I finally finished my grocery costs calculations; there was one last price that I kept forgetting to gather. These are based on my local chain grocery store, on either the regular prices or on sale prices that I've frequently seen. Other grocery options, such as Aldi, will often be cheaper. We buy a large fraction of our food from Costco and from the local meat market.
I decided to standardize and rank these foods by figuring out the cost per 1000 calories of each. And I don't recommend basing your diet on the cheapest foods alone; that would be very unhealthy! But this list may help you to avoid overpaying for convenience foods that are made mostly of the most inexpensive and least healthful ingredients, and also help you to make the dollars stretch further when money is tight.
Food, Cost Per 1000 Calories
White flour $0.27
White sugar $0.29
Canola oil $0.33
Lard (hydrogenated) $0.46
White rice, 10 lb bag $0.50
Peanuts $0.56
Cornmeal* $0.62
Pasta $0.63
Popcorn (plain unpopped)* $0.90
Oatmeal* $0.83
Peanut butter $0.90
Butter $0.94
Cornstarch $0.95
Pop/Soda, 2 liters $0.97
Milk (whole) $1.16
Dried beans $1.33
Potatoes $1.43
Ice cream $1.62
Banana* $1.64
Tortilla chips $1.79
Olive oil $1.83
Bread, fancy brand $1.87
Chicken nuggets $1.85
Eggs $1.90
Raisins $2.11
Frozen juice concentrate $2.26
Cheese (block) $2.36
Ground beef (80/20) $3.46
Carrots $4.18
Yogurt (local brand, based on whole milk) $4.59
Chicken breast $5.32
Cocoa powder (the baking kind) $6.64
Canned olives $6.77
Apples $7.46
Onions $9.90
Romaine lettuce $18.43
Green pepper $41.25
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* = For these products I had to guess a bit about price, or calories in a package, or how many it would take to make a pound
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