15 Foods That Cost Less to Order Than Make Yourself

Dining out can sometimes be more economical than home cooking, especially for dishes requiring specialized ingredients or techniques. This guide explores foods that often cost less when ordered from restaurants. By understanding why some meals are better outsourced, you can make informed choices that save both time and money.

Sushi: Roll Your Way to Savings

Crafting sushi at home involves sourcing fresh, high-quality fish and specialty items like sushi rice, nori, and wasabi. The costs of these infrequently used ingredients, combined with the skill needed to roll sushi correctly, make dining out a savvy alternative. Ordering sushi allows access to a variety of expertly prepared rolls without the headache of costly ingredients that may go unused.

Pizza: The Delivery Delight

While homemade pizza offers customization, the expenses add up with quality toppings, mozzarella, and dough. Pizzerias benefit from bulk purchasing and specialized ovens that achieve ideal crust texture. These factors often make ordering pizza more cost-effective than attempting to replicate the quality at home, ensuring a delicious result without the hassle.

Tacos: A Fiesta for Your Wallet

Building tacos from scratch involves selecting various meats, fresh tortillas, and diverse toppings, which can become costly. Restaurants excel in offering taco varieties through efficient ingredient use and preparation methods that maximize flavor. Ordering tacos provides a delightful and affordable experience with expertly seasoned fillings that might be difficult to assemble cost-effectively at home.

Burgers: Beyond the Grill

Creating a gourmet burger at home means investing in prime beef, specialty buns, and an array of toppings, often driving up costs. Restaurants excel in preparation through experience and equipment, ensuring perfect doneness and taste balance. Ordering a burger eliminates the trial and error of achieving restaurant-quality results if the goal is both taste satisfaction and cost-effectiveness.

Ramen: Savor the Savings

When it comes to ramen, pre-packaged or restaurant-style options often cost less than crafting it from scratch. Achieving the rich, umami-laden broth at home requires long-simmering bones, specialty seasonings, and time. Restaurants streamline this process, offering depth of flavor and satisfying toppings at a fraction of homemade costs. Focus on garnishing with fresh scallions, a perfectly boiled egg, or a slice of tender pork belly to enhance ready-made ramen while preserving your budget.

Fish and Chips: Fry Up the Benefits

Ordering fish and chips typically costs less than home preparation, where fresh fish fillets, quality oil, and the right potatoes quickly become pricey. Achieving the ideal golden, crunchy batter involves precision that restaurants master. At home, limiting oil use and maintaining frying temperatures can be challenging. For a homemade touch, complement your takeout with a homemade tartar sauce using capers, dill, and fresh lemon to elevate your meal without excessive expense.

Pad Thai: A Noodle of Savings

Creating an authentic Pad Thai at home involves sourcing tamarind paste, fish sauce, and palm sugar, which can accumulate costs for occasional use. Restaurants perfect the balance of sweet, sour, and savory, delivering a plate that’s both satisfying and cost-effective. At home, focus on quick-cooking shrimp or chicken, and high-heat stir frying. Enhance takeout with a squeeze of lime and freshly chopped peanuts for an economical yet flavorful meal.

Eggs Benedict: Break Your Fast, Not the Bank

Eggs Benedict at a café can be budget-friendly compared to making hollandaise sauce and poached eggs from scratch. Homemade hollandaise requires careful emulsification of butter and eggs, a skill that restaurants expertly execute. Time-saving and economical, café versions often include unique spins like avocado or smoked salmon. At home, improve your dish with lightly toasted English muffins and fresh herbs to brighten the ready-made experience.

Wings: Fly into Flavorful Savings

Ordering wings offers savings on both time and the cost of necessary ingredients like oil and spices for diverse marinades. Restaurants optimize crispy exteriors and juicy interiors thanks to precise frying techniques. At home, achieving perfect texture is challenging without industrial fryers. Enhance takeout wings by pairing them with fresh, crisp celery and bleu cheese or ranch dressing, adding a handmade feel without straining the budget.

Fried Rice: Stir Up Affordability

Fried rice combines economy and flavor seamlessly. When dining out, you often benefit from restaurants’ ability to use high-heat woks, which deliver that signature smoky essence impossible to replicate at home with typical stovetops. Ordering fried rice is also a cost-effective solution to a variety of flavorful add-ins, like shrimp or barbeque pork, which can push your grocery bill higher if preparing small quantities at home. Restaurants optimize pricing by purchasing ingredients in bulk, while offering a dish that provides quick, comforting satisfaction without the prep work.

Crepes: Sweet and Savory Savings

Crepes present a culinary endeavor where ingredients like high-quality flour, eggs, and fresh fillings—be it Nutella and strawberries or ham and cheese—can quickly add up. The skill required for perfect thinness and browning in each crepe often involves a learning curve best bypassed by a quick order at a local cafe. Establishments skilled in crepe-making deliver consistent texture and taste, while saving you time and reducing the risk of waste from imperfect attempts and excess ingredients unused at home.

Pho: Sip and Save

Pho is a Vietnamese treasure that comes with a uniquely balanced broth—a key element that's challenging to mimic without lengthy preparations and specialty ingredients. Simmering bones, star anise, and charred aromatics for hours creates a depth of flavor that most kitchens are not equipped or convenient to reproduce. Additionally, pho's variety in herbs, meats, and toppings is more affordably accessed when ordered, allowing you savor the complete experience without the need for costly ingredient purchases and extensive preparation time.

Dim Sum: Delight in Cheaper Bites

Dim sum offers an exquisite array of small plates that incorporate intricate techniques and specific ingredients not commonly found in a home pantry. The intricacies of dough kneading and precise fillings require practice and patience, making ordering a more pragmatic choice. Enjoying dim sum at a teahouse lets you indulge in multiple offerings—from pork buns to shrimp dumplings—at a fraction of the cost and effort, benefiting from layered flavors and textural variety perfected by skilled chefs.

Bagels and Lox: A Brunch Bargain

Bagels and lox exemplify an elegantly simple dish that stands as a brunch classic. The difficulty lies in sourcing top-grade smoked salmon and freshly baked bagels, both of which may be costly and less fresh from grocery outlets. Pairing them with quality cream cheese, capers, and red onion also adds to the expense when not purchased in small orders. By opting for this combination from a reputable deli, you enjoy a freshness and quality that home preparation may fail to match, all while maintaining a reasonable cost.

Gelato: Chill Out with Cost Savings

Crafting gelato at home involves ingredients like whole milk, cream, and high-quality flavorings. While the process can be a rewarding culinary project, it requires precise temperature control and constant stirring. Purchasing an ice cream maker, and potentially a cooling counter, adds substantial expense.