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This Simple Appliance Can Save You Hundreds on Groceries

This device can make a difference in your weekly grocery budget.

David Priest Former editor
David Priest is an award-winning writer and editor who formerly covered home security for CNET.
David Priest
3 min read
Stack of dollar bills

You can save big on dinners by using a rice cooker.

James Martin/CNET

It's important to save money where you can, especially when it comes to the kitchen -- where so much money is wasted every year. Sure, you could buy in bulk at Costcogo meatless once a week and shop online instead of at the grocery store, but the appliances you use can also be critical when it comes to savings. One of those appliances that has made the biggest difference in my family's meal budget is the rice cooker.

In 2017, I went to grad school. My whole family -- including my wife, my 18-month-old and my newborn -- had to survive on a meager stipend and whatever I could scrape together by freelancing on the side. To make it work, we rented a tiny apartment, got on SNAP, hustled and ate rice.

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But before you point out that rice is what saved me money -- not the rice cooker -- let me explain. Rice is hard to cook well, and even if you master cooking the perfect rice, it's inconvenient (doubly so if you have two babies and looming deadlines). All you do with a rice cooker is throw in your rice and the requisite water, then hit "cook." 

That simple process saved us money because it made cooking cheap meals more manageable amid hectic seasons of life. And it can do the same for you. (You can also check out how to properly store your groceries and leftover food so they last longer, and nine cooking hacks that actually work.)

How much money can you actually save by using a rice cooker?

I buy 20-pound bags of short grain rice for about $20 from Walmart. Let's be conservative and say each bag has about 40 cups of rice in it. Two cups still provides enough for all four of the members of my family, even though the kids are eating a lot more these days. So that puts us at about $1 total for the base ingredient in a meal for four.

From there, you can add whatever you want. Rice is awesome in part because it's a blank slate, an empty canvas you can splash with your favorite culinary color. When we were really strapped for cash, we threw in soft boiled eggs, soy sauce and, when we could swing it, spinach. Today we usually get a little more creative, adding leafy greens, kimchi, gochujang (Korean chili sauce), pickled onions and whatever meat we have on hand.

Four rice cookers side by side on a table

CNET has tested over a dozen rice cookers over the years.

David Watsky/CNET

Even our most elaborate dishes consistently land under $5 per bowl, and it's usually the meat that takes us past $2 or $3 (and that's if you buy organic).

While comparing the prices of home-cooked meals is tough (most of the math is ball-parky enough to make an accountant blush), it's safe to say that few alternatives will beat the basic rice bowl. And it's certainly less expensive than a meal kit delivery service

Still cooking rice (and saving money) now

Our rice cooker was a slight splurge. We bought a single-button Tiger for around $130 because it can cook a lot of rice at once, its rice is terrific and it cooks lightning-fast (under 15 minutes for a few cups). It was a little pricey at the time, but the Tiger's convenience has kept us in the rice game for years since then.

I work from home most of the time, and that means we can do more family meals. But neither the pace of life with kids nor the stress of finances in this economy have diminished. So the rice cooker remains on our countertop, almost perpetually plugged in and chugging away at a new pot of rice -- or keeping warm a pot from a few hours ago.

It makes meals easy, yes, but more importantly, it makes saving money even easier.

For more, check out our tips on how to save money around your home and how to cut your electric bill