Is it Cheaper to make or buy Granola?
Granola is a great addition to yogurt, fruit, or with milk as a hearty breakfast. Some even just eat it for an easy snack on the go!
The cost of granola has started to slowly rise, and this made me wonder if it would be cheaper to make my own granola at home. Let’s break down the costs of homemade granola versus store bought to see which way is cheaper!
How much does homemade granola cost?
All homemade granola typically consists of the same main ingredients but can be adjusted to make different flavor variations. We will price out a basic granola with dried fruit and nuts.
| Granola Ingredients | Cost |
| 1/2 cup canola oil | 30.5 cents |
| 1/2 cup honey | $1.31 |
| 1/2 tsp cinnamon | 2 cents |
| 1/2 tsp salt | 1 cent |
| 3 cups old fashioned oats | 79.6 cents |
| 1 cup sliced almonds | $1.52 |
| 1 cup raisins | 99.4 cents |
| Total Cost for Granola: $4.95 (10 1/2 cup servings) | Price per serving: 49.5 cents |
To make a basic batch of granola, the price per serving comes out to about 49.5 cents per 1/2 cup. If we want to lower the price of a batch, then we can shop for nuts on sale, use seeds like sunflowers seed instead of nuts, and buy dried fruit on sale.
How much does granola cost?
Most of us granola fans, are just buying large bags of premade granola but they can get a little pricey. Let’s take a look at the costs for store bought granola.
| Granola & Size/Servings | Cost & Store | Cost per Serving |
| Millville Oats & Honey, 16oz/ 8 servings | Aldi $4.09 | 51.1 cents per serving |
| Nature Valley Oats & Honey, 11oz/5 servings | Schnuck’s $5.49 | $1.09 per serving |
| Bob’s Red Mill Honey Oat Granola, 12oz/6 servings | Fresh Thyme Market $6.49 | $1.08 per serving |
| Quaker Simply Granola (oat, honey, raisin, almonds) 68.9oz/28.5 servings | Costco $12.43 | 43.6 cents per serving |
| Kind Clusters Oat & Honey, 11oz /5 servings | Target $6.89 | $1.38 |
| Member’s Mark Honey Almond, 32oz/ 16 servings | Sam’s Club $7.58 | 47.3 cents per serving |
| Erin Baker’s Fruit and Nut, 12oz, 6 servings | Big Lots $3.89 | 64.8 cents per serving |
| Bear Naked Fruit & Nut, 12oz, 5 servings | Midtowne Market $6.39 | $1.27 |
| Kellogg’s Special K breakfast granola, 11.3oz, 6 servings | Hy-Vee $4.47 | 74.5 cents per serving |
| Post Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Granola, 11oz /6 servings | Price Chopper $4.59 | 76.5 cents per serving |
| Sprouts Bulk Bin Fruit & Nut Granola, 16oz/8 servings | Sprouts $8.49 | $1.06 |
| Average cost per serving: | 86.1 cents per serving |
We looked at 11 granola options and determined that average cost per serving was 86.1 cents per serving.
The cheapest options for store bought granola was buying a huge container from Costco for 43.7 cents per serving. The Sam’s Club option was also under $0.50 per serving.
Is homemade granola worth it?
Not only is homemade granola cheaper than most store-bought granolas, but it also tastes so much better! IT may be slightly cheaper to buy it at a warehouse store like Costco or Sam’s club, but then you are locked into the flavor for the next few months.
When you make batches of granola at home, you can change up the flavors every week if you want to. The basics of granola is to add dried fruit and nuts to oats with a sweetner.
You can even change up the honey for maple syrup, pancake syrup, or melted brown sugar to make your granola tasty and cheap!
Almost any nuts or seeds will work with granola but stay away from the already salted kind. I love to check sales flyers to see who has nuts on sale for cheap.
For the dried fruit you have so many options like dried cranberries, blueberries, apricots, dates, pineapple, mango, apple, strawberries, and bananas. I regularly check for good deals on these and use them in my granola and my overnight oats!
For more cost saving options, check out ” Is it cheaper to make your own oatmeal?” and “Is it Cheaper to make or buy Cupcakes?“
