How to save money on holiday dinners: ‘You don’t need to make a butter board’

It’s natural for the holidays to cause preparation-related pressure for hosts and at-home chefs. But this year, rising prices at the grocery store are adding another layer of stress.  

To help ease some of the financial burden, USA TODAY asked Institute of Culinary Education Chef-Instructor Stephen Chavez for money saving ideas. 

His biggest tip: Keep it simple. By doing so, you’ll save not only cash but also cooking time. That’ll help save money and give you more time to spend with guests. 

“It’s really about family and getting together,” he says. “I think people just need to kind of simplify.”

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With simplification in mind, here are seven tips from Chavez to help cut costs this holiday season.

Try David Burtka’s standing rib roast

2. Focus on smaller portions

Many of us eat to excess during the holidays while still finding ourselves throwing leftovers in the trash.

We don’t need to do that, though. To save money — and potentially avoid a stomachache — reducing portion size is a good option.

What are they exactly?

4. Don’t buy pre-made sides

There are plenty of pre-made options for hosting such as dips and cheese trays and pies — but those might cost you.

“Don’t buy anything that’s pre-made,” Chavez says. “It’s just so much more expensive than making your own.”

Instead of buying pumpkin pie, he advises buying a can of pumpkin pie filling and making a pie — or smaller pies in single serve portions with a streusel topping that can be made with ingredients at home like flour, sugar, salt and butter. It will be “way less expensive” than buying a pre-made pie, he says.

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5. Use what you already have

Look at hosting as an opportunity to do a bit of cabinet clean-out, Chavez says, noting there are lots of odds and ends that you can find in your pantry or fridge and use creatively to form dishes.

be strategic while shopping. Consider the grocery store geography. Visit areas like the frozen section, think about how you can use inexpensive staples and consider where you’re shopping. 

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Check out these recipes to up your kitchen game: 

• Hard-boiled eggs: Two easy ways to hard boil eggs to perfection
• Creamy risotto:Pearl couscous is the trick ingredient for creamy risotto
• Fried rice:The secret to making great fried rice at home
• Jambalaya:How to make Cheesecake Factory’s Cajun jambalaya pasta at home
• Mustard makes it better:How to use mustard not as a condiment but as an ingredient
• Pasta salad:Perfect every time: The only pasta salad recipe you’ll ever need
• Cranberry sauce:Three cranberry sauce recipes you need to try
• Sugar cookies:‘The best sugar cookie I’ve ever baked.’ Here’s the recipe.
• Kale can be tough:Raw kale can be tough. Here’s how salt can help

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