Is it Cheaper to Make or Buy Bagels?
I am a huge fan of bagels whether we eat them for breakfast or use them for sandwiches at lunchtime. I am not a huge fan of the cost of bagels constantly going up.
After a recent grocery store trip where I left without a bag of bagels due to cost, I wondered if it is simple enough to make bagels at home. I also wanted to know if my time and effort would save me money as well. Let’s find out!
How much does it cost to make homemade bagels?
For making basic bagels at home, I will be using a plain bagel recipe from King Arthur Baking Company. You can find the full step-by-step instructions here.
| Homemade Bagel Ingredients | Ingredient Cost | Cost for this Recipe |
| 1 tbsp instant yeast | Great Value 3 pack=$0.86 | $0.36 |
| 4 cups bread flour | White Lily 5lb bag= $4.44 | $1.77 |
| 2 tsp salt | Great Value 26oz container= $0.64 | $0.01 |
| 1 tbsp dark brown sugar | Dixie Crystals 32oz bag= $2.56 | $0.03 |
| 1 1/3 cup lukewarm water | Free | Free |
| 2 quarts of water | Free | Free |
| 2 tbsp dark brown sugar | see above | $0.02 |
| 1 tbsp sugar | Great Value 4lb bag= $2.94 | $0.01 |
| Total Cost of Ingredients: $11.44 | Total Cost for this Recipe: $2.20 | Total Cost per Bagel: $0.22 |
For our homemade bagel ingredients, I am going to price everything out at my local Walmart. They tend to be the cheapest in my area, so depending on where you live and shop your totals may be slightly different.
If I had no ingredients already at home and had to buy everything my total out of pocket expense would be $11.44.
The cost for the actual recipe comes out to $2.20 and the recipe makes 8-12 bagels. In order to calculate cost per bagel, we will assume that we make 10 bagels, which will cost $0.22 each.
How much do bagels cost at the grocery store?
Now let’s head out to a bunch of different grocery stores and check prices on several different brands of bagels!
| Store Bought Bagels & Quantity | Store & Price | Cost per Bagel |
| Kroger plain, 6 count | King Sooper’s, $2.39 | $0.40 |
| Signature Selects plain (from bakery), 6 ct | Safeway, $4.59 | $0.77 |
| Original Bagel plain, 6ct | Sprouts, $6.99 | $1.17 |
| Thomas plain, 6ct | Target, $4.99 | $0.83 |
| Kirkland plain, 12ct | Costco, $9.94 | $0.83 |
| Wegmans plain, 6ct | Wegmans, $4.59 | $0.77 |
| L’Oven plain, 6ct | Aldi, $2.15 | $0.36 |
| PICS plain, 6ct | Price Chopper, $4.19 | $0.70 |
| Lender’s plain, 6ct | Walmart, $2.74 | $0.46 |
| Tops plain, 6ct | Tops Market, $3.69 | $0.62 |
| Bowl & Basket plain, 6ct | Price Rite, $2.85 | $0.48 |
| Toufayan plain, 6ct | SaveALot, $2.39 | $0.40 |
| Wellsley Farm plain, 6ct | BJ’s Wholesale, $5.49 | $0.92 |
| Average Cost per Store Bought Bagel: | $0.67 |
After searching different grocery stores all over the US, we found that the average cost of a store bought bagel was about $0.67.
We found some stores like Aldi that sold bagels for about $0.36 each and other stores like Sprouts had plain bagels for about $1.17 each.
When we compare the average store bough bagel cost of $0.67 to the homemade bagel cost of $0.22, there is a clear winner. Homemade bagels cost about 67% less depending on where you shop.
Are homemade bagels worth it?
If we are looking at just cost alone, then homemade bagels are definitely worth it to save money, btu there are other factors to look at as well.
- Time: To make homemade bagels, it will take about 3 ours total. You will need to make dough, let it rise, put it in a water bath, and then bake it in the oven.
- Shelf Life: Homemade bagels have a relatively short shelf life compared to commercially made ones. This is due to perservatives and we don’t add those in fresh made bagels.
- Healthier: Due to homemade bagels not being made with preservatives to lengthen shelf life, they can be healthier than store bought ones. This is especially true if you are looking to lower your sodium intake, since this is a commonly used preservative in breads.
- Practice: Most people agree that making bagels is an art and requires practice. Your bagels may taste great the first few batches, but they may not look the best until you master the techniques used.
- Taste: Hands down, homemade bagels will taste better and have a nice chewy texture compared to commercially made bagels.
- Flavor Options: Stores will only carry so many different flavors of bagels, so your options may be limited. This does not apply to homemade bagels where the flavor options are only limited by your creativity.
Overall, if you occasionally buy bagels and really enjoy a great one, then spending time on the weekend making a batch of bagels is totally worth it. The ingredients are fairly common, and I typically have all of them on hand.
If you like to eat a lot of bagels and buy them regularly, you may not want to make bagels each and every week due to the long process.
On the other hand, you can make large batches of bagels and freeze them for later. Defrosted bagels are still yummy, but they are not exactly like eating fresh ones.
I think it will come down to the number of bagels you typically buy, where you shop, and how often you eat bagels. I will definitely be experimenting with homemade bagels at my home, but we are more in the occasional bagel eater category.
For more cost breakdown of buying versus making, check out “Is it Cheaper to Make or Buy Everything Bagel Seasoning?” and “Is it Cheaper to Make or Buy an Egg McMuffin?“
