Food swaps are a great way to keep food costs down, try new dishes, and save yourself some cook time. All you need is a group of like-minded individuals (and by that I mean, if you’re a vegan or vegetarian, make sure you hook up with vegan or vegetarian friends!), a recipe, and some time to cook!

Each month, pick a dish you want to make for the swap. The dish need not be fancy… just tasty!

Within your food swap community, decide on a number of servings each family is going to receive. For simplicity’s sake, this should be a set number, not one that fluctuates for each family. Six servings is usually enough to include larger families, but not so large that smaller families feel overwhelmed. For each family that’s participating, make six (or the agreed upon number of) servings of your dish. In other words, if there are 5 families other than your own taking part in the swap, you’ll need to make 30 servings of your dish.

Before the swap-make your dish, divide it into family-sized portions (6 servings/family), package it up, and freeze it if need be. If you end up cooking the day before, freezing the meal probably isn’t necessary.

On the day of the swap, come to the designated ’swap joint’, dole out your dish and pick up some yummy new meals for the upcoming week(s)!

So, how does a food swap save you money? Well, you’ll have a solid month to decide on a dish, make your shopping list, and shop the sales! It’s often times economical to buy foodstuffs in bulk; a food swap allows you to utilize large quantities of ingredients at once. If you decide to take part in a vegetarian food swap, vegetarian dishes tend to be on the cheaper side of things. Beans, for instance, are fairly inexpensive. Taking it a step further, dried beans sold in bulk are even cheaper!

While you’ll likely spend a few solid hours in the kitchen cooking your 30 or so servings of whatever dish you choose, taking part in a food swap will save you time in the long run. You’ll likely find your ‘cooking groove’ and bang out your meals with minimal effort. Making a few batches of soup on a Sunday afternoon takes time, but it’s better than slaving away weeknight after weeknight in the kitchen.

Have you ever participated in a food swap? Do you have any tips to share?