To think cooking from scratch is not always cheaper?

I cook from scratch and my meals are cheap, but I am vegetarian.

Well if you're competing with a Michelin star, yes it'll cost more🙄

It’s much better cooked slowly for longer, whether in the hob or in the oven. I started using the oven when I had an aga because they keep their heat better with the top lids closed.

It can, but the recommendations are still to cook it for a very long time.

No, you're right that it isn't always true. The food industry cooks and grows in bulk and they prepare food in season to be sold later on. They can obviously do many things much cheaper than someone doing their own at a very, very small scale.

The other issue is having to buy a full packet/bottle/bag of whatever ingredient of course. This is particularly expensive for people who don't cook much. To give an example, all my spices are out of date because I just don't cook often enough. (I know they're still safe to use).

I actually don't think you were wrong for cooking your spag bol over many hours. I think the official recommendations for a good ragu is to cook it for a long time.

I often batch cook from scratch for my dc (3 and 11mo) but it works out cheaper as I freeze any remaining portions which can be used for later.

I can imagine cooking for a full household where there is no remaining leftovers to use at a later date would cost considerably more.

One hack I’ve found works well for minimising costs is to add lentils to minced meat. I only ever use 5% fat minced meat but if you add a tin of lentils it goes much further. 😊

I get the breakdown of your ingredients but why was it in the oven for 3,5 hours? Surely spaghetti bolognaise can be made on the hob?

Your ingredients are expensive.
buy ordinary chopped toms or Passata rather than tinned cherry toms. Tomatoes puree rather than sun dried tomatoes. Bacon rather than lardons. But a block or grano padano or Parmesan. Cheaper than ready shaved.

Surely you must realised why your cook from scratch is expensive. I don’t understand why you’re posting????

I hate cooking full stop.
And i do it very little i can go weeks and not cook.
I dont know how some cook every day and night some cook more than once a day.
Let alone from scratch.

Ah yes @MarzipanAndFrenchFancies Can't beat a piety meal lol

Of course your recipe is more expensive
You're comparing Apples and( finest) pears.
I have never used sun dried tomatoes in bolognese let alone a whole jar or a bottle of Shiraz!
I do understand GF ingredients are expensive but you can't buy ready meals containing GF as far as I know
I have used a jar of Dolmio extra for speed which actually if you read the ingredients, are natural rather than UPF
Needing 3.5hours in the oven is unusual for a ragu.
That adds to the total cost

Get the cheap sauce in a jar, ditch all fresh tomatoes, don't put anything alcoholic in it at all. If it's still too pricey get the 50/50 beef/pork mince and/or bulk out with lentils. Don't use olive oil for cooking anything, ever (smoke point is too low, things crisp up much better with the cheaper oils. Olive oil is for dressings). Daft amount of money on cheese - grate a bit of cheddar.

Got to ask - why are you putting bolognaise in the oven at all? Even allowing for frying onions, this should take 15 min on the hob absolute tops.

I didn't know that people thought cooking from scratch was to save money, for us it's for health reasons.
Of course it's cheaper to buy a pack of donuts for a quid and a pizza.

YABVU by comparing a spag bol made with a 75p jar from Aldi with your delightful recipie where you're using best quality ingredients including 3 forms of protein, a pot of sun dried tomatoes and allowing flavours to develop for 3 and a half hours in the oven. Your meal sounds lovely, I'm sure it tastes great. It's wonderful that you're able to produce food to such a standard. Did you enjoy your humble brag?

But please understand that your post is a ridiculous equivalece which is dripping in your privilege and utterly tone deaf. Well done. Donate to a food bank on your way out

I also have to cook from scratch due to allergies(DH Ds)
Beef mince low fat I buy from the butcher.
I use bacon not pancetta - much cheaper.
Swap for tins of supermarket own shopped tomatoes just add a couple of sliced up sun dried toms from the chill section to improve flavour. much cheaper.
Buy a pice of similar hard cheese and grate it.
Lightly Toast gluten free bread then spread with some home made garlic butter and pop under the grill….much much cheaper than buying gluten free garlic bread.

Look at the recipes and ask why it’s directing you to more expensive options and how you could cut costs down by using cheaper options. Look beyond the ‘gluten free’ front tags and read all the ingredients as all gluten containing items have to be listen in bold type print and state product contains such. It makes a shop longer to do but can be more cost effective to do.

Make up ready to go options that you can mix and match rather than purchase more GF products. for example if I make a bolognaise I also make a white sauce. I add lentils to the left over bolognaise mince more tinned toms and make a gluten free white sauce. I can then quickly assemble a gluten free lasagna for the next day.

My husband used to be a chef. His food’s amazing. He’s never taken over 3 hours for a spaghetti bolognese.

I agree that cooking from scratch is not always cheaper. That being said, I have never spend £20 pounds to make pasta. I make my own sauce. I make my own sun-dried tomato then blend. I recently did this made spagettii and meat ball, lasagna and moussaka and a tomato soup.

I guess the spices and herbs can be costly?

I don't like pasta much, and don't eat a lot of red meat, but given this afternoon's splurge of soup threads, I've just made a giant pot.
Ingredients c. £2.50, will probably be 8-10 portions
Fresh veg and lentil soup is £3 - £3.50 for 2 portions

when I did eat more red meat, a mince/tomato/onion base , sometimes with a slug of red wine it there was some open would make about 6 portions, served with pasta/mashed potato/jacket potato/rice (with chilli & beans added for the rice and other variations with each option)
Looking at prices now, that would be about £4 - £4.50 for the base, well under £1 per portion, but a ready meal would be about £4-£5 for a single pack.

Only time it gets expensive it when you forget that you've put umpteen portions in the freezer🙄

But did you have a roast chicken meal before it? Not a mumsnet massive chicken....

I only make it after we've had roast chicken, sandwiches for lunch on Monday and then soup, so lots of meals.

Try not choosing wagu beef next time?

Agree with you OP I made chicken soup from scratch this week and the ingredients cost over £10.
It fed 4 but two large fresh supermarket soups would have been half of that.

Yes I had veggies left but may not make use.

I am also perplexed by the oven thing. Please come back and explain!

The quality of my homemade jam is indeed brilliant.

Can people buy palm oil? Like if I wanted to recreate a malted milk. I love them.

Thats the difference. You COULD do it cheaper with a jarred sauce, cheaper 15% fat mince, cheaper stock cube etc but it would not be as delicious. A ready meal or jarred sauce will have much less ingredients, more chemicals and not so tasty. Its like the difference between tesco value loaf if bread and a bakers freshly baked crusty loaf.