Today I’m going to discuss the cost of going out to eat versus cooking a meal at home. I will cover all three meals of the day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I will also show you not only does it cost less, it will typically provide less calories to cook at home. I chose McDonald’s for my restaurant of comparison because when we think of cheap fast food, it is typically McDonald’s.
So let’s start with breakfast: McDonald’s Egg White Delight McMuffin $3.69 (not including tax). Doesn’t sound too bad right? What if you could make it cheaper?
100 calorie English muffin (I bought a 4 pack for $6.79 at Costco) $0.28 + 1 egg (I bought a 18-pack from Costco at $2.69) $0.15 + 1 thin slice of Sargento provolone (I bought a pkg from King Soopers for $3.50) $0.18 + 1 slice of Oscar Mayer turkey bacon (I bought a 12 oz pkg for $3.49 at King Soopers) $0.16 = $0.77 (not including tax).
Now let’s look at the calorie comparison. The McDonald’s Egg White Delight McMuffin comes in at 250 calories. The homemade breakfast sandwich is a total of 255 calories. So even though it is not lower in calories, it is at least much cheaper for roughly the same amount. You can also add in a couple of leaves of fresh spinach for 1 calorie (which is a pretty negligible amount) to add some iron to your diet. To save time, I recommend making a bunch at home and freezing them individually. So when you are in a rush in the morning, all you have to do is take off the plastic wrap, wrap it in a paper towel, and microwave it for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Try out my English muffin breakfast sandwich recipe.
Next up is lunch: McDonald’s Bacon Ranch Salad with grilled chicken $5.19 (not including tax).
At home, add 4 oz grilled chicken seasoned with salt and pepper (I bought 10 lbs of frozen chicken at Costco for $19.99) $0.50 + 2oz of spring mix salad (I bought 15 oz for $3.19 at King Soopers) $0.53 + 6 grape tomatoes (I bought a 10 oz container for $1.99 at King Soopers) $0.60 + 1 slice of chopped, cooked Oscar Mayer turkey bacon $0.16 + 1/8 cup colby jack shredded cheese (I bought 8 oz for $2.99 at King Soopers) $0.16 + 3 oz baby carrots (I could not find shredded carrots but did find petite baby carrots for $1.59 for a 16 oz bag at King Soopers) $0.30 + 2 Tbsp Marzetti’s ranch dressing (I bought a 12 oz bottle for $3.69 at King Soopers) $0.31 = $2.56 (not including tax).
Now to compare calories. McDonald’s Bacon Ranch Salad with grilled chicken comes in at 320 calories. Our homemade version is a total of 373 calories. Again, not only cheaper, but also just as low calorie. I suggest cooking the bacon and grilled chicken the night before if you plan to pack this for lunch at work. This way the chicken and bacon are not hot when they are put on the salad, thus not wilting the salad when it comes time to eat it. I recommend packing your lunch the night before if possible so you don’t feel rushed in the morning. If you work from home, still pack a lunch like you are going to work. My husband does this and it helps prevent him from searching the fridge when lunch time comes around. For other on-the-go lunch ideas, check out my previous post.
Dinner time! Let’s look at McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with Cheese (pickle and onion only) Meal which includes a medium fry and medium diet drink $6.39 (not including tax).
Because we are looking at making this healthier, I’m going to use 1/4 pound of ground turkey instead of beef (I bought 1 lb of ground turkey at King Soopers for $2.99) $0.75 + 2 slices of thin Sargento Mild Cheddar cheese (I bought 2 pkgs for $7 at King Soopers) $0.36 + 1 hamburger bun (I bought an 8 count pkg at King Soopers for $0.89) $0.11 + 4 dill pickles (I bought a 16 oz jar for $1.99 at King Soopers) $0.09 + 2 thin slices of onion (I bought a large onion for $0.99 at King Soopers) $0.05 = $1.36. For the sides, I added 34 baked thick cut french fries $0.36 and a 12 oz can of Coke Zero $0.42 to the meal. This bring the total of the whole meal to $2.14 (not including tax).
As for the calorie comparison, the Quarter Pounder with Cheese is 510 calories just for the burger. Add in the medium fry for 340 calories and the diet soda for 0 calories for a total of 850 calories for the entire meal. Our meal at home, is 448 calories for the burger, 240 calories for the fries, and 0 calories for the Coke Zero for a total of 688 calories. The extra calories you save here more than make up for extra calories from the salad at lunch.
So just remember when you are feeling lazy in the morning and want to stop in the drive-thru, it’s not only cheaper, it’s also healthier overall to cook at home. If you were to have each meal at McDonald’s, it would cost you $15.27. Compare that to all three meals cooked at home which is $5.47, that saves you $9.80! Imagine if you did that for at least 5 days out of the week. Now that’s motivation!