Home cooking cheaper and healthier than KFC, McDonalds and Domino’s Pizza

Wednesday, 29 July 2009

We hear that people are turning to fast food to save money. We compared the costs of KFC, McDonalds and Pizza Hut ‘meal deals' with similar home-cooked meals. If you buy a takeaway ‘meal deal' once a week, you save around $350 a year if you make it yourself along with saving yourself some 52,000 kJ (12,380 calories) per person. Check out our findings HERE.

Eat better for less

You can whip up a ‘fast food' style family meal in the time it takes to order, wait and collect the takeaway - and you will eat much better for less. Here's how.

KFC Meal Deal

KFC Family Feast $25.95 (or $7.50 a serve for a family of four)

It includes: 10 pieces of chicken, 1 large chips, 1 large potato and gravy, 1 large coleslaw and 1.25 litre bottle of soft drink

Your DIY Money Saving Meal

Barbecue chicken, homemade coleslaw, roast potatoes and pumpkin and sparkling mineral water $18.65 (or $4.65 a serve for a family of four) and save $7.30.

Here's how: Buy a barbecue chicken from the local supermarket and roast some potato and pumpkin (chopped into small chunks so they cook in about 25 minutes) and serve with sweet chilli sauce (for the ‘gravy') and coleslaw made with shredded cabbage, carrot and parsley tossed in a creamy mayonnaise and yoghurt dressing. Serve with sparkling mineral water.

Save even more: Instead of buying a cooked chicken, roast 8 chicken drumsticks with the vegetables (allow about 15 minutes extra cooking time). Total cost for the meal now $13.40, a saving of $12.55 over the Family Feast.

Healthwise: The KFC meal has 1½ times the kilojoules, nearly double the fat, much more salt and half the fibre of the home cooked meal made with a cooked chicken.

McDonalds Meal Deal

2 McValue Meals and 2 Happy Meals from McDonalds $21 (or $5.25 a serve for a family of four)
A McValue Meal includes a Big Mac (or any McDonald burger), small fries and a small soft drink
A Happy Meal includes a small burger or McNuggets, a fruit slice (or small fries) and a small juice (or soft drink or shake or water).

Your DIY Money Saving Meal

Money Saving Meals Burgers with Beetroot Relish, potato wedges and sparkling mineral water - $15 (or $3.75 a serve for a family of four) and save $6.

Here's how: Cooking this recipe from Money Saving Meals (page 84) serves up four tasty beef patties (made with beef mince and grated vegetables) in rolls with salad (lettuce, cucumber and tomato) and a dollop of relish plus home baked potato wedges and sparkling mineral water.

Healthwise: The home cooked meal is good for your waistline as well as your wallet and saves you kilojoules saturated fat and salt - in fact you save around 1100 kJ (260 calories) per meal compared with the McValue Meals and 400 kJ (95 calories) per Happy Meal.

Domino's Pizza Meal Deal

2 traditional pizzas and cheesy garlic bread $19.95 (or $4.99 a serve for a family of four)

Your DIY Money Saving Meal

3 home-made pizzas, garlic bread and salad $14 (or $3.50 a serve for a family of four) and save $5.95.

Here's how: Spread 3 Lebanese breads with tomato paste, sprinkle with dried oregano and add toppings like mushrooms, capsicum, salami and grated mozzarella. Serve with a green salad (mixed salad leaves), tomato and cucumber tossed in an oil and vinegar dressing. To make garlic bread, simply toast 4 slices of dense bread, brush them with oil and rub with a halved garlic clove. It all takes less than 25 minutes - chop the toppings while the oven heats up and make the salad whilst the pizza is in the oven.

Healthwise: The home cooked meal saves you kilojoules, fat saturated fat and salt - in fact you save around nearly 1000 kJ (238 calories) per serve.

How did we price the DIY Money Saving Meals? We used typical supermarket prices for brand products to calculate the DIY meals.

Save more by buying specials and generic foods.