I am often asked how to save on vegetables and lots of times I suggest buying them frozen if you are going to cook with them. So today while I was walking through Stop & Shop, I jotted down the prices of a few fresh vegetables that I know I often use in cooking and then headed to the frozen foods section to see how much they were. Here are the results of my comparison:
** A pound equals 16oz
Green Peppers – Fresh were $1.79lb — The frozen Stop & Shop brand of Diced Green Peppers was $1.09 for a 10 oz bag. Ounce for ounce the cost is pretty even.
Onions – Fresh were $1.49lb – The frozen Stop & Shop chopped onions was $1.09 for a 12oz bag – Ounce for ounce the cost is pretty even
Zuchinni – Fresh was $2.99lb – The frozen Stop & Shop sliced zuchinni was $2.00 for 16oz or a pound – $.99 cheaper buying the frozen version.
Yellow Peppers – Fresh $3.99lb
Red Peppers – Fresh $4.99lb
Green Peppers – Fresh $1.79lb
The bag of mixed pepper strips which had yellow, red and green was $2.00 a bag for the Stop & Shop brand and it was 16oz or a pound. This is a great savings because if you figure they are evenly distributed, which they are pretty close as I buy these all the time, then you’d get 3lbs frozen for $6.00 instead of 3lbs (1 each) fresh for $10.77 which is a savings of $4.77.
So can you see how buying frozen vegetables can save you money? All the prices listed above are regular prices and the frozen vegetables go on sale quite often for less so you can save even more. I’ve purchased the mixed pepper strips for as little as $1.00 a bag. And in my opinion they taste just as good in a stir fry, omelet or baked in the oven as the fresh ones do!
Do you buy frozen vegetables if you aren’t looking to eat them raw? Do you feel you save money doing this?
In the summer time, watch for roadside vegetable stands for low priced fresh vegetables. Some of them are selling their surplus from their gardens at very cheap prices. We have one small stand on a country road in town where you can get a beef steak size tomato for 30 cents and large zucchini for 50 cents. large cucumbers, peppers, and yellow squash also within that price range.
Yes Michelle, summertime you can score GREAT deals on fresh veggies at roadside stands and even farmers markets – or better yet plant a garden!! tks!!