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Fresh, home-cooked meals are a labor of love, but they’re also often seen as a luxury. We don’t all have time to spend an hour chopping vegetables and preparing an elaborate meal after work, so many of us have to pick and choose what we can have homemade. But even in this age of convenience, there are certain foods that, once you start making them yourself, you’ll never want to touch a store-bought version of again.

Redditors have recently been sharing all of the ingredients and dishes they’ve realized are much tastier and more affordable when made at home, so we’ve gathered some of their thoughts down below. Enjoy scrolling through this list that might give you some culinary inspiration, and be sure to upvote the foods you’ll only eat fresh from home as well!

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#1

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Coffee…. I want that first thing. I don’t want to put clothes on, drive a few miles, wait in line just to spend $6 on a simple (or complex) coffee. There’s nothing better than waking up to the smell of coffee that turned itself on 15 minutes before I have to get up

funsk8mom , Egor Komarov Report

Final score:
110points
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#2

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Kind of related - "light" coconut milk is more expensive than normal coconut milk and it's generally just coconut milk with added water.

Just buy the normal stuff and add water if you want it light. You effectively get twice as much for less.

DuckingKoala , ALINA MATVEYCHEVA Report

Final score:
71points
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#3

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them People who don't eat the bread crusts, throw them out, and then buy breadcrumbs.....

nootimestwo , Rob Wicks Report

Final score:
64points
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#4

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Eh I understand that many people don't have the desire, time, skills or confidence to cook from scratch all the time. So whilst I bake my own cakes, make my own pasta and ferment my own kimchi and it is all way better and cheaper, I can understand why it's not for everyone.

I will say though I don't understand pancake mix or bread dough mix. That is literally just flour/sugar/salt/yeast mixed together and you still have to add milk or eggs or water. It saves you a couple of mins of measuring stuff but costs like 10x more than the individual ingredients. You still have to bake it or cook it so doesn't save you time there. Really baffles me!

destria , Vlada Karpovich Report

Final score:
62points
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#5

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them I completely understand people buying just about anything rather than making it, especially products like stock, pasta, and bread that are simple to make but take more time than a lot of folks have.

Having said that - buying guacamole confounds me, unless you don't have access to avocadoes, need a ton of guac for a party, or have a good Mexican grocer nearby where you can get quality guac. Making guac at home takes maybe five minutes, and it tastes substantially better than store-bought. Like I can get really good bread and pasta from the store, but any guac I could buy near me isn't gonna hold a candle to homemade.

d4n4scu11y__ , RDNE Stock project Report

Final score:
61points
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#6

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Sandwiches. I mean standard bread meat cheese veggies condiments.

I refuse to buy subway. They cost too much for something I can make at home in 2min.

landob , Muffin Creatives Report

Final score:
56points
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#7

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them There's a thing I remember for a while back where an American asked a French person why they didn't respect American food they replied "You buy croutons"

That always stuck with me.

Mauve__avenger_ , Cats Coming Report

Final score:
54points
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#8

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Making popcorn in a wok with coconut oil at home is a game changer. Moist, fluffy popcorn with only 3-4 unpopped kernels. Haven't bought a single bag of microwave popcorn since.

KinkyQuesadilla , Mo Abrahim Report

Final score:
54points
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#9

Mashed potatoes, in australia instant mash isn’t super popular but I don’t get why anyone would choose it over homemade mash tbh

tinyfenrisian Report

Final score:
54points
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#10

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them ready made rice

Cstohorticulture , Pille R. Priske Report

Final score:
53points
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#11

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Ice tea. So simple and easy to make at home

WallyZona , El Salanzo Report

Final score:
51points
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#12

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Alfredo sauce. It's only like 3 ingredients (minus seasoning), and most people already have them on hand? The jarred stuff tastes like vomit

shesabiter , Engin Akyurt Report

Final score:
49points
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#13

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Hard boiled eggs.

maccrogenoff , Алексей Вечерин Report

Final score:
45points
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#14

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Maybe less cooking and more drinking, but simple syrup.

The prices for a small bottle at the grocery store were almost as expensive per oz as the rum I was using in my mojitos. It’s literally just water and sugar boiled together in equal parts. Now I make a gallon of it at the beginning of summer and enjoy mojitos with mint from my garden all season.

MarginallySeaworthy , Helena Lopes Report

Final score:
42points
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#15

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Those pouches of pre-cooked rice that taste all stale and waxy. or even the frozen cooked rice pouches.

rice is the easiest thing in the world to cook. It takes hardly any time at all, and it's dirt cheap.

apple-masher , b r e n t Report

Final score:
42points
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#16

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Pasta sauce! Alfredo, bolognese, all. Waaay better and far less expensive. I usually make double batches and freeze half, then, when in a pinch, all you have to do it boil some pasta!

knewitfirst , Klaus Nielsen Report

Final score:
40points
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#17

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Caramel corn. The tubs of Topsy's here in Kansas City are something like $15 for a gallon? I can make twice that for about $3...and do at least twice a year.


Although I do miss the old KaramelKorn shops in the malls, I also miss the malls....and being 12.


But my caramel corn is awesome.

kcbirder11 , Robert Anasch Report

Final score:
39points
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#18

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Hummus.

Chick peas are super cheap, but hummus is super expensive? Wtf.

Knytemare44 , Nataliya Vaitkevich Report

Final score:
37points
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#19

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them quiche is typically pretty expensive out, but really easy to make at home.

Alarmed-Accident-716 , Antoni Shkraba Report

Final score:
36points
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#20

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Salad dressings. So easy and flexible to make with whatever you have on hand, and exponentially more delicious. I would just as soon not have a salad than have one with bottled Italian dressing.

Substantial-Sky3081 , Christina Polupanova Report

Final score:
35points
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#21

Soup, stew, chilli or gumbo. No can or restaurant can beat the quality, taste or value of making fresh at home.

Bedroom_Opposite Report

Final score:
35points
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#22

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Don’t know how much cheaper it would be (and only useful during holidays), but cranberry sauce. It’s so much better made from scratch and it takes almost no time.

derp_zilla , Karolina Grabowska Report

Final score:
32points
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#23

Whipped Cream.

pad264 Report

Final score:
32points
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#24

Cookies!

gardengirl1984 Report

Final score:
30points
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#25

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Pesto. Homemade is literally miles better than store bought, especially when you can customize it however you like, and you can make use of fresh herbs

Kyerndo , Engin Akyurt Report

Final score:
29points
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#26

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Stock. The stuff from the store is either crazy expensive or flavored water.

AuntieDawnsKitchen , Markus Winkler Report

Final score:
28points
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#27

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Chicken noodle soup…quick, simple, makes a lot, you can freeze it, so much better than canned soup.

TheOtherOneK , Babs Gorniak Report

Final score:
27points
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#28

30 Foods That Are Way Better Homemade Yet People Still Buy Them Homemade Mayo lasts a couple days. A jar of store Mayo lasts months. No way it’s something I’m going to do unless it’s for something special.

Pasta sauce is something I just make myself. Good canned tomatoes, onion, garlic and some occasional additions beyond that. Freeze in containers.

PlutoniumNiborg , Mathias Reding Report

Final score:
26points
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#29

Learned how to make ghee the other day. Way easier than I thought and about 25% of the price of the pre made stuff

Tll6 Report

Final score:
26points
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#30

Pizza, there is no good pizza place near me, and making a decent pie at home is cheap and easy once you know how. I can make a good pie for like $3 and it's a great way to use leftover anything.

ModernSimian Report

Final score:
25points
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Note: this post originally had 58 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

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