To make cooking from scratch a thing of the past?

[Mumhangingon]

So I'm sat here 1 hour in to cooking a steak pie from scratch. I've totted up how much its cost me in ingredients along with the cost of the oven running for 3 hours and I'm thinking why am I bothering? I know it will be much nicer but is it worth paying 2 or 3 times the cost of a premade pie from the supermarket? Or even a butchers? Same for lasagne, cottage pie etc? I want to do my best for my family but the cost of living is making it too costly.
Is there a secret I'm missing? Or is it just cheaper to buy premade.
I'm grateful to be able to put food on the table of course, I'm just sat here thinking about ways to cut costs where we can.

Just buy premade. Making from scratch is a mug's game.

yes but it is rewarding
or dont make a pie
a lasagne/shepherds pie, = a lot of work, however i personally wouldnt dream of buying one, the thought of the taste let alone the cost
but each to their own, that is my opinion, you have yours
give it a go

how Efficient is your oven ? Mine is very efficient and I was pleasantly surprised at home much it costs to run.
also 3 hours in the oven for a steak pie 😳 whatever recipe are you using ?

i often have sliced potatoes on top, instead of mash, so that is marginally quicker!

I wouldn't make a steak pie, just buy one. I do make cottage pie though. Don't eat lasagna so my husband ends up buying ready made.

It’s a health thing too. Bought stuff often has much lower quality ingredients.
we don’t eat non-organic meat, so pre-made not an option.

I get the beef reduced for about £2, the onions and carrots and gravy granules and herbs can’t cost more than 70P. The pastry is made with lard and flour, again less than 50P. 20 minutes in the pressure cooker then 40 in the oven. Not really more than a nice shop bought one

For some things it’s cheaper to buy premade, but it isn’t always like for like. I feel like people usually use higher quality ingredients and more if the expensive ingredients like meat but then compare it to a pie/lasagne using half as much.

There's no comparison in quality between a homemade lasagne and those cheap ones from the budget range. Those are full of absolute rubbish and far too much salt.

If you don't want to cook a pie, don't do it. Do baked potatoes and a chop, make a quick curry, do a pasta sauce that takes no longer than the dried pasta takes to cook (stilton and brocolli is a quick one).

There are many ways to cook from scratch without taking ages over it.

I hope your pie turns out well and is appreciated.

It's completely dependent on what you're making. Things that can be done on the hob, for example, are usually as quick and cheap as buying ready-made. Re. things for the oven, could you cook two or three things at the same time and freeze them to make better use of the oven being on? An air fryer will reduce cooking times (it's basically a mini oven). As a compromise, could you make from scratch for a certain number of meals only? The problem with ready made stuff is that it usually has added sugar and random things like stabilisers and acidity regulators, which aren't what humans are designed to consume.

I cook from scratch, I always batch cook and freeze some,it takes no more time. I will cook 3 or 4 of everything. I have (adult) D'S I'm carer for,I take him food.
Why is your steak pie taking 3 hours to cook? Depending where you shop,yes you can buy a meat/chicken pie cheeper,but they don't contain much meat.
You could give yourself a break now and then,mind you, I find take aways really expensive (just my pension here)

3 hours oven time??

I've no idea which works out cheaper but I make from scratch so I know exactly what has gone into what we eat. I made my own Cornish pasties at the weekend, about to start a lasagne now. I have bought both ready made in the past but I would only do so now if on holiday.

I cook shin of beef & kidney with a can of Mackeson in the slow cooker with loads of veg, then freeze in portions to make my pies. Suet pastry on top, 30mins in oven to bake, a real winter family fave.

Ooh, that sounds lovely.

I'm a scratch cook/baker but some stuff is too much of a faff. Pretty much every meal.

All my food is fairly simple as process & many steps don't mix with adhd unless I'm focusing, which isn't often these days.

Pies are faffy.

The pie was for Desperate Dan, it was a big pie

Placemarking, and getting my popcorn, waiting for the smug and superior 'cook from scratch' snobs to come on and tell you how unreasonable you are.

I also batch cook all pie fillings in the slow cooker & freeze.

Cheap to cook, uses up any vegetables you're in need of getting rid (if they aren't veggies the family is fond of, mandoline them into tiny dice so they disappear into the rest of the pie filling).

Then you just defrost to room temperature, top with pastry/mash & shove in the oven.

Idiot proof!

I thought this so bought 4 x single pies from Waitrose - they were on offer and we had a voucher so worked out about £1.60 each, £6.40 for 4 of us

To make a large steak pie, it would cost be @£6 for the meat £1.00 for pastry and veg. Then at least another £1-2 for cooking the meat and pie - so £8/9

The pies were ok - but the massive massive difference was the pastry/meat ratio - I only top a pie, but this was 80% pastry, 20% meat - mine is the other way round.

There are definitely ways to make cooking from scratch cheaper. Slow cooker rather than oven. Batch cooking. Air fryer rather than oven too. But ultimately then you need to add the cost of those gadgets too so yes it is definitely expensive at the start.

Think about how you cook things. I've had slow cookers & pressure cookers for many years & they're worth their weight in gold - especially now.
S&K takes about 20-30 minutes in PC, then about 30 mins with its lid in a hot oven.

Read the labels on ready-made foods - full of things that I don't want to feed my family.

For me it would be cooking from scratch everytime. It all tastes so much better and you know what you are eating. Just be savvy when using your oven/slow cooker/air fryer.

I don't make things like pies and lasagna any more but, when I did, I'd make the filling and sauces on the hob, rather than the oven, and make one for today, one for in a day or two and one for the freezer.

You could choose recipes that don't take so long to prep.