Making things from scratch saves so much money! I have been making these 21 things (plus many more) from scratch for a long time. Sure, it may take a little longer than just picking up a container from the store, but the taste and satisfaction are so worth it! Without further ado, 21 Things You Should Make From Scratch.
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Marinara Sauce (works as pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, dipping sauce!) – this is the exact recipe I use, except I quadruple it in my slow cooker.
Alfredo Sauce – This is the alfredo sauce I make. It is soooo good and low-carb, too!
Chocolate Chip Cookies – these are my kids’ favorite. I quadruple this also. Once we make a couple dozen to eat, I roll the rest into (about) Tablespoon-size balls and freeze for later use.
Yogurt – I make our yogurt in the Instant Pot. We use it for smoothies every week.
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Happy meal planning!
Brownies – Hands down, these are the best brownies. Generally, I lead a low-carb lifestyle, but man . . . these get me nearly every time.
Ranch Dressing – We love ranch. We eat it with pizza, fries, veggies, salad, chili, pretzels . . . the list goes on and on. I’ve been making this tried and true recipe for years.
BBQ Sauce – this simple recipe is remarkably delicious! We use it on chicken, pork, even dip our fries in it from time to time.
Macaroni and Cheese – incredibly simple and so, so creamy. The kids eat this for lunch at least once a week. Sometimes, if hubby isn’t home, I’ll make it for supper!
Pizza – every Friday night we have pizza and dessert (this last Friday we had an iron skillet cookie, it was DIVINE!)
Corn Muffins/Corn Bread – this is our favorite. It’s not the typical cornbread, but sweeter with a nice crumb.
Cake – We’ve been making our own cakes forever. We’ve used many different recipes, this one is always a winner. If you’re feeling adventurous, our favorite cake right now is Blueberry Zucchini Cake with Lemon Buttercream Icing.
pancake/waffle mix – this is my kids’ favorite pancake recipe. I combine the dry mix components in baggies and keep them in the freezer. That way, when the pancake mood strikes, the hard part is already done!
Popcorn – once you try stovetop popcorn, you’ll ditch the microwave stuff for good. It may take a few extra minutes, but man oh man is it worth it!
Guacamole – We make guacamole all the time. Unfortunately, it’s one of those things that we just eyeball and don’t use actual measurements. One day I’ll actually pay attention to how much of each thing we add and get it posted for you. For now, the one I have linked is very similar to what we do. Trust me, once you make your own guacamole, you’ll never buy it from the store again!
Granola – this granola recipe is the best. We top our homemade yogurt with it frequently. Plus, like everything else on this list, there’s no yuck!
Jam – my kids love homemade jam. You can use virtually any kind of fruit. Fresh, frozen, strawberry, peach, blueberry . . . it’s completely up to you. We are partial to blackberry.
Tortillas – homemade tortillas are so soft and chewy, and delicious.
Hummus – If you have dry beans and all the time in the world, try that recipe. If you’re like me and forget to cook the beans first, use canned.
My super quick hummus recipe . . .
- 3 cans of chickpeas, two of them drained
- 3 TB chili powder
- 2 TB cumin
- 1 TB garlic powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- as much olive oil needed to get the consistency you need (2-3 tsp usually)
Put the first six ingredients in a mixer and blend away. Add the olive oil (or you can use water) as needed to get the right consistency. We dip all kinds of veg in this hummus for lunches. We call it dippy lunch.
Salsa– Fresh salsa is something we always keep on hand. Typically, Julia and I will spend a couple hours on the weekend making enough salsa to fill about 2 1/2 gallon jars. This will usually last about a week or two.
Crust Sandwich Bread – so, other than coffee, there’s no better smell than freshly baked bread. Yes, it takes a little longer than picking up a loaf from the store, but man oh man is it worth it!
These are awesome. I do a lot of scratch cooking, but I’m thinking there are a couple here that I’m going to have to try out.
my hubby makes marinara sauce all the time. I”m hoping you’ll link this on my recipe linky tomorrow… so I have an easy place to keep ’em. 🙂 what else…cookies.. cookies from scratch are usually the best.
Yes! Homemade cookies are the best! I’ll be sure to link up, Annette! 🙂
Your meal-panning pages pop-up has no exit box, or if it does, it’s so well-hidden that I can’t get rid of it to have a look at your excellent content without refreshing the page.
Hmm. I’ll have to look into that, thanks!
This is a great “make from scratch” list. I often make a few of these you mentioned myself. Thanks for sharing your list with us 🙂
Some great ideas! We do a lot from scratch but tortillas are one I’ve never mastered. Maybe I’ll try that recipe.