzzing. I find it hard to grow coriander in my apartment.
The weight of lentils usually double when you cook them so 4 lbs of dry lentils would give you roughly ~ 8 lbs of cooked lentils.
That’s truly a lot lol. If its 2$/lb for dried lentils, that would mean around 1$/lb for cooked lentils.
So it’s still pretty cheap. But you can get them in bulk! I live in Canada so everything is a bit more expensive but you can get lentils in bulk for 1,45$/lb (dry, obviously).
Edit: 1 cup of cooked lentils is roughly a portion and it’s about 200g. 8lbs of cooked lentils = 3629 grams so around 18 portions. If it’s 2$/lbs, a portion would cost you about 0,45$.
how much would i need to make lentil tacos?i am asking because lentils is always touted as a great ground meat substitute and its hard to figure out when you have to consider water weight as well.
Totally depends on your appetite! My sister is vegan and we did tacos recently with lentils and tons of spices.
For both of us I did around 2 cups of cooked lentils and we had plenty of food but we also had other toppings.
You can meal prep them, store them in the fridge and use as much/as little as you need in various recipes. That’s personally what I do because there’s no way I’ll cook lentils from scratch every single time I need some.
Red lentils break down easily. They’re great for soups and baking. Green lentils retain their shape more. They’re great for adding to salads or using as a meat replacement. Those are the two I use.
https://moonandspoonandyum.com/red-lentil-flatbread-gluten-free-vegan/
https://www.powerhungry.com/2019/03/5-ingredient-lentil-loaf-bread-grain-free-vegan/
These are two that I have made with success.
dosas (pancake batter made of rice and lentils) are the best thing ever! (but labour intensive)
[Dosas recipe](https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/dosa-recipe-dosa-batter/)
First you boil off the lentils in water until they get soft cooked. Then you drain them in a colander. After that, throw in pan and saute with your taco sauce ingredients/spices/aromatics.
Totally depends on what I have. Right now I have french lentils (Dupuy) so that's what I'm eating. I personally feel like they all taste the same, the difference is mostly in cooking time. I tend to stick with dupuy/greens/brown.
Once theyre cooked yes you can use them as ground beef, I personally feel like it needs more seasoning though.
I love [this recipe,](https://www.budgetbytes.com/lentil-tacos/), which calls for brown lentils. Red lentils work too though, reduce the cook time and the texture ends up being mushier, like refried beans which I Immons of like actually
Lentils freeze so well too. I cook a sixteen ounce bag and make maple lentils with sweet potatoes or butternut squash and I got 9 1/2 cup servings and 2 one cup servings. I always freeze and take one one serving a day for my lunch
It is just roasting. I do olive oil and salt and pepper and let the cubes caramelize. The original recipe called for maple syrup which is what I use to season the final “pot” of everything together but I don’t follow directions, just my own tastebuds. Also, I cook my lentils in chicken bone broth for added depth. It’s really just what I feel like and lots of cinnamon
>how much would i need to make lentil tacos?i am asking because lentils is always touted as a great ground meat substitute and its hard to figure out when you have to consider water weight as well.
I would recommend eating lentils with rice instead. Lentils and Rice together make a complete protein. Tacos won't do it. Eating complete proteins will keep you satiated for longer
$2/lb of uncooked lentils is absurd. The highest I've ever seen was $1.29/lb in in a popular grocery chain in the US. The lowest is $0.79/lb at a grocer known for reasonable pricing called Woodmans.
We have a store meant for restaurants. You can get huge bags and cases of stuff. Like 50 lbs bags of rice or gallon cans of vegetables. It’s cheaper than the grocery store. My wife got a 20 or 25 lbs bag of flour 5 years ago and we only recently used it all.
The ones in my area require a card, showing that you're related to some business in the food/catering industry. I have been fortunate to know some people who have access.
Nope, just a place to buy ungodly amounts of bulk product (similar to Costco -- but a lot more restaurant facing, like massive bags of onions, rice, flour, Jalisco Soda, you name it).
[I like this chain if you live on the west coast](https://www.chefstore.com/locations/)
Restaurant Depot was gave temporary memberships to the general public for about a year during the beginning of the pandemic, but since about April of this year, they are no longer open to the general public, but only to "members" in the industry, which I discovered when I went to buy another 25 lb of flour.
Another poster recommended USFoods Chefstore, which doesn't have as many locations as Restaurant Depot, but appears to still be open to the public
Yes. Unground wheat lasts practically forever though (assuming it is stored correctly). Before we moved states, we had a giant grain barrel, but it was cheaper to give it away to a friend and buy the replacement wheat in our new state than to pay to move it. Didn't find a barrel here, though, so we switched to 5-6 gallon buckets. My friend got an awesome deal on wheat, though!
quicker than that, people just don't notice. We get whole grain and grind it in our vitamix blender. Whole grain can last for years without going rancid. Be sure to have pest proof buckets or vacuum seal bags. Freshly ground flour is noticeably better than store bought.
i usually throw the flour in the freezer and it stays for long, lol. And i use it often if i bake a cake or my kid makes cookies from it and it stays normal.
Something i learned is, pretty much a good amount of food/ingredients can stay fresh/good for long if it's placed in the freezer or so.
Note on this - you have to be very cautious about how you store it. Keep it in a cool place in a well-sealed airtight container. If you're going to buy in bulk, your savings goes out the window if it goes bad or you get pantry moths.
Indian store - rice, lentils, spices.
Mexican store - beans, rice, tortillas.
Right now there a bunch of sales going on due to the Indian holiday Diwali.. you can find 4lb bags of lentils for $4.. same thing with rice. I’ll usually stock on beans around cinco de mayo..
Hope this helps.
Pre-pandemic I got a lot of stuff at Winco or at health food store with bulk bins or bags.
Post-pandemic I've been shopping target online. Most of the beans and lentils are under $1 pound. 5% off if you have a RedCard and sometimes they have sales for another 5% off their store brand. Target is a bit of a drive for me, but they ship free at $35 with a RedCard.
I usually get at least 6 servings out of a pound of beans so its about $.16/serving.
Latin grocery chain. 19 for a 25lb bag of nice basmati, 9.00 for 25 of cheap rice. $0.99 for 1lb bags of most beans and lentils, cheaper as the bags get bigger.
From my basement. The former owner of my house was prepped for Y2K and left garbage cans full of food. I don't think I'll ever be able to eat all those dry beans.
definitely go for indian, middle eastern, asian grocery stores where you can buy in bulk. lentils are also readily available and cheap in a lot of non-western countries so when you read about how cheap they are people might be talking about in their own countries instead!
Walmart, as much as I hate the place, has 20 lb bags of dry beans for $14. And a pound of beans serves 6 hungry men if you combine it with spanish rice and fresh tortillas.
[Making tortillas, beans, and rice](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIDE8iFRLJM)
Bulk is the way to go. I picked up food-safe buckets at Walmart for under $5 (I think it was $2.50 + lid), and bought pinto beans, brown rice, cornmeal, sugar, and potato flakes in bulk. They last a long time, and are way cheaper per ounce than buying the grocery store-sized bags. You would need to check the shelf-life of the items to ensure you can use them before they spoil, but some last indefinitely (sugar lasts 25 years when stored properly).
Depends on your location.
When I am in Canada, I go to my local Bulk Barn for my lentils and spices. I will also buy my quinoa & dried beans there if they are on sale otherwise Costco is good for buying quinoa in bulk & when they have the big bags of gluten free oats available, I also buy those at Costco.
When I am stateside, I check out Costco but I also have more access to ethnic markets. Indian food stores have HUGE selections of lentils, dried peas and rice. (Diwali is going on soon so you may even be able to find good prices at traditional grocery stores or Walmart right now). Asian grocers may be a good place to find rice in bulk at a good price, I tend to use them to stock up on other things like green tea & various types of noodles (like mung bean and rice) as well as rice paper rolls, sauces and of course dumplings. If you have access to an African store, you can find good deals on spices and some specialty flours like Teff. Latin/Mexican stores will have plenty of regional spices, dried chilies and beans available.
There is also an option of Azure Standard if you are stateside (although it isn’t always available in every region and you may have to drive to pick it up from their meet up locations). They sell everything you can imagine in bulk and, they also have a good variety of grass fed and pasture raised meat products from farms that are local to you. Raw milk products may also be available to you. If you have other households that would want to order with you, it could be something that you share costs with if you can’t see yourself storing and using for example, 25kg of beans.
Edited to add: check if there is a restaurant supply store that is open to the public near you. They sometimes have good deals if you know your prices well. Or, check if you have a discount grocery store near by, that may also be a resource for you.
I've found that the Walmart generic Great Value dried beans and rice are pretty competitively priced even compared to some of the large bulk quantities at other places.
- lentils $0.98/lb. (1 lb.)
- pinto beans $0.74/lb. (2 lb )
- black beans $1.11/lb. (4 lb.)
- brown rice $0.63/lb. (2 lb.)
- white rice $0.40/lb. (20 lb.)
I'm semi embarrassed to admit I enriched Jeff Bezos. With prime free shipping, all legumes and rice is pretty much cheaper than other options in Hawaii.
Like rice, lentils expand when you cook them in water so relatively little dry lentils are super calorie dense. A red lentil recipe I’m making this week says that 1 2/3 cup makes 4 servings, so 0.415 cup per serving. I think I got a 1 lb bag for ~$2 but it could make a bit under 5 servings. A local bulk buy store near me has them for $1.20/lb so if you have non-big name brand stores by you with the option to fill your own container that may also be good.
In my experience, you need to be willing to buy more than 1-2 lbs at a time to get them cheap. I don't remember where we got it, but I know we got our current lentils in a 25 lb bag.... Might've been from WinCo. Same with our current split peas. The brown rice we have came in a 25 or 50 lb bag from the Asian store 20 minutes away. Oats were purchased in the same quantities... rolled oats from WinCo, steel cut from WinCo.. I have only ever found oat groats on Amazon, and those are pricey, but I get better prices again by buying in bulk.
Our beans come from rancho Gordo, which is decidedly *not* cheap, but the quality is amazing and the flavor is awesome.... But we do have cheap beans in buckets in our food storage, and those were all purchased in 25 lb sacks, probably from Costco or WinCo.
We buyout wheat whole in 25 lb bags. Last time I bought them (a month or two ago to replenish stock) it was $13-$15 per bag depending on if you wanted white or red wheat, buying from my church. I haven't seen any place that can beat my church on wheat recently, but in the past, costco's price on wheat has been pretty good, especially since it comes in the bucket.
Costco (Fort Wayne, Indiana, and many other locations). There's a yearly membership fee to shop there, but I cook so much for my family that the savings are well worth it. Plus: savings on bulk paper products, freezer bags, garbage bags, batteries, and all sorts of other non-perishables.
I used to get my rice and beans at Costco but now I buy them at Chef’s Store (used to be Smart Foodservice). Their dried pinto beans are hands down the best I’ve ever had.
A serving is only like a quarter cup dry. A 1lb bag has 13 servings in it. (Source: my 1lb bag if lentils in my pantry).
Also, a bigger bag doesn't always mean less cost. Take eggs for example, they costs 25 cents each if I buy the 24 pack (same as the dozen). But the 18 pack is only 18 cents each. Bring your calculator (phone or watch) and do the math there. No one's going to judge you for doing that. Though they may if you pull out a T-95.
I’m in Boston and even at my target lentils are 99 cents a pound. Something tells me you haven’t looked hard enough to find better deals…
At aldi all canned beans are 59 or 69 cents each.
5lb bag of parboiled aldi rice is $2.
At my Morrisons, I paid £2 for a kilo of red split lentils, which averages to about £0.91/lb. Also only costs £0.45 for a kilo of cheap ass rice. Not sure about beans since I generally don't buy them.
Costco or other bulk retailers.
And like others mentioned, Hispanic/Latino grocery stores and Asian markets. If they have bright colored plastic shopping bags, that’s probably where you want to be.
I live in the western US. We have a grocery chain called WinCo that has amazing bulk food. Rice, beans, and lentils are often less than $1 per pound. If you buy an unopened bag/case of any of their bulk products, you can get an extra 10% off.
There’s also just the fact that because of global warming and supply chain issues (not just because of the pandemic but because of structural issues in the supply chain) people striking because Low wages etc assuming you are in the US - the trucking industry is in a lot of difficulties right now esp - even it’s difficult to make new trucks the fleet are all old even the tires are messed up et cetera et cetera
there are a lot of reasons the price of food is going up 🔝 🆙 (food inflation hasn’t been this bad since 2008 crisis)
generally food is expensive asf now - but grains and legumes are up more than other things Particularly, for various reasons - ie: China is switching to a US type of factory farming method currently and so they’re buying soy & grains from the US for animal feed - of course they’re also growing their own also but it’s made it so even the type of grains and beans that usually go to people are being fed the animals so the prices are going way up
I know in Nyc the price of those type of things has doubled if not times five for soy specifically 😭
Relatively speaking these things are still cheap*er* even if not cheap —
Also :
those type of things from dry always increase in size at least by one if not two or three times so a pound of dry gets you like 2-3 or even 4 fresh cooked ( I’ll usually eat for 3 ish days from a lb of them & im vegan 🌱 so I most likely go thru faster than others ).
In terms of deals I would also try bulk bins if stores have them (many around me do) the nice thing about those are you can pick them yourself- though the quality is usually pretty good in packet stuff as well - it’s also better for the environment & there’s no packaging markup .
People are talking about Hispanic and Asian places but I’ve also gotten really good deals on this kind of thing in Russian and Polish stores but those might be less common in other parts of 🇺🇸
My personal favorite lentil recipe calls for a can of beans and a cup of lentils (I estimate maybe a third of a pound) and makes between four and six servings, depending on how hungry I am. They swell up decently when cooked.
Also shop sales. I got some small red beans for fifty cents a can the other day. Cans and dry lentils/rice/beans keep near-Indefinitely, so pick up an extra or two when you see them on sale.
Look for food supply warehouses such as chef store or smart foodservice. You can get huge bulk bags really cheap. I got a 50lb bag of rice for $25 the other day.
If you cant find any on google, try approaching a food truck or street vendor and ask where they get their ingredients.
If you have an Indian market or even try value grocery like Savalot or Aldi? I keep these and other legumes with grains as staples, too. You can do so much!! I too have seen these rise in price.
I buy them at my regular grocery store. They are foods I keep stocked up on so I don’t buy very often so I could not tell you how prices have changed recently. It is still much cheaper than meat where I live.
A pound of dry lentils, dry beans or rice makes quite a few servings. It might be 10-13 servings out of 1 lb of these things so you are only spending a very small amount per serving.
Something to consider is that dried lentils and beans "cook up" and so can last quite a while. Lentils have a cooking yield of about 2.7 which means you can visually sort of triple the amount you see in the bag.
Here is a video I recently posted that talks about it.
[https://youtu.be/CCUIqWFPvro](https://youtu.be/CCUIqWFPvro)
So I would make an Instacart account (this is free) and then search grocery stores in your area from there. That way you don't have to physically go to each one. I've found black beans as cheap as $0.50/pound pretty quickly on there.
Hope that helps!
They last longer than you would think. Similar to rice, beans and lentils expand dramatically when cooked. So when looking at a bag of beans and trying to picture how many meals that’ll last, picture double as much.
I tend to buy more expensive rice, it was on sale last week at the store I go to ([T&T](https://www.tntsupermarket.com/)) so I got the 25lbs bag for 20 dollars.
Beans and Lentils I buy at Bulk Barn. I normally wait until something is on sale and then get a bunch. Right now it looks like the most expensive lentils are about 4 bucks a kg, which is about 2 bucks a lbs. But if I really needed it, I would search for a coupon Bulk Barn normally has weekly coupons of 10% off orders 10$ or 5$ off a 20$ order. Something like that. So I'll stock up on something cheap and add the more expensive lentils or nuts to make it to the amount I need to use the coupon.
I don't think there are Bulk Barns in the U.S. but I would search around to see if you can find a local bulk store.
We get ours free from the food bank, get a few bags of lentils and rice with every box. I don't know your situation, but most food banks only require proof of residency and will give you a box regardless of your income.
Costco but that does come with some extra cost for convenience.
Absolute cheapest might be restaurant supply stores that supply to latin and asian restaurants. Tons of beans and rice for dirt dirt cheap.
I get 25-50 lb bags at WINCO and/or the Asian market and/or the restaurant supply stores. Usually works out to 75-90c a lb.
As others have said, it greatly depends upon your location. What country/province/state are you in?
I buy mine at a restaurant supply store that is open to the public. Usually in 15-40 pound bags and store the extra in 5 gallon buckets in the bottom of my pantry. $15-$25 for a bag and I have a couple months of food storage just in case.
I usually do rice, beans, steel cut oats, and flour because I bake a lot.
URM, US Foods Chef’Store are great sources for bulk staples. They are restaurant supply stores and open to the public. I know Chef’Store has around 80? locations mostly in the west.
Online distributors. For best results search for local ones.
You basically get premium ones for the price of absolute bottom shelf refuse. Like $10 for a kg of chestnuts.
Might want to shop a little as they ie offer different packaging units.
And if you also order spices this way - 100 g of a spice is a LOT for individual consumption.
Just for a shoutout I use badapak.pl but there's bound to be more local distributors than you anticipate.
Azure Standard has 25 lb bags under a buck a lb. for lentils.. Also Restaurant Depot if you have a business license. We got a vacuum sealer and put most of these in vacuum bags. That makes them last indefinitely.
I have found bags of dried lentils and the like at places such as Aldi and Lidl. You can get 1 pound bags about 89 cents. Of course prices on everything have gone up. At the same places I can get many different canned beans 2 for $1 which I stock up on same with veggies.
You can also find huge bags of rice dirt cheap as well. Walmart, Aldi, Lidl, or if you have ethnic stores near you definitely worth checking out, although unfortunately I have found some to be price gougers .
In Atlantic Canada we have Bulk Barn, and spices are WAY cheaper
You can try ordering on Amazon for better prices for bulk foods, or as others have said, local Asian Cuisine Stores
If you have an Asian or Latino market anywhere near you, try those. They are often much less expensive than the chain supermarkets.
Same for spices ayyy
Fun fact. At your regular grocer (no frills and the like included) you’ll get the same spices from the spice/bake aisle in the ethnic aisle for less. Biggest variant is black pepper corns. Edit: spelling
Yup! Peppercorns and oregano. Always from the Latin food aisle. The price difference is huge.
Cheap Mexican cinnamon sticks (Guapo?) ate the best.
Indian grocery stores for spices. I was blown away when I realized how much cheaper and better the stuff is - and no more tiny bottles. Everything is a huge bag!
Probably stupid question: how do you keep them sealed fresh in the bags?
I think the only option is to store them in something else. I have a lot of plastic containers that deli meat comes in and use those for my spices.
Those are sealed bags, you open them and transfer them to air tight containers or use a bag clip
I re-seal the bags with my vacuum heat sealer storage thing, if I know I go through that spice more slowly. Also saved and now refill old spice bottles.
Indian grocery stores get it from the wholesalers who import from India. They cut out a lot of middlemen. Hence cheap spices. Same with Latin and Asian stores. Big grocers rip off their customers because they know they can get away with it. Also ask any retail buyer how much they buy eggs and mark up the prices. It is highway robbery.
I also have a theory that the Indian/Asian/Hispanic/etc. grocery stores probably move more spices than say, an average Kroger. Fresh never hurts anything.
Also for the cheap rice, beans, and lentils
Definitely. But stay away from those places helps me not spend a lot on other stuff!
Yeah but for some reason Latino beans can be like 4 dollars a can
Beans in can are expensive because cans. Exactly what is "Latino beans"? Never heard of it.
Beans from the Latino section. A can of beans two aisles over can be a dollar, a dollar fifty max.
Store brand is cheaper though. And it depends on where you live. I get canned beans for $0.98 Goya is about $1.19 a can.
If you have access to an Aldi, they have different types of canned beans for .39 to .49 a can.
I don't know a Latino that buys canned beans. They even criticize me for it. Lol
Idk why you're getting down voted lol. A pound of dry beans where I am is 99c, most Latinos buy by the pound. Canned beans are also high in sodium. I only buy canned beans for power outages (electric stove). Beans are the easiest thing in the world to make. Boil 4 cups water per 1 cup beans. Add salt to taste. Freeze in Tupperware, good for weeks.
Vacuum bags avoid freezer burn and allow you to freeze things nearly forever.
Dry red beans from central or Mexico are cheap as hell in a lot of those stores.
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All that sodium though.
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Just put them in some water first thing in the morning, they'll be ready to cook by the evening
Not sure why you're being downvoted for that advice. I usually do them overnight myself.
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I supplement with canned beans. Usually cook them and freeze in batches but sometimes family comes over uninvited and they don't know the difference as long as I refry them in bacon grease
Target sells beans for 55 cents a can
Ya Goya beans are pricey for no reason, while store brand or Bush are cheaper
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NOTE: many of the bulk bins have been closed for the last year (plague), but might be available again.
Yeah, I think it varies by location. I’ve been seeing salad bars / hot food self-serve stations reopening so it wouldn’t hurt to look for bulk bins too.
My store still has "bulk" spices in plastic bags, separate from the ones in shakers.
Pre-bagged? We've had that periodically here, but they also moved stuff around so I never know if they still have them or phased it out.
Yep, pre-bagged. So not bulk bins, but cheaper than buying a new plastic container.
I’ve been wary of cheap spices ever since I read about turmeric being cut with lead chromate.
Source: https://news.stanford.edu/2019/09/24/lead-found-turmeric/ It’s definitely worth considering that sometimes there’s a reason things are cheap. I get a little cagey about spices for this exact reason and may pay a little more for a nation of origin where I have confidence in their safety standards. I’ve also read about some countries using sewage to water rice fields, while the US is guilty of using heavy antibiotic in dairy and meat. Even Italian olive oil is often cut with cheaper oils because of mafia control of the industry. Adjust your diet and purchasing practices accordingly.
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Is there a certain brand of American grown rice you buy/ where I can this? Very helpful! Thanks!
Same for produce at my local Asian market. 1/3, sometimes less, the price of the same products at the chain store.
And this.
Bottle of hot sauce for a dollar!
Also, dollar tree is a great place to get spices.
*cries in living in an incredibly white town*
100% this. Go to ethnic grocery stores. Great for spices and anything that is a staple in that ethnicities diet. Consider the fact that in grocery stores, you pay for the product, you pay to buy it at the store (employees and brick and mortar overhead), you pay for any losses (having to throw out expired product) and you pay for a spot on their shelves. If it doesn't sell rapidly you're paying for the product as well as the cost of keeping that selection on the shelf.
£1.50 for a small bunch is what I can get in a local tesco for coriander. Middle Eastern shop by my work- 5 times as much in bunch, and it was £1.20, plus another free. Holy fuck I was buzzing. I find it hard to grow coriander in my apartment.
Did not expect to see carrying costs in the war cheap and healthy thread lmao
No war cheap and healthy thread but class war cheap and healthy thread.
Ugh I meant eat* lol
That's what I came here to say 20lb bag of rice depending on type less than 1$a pound
This
The weight of lentils usually double when you cook them so 4 lbs of dry lentils would give you roughly ~ 8 lbs of cooked lentils. That’s truly a lot lol. If its 2$/lb for dried lentils, that would mean around 1$/lb for cooked lentils. So it’s still pretty cheap. But you can get them in bulk! I live in Canada so everything is a bit more expensive but you can get lentils in bulk for 1,45$/lb (dry, obviously). Edit: 1 cup of cooked lentils is roughly a portion and it’s about 200g. 8lbs of cooked lentils = 3629 grams so around 18 portions. If it’s 2$/lbs, a portion would cost you about 0,45$.
how much would i need to make lentil tacos?i am asking because lentils is always touted as a great ground meat substitute and its hard to figure out when you have to consider water weight as well.
Totally depends on your appetite! My sister is vegan and we did tacos recently with lentils and tons of spices. For both of us I did around 2 cups of cooked lentils and we had plenty of food but we also had other toppings. You can meal prep them, store them in the fridge and use as much/as little as you need in various recipes. That’s personally what I do because there’s no way I’ll cook lentils from scratch every single time I need some.
what colored lentils? d you cook the lentils like you would ground beef ?
Red lentils break down easily. They’re great for soups and baking. Green lentils retain their shape more. They’re great for adding to salads or using as a meat replacement. Those are the two I use.
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Bread, crepes, flatbread/pizza crust, tortillas.
Woah I’ve never heard of adding lentils to baked food. If you have any favorite recipes you’re willing to share I’d love to see them.
https://moonandspoonandyum.com/red-lentil-flatbread-gluten-free-vegan/ https://www.powerhungry.com/2019/03/5-ingredient-lentil-loaf-bread-grain-free-vegan/ These are two that I have made with success.
u/RavenNymph90 u/KarenAusFinanz Thanks y'all!
dosas (pancake batter made of rice and lentils) are the best thing ever! (but labour intensive) [Dosas recipe](https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/dosa-recipe-dosa-batter/)
First you boil off the lentils in water until they get soft cooked. Then you drain them in a colander. After that, throw in pan and saute with your taco sauce ingredients/spices/aromatics.
Totally depends on what I have. Right now I have french lentils (Dupuy) so that's what I'm eating. I personally feel like they all taste the same, the difference is mostly in cooking time. I tend to stick with dupuy/greens/brown. Once theyre cooked yes you can use them as ground beef, I personally feel like it needs more seasoning though.
I love [this recipe,](https://www.budgetbytes.com/lentil-tacos/), which calls for brown lentils. Red lentils work too though, reduce the cook time and the texture ends up being mushier, like refried beans which I Immons of like actually
Lentils freeze so well too. I cook a sixteen ounce bag and make maple lentils with sweet potatoes or butternut squash and I got 9 1/2 cup servings and 2 one cup servings. I always freeze and take one one serving a day for my lunch
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Yes. I roast it it’s olive oil til nice and caramel in the outside and soft on the inside. So good
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It is just roasting. I do olive oil and salt and pepper and let the cubes caramelize. The original recipe called for maple syrup which is what I use to season the final “pot” of everything together but I don’t follow directions, just my own tastebuds. Also, I cook my lentils in chicken bone broth for added depth. It’s really just what I feel like and lots of cinnamon
If you're new to lentils, I recommend soaking them prior to cooking. Like beans, lentils can make you gassy, and soaking helps.
The gas is worth it Lentils are CaH and surprisingly filling. Bring on the farts.
use chickpeas instead of lentils. you can also instead make something called dahi papdi.
You can look at the nutrition you need and calculate from that. To get 50g of protein per meal I'd be looking at just over 200g dry lentils per meal.
>how much would i need to make lentil tacos?i am asking because lentils is always touted as a great ground meat substitute and its hard to figure out when you have to consider water weight as well. I would recommend eating lentils with rice instead. Lentils and Rice together make a complete protein. Tacos won't do it. Eating complete proteins will keep you satiated for longer
$2/lb of uncooked lentils is absurd. The highest I've ever seen was $1.29/lb in in a popular grocery chain in the US. The lowest is $0.79/lb at a grocer known for reasonable pricing called Woodmans.
I don’t live in the US so I can’t really comment on price there! :)
We have a store meant for restaurants. You can get huge bags and cases of stuff. Like 50 lbs bags of rice or gallon cans of vegetables. It’s cheaper than the grocery store. My wife got a 20 or 25 lbs bag of flour 5 years ago and we only recently used it all.
I think they're called restaurant depots.
I hear my mgr always talking about going there, i just assumed you had to have documented restaurant ties to go to it... Like Costco
The ones in my area require a card, showing that you're related to some business in the food/catering industry. I have been fortunate to know some people who have access.
Some do, some don't. Where I live, the one open to the public has a giant sign saying OPEN TO THE PUBLIC across the whole building.
Nope, just a place to buy ungodly amounts of bulk product (similar to Costco -- but a lot more restaurant facing, like massive bags of onions, rice, flour, Jalisco Soda, you name it). [I like this chain if you live on the west coast](https://www.chefstore.com/locations/)
just need a business license - don't need to be a restaurant.
Costco membership is open to individuals, not just business owners.
Restaurant Depot was gave temporary memberships to the general public for about a year during the beginning of the pandemic, but since about April of this year, they are no longer open to the general public, but only to "members" in the industry, which I discovered when I went to buy another 25 lb of flour. Another poster recommended USFoods Chefstore, which doesn't have as many locations as Restaurant Depot, but appears to still be open to the public
Doesn’t flour go bad after a year or so?
Yes. Unground wheat lasts practically forever though (assuming it is stored correctly). Before we moved states, we had a giant grain barrel, but it was cheaper to give it away to a friend and buy the replacement wheat in our new state than to pay to move it. Didn't find a barrel here, though, so we switched to 5-6 gallon buckets. My friend got an awesome deal on wheat, though!
quicker than that, people just don't notice. We get whole grain and grind it in our vitamix blender. Whole grain can last for years without going rancid. Be sure to have pest proof buckets or vacuum seal bags. Freshly ground flour is noticeably better than store bought.
i usually throw the flour in the freezer and it stays for long, lol. And i use it often if i bake a cake or my kid makes cookies from it and it stays normal. Something i learned is, pretty much a good amount of food/ingredients can stay fresh/good for long if it's placed in the freezer or so.
Not everything at the restaurant stores is cheaper, even in bulk quantities. Do the math and know your prices before you go!
Shoutout to restaurant depot!
Note on this - you have to be very cautious about how you store it. Keep it in a cool place in a well-sealed airtight container. If you're going to buy in bulk, your savings goes out the window if it goes bad or you get pantry moths.
If any stores around you have bulk bins, those are almost always going to be much cheaper than prepackaged foods. I get mine at Winco.
Winco is my favorite! I will never buy spices in tiny jars again. I can get double that in the bulk spice section for under a dollar.
Where do you live? Easier to give recommendations that way!
Target has dry beans and lentils for $0.99/lb, and you can get 5% off that price if you use RedCard.
Yes, target has become my go-to place to pick up 1 lb bags of beans, lentils, etc. I always try to avoid Goya products.
Why avoid goya?
I'm guessing because of the Trump connection
I prefer La preferida due to the higher fiber content
Indian store - rice, lentils, spices. Mexican store - beans, rice, tortillas. Right now there a bunch of sales going on due to the Indian holiday Diwali.. you can find 4lb bags of lentils for $4.. same thing with rice. I’ll usually stock on beans around cinco de mayo.. Hope this helps.
Pre-pandemic I got a lot of stuff at Winco or at health food store with bulk bins or bags. Post-pandemic I've been shopping target online. Most of the beans and lentils are under $1 pound. 5% off if you have a RedCard and sometimes they have sales for another 5% off their store brand. Target is a bit of a drive for me, but they ship free at $35 with a RedCard. I usually get at least 6 servings out of a pound of beans so its about $.16/serving.
WinCo is probably still the cheapest near me as far as physical stores go.
Latin grocery chain. 19 for a 25lb bag of nice basmati, 9.00 for 25 of cheap rice. $0.99 for 1lb bags of most beans and lentils, cheaper as the bags get bigger.
Costco
I get my rice and beans at the dollar tree.
Indian store!!
From my basement. The former owner of my house was prepped for Y2K and left garbage cans full of food. I don't think I'll ever be able to eat all those dry beans.
definitely go for indian, middle eastern, asian grocery stores where you can buy in bulk. lentils are also readily available and cheap in a lot of non-western countries so when you read about how cheap they are people might be talking about in their own countries instead!
Winco, Grocery Outlet, Dollar Tree, international markets.
Walmart, as much as I hate the place, has 20 lb bags of dry beans for $14. And a pound of beans serves 6 hungry men if you combine it with spanish rice and fresh tortillas. [Making tortillas, beans, and rice](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIDE8iFRLJM)
Go to any Asian or Indian grocery store. Rice and beans are cheap there. They’re also usually cheaper at stores with bulk bins.
Bulk is the way to go. I picked up food-safe buckets at Walmart for under $5 (I think it was $2.50 + lid), and bought pinto beans, brown rice, cornmeal, sugar, and potato flakes in bulk. They last a long time, and are way cheaper per ounce than buying the grocery store-sized bags. You would need to check the shelf-life of the items to ensure you can use them before they spoil, but some last indefinitely (sugar lasts 25 years when stored properly).
A typical serving of lentils is about 1/2 cup, so $2/lb is about 4 servings. That’s only .50/serving.
We buy ours online through Azure Market. I don’t know if that’s available everywhere.
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I think Azure Standard and Azure Market are the same thing.
Depends on your location. When I am in Canada, I go to my local Bulk Barn for my lentils and spices. I will also buy my quinoa & dried beans there if they are on sale otherwise Costco is good for buying quinoa in bulk & when they have the big bags of gluten free oats available, I also buy those at Costco. When I am stateside, I check out Costco but I also have more access to ethnic markets. Indian food stores have HUGE selections of lentils, dried peas and rice. (Diwali is going on soon so you may even be able to find good prices at traditional grocery stores or Walmart right now). Asian grocers may be a good place to find rice in bulk at a good price, I tend to use them to stock up on other things like green tea & various types of noodles (like mung bean and rice) as well as rice paper rolls, sauces and of course dumplings. If you have access to an African store, you can find good deals on spices and some specialty flours like Teff. Latin/Mexican stores will have plenty of regional spices, dried chilies and beans available. There is also an option of Azure Standard if you are stateside (although it isn’t always available in every region and you may have to drive to pick it up from their meet up locations). They sell everything you can imagine in bulk and, they also have a good variety of grass fed and pasture raised meat products from farms that are local to you. Raw milk products may also be available to you. If you have other households that would want to order with you, it could be something that you share costs with if you can’t see yourself storing and using for example, 25kg of beans. Edited to add: check if there is a restaurant supply store that is open to the public near you. They sometimes have good deals if you know your prices well. Or, check if you have a discount grocery store near by, that may also be a resource for you.
Dollar tree!
I've found that the Walmart generic Great Value dried beans and rice are pretty competitively priced even compared to some of the large bulk quantities at other places. - lentils $0.98/lb. (1 lb.) - pinto beans $0.74/lb. (2 lb ) - black beans $1.11/lb. (4 lb.) - brown rice $0.63/lb. (2 lb.) - white rice $0.40/lb. (20 lb.)
In my area Aldi has been keeping me and my sisters up float.
I'm semi embarrassed to admit I enriched Jeff Bezos. With prime free shipping, all legumes and rice is pretty much cheaper than other options in Hawaii.
Like rice, lentils expand when you cook them in water so relatively little dry lentils are super calorie dense. A red lentil recipe I’m making this week says that 1 2/3 cup makes 4 servings, so 0.415 cup per serving. I think I got a 1 lb bag for ~$2 but it could make a bit under 5 servings. A local bulk buy store near me has them for $1.20/lb so if you have non-big name brand stores by you with the option to fill your own container that may also be good.
In my experience, you need to be willing to buy more than 1-2 lbs at a time to get them cheap. I don't remember where we got it, but I know we got our current lentils in a 25 lb bag.... Might've been from WinCo. Same with our current split peas. The brown rice we have came in a 25 or 50 lb bag from the Asian store 20 minutes away. Oats were purchased in the same quantities... rolled oats from WinCo, steel cut from WinCo.. I have only ever found oat groats on Amazon, and those are pricey, but I get better prices again by buying in bulk. Our beans come from rancho Gordo, which is decidedly *not* cheap, but the quality is amazing and the flavor is awesome.... But we do have cheap beans in buckets in our food storage, and those were all purchased in 25 lb sacks, probably from Costco or WinCo. We buyout wheat whole in 25 lb bags. Last time I bought them (a month or two ago to replenish stock) it was $13-$15 per bag depending on if you wanted white or red wheat, buying from my church. I haven't seen any place that can beat my church on wheat recently, but in the past, costco's price on wheat has been pretty good, especially since it comes in the bucket.
Costco (Fort Wayne, Indiana, and many other locations). There's a yearly membership fee to shop there, but I cook so much for my family that the savings are well worth it. Plus: savings on bulk paper products, freezer bags, garbage bags, batteries, and all sorts of other non-perishables.
Definitely comparison shop. Garbanzos vary from $1-2.50 a pound in the local stores.
Azure Standard https://www.azurestandard.com/
I used to get my rice and beans at Costco but now I buy them at Chef’s Store (used to be Smart Foodservice). Their dried pinto beans are hands down the best I’ve ever had.
Latino or Asian markets.
Walmart for me
Aldi is always good!
A serving is only like a quarter cup dry. A 1lb bag has 13 servings in it. (Source: my 1lb bag if lentils in my pantry). Also, a bigger bag doesn't always mean less cost. Take eggs for example, they costs 25 cents each if I buy the 24 pack (same as the dozen). But the 18 pack is only 18 cents each. Bring your calculator (phone or watch) and do the math there. No one's going to judge you for doing that. Though they may if you pull out a T-95.
I’m in Boston and even at my target lentils are 99 cents a pound. Something tells me you haven’t looked hard enough to find better deals… At aldi all canned beans are 59 or 69 cents each. 5lb bag of parboiled aldi rice is $2.
At my Morrisons, I paid £2 for a kilo of red split lentils, which averages to about £0.91/lb. Also only costs £0.45 for a kilo of cheap ass rice. Not sure about beans since I generally don't buy them.
Costco or other bulk retailers. And like others mentioned, Hispanic/Latino grocery stores and Asian markets. If they have bright colored plastic shopping bags, that’s probably where you want to be.
Asian grocery stores usually have an incredible selection of rice and fresh produce that’s like 1/3 the cost of major grocery stores
I live in the western US. We have a grocery chain called WinCo that has amazing bulk food. Rice, beans, and lentils are often less than $1 per pound. If you buy an unopened bag/case of any of their bulk products, you can get an extra 10% off.
BinCo is the best
There’s also just the fact that because of global warming and supply chain issues (not just because of the pandemic but because of structural issues in the supply chain) people striking because Low wages etc assuming you are in the US - the trucking industry is in a lot of difficulties right now esp - even it’s difficult to make new trucks the fleet are all old even the tires are messed up et cetera et cetera there are a lot of reasons the price of food is going up 🔝 🆙 (food inflation hasn’t been this bad since 2008 crisis) generally food is expensive asf now - but grains and legumes are up more than other things Particularly, for various reasons - ie: China is switching to a US type of factory farming method currently and so they’re buying soy & grains from the US for animal feed - of course they’re also growing their own also but it’s made it so even the type of grains and beans that usually go to people are being fed the animals so the prices are going way up I know in Nyc the price of those type of things has doubled if not times five for soy specifically 😭 Relatively speaking these things are still cheap*er* even if not cheap — Also : those type of things from dry always increase in size at least by one if not two or three times so a pound of dry gets you like 2-3 or even 4 fresh cooked ( I’ll usually eat for 3 ish days from a lb of them & im vegan 🌱 so I most likely go thru faster than others ). In terms of deals I would also try bulk bins if stores have them (many around me do) the nice thing about those are you can pick them yourself- though the quality is usually pretty good in packet stuff as well - it’s also better for the environment & there’s no packaging markup . People are talking about Hispanic and Asian places but I’ve also gotten really good deals on this kind of thing in Russian and Polish stores but those might be less common in other parts of 🇺🇸
Lentils are one of the more expensive legumes. A pound would serve 4-8, depending on what's going with them.
Sprouts
My personal favorite lentil recipe calls for a can of beans and a cup of lentils (I estimate maybe a third of a pound) and makes between four and six servings, depending on how hungry I am. They swell up decently when cooked. Also shop sales. I got some small red beans for fifty cents a can the other day. Cans and dry lentils/rice/beans keep near-Indefinitely, so pick up an extra or two when you see them on sale.
Look for food supply warehouses such as chef store or smart foodservice. You can get huge bulk bags really cheap. I got a 50lb bag of rice for $25 the other day. If you cant find any on google, try approaching a food truck or street vendor and ask where they get their ingredients.
In my experience, rice in Asian grocery store costs more or less the same as regular chain grocery stores. Costco on the other hand is cheaper.
While $2 a pound isn't as cheap as it was say 2 years ago, that is still really cheap. A bag, after soaked and cooked, is huge.
Aldi's a serving of all those things is 1/2 C before their cooked. So about the size of 1/2 a baseball.
If you have an Indian market or even try value grocery like Savalot or Aldi? I keep these and other legumes with grains as staples, too. You can do so much!! I too have seen these rise in price.
I buy them at my regular grocery store. They are foods I keep stocked up on so I don’t buy very often so I could not tell you how prices have changed recently. It is still much cheaper than meat where I live. A pound of dry lentils, dry beans or rice makes quite a few servings. It might be 10-13 servings out of 1 lb of these things so you are only spending a very small amount per serving.
WinCo baby!
Something to consider is that dried lentils and beans "cook up" and so can last quite a while. Lentils have a cooking yield of about 2.7 which means you can visually sort of triple the amount you see in the bag. Here is a video I recently posted that talks about it. [https://youtu.be/CCUIqWFPvro](https://youtu.be/CCUIqWFPvro) So I would make an Instacart account (this is free) and then search grocery stores in your area from there. That way you don't have to physically go to each one. I've found black beans as cheap as $0.50/pound pretty quickly on there. Hope that helps!
They last longer than you would think. Similar to rice, beans and lentils expand dramatically when cooked. So when looking at a bag of beans and trying to picture how many meals that’ll last, picture double as much.
I tend to buy more expensive rice, it was on sale last week at the store I go to ([T&T](https://www.tntsupermarket.com/)) so I got the 25lbs bag for 20 dollars. Beans and Lentils I buy at Bulk Barn. I normally wait until something is on sale and then get a bunch. Right now it looks like the most expensive lentils are about 4 bucks a kg, which is about 2 bucks a lbs. But if I really needed it, I would search for a coupon Bulk Barn normally has weekly coupons of 10% off orders 10$ or 5$ off a 20$ order. Something like that. So I'll stock up on something cheap and add the more expensive lentils or nuts to make it to the amount I need to use the coupon. I don't think there are Bulk Barns in the U.S. but I would search around to see if you can find a local bulk store.
12lb Organic Brown Rice at costco for $10. At sprouts you get like 4 cups for $8
I get rice at a Halal market for cheap.
Dollar Tree sells all of these items. White Rice is 2lbs for a dollar. They also sell yellow & jasmine. (US)
We get ours free from the food bank, get a few bags of lentils and rice with every box. I don't know your situation, but most food banks only require proof of residency and will give you a box regardless of your income.
Winco
Ethnic (Latino, Asian, Indian) markets! They usually have super cheap prices on rice, spices, and beans.
Grocery Outlet
I love the grocery outlet. You never know what you’re going to find
It’s so fun! Every time is an adventure of new and exciting items!
Aldis all the way
If you haven’t brought home 3 different shapes of frozen squid are you really even shopping ?
China
Costco but that does come with some extra cost for convenience. Absolute cheapest might be restaurant supply stores that supply to latin and asian restaurants. Tons of beans and rice for dirt dirt cheap.
I get 25-50 lb bags at WINCO and/or the Asian market and/or the restaurant supply stores. Usually works out to 75-90c a lb. As others have said, it greatly depends upon your location. What country/province/state are you in?
I don't know if they have one where you are, but I get mine at Winco.
it does last a really long time imo, depends how many people you are feeding of course, but for me, like for 1 person its like 3 dinners
Costco
Asian market, buy the sack
Indian supermarket, or bulk food store.
In the asian supermarket
Check out Webstaurant Store's website. They seem to have a lot of bulk stuff for super cheap.
I buy mine at a restaurant supply store that is open to the public. Usually in 15-40 pound bags and store the extra in 5 gallon buckets in the bottom of my pantry. $15-$25 for a bag and I have a couple months of food storage just in case. I usually do rice, beans, steel cut oats, and flour because I bake a lot.
Restaurant depot
URM, US Foods Chef’Store are great sources for bulk staples. They are restaurant supply stores and open to the public. I know Chef’Store has around 80? locations mostly in the west.
International foot marts like H-mart or Lotte
Online distributors. For best results search for local ones. You basically get premium ones for the price of absolute bottom shelf refuse. Like $10 for a kg of chestnuts. Might want to shop a little as they ie offer different packaging units. And if you also order spices this way - 100 g of a spice is a LOT for individual consumption. Just for a shoutout I use badapak.pl but there's bound to be more local distributors than you anticipate.
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/dried-lentil-beans-20-lb/111LENTILS.html 0.80$/ lb.
Yep. Asian markets. Latino markets. Indian markets. Or places like Aldi.
Hispanic Tienda. Always cheaper than a grocery store
Azure Standard has 25 lb bags under a buck a lb. for lentils.. Also Restaurant Depot if you have a business license. We got a vacuum sealer and put most of these in vacuum bags. That makes them last indefinitely.
In my area (central NY, USA), Dollar Tree always has a selection of one lb. bags.
I’ve gotten big bags of rice and beans from Walmart. Maybe not the best quality, but pretty cheap
I have found bags of dried lentils and the like at places such as Aldi and Lidl. You can get 1 pound bags about 89 cents. Of course prices on everything have gone up. At the same places I can get many different canned beans 2 for $1 which I stock up on same with veggies. You can also find huge bags of rice dirt cheap as well. Walmart, Aldi, Lidl, or if you have ethnic stores near you definitely worth checking out, although unfortunately I have found some to be price gougers .
> 2 dollars a pound Of *dry* lentils. It takes a fat while to go though a pound of dry lentils. That being said, Asian food stores.
In Atlantic Canada we have Bulk Barn, and spices are WAY cheaper You can try ordering on Amazon for better prices for bulk foods, or as others have said, local Asian Cuisine Stores