Potato Frittatas Will Please Both Your Heart And Wallet

Cheap and comforting. Introducing: the potato frittata. Your heart and your wallet are both about to get a lot happier. When you want comfort food (or any meal, really), most folks would probably agree that the sooner you can eat it, the better — and not having to fork over $20 a plate is nice, too. That price tag isn't just for meals out at restaurants, either; Home cooking has been getting steeper than ever. In April, inflation reached the highest rate it's seen in 40 years, says The Sun. And according to recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), grocery store food prices jumped 3.5% in 2021 from 2020 compared to a historically-typical 2% year-over-year inflation rate. Now, as of August 2022, the average cost of cooking at home is 10.9% higher than it was this time last year (U.S. News).

As shoppers await a potential lowering of food prices, they can rest assured that there are some reasonable options, like potato frittatas, that are ready to transform your dinner table right now. This Spanish Tortilla with Purple Potatoes recipe is essentially a frittata made with eggs, purple potatoes, onions, and shallots. It's a dish that serves 10, takes 30 minutes to bake, and the whole mise en place will rock you about $10. 

Let's break it down.

Speaking of the lure of the potato frittata, Epicurious declared, "Potatoes and eggs is a duo that sits among the greatest food combos on Earth. It rubs shoulders with peanut butter and jelly and cookies and cream ... And the best part? It's cheap."

At Whole Foods in Brooklyn, New York, a dozen eggs cost $5.79 — but, you'll only need six of 'em for this recipe which, adjusted, comes to about $2.90. Purple potatoes cost $2.39 per pound (which, since you'll need one and three quarters pounds, comes to about $4.18), two medium yellow onions cost $2.49, and a bundle of green onions costs $0.99. Assuming you already have vegetable oil and salt floating around your pantry, the total ingredients list comes out to $10.56, or about $1.06 per serving.

There are other ways to trim down costs, as well. If you're a frittata fan and want to repeat the recipe, buying potatoes in bulk is much cheaper. A 5-pound bag of Russet potatoes is $4.99, and you'll only need about two of them per frittata. Considering one medium Russet potato typically weighs about a half pound, that means there are reasonably 10 potatoes in a five-pound bag. So, that would mean russet potatoes purchased in bulk are $0.50 each, which shaves $3 off your total potato expenditure.