Budget Bytes: Over 100 Easy, Delicious Recipes to Slash Your Grocery Bill in Half: A Cookbook

Why it's worth it

Beth Moncel's book comes out of BudgetBytes.com and carries over its signature move: a cost-per-serving figure on every recipe. The ingredients are ordinary pantry staples, so nothing sends you hunting through specialty aisles.

The cost-per-serving math is genuinely useful. Knowing what a meal costs before you cook it changes how you shop. It also makes the case for cooking at home concrete rather than theoretical, which matters a lot when you're deciding between a pot of chili and a delivery order at nine o'clock.

The ingredient lists stay short and ordinary. No specialty grocery runs, no three-dollar jar of something you'll use once. Everything comes from a standard supermarket, which removes one of the biggest friction points for new cooks — the trip you don't want to make.

From our review of 10 cookbooks for beginner home cooks, by Genevieve Dubois, Home & Living Expert

What we like

• +The cost-per-serving math is genuinely useful
• +The ingredient lists stay short and ordinary
• +The recipes were proven online before they were printed
• +It's a natural first cookbook for students and first apartments

What to know

• –It's a small collection
• –It teaches recipes, not technique