Is it Cheaper to make Pickles or buy them?
Pickles are a great addition to many dishes and tasty just by themselves. My 5-year-old son has loved pickles from a very early age and my husband is a self-proclaimed pickle connoisseur.
Our fridge at any given time has pickle relish, pickle slices, whole pickles, and pickle spears. This got me wondering if it would be cheaper to make pickles rather than buying them at the store! Let’s breakdown the costs and see which way comes out cheaper.
How much do homemade pickles cost to make?
For the homemade pickles we are going to use a very basic dill pickle recipe from Cookie and Kate. For the full recipe click here.
| Ingredients | Cost |
| 1 medium to large cucumber | 63 cents |
| 1/2 cup water | $0.00 |
| 1/2 cup rice vinegar | 81.3 cents |
| 1 1/2 tbsp sugar | 4 cents |
| 1 1/2 tsp sea salt | 2.7 cents |
| 1 tsp black pepper | 13 cents |
| 1/4 cup fresh dill | $2.08 |
| 2 cloves of garlic | 10.6 cents |
| 1 bay leaf | 1.7 cents |
| Total Cost: $3.84 (total size:16oz/2 cups sliced or 16 spears) | Cost per Ounce: $0.24 |
I have prices out all the ingredients at my local Walmart and picked mostly store brand items. We could have made this recipe cheaper by using distilled white vinegar, dried dill, and homegrown cucumbers from out garden.
Overall, the cost to make homemade pickles is about $3.84 or 24 cents per ounce. Now let’s see if it is cheaper to use a pickle seasoning kit instead of buying all the ingredients seperately.
| Seasoning Kit | Cost, Store, Oz it makes | Cost per Oz of Pickles |
| Mrs Wages 1 step Pickle Kit | $3.22 at Walmart, makes 16 oz of pickles | 2 cucumbers: 1.26 pickle kit: 3.22 total: $4.48 Cost per ounce: 28 cents per ounce |
By using a seasoning kit, we increase the price a little. The pickles made from the kit come out to 28 cents an ounce compared to 24 cents an ounce of buying the individual ingredients.
If you happen to have cucumbers growing in your garden, and don’t need to purchase them to make pickles your price will go down a little. Your cost per ounce to make pickles with homegrown cucumbers is 20 cents per oz.
If you use homegrown pickles and a seasoning mix, your price per ounce still comes out to about 20 cents per ounce.
What is the average price of pickles?
Now let’s head to the grocery store and price out some basic dill pickles. We are going to break the cost down to cost per ounce so we can compare it to the homemade pickles.
| Pickles | Cost, Store, Total Ounces | Cost per Ounce |
| Wegman’s Kosher Dill Pickle Spears | $2.59 at Wegman’s, 24 oz | 10.7 cents per oz |
| Great Gherkins Dill Pickle Chips | $2.45 at Aldi’s, 32 oz | 7.6 cents per oz |
| PCS Kosher Dill Pickle Spears | $3.09 at Price Chopper, 24 oz | 12.8 cents per oz |
| Tops Kosher Dill Pickle Spears | $2.59 at Top’s Market, 24 oz | 10.7 cents per oz |
| Vlasic Hamburger Dill Chips | $2.99 at Target, 24 oz | 12.4 cents per oz |
| Great Value Hamburger Dill Chips | $2.24 at Walmart 32 oz | 7 cents per oz |
| Vlasic Dill Relish | $1.55 at Save A Lot, 10 oz | 15 cents per oz |
| Mt Olive Kosher Dill Slices | $2.19 at Price Rite, 24 oz | 9.1 cents per oz |
| Claussen Dill Pickle Spears | $4.99 at Kroger, 24 oz | 20.7 cents per oz |
| Boar’s Head Kosher Dill Pickle Slices | $5.19 at Publix, 26 oz | 19.9 cents per oz |
| Chestnut Hill Hamburger Dill Slices | $2.49 at Family Dollar, 16 oz | 15.5 cents per oz |
| Average Cost per Ounce: | 12.8 cents per oz |
The average cost of store-bought pickles came out to 12.8 cents per ounce. This is much cheaper than making homemade pickles.
Can you use store bought pickle juice to make more pickles?
My husband is a huge fan of “cheater pickles.” This is where you take sliced cucumber and submerge them in a jar of pickle juice. Instead of tossing the leftover juice from a store-bought jar of pickles, we use them for these super quick pickles.
Technically you already paid for the juice and if you use homegrown cucumbers, this option of making pickles is free.
If you use a store-bought cucumber, then your only cost the cucumber price which is usually under $1.00.
My husband describes the taste of “cheater pickles” as the texture of a regular cucumber but the taste of a dill pickle. The texture of the cucumber will soften the longer it is in the pickle juice.
For more uses for pickle juice, check out “Frugal Food: Pickle Juice (60+ uses in food & drinks!)“
Are homemade pickles better?
The debate of homemade pickles versus store bought will come down to personal preference. I like pickles but I am not a pickle connoisseur. To me a pickle is a pickle is a pickle.
My husband on the other hand, swears that homemade pickles taste a million times better. He even thinks his “cheater” pickles are better than store bought.
The only downside is that homemade pickles don’t last as long as store bought. At most homemade pickles last about a month in the refrigerator.
If you make a huge batch of pickles, then you will need to use a canning process to preserve them for a longer shelf life.
Overall, store bought pickles came out much cheaper than homemade pickles. (Even if you use homegrown cucumbers.)
For more price comparisons on making versus buying, check out “Is it Cheaper to make or buy Biscuits?” and “Is it Cheaper to make or buy Lasagna?“
