153+ Grocery Staples That You Can Make At Home

Tired of paying high grocery store prices and getting subpar products for your money? Here’s a HUGE list of grocery staples that you can make at home.

Grocery Staples That You Can Make at Home

If you are trying to make more things at home and save money on your grocery budget, you already know that making grocery staples such as pancake mixes can save a lot on your wallet.

Pre-made, boxed, processed, canned, and other items that you can buy at the store charge a premium for their products. It’s great when you are looking to save time, but if you are looking to save money and you want to serve your family the freshest foods that you can, you already know that homemade is best.

Way back in 2009, I started Little House Living to document our family’s frugal journey. For us, a big part of that was making the things that we used to buy at the store at home. When children (and more food allergies) came along, that desire to make things homemade was only increased.

I’ve posted hundreds and hundreds of recipes on Little House Living over the past 13 years. Today I wanted to round up all the recipes that you might be buying at the grocery store right now, but want to make at home. I hope you can utilize this huge list of grocery staples that you can make at home! I’ll continue to add to this as time goes on, so make sure to bookmark it for future use.

Want to print out these recipes and keep them all in one place? I recommend checking out my Recipe Binder! It’s how I personally store my recipes and it’s a great way to have them all together should you not be able to use the internet to look them up.

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Basic Breads

Breads can be very expensive at the grocery store but are actually very inexpensive to make at home. Some items might be a little intimidating if you haven’t made them before (bagels, English muffins, etc), but the fresh homemade flavor is well worth the time spent.

Basic White Bread
Cheesy French Bread
Irish Brown Bread
Quick Pull Apart Rolls
Soft Pretzels
English Muffins
Chocolate Chip Bagels
Burger Buns
Buttermilk Biscuits
Buttery Crescents
Perfect Pizza Dough
Pita Pockets
Whey Cornbread
How to Make Lefse

If you need even more, I have a big list of all my Homemade Bread Recipes on this page.

Tortillas

Tortillas are something that we make at home every week. I haven’t bought them in a very long time! We use them for tacos and easy quesadillas for lunches.

Over 10 years ago, I invested in an Electric Tortilla maker and it’s been well worth it. Especially now that we make gluten free tortillas which cost over $1 per tortilla at the store!

Homemade Tortillas
Gluten Free Homemade Tortillas
Homemade Corn Tortillas
Wheat Tortillas

Sweet Breads and Muffins

If you currently make frequent trips to the bakery, it’s time to stop. A huge variety of quick breads and muffins can all be made at home for a fraction of the cost.

Blueberry Muffins
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Double Chocolate Muffins
Easy Pumpkin Bread Recipe
Cranberry Orange Mini Loaves
Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Bread
Creamy Banana Bread
Chocolate Buttermilk Bread Recipe
Amish Cinnamon Rolls
Vanilla Cupcakes

You can find my full list of homemade bread and muffin recipes here.

Dips and Sauces

In our home, it’s not a meal if it doesn’t have some kind of dip or sauce or drizzle to go over it! They can add so much flavor to an overwise boring meal. Here are some of our favorite recipes of typical store-bought sauces.

Homemade Queso Dip
Cheese Pimento Spread
Homemade Salsa Recipe
How to Make Butterscotch Sauce
Chocolate Sauce
Caramel Sauce

When you decide that you can’t get enough of the freshness of homemade dips and sauces, check out my big list of all my Dip Recipes!

Snack Aisle

It wouldn’t be a trip to the grocery store if it didn’t include a stroll down the snack aisle, right? And since that’s where all of us seem to spend a large amount of time, I have a large list for you of all kinds of yummy snacks that you can make at home. All of these are so much better than their store-bought counterparts. I guarantee it!

Healthy Fruit Snacks
Blueberry Gummies
Strawberry Orange Fruit Snacks
Fruit Roll Ups
Best Beef Jerky Recipe
Roasted Almonds
Homemade Milky Ways
Homemade Milano Cookies
Homemade Peachy O’s
Make Your Own Soda Pop
Homemade Marshmallows
The Best Bad-For-You Fudge Ever
Caramel Chocolate Popcorn
Easy Homemade Caramels Recipe
Homemade Kettle Corn
Simple Chocolate Truffles
Oatmeal Cream Pie Recipe
Dried Pumpkin Seeds
How to Make Pickled Eggs

I have even more Snack Recipes here!

Salad Dressings

Salad dressings were one of the first things that I started making myself instead of buying. I practically grew up with Dorthy Lynch coming out of my pores… (it’s a midwest thing!). So over the years I’ve been able to learn to make a variety of homemade salad dressings.

Homemade Salad Dressing
Homemade Dorthy Lynch Dressing
Homemade Ranch Dressing
Easy Salad Dressing Recipes
Homemade Catalina Salad Dressing
Homemade Russian Dressing Recipe
Homemade French Dressing

Crackers and Snacks

Crackers and granola bars were other things that used to be on my grocery list with every trip to the store. No more! Although there is a little learning curve involved with making homemade crackers, they just taste so much better!

Healthy Homemade Granola Bars
Oatmeal Raisin Granola Bars
Homemade Graham Crackers
Homemade Saltine Crackers
Homemade Cheese-It’s
Wheat Crackers
Make your Own Rice Crackers

Get more Snack Recipes here!

Freezer Foods

We are all guilty of grabbing those easy freezer foods when we make a brush past the freezer aisles, only to be disappointed in the flavor and the quality of what we get. It’s really not hard to make some of these staples at home. You can even freeze the leftovers for later so that you can have your own “freezer foods”! Your taste buds will thank you!

Homemade Onion Rings
Homemade Hush Puppies
Homemade Egg Rolls
Homemade Chicken Nuggets
Butter Pie Crust
Homemade Whipped Cream Recipes
New York Cheesecake
Fudgesicles
Strawberry Ice Cream
Homemade Ice Cream Recipe

Boxed Mixes

Boxed mixes are the EASIEST things to make at home! Yes, they are also easy to grab when you are at the store, but the huge list of ingredients just isn’t worth it.

Start having a mix making day once a month (or less) where you stock up your pantry with all of these delicious mixes. Then you will always have them on hand for the days when you just don’t feel like cooking from scratch.

Homemade Muffin Mix
Pancake and Waffle Bulk Mix
Easy Fruit Juice Gelatin
Instant Oatmeal Packets
Hamburger Helper Mix
Homemade Rice Roni Mix
Herbed Rice Mix
Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix
Homemade Cappuccino Mix
Breadmaker Bread Mix
Hot Rolls Mix
Pita Pockets Mix
How to Make Corn Muffins
Frugal Dried Bean Soup Mix
Pasta Fagioli Homemade Soup Mix in a Jar
Double Chocolate Muffin Mix
Ooey Gooey Brownie Mix
Homemade Scone Mix
Homemade Oatmeal Cookie Mix
Sugar Doughnut Muffin Mix
Lemon Poppyseed Bread Mix
Chocolate Pudding

Get my full list of Homemade Mixes here.

Seasoning Blends

Seasoning blends are fun to make on your own because you can really adjust them for your specific flavors and tastes. These are just a few of the blends that we mix up and have on hand.

Recipe for Taco Seasoning
Ranch Dressing Mix Recipe
Homemade Seasoning Mixes
How to Make Seasoning Salt From Scratch
Sloppy Joe Seasoning Mix Recipe
Fajita Seasoning

Canned Foods

It’s nice to have canned foods in your pantry because they are shelf stable and they round out a good pantry stockpile. But it’s also nice to make your own home canned goods or even just to make those foods that you might have bought from a can.

You can adjust the amount of salt and sugar in all homemade recipes and they just taste so much better!

Cream of Mushroom Soup
Cream of Potato Soup
Easy Refried Beans
Cream of Soup Mix
Apple Pie Filling in a Jar
Applesauce
Canned Oranges
Canned Tomatoes
Canned Peaches
Canned Pears
Canned Tomato Juice
Apple Butter
Canned Chicken
Canned Chicken Broth
Pork and Beans
Canned Tomato Soup
Canned Pinto Beans

I have lots more Canning and Preserving recipes here.

Breakfast Foods

We typically do simple things like eggs and toast (or muffins) for our breakfasts, but sometimes it’s nice to have some fancier breakfasts that you might have bought at the store. Here are some of our favorite homemade versions of store bought foods.

Homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal
Cream Cheese Danish
Homemade Toaster Strudels
Homemade Granola
Homemade Doughnuts Recipe
Simple Coffee Cake
Cheese and Bacon Quiche
Homemade Turkey Breakfast Sausage
Yogurt

Find more Breakfast Recipes here.

Condiments

Another one of my very favorite things to make at home! We’ve finally gotten to the point where I no longer buy ANY condiments from the store. It’s been wonderful to can them and have them on the shelf for whenever we need them, tailored to our tastes.

Homemade Mayonnaise
Homemade Velveeta
How to Make Peanut Butter and Homemade Nut Butters
Ketchup
Homemade BBQ Sauce
Worcestershire Sauce Recipe
Homemade Hot Sauce
Seasoning Salt Recipe
Homemade Pancake Syrup(can be a replacement for Maple Syrup)
Homemade Pizza Sauce
Dill Relish Recipe
Homemade Tartar Sauce Recipe
Homemade Soy Sauce Recipe
Sweet n Sour Sauce Recipe
Sun Dried Tomatoes
Homemade Pesto Recipe
Jalapeño Pepper Jelly
Taco Sauce
Vanilla Extract
Homemade Jams

Flours & Baking

Since I make all gluten free foods now, I thought I would round out this list by sharing a few of my favorite flour and baking blends and how to make them.

Making Bean Flour
Making Rice Flour
Sprouted Wheat Flour
All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
Homemade Baking Powder

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What can I make homemade at home?

Anything you want! It’s fun to experiment and try to find more things that you can stop buying and start making.

What is the most popular staple food?

Around the world, grains are the most popular staple foods. However, in terms of this list and of common grocery staples, I would say that condiments (such as ketchup) are the most popular grocery staples.

What foods are worth making from scratch?

Anything can be worth making from scratch. For most families, you will need to decide if you time to make it will be worth it since it’s almost always cheaper to make it at home. Occasionally you might find that the time isn’t worth it and it’s ok to buy things if you need to. We all go through different seasons where we need to buy more than we make.

For our family, most foods are worth making from scratch since we have multiple food allergies.

What do you make every day from this list?

I don’t think there is anything on the list that I MAKE every day, but there are plenty of things that we USE every day. I try and keep my pantry stocked with the mixes and the canned goods so ensure that I don’t have to make these things often.

The things that I’m making weekly are some of the fresh condiments, muffins, breads, and tortillas.

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If you are new to making more things homemade, save this list! I’m so excited for your journey because as you make more of these pantry staples you will find that the flavor and taste of your homemade food just gets better and better.

You will also find that you need fewer trips to the store because you’ve become so creative in putting together your own pantry staples by using your pantry essentials and the ingredients that you already have.

Trying to figure out what to have in your pantry to help you make all these delicious things? Here’s my list of Frugal Pantry Staples that you should always have on hand.

What food is a staple in your household? What are some grocery staples that you can make at home that you want to try? What should I come up with a recipe for next?