Is it Cheaper to Make or Buy Chocolate Milk?
Chocolate Milk is such a tasty treat and also a way to help kids drink milk if they are not a huge fan of the plain stuff.
I recently had a conversation with a friend about how much chocolate milk costs and if there are any cheaper alternatives. So, I went on a deep dive into seeing if it is cheaper to make or buy chocolate milk!
How much does it cost to make homemade chocolate milk?
There are a couple different ways to make homemade chocolate milk. The top three ways are to use cocoa powder, chocolate syrup, or chocolate powder.
We will break down the costs associated with all 3 so we have a really good idea of which way comes out cheapest.
| Homemade Chocolate Milk Ingredients | Cost Per 1 Cup Serving |
| Using Cocoa Powder: 1 tbsp Hershey cocoa powder 1 tbsp water 1 cup milk 1 tbsp sugar | $0.41 |
| Using Chocolate Syrup: 2 tbsp Great Value Chocolate Syrup 1 cup milk | $0.33 |
| Using Chocolate Powder: 2 tbsp Nesquik Powder 1 cup milk | $0.38 |
| Average Cost of Homemade Chocolate Milk (1 cup): | $0.37 |
We priced all three options out at my local Walmart and used store brand items when available to get the best prices. Your local prices may vary as milk is $3.62 a gallon locally for me.
The cheapest way to make chocolate milk at home is to simply use chocolate syrup and milk which costs about $0.33 per cup.
The average cost of all three methods to make chocolate milk at home was about $0.37 per cup.
For more information about Nesquik powder and Syrups, check out “Does Nesquik expire? (Milk, Powder, & Syrup).”
How much does chocolate milk cost at the grocery store?
Now let’s head to the grocery store and see how much already prepared chocolate milk typically costs.
| Chocolate Milk & Number of Servings | Store & Price | Cost per Serving |
| Great Value gallon, 16 servings | Walmart, $3.62 | $0.22 |
| Kroger gallon, 16 servings | Ralph’s, $5.49 | $0.34 |
| Lucerne gallon, 16 servings | Vons, $6.39 | $0.39 |
| Tru Moo gallon, 16 servings | Stater Bros., $6.59 | $0.41 |
| FairLife 52oz, 7 servings | Albertsons, $5.19 | $0.74 |
| Mountain Dairy gallon, 16 servings | Food4Less, $3.99 | $0.24 |
| Kirkland 24 count boxes of 8.25oz, 24 servings | Costco, $21.14 | $0.88 |
| Nestle 15 count bottles of 8oz, 15 servings | Sam’s Club, $14.44 | $0.96 |
| Average Cost per Serving of Chocolate Milk from Grocery Store: | $0.52 |
At the grocery store, we saw prices for chocolate milk ranging from $0.22 a serving all the way up to $0.96 a serving. The average cost per serving of Chocolate milk at the grocery store was about $0.52.
The cheapest options were the chocolate milk from Walmart or Food4Less. The most expensive options were the individually packaged chocolate milks from the warehouse style stores.
Is it worth it to make your own chocolate milk?
In our house, chocolate milk can be a splurge or sometimes it is a way to make sure my kids get enough milk and protein. As with most sweets, I am all for sweets in moderation.
It looks like the cheapest option for making chocolate milk is to mix milk and chocolate syrup. This will cost about $0.33 per 1 cup serving.
On the other hand, it was actually cheaper to buy premade chocolate milk by the gallon at places like Walmart or Food4Less. The cost per 1 cup serving was about $0.22-0.24.
This isn’t a huge difference in cost, but it can make a difference depending on how much chocolate milk is used in your house.
If you only use it once in a while, you may want to go with the chocolate syrup option. If you drink it regularly then the gallon size at a reasonable price. In some stores, you can buy chocolate milk for the same price as regular milk.
For more price breakdowns of buying versus making, check out “Cheaper to Make or Buy a Pumpkin Pie?” and “Is it cheaper to make or buy Cream of Chicken Soup?“
