Debate: Is it worth spending extra on pre-cut veggies or not?

I wanted to save money by chopping my own veggies for meal prep. But it took me 45 minutes to dice a bag of onions and peppers for a stir fry, and my eyes were burning the whole time. Pre-cut bags cost like $3 more but save all that hassle. So is the time saved worth the extra cash or am I just being lazy?

2 comments

2 Comments

seana143d ago

Have you factored in how much food waste you're actually throwing away? Pre-cut veggies usually have way less waste because they've already been trimmed and processed by the machine. When I chop my own, I end up trimming off the bruised parts, the ends, the ugly spots, and that adds up to lost money over time. Plus with pre-cut bags you get exactly what you need and don't end up with half a pepper shriveling in the fridge. The price difference starts looking smaller when you realize you're paying for less waste and zero frustration. Time is money too, and standing at the counter crying into an onion for 45 minutes is a pretty expensive way to save three bucks.

the_miles2d ago

But what about the plastic waste from all those pre-cut bags though... like I get the convenience argument but those containers and bags are piling up in landfills forever. Don't you feel a little guilty tossing a clamshell plastic thing every time you cook a meal? And for the onion thing, you can chop like three or four at once and keep them in a jar for the week... seems like that solves the crying problem too. I'm asking because I've gone back and forth on this so many times and still haven't landed on one side. The food waste math is tricky when you factor in the packaging footprint too.