Budgeting: Does a slow cooker save money? Energy, food and time
Does a slow cooker save money? Usually yes, because it uses little energy over a long cook and turns cheap ingredients into big batches, and in a worked example a family saves about 300 a year on food and energy.
By Wealtie Team · 3 min read
Key takeaways
- A slow cooker usually saves money on food and energy.
- It uses little energy and makes cheap cuts and pulses tender.
- In a worked example, a family saves about 300 a year.
- The biggest saving comes from cheaper ingredients and fewer takeaways.
Does a slow cooker save money?
For most households, yes. A slow cooker cooks food gently over several hours using little electricity. It's especially good at turning cheaper ingredients, like tough cuts of meat, beans, lentils and root vegetables, into tender, tasty meals. It's also ideal for big batches that cover several meals. The energy saving is real but small. The bigger saving comes from what you cook and from having dinner ready when you get home, which makes takeaways less tempting.
Slow cookers are also among the cheapest kitchen appliances to buy, and many people already have one tucked away. Getting it back out can be one of the easiest ways to cut food costs.
It also suits the kind of cooking that saves most. Big pots of soup, stew and chilli cost little per portion, freeze well and taste better the next day. A single slow-cooked dish using a cheap cut, a tin of beans and a few vegetables can feed a family for two nights, with portions left over for lunches. Once you have a handful of favourite recipes, slow cooking becomes a habit rather than an effort, and the savings follow week after week.
The appeal for busy households is that the work happens in the morning. Ten minutes of chopping before work means a hot meal waiting at the end of the day, without standing at the stove when you're tired. That convenience is often what changes eating habits and brings the biggest savings.
How much can a slow cooker save?
Here's a worked example for a family over a year, in round numbers that work in any currency:
| Saving | A year |
|---|---|
| Cheaper cuts and ingredients | 150 |
| Fewer takeaways | 120 |
| Energy compared with the oven | 30 |
| Total | 300 |
Most of the saving comes from food choices, not energy. A slow cooker lets you buy cheaper cuts and stretch them with vegetables and pulses, and having a meal waiting at home replaces some takeaways.
Why does slow cooking save money?
Cheaper ingredients
Tough cuts of meat, like shoulder and shin, are cheaper than lean cuts and become tender after hours of slow cooking. Dried beans and lentils are very cheap and absorb flavour well. Frozen and seasonal vegetables work perfectly. Adding a tin of beans or a handful of lentils to a meat stew stretches it to more portions for very little extra cost, and most people don't notice the difference.
Big batches
A slow cooker makes enough for several meals. Freezing portions gives you ready meals for busy days at a fraction of the price of shop-bought ones. Meal planning on a budget covers batch cooking in more detail.
Fewer takeaways
Coming home to a hot meal makes it far easier to skip the takeaway. For many families, this is the biggest saving of all.
Low energy use
A slow cooker uses little power per hour. Over a long cook, it's usually cheaper than running the oven for a shorter time, though the difference is modest.
What does a slow cooker cost?
Basic slow cookers are among the cheapest kitchen appliances. Larger ones suit families and batch cooking. Features like timers and keep-warm settings are handy but not essential. A size of around three to five litres suits most families, with room for leftovers to freeze. Second-hand slow cookers are easy to find, since many people buy one and rarely use it.
How do you get the most from a slow cooker?
Plan meals around cheap ingredients like beans, lentils, root vegetables and cheaper cuts. Cook big batches and freeze portions. Prepare ingredients the night before, so it only takes a few minutes in the morning. Use it for soups, stews, curries, chilli and even porridge. How to save money on groceries has more ways to cut food costs, and how to host a dinner on a budget shows how a slow-cooked dish can feed a crowd cheaply.
Check the energy side
A slow cooker on low for eight hours uses little electricity, but it's worth knowing your own figures. How to save money on your electric bill covers working out what appliances cost to run. Work out the cost per use of a new slow cooker too: one used every week costs very little per meal.
How do you track food savings in Wealtie?
Keep groceries and takeaways in separate expense categories and set a monthly budget for each. Watching the takeaway category shrink is often the clearest sign that slow cooking is working.
Questions people ask
Usually yes. In a worked example, a family saves about 300 a year, mostly from cheaper ingredients and fewer takeaways.
Yes. It uses little electricity per hour, and over a long cook it's usually cheaper than running the oven.
Bean and lentil stews, soups, curries, chilli and dishes with cheaper cuts of meat and root vegetables.
On food, by making cheap ingredients tasty and big batches easy, and by replacing takeaways on busy days.
This article is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Your situation is your own; check the numbers that apply to you before you act on them.
