When to Splurge (and Save) at the Grocery Store

By Hklbrries

Splurge on these:

Honey: You don't need to go for a wildflower artisanal blend, but carefully check the label. Often the cheap "honey" in a bear squeeze jar is mixed with corn syrup.

Coffee: Consumer Reports' two best supermarket coffees (Gloria Jean's and Newman's Own) cost about $13.50 a pound but scored significantly better on taste than $8-a-pound brands.

Pasta: Generic and bargain-basement pastas often end up as a mushy mess. You don't have to spend much more to get chefs' picks like Barilla or De Cecco, which are used in top restaurants.

Extra-virgin olive oil: Fifty percent of the olive oil sold in the United States may be adulterated with cheap filler oils. Ideally, taste before you buy, and check for a regional seal of certification on the bottle.

Vanilla extract: "Never use the artificial stuff! says Susan Reid, editor of The Baking Sheet. "It has one chemical flavor note trying to make up for over 200 flavor notes found in true vanilla."

Chocolate: One-dollar bars combine 20-plus ingredients to create a bar-shaped amalgam of brown chemicals. For $2 more, you could get real dark chocolate.

Save on these:

Frozen produce: It's cheaper than out-of-season fresh produce and is also often higher in nutrients and better tasting because it's frozen right after picking.

Hamburgers: Preformed frozen burgers cost more than plain ground beef - and you can make patties yourself in less than ten seconds each! Plus, E. coli might be more prevalent in the frozen patties.

Light juices and light coconut milk: To make reduced-calorie versions of these products, companies simply add water (and maybe artificial sweetener or thickener. Buy the regular version and water it down yourself.

Cheese: If you're melting or mixing the cheese with other ingredients, go cheap! Save the $20-per-pound artisanal triple-cremes for a special cheese plate.

Everyday oil: When oil is going to be cooked, you can usually substitute vegetable or regular olive oil (even if the recipe calls for extra-virgin). High heat destroys much of the taste.

Wine: Consumers and wine experts liked inexpensive bottles - think Barefoot, Trader Joe's Charles Shaw, Black Box - just as much as their pricey counterparts in a large-scale blind tasting.

Specialty baking mixes: Consumer Reports' taste tests prove that Duncan Hines brownies are just as showstopping as ones made from pricier gourmet mixes.

Bottled water: That idyllic blue stream on the label likely has nothing to do with your drink: 49 percent of bottled water in the United States comes straight from purified municipal tap water. Instead, use a simple home filter. (And, I might add, use your own refillable bottle to keep plastic waste to a minimum).

Ingredients

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Preparation

Step 1

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