I Cut My Food Expenses In Half Using The Viral "6-To-1" Grocery Method — Here's How
If you overspend on groceries (or if you think you're overspending on your groceries), I've got some good-ish news for you: You're not alone. According to a recent Census Bureau survey, the average American family spends about $270 on groceries per week, which climbs to $331 for families with children.
Of course, we now commonly see higher grocery budgets chalked up to factors like inflation and supply chain issues, but I'd like to bring a third potential reason to the table: grocery shopping is, in general, hard as hell. Overbuying for yourself or your family is ridiculously easy these days, and there's no manual on how to do it the "right" way.
To be clear, rising grocery costs are not OK. When the increase in grocery prices outpaces the last four years of inflation by 19%, we've got a problem that can't be fixed by individual consumers "shopping smarter." But until we see that much-needed progress, it can never hurt to sharpen our own shopping skills.
As a potential solution to our collective grocery cost malaise, chef and TikTok creator Will Coleman went viral when he pitched the internet the "6-to-1" grocery method, which claims to make grocery shopping easier, more intuitive, and more affordable. And as someone who's trying hard to spend less on food in 2024, it immediately piqued my interest.
"Whenever you go grocery shopping — Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, I don't care if you go to Erewhon — use the 6-to-1 method," Will said in his viral video, which has now been viewed over a million times. "You buy six veggies, five fruits, four proteins, three starches, two sauces or spreads, and one fun thing for yourself." From there, you combine the ingredients (along with pantry staples and seasonings) as you see fit to create as many meals as possible.
According to Will, the 6-to-1 grocery method offers several key benefits compared to however you're currently shopping for groceries. "The 6-to-1 method was born out of the need to streamline my grocery shopping experience," he told BuzzFeed. "Frustrated with spending excessive time in stores, wasting groceries, and exceeding my budget, I designed this method to simplify the process and address these challenges."
As evidenced by the outpouring of thankful comments on his TikToks, Will clearly isn't alone in his grocery-shopping frustrations.
But after going viral, it didn't take long for other commenters to air their qualms and questions, which included everything from the quantities within each category to how the method translates to households larger than two. Will addressed these in a follow-up video, with his main takeaway being that the 6-to-1 method can and should be customized.
"This is just a foundation," he said, addressing those concerned with making the method work for their own grocery shopping hurdles (like family size and dietary restrictions or preferences). "If you want to grab a little bit more of a certain thing, you do that. It's your grocery shopping run."
Since his initial viral hit, Will has continued to share videos depicting numerous applications of the 6-to-1 method across different stores and circumstances. He's even created one-off videos highlighting his favorite go-to ingredients across each category.
So, with a wealth of resources at my disposal and a personal goal to seriously minimize my grocery spending this year, I decided to try the 6-to-1 method for myself to find out if it's the cost-saving grocery method that everyone needs these days or just a passing TikTok trend that won't stand the test of time.
Here's what my experience was like, including how much money I spent, how many meals I made, and whether or not I'd recommend this method to all my fellow budget-conscious home cooks out there.
Before we get into all the juicy stuff, allow me to start by offering some key details about my own cooking situation, in case it helps to give some more color to my decisions:
• Most of the time, I'm only cooking for two adults — In my house, it's just my husband and me. I guess our dog technically gets bites of People Food every now and then, but as a non-rent-paying member of the household, he doesn't get a say on the grocery list. (Sorry, Homer.)
• We don't tend to eat "planned" breakfasts — If I'm hungry in the morning, I'll have some yogurt and granola with my coffee or an egg and toast, but making a full-out "recipe" for breakfast is pretty uncommon for us.
• Leftovers basically make our world go round — Since most recipes out there are portioned for four people, we tend to cook dinner recipes as-is and eat the remaining two portions the next day for lunch. Even though I primarily work from home these days, the thought of making lunch every day makes my head spin, so I try to rely on leftover-friendly dinners as much as possible.
• I often order groceries online to save money and time — The grocery store two blocks from our NYC apartment is criminally expensive, so we usually reserve it for one-off odds and ends. For cheaper groceries, we're left with online shopping or a 30-minute subway journey to Trader Joe's. With round-trip subway fare at nearly $6 these days, paying a small delivery charge and tip almost always feels worth it; I end up saving hours of time, avoid lugging groceries onto the train, and even find that I make cheaper grocery purchases since I can edit my cart in real-time.
With these realities in mind, I set out to buy my groceries — or, in my case, open up my phone to "browse the aisles" online.
Since one of the main reported advantages of the 6-to-1 method is making grocery shopping quicker, I did my best to choose whatever looked (or sounded) good to me while browsing each section instead of pre-planning the recipes that I'd make.
I love nothing more than trying new recipes, but sometimes the reality of choosing a handful I've had my eyes on and turning them into a long grocery list is enough to make me say, "Yep, takeout it is." So, I loved how fast and easy the 6-to-1 method made my process for actually choosing what I wanted to buy.
First, my six veggies. Will told BuzzFeed that onions, garlic, and greens (I chose baby arugula) are his go-to veggies when shopping the 6-to-1 way, so I started there and rounded things out with broccoli, cabbage, and green beans.
To all the "six vegetables is way too many!" commenters on Will's video: I'd like to state for the record that once garlic and onions were out of the way, picking four additional veggies felt extremely doable!
Next, five fruits. Before you scroll to the comments to call me out, yes, bell peppers, butternut squash, and tomatoes are technically fruits! Actually, after watching many of Will's 6-to-1 hauls, I'll note that he also tends to opt for "fruits that people think are veggies" instead of standard fruits like apples and bananas. I also grabbed frozen peppers instead of fresh ones since he recommends choosing frozen or canned goods when it makes sense to do so.
And since I grab a can of coconut milk on every grocery run I do, I also added that to this category since it felt the least wrong...though still not 100% right. IDK, I stand by my decision regardless.
I chose chicken thighs, eggs, extra-firm tofu, and a bag of red lentils for my four proteins.
For my three starches, I went with items I always keep at the ready in my pantry: tortillas, pasta, and rice. The logic? You can pretty much pasta-ify, rice bowl-ify, or taco-ify any ingredient in a pinch. And that's me speaking from experience, of course.
In the "sauce and spread" category, I opted for a Calabrian chile stir-in sauce and a jar of Momofuku's chili crunch, which can basically make anything taste delicious.
And last but not least, I chose a box of frozen veggie potstickers as my "one fun thing."
With all the items added up and tallied, my grocery haul set me back $79.65, though I paid a bit more in the end after the delivery fee and tip were factored in.
I'm used to spending well over $100 on a week's worth of groceries, so I was pretty impressed with this figure. I'll admit that this list would've been $15–20 cheaper at a more budget-friendly grocery store, like Trader Joe's or Aldi...but sometimes convenience is worth the extra cash!
On a regular shopping run, I'll normally purchase ingredients for five dinners (that usually become five leftover lunches), which accounts for one takeout dinner and a restaurant night each week. I'll be honest: My 6-to-1 haul felt like it wouldn't even come close to producing five recipes — but lo and behold, I wound up with eight different dinners (!!!) for a whopping 28 total servings of food. Here's what I was able to create.
Also, FWIW, know that there will be a few cameos from odds and ends that I already had in my pantry and fridge. This isn't cheating, I swear! Actually, Will told BuzzFeed that a well-stocked pantry of essentials complements the 6-to-1 method.
1. Coconut Curry Potsticker Soup with Cabbage
With the help of a few ingredients that I always keep on hand in the kitchen — like pasta (as pictured above, I've been loving the Rummo brand lately), red Thai curry paste, and white miso — this brothy bowl of warmly-spiced goodness was a comforting treat on a chilly evening. Though the fiery, red-stained broth looks like it packs a punch, it's actually quite mellow. As is the cabbage, which wilts beautifully until it becomes soft and silky.
How to make it: Set a large pot over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon canola oil. Add 2 tablespoons of Thai red curry paste, 2 tablespoons of white miso, and grate in a few garlic cloves and about a teaspoon of fresh ginger, if you have it. Cook for a minute or two, or until fragrant. Add in 8 cups of water (or veggie broth, if you have it) and 1/2 can coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Add 1/2 of a large head of cabbage, chopped, along with 8 ounces of noodles (rice noodles preferred; pasta works OK in a pinch!). Cook until noodles are done, according to package instructions.
Cook the potstickers to your liking, either on the stovetop or in an air fryer, until crisp. Spoon the brothy noodles into bowls and top with the potstickers, garnishing with chili oil, citrus, or scallions.
2. Any-Ingredient Egg Tacos
Need a quick WFH lunch before that Zoom meeting that starts in five minutes? Make some egg tacos. A quick dinner to scarf down before meeting up with some friends? Also egg tacos. As one of my favorite "meals in a pinch," egg tacos save me every week since they're the ideal base for a whole slew of fun toppings or sauces, which means they're infinitely customizable in addition to being cheap and easy.
How to make them: I'll spare you the step-by-step on this very easy "recipe," but in case you were curious, I made these with the tortillas, eggs, baby arugula, and frozen bell peppers from my 6-to-1 haul. I also tossed in some leftover salsa for flavor and, naturally, topped 'em with a generous drizzle of hot sauce.
Pro-tip: If you have a gas stove, you can take basically any dish with tortillas to the next level by toasting your tortillas over a medium flame (no pan necessary!) and flipping frequently until bubbly and charred. For electric stoves, you can achieve similar results by toasting your tortillas in a hot, dry, nonstick skillet.
3. Spicy Calabrian Chile & Chicken One-Pot Pasta
Ross Yoder
Using the standard 1:2 pasta-to-water ratio for one-pot pasta, this haphazardly assembled meal easily became the best thing I ate all week. Actually, my husband said it was the best, so naturally, I've already added all these ingredients to my grocery list for next week. I'm easily swayed! As a true one-pot meal I made from beginning to end in my handy Dutch oven, I think my favorite part was how easy this dinner was to clean up afterward.
How to make it: Place a Dutch oven (or another large, heavy-bottom pot) over medium-high heat. Once hot, drizzle in olive oil and add three boneless skinless chicken thighs seasoned with salt and pepper. Sear for 4–5 minutes on each side or until a golden brown crust develops. Remove the chicken thighs to a plate and reserve — it's OK if they're not totally cooked through yet.
Sauté half of a diced yellow onion in the rendered fat. Once soft and translucent, add four cups of water or stock (I used water with Better Than Bouillon) along with the chicken thighs. Then, stir in one pound of pasta, a cup of Calabrian chile sauce (you can substitute with your favorite tomato-based sauce), two tablespoons of cream cheese, and a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper. If the cream cheese makes me a Pinterest-coded slow cooker girlie, so be it. I also added a hefty sprinkle of Trader Joe's incredible new aglio e olio seasoning, which you could substitute with any Italian spice blend you like.
Simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently for 13–15 minutes or until the pasta is al dente, adding splashes of water as needed if the mixture starts to look dry. Remove the chicken thighs from the pot and shred the meat. Return the shredded chicken to the pasta, along with a handful of baby arugula, and stir in until wilted. Spoon into bowls and top with grated parmesan cheese, if you have it.
4. Roasted Soy Tofu & Veggie Rice Bowls
If you strolled into my tiny kitchen on any random day and sifted through my fridge and pantry, odds are you'll find at least a few packages of extra-firm tofu sitting in my fridge, along with a large container of jasmine rice in my pantry. Unlike raw meat, unopened tofu usually keeps in the refrigerator for close to a month (or six months in the freezer) and rice lasts a whole lot longer than that. As a result, another one of my go-to emergency meals is a roasted tofu and rice bowl with whatever veggies I have on hand or can find at the fruit and vegetable cart down the block from my apartment.
If you're not a tofu fan, I'd implore you to start with Whole Foods' 365 brand extra-firm, which is the firmest, meatiest tofu I've found, and also pretty darn cheap at just $1.99. Otherwise, you can substitute with your protein of choice, like chicken sausage, meatballs, or even roasted and flaked salmon.
How to make it: Make a pot of rice using your preferred method. Lately, I've been very much into "microwave rice" using Anyday cookware; 24 minutes on a lower power level, and I get A+ rice every single time. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425ºF and bust out two sheet pans, covering both with parchment or foil for easy cleanup. Add broccoli florets and cubed butternut squash to one and cubed tofu to the other; I season and toss everything in olive oil, salt, and pepper, but add some soy sauce, garlic powder, a small drizzle of honey, and a sprinkle of cornstarch to the tofu for extra flavor.
Roast everything for 20–25 minutes, or until the tofu and broccoli are golden brown and the butternut squash is fork tender. If you have it handy, you can give the tofu a quick toss in some teriyaki sauce, but this is very optional. Spoon the rice into bowls, top with the tofu and veggies, and spoon your favorite sauce over top. I dotted everything with Momofuku's chili crunch, and it was epic.
5. Crispy Leftover Fried Rice
The best thing about rice bowls? When you whip one up for dinner, you're also prepping tomorrow's quick lunch of extremely crispy fried rice. For some extra protein beyond the bits of tofu that remained, I added a couple of eggs at the very end of the cooking process.
How to make it: If you have a fried rice method that you adore, use that! But for a change of pace, you could totally try this method. First, get a large skillet super hot on your stove. Add about 1 tablespoon of neutral oil (like canola or avocado), swirl to coat, then add your leftover rice, veggies, and tofu/protein. Quickly toss to coat everything in oil, then spread into a thin layer and cover with a lid. Turn the heat to medium-high and allow everything to crisp up, undisturbed, for 3–5 minutes or until the bottom of the rice develops a crispy crust.
Break up the crisped rice into small chunks, then add your seasonings — I like a drizzle of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil...and the secret ingredient is a touch of Kewpie mayo, which adds serious richness. Make a well in the center of the skillet and scramble your eggs. Then, turn off the heat and toss everything together.
6. Chicken Burrito Bowls with Citrusy Slaw
After some chopping and minimal prep, this meal pretty much comes together on its own. It's hearty, fresh-tasting, and roasting (or air frying!) your chicken thighs on a bed of peppers and onions infuses the veggies with tons of savory, chicken-y flavor. It's also a great dinner to enjoy as a heat-and-eat lunch the next day, either as-is or stuffed into a tortilla for an even more filling meal.
How to make it: Preheat your oven to 425ºF and prepare a large pot of rice using your preferred method; I like to add a pinch of turmeric and a scoop of chicken Better That Bouillon to stain the rice a gorgeous pale yellow color. Add a few handfuls of frozen bell peppers and half of a sliced onion to a sheet pan and toss with a drizzle of olive oil, plus salt and pepper. Coat three boneless skinless chicken thighs in a simple spice rub of chili powder, cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper, then place on top of the peppers and onions. Roast everything together for 25 minutes or until the chicken thighs are thoroughly cooked, then slice the chicken thighs into thin strips.
While the chicken and rice cook, make a quick slaw. Combine thinly shredded cabbage with some olive oil and citrus juice, and season to taste with salt. To assemble, spoon the rice, slaw, peppers, and onions into bowls, then top with sliced chicken and salsa, if you have any.
7. Soy-Seared Tofu with Air-Fried Green Beans & Tomatoes
If you've ever read anything I've written about food on BuzzFeed, odds are you've seen me rant and rave about Andrea Nguyen's soy-seared tofu recipe at least once or twice. It's a genius method that yields crisp, meaty tofu with very little effort and absolutely zero prep. As someone who struggles to plan ahead and press my tofu to drain any extra moisture, it's a weekly staple in my household. Here, I served it with some simply seasoned and air-fried veggies for a quick lunch that took less than 20 minutes to put together.
How to make it: You can find the complete instructions for soy-seared tofu here; it only requires tofu, soy sauce, and canola oil. For the rest of this meal, toss green beans and halved cherry tomatoes with neutral oil, salt, and crushed red pepper and air fry for 10 minutes at 425ºF. Alternatively, you could roast the veggies in the oven for around 15 minutes at 450ºF.
You can serve this dish over rice (if you're not "riced out") or simply as-is.
8. Dal-Inspired Spiced Red Lentils
I often keep red lentils stocked in the pantry since they can easily transform into a stick-to-your-bones, nourishing meal when it feels like you have nothing left to cook with. Dal — which is both a name for split red lentils and the meal you can create with them — is an aromatic dish with Indian roots, and here, it was the basis for using up the rest of my 6-to-1 haul.
It's also exceptionally tasty with plush, steamy naan, which I made (featured above!) from scratch using a recipe for quick, yeastless naan, as it relies on a small handful of ingredients I always have in my pantry. It's nowhere near as good as the fresh naan you'd get at a restaurant (or the kind that uses yeast as leavening), but it works nicely in a pinch.
How to make it: I totally improvised the dal itself using similar ratios to Home Cooking Collective's masoor dal recipe, which I make frequently. Sauté some minced onion and garlic in canola oil until just fragrant, then add a spoonful of tomato paste if you have it. I stirred in the remaining 1/2 can of coconut milk that I saved after day one of my 6-to-1 experiment, along with 1 cup of rinsed and picked-through red lentils and 2 1/2 cups of water. Once the mixture reached a boil, I reduced it to a simmer and added plenty of garam masala, ground coriander, and turmeric, along with a large pinch of salt. After simmering for 20 minutes, the lentils will be tender and mushy (without completely breaking down), which means you're ready to spoon them into bowls next to fresh rice and naan if you have it on hand or made your own.
Ultimately, my 6-to-1 haul lasted me a little over one week since we also enjoyed a dinner out and had a few takeout meals here and there. TBH, I was wildly surprised at just how easily I was able to stretch a single sub-$100 grocery haul into eight separate dishes that produced a whopping 28 servings of food.
This feat feels even more impressive when you compare my 6-to-1 grocery run to the "normal" budget-minded haul I'm used to doing. When I finally ran out of groceries, I shopped according to my usual strategy where I buy ingredients for around five meals at a time. Even at a "cheap" grocery store like Trader Joe's, my total came in nearly $40 higher than my 6-to-1 run.
I'm a cook, not a mathemetician, but according to my calculations, this actually means that I saved a ton of money using the 6-to-1 method. On average, each serving of food I made from my pricier TJ's haul clocked in at about $5.85 per serving, while 6-to-1 servings were about half the cost at $2.85 per serving.
So, yes, it's very evident that Will's viral shopping method has the potential to save you a decent chunk of change on your next grocery run — but actually, I found some of my biggest takeaways to have very little to do with money itself.
✅ I LIKED: How streamlined, easy, and approachable the 6-to-1 method made my grocery shopping process.
Walking into a grocery store with a predetermined list can feel like a daunting task, but Will's method (whether you're in a grocery store IRL or shopping online) makes the process a lot more manageable. If you're in a physical store, the categories also follow the layout of most grocery stores, so you won't have to backtrack when you realize you forgot that sprig of rosemary as you saunter down the freezer aisle.
IMO, starting with ingredients instead of "recipes" also allows you to experiment with new items that you might not have otherwise reached for, which will organically shake up your meal rotation. It's a fun way to learn and implement what's in season, too.
🤔 KEEP IN MIND: If you're a beginner cook or have less experience "creating" dishes out of whatever you have in your kitchen, you might find yourself struggling to turn a bunch of assorted items into a cohesive meal — but you have plenty of resources at your disposal.
Though I'd never consider myself a true chef, I do think I'm a pretty good cook — but even I found myself struggling once or twice to come up with interesting meal ideas out of the ingredients I had on hand. Frankly, I don't think that's an altogether bad thing; I tend to overcomplicate everything I do, including cooking, so I quite enjoyed the forced return to "protein, veggie, carb" for dinner. Still, I'd minimize your expectations for turning around consistent A+ meals using this method.
If you do run into roadblocks, don't forget that you have the internet at your disposal. A quick Google search for "What can I make with X, Y, and Z?" can work wonders, and it's easy to find simplified instructions for cooking just about any ingredient you have across a variety of methods. Will also recently published an e-book (which you can purchase for $10) that offers plenty of suggestions for both your grocery list and meal plan if you find yourself stuck. Heck, you can even use an AI recipe generator to come up with some sort of idea for how you should make your dinner. AI might not be the surefire answer to all of your cooking problems and questions, but I have found that it's a great place to source baseline inspiration for using up lots of assorted ingredients.
✅ I LIKED: How produce-heavy my meals were compared to the dishes I normally opt for.
With 11 separate fruits and veggies, I constantly found myself thinking, "How can I add one to this meal?" as I cooked through my haul, and as a result, I found that the produce elements of each meal were often my favorite. As someone who's trying to cook fewer recipes with meat this year, I love that it forced me to stretch my proteins across multiple meals. That stretching, in turn, very much lessened my reliance on meat for the week I used Will's 6-to-1 method.
To illustrate my point: Normally, I'd turn a five-pack of chicken thighs into four servings of food, but here, I actually turned that same amount of chicken into eight servings by focusing on other food groups first, like the succulent peppers and onions and crunchy cabbage slaw in my chicken burrito bowls.
🤔 KEEP IN MIND: It's not all or nothing. Frankly, you could incorporate elements of the 6-to-1 method into your existing grocery shopping practices to make sure you always have ingredients on hand for last-minute meals, which is likely how I'll be approaching my grocery runs in the future.
I can't lie, y'all: I loved cutting my grocery budget in half, and I loved that this simplified approach to cooking helped to make dinner feel like less of a production every night...but I missed recipes!
Moving forward, I actually think I'll balance the 6-to-1 method with a much more abbreviated version of my process of picking a handful of recipes to cook every week. For me, I actually think something like "5-to-2" — five veggies, four fruits, three proteins, and two starches — could make a lot of sense, especially if I'm choosing ingredients that have a long shelf (or freezer) life. Coupled with shopping for no more than two dinner recipes a week, I think I'll save some money and simplify my meals, all while continuing to cook through all the new and exciting recipes that I look forward to on a regular basis.
Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Will's 6-to-1 grocery method to anyone out there who's trying to spend less at the grocery store. Actually, I think pretty much anyone could learn something from doing the 6-to-1 method at least once; in my case, I realized that I could really afford to simplify my weekly meal plans, so there's no telling what you could learn, too.
For more recipe inspiration and grocery shopping tips, you can follow Chef Will Coleman on TikTok and Instagram.