Have you wondered how much it costs to make a loaf of bread in your bread machine? Also, how does that cost compare to store-bought bread? I\u2019ve had the same question and have looked at this several times. Here are the 2025 numbers.<\/em><\/p>\n Last Updated January 25, 2025 \u2013 Originally Published June 4, 2017<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n We all know that the bread coming out of your bread machine is better than the bread you buy at the store. However, have you ever wondered how much it costs to make a loaf of bread in your bread machine?<\/p>\n I\u2019ve often pondered the cost of bread made with my bread machine versus the cost of store-bought bread.\u00a0 \u00a0So I\u2019ve analyzed the cost of making my bread with my bread machine<\/a>, and I\u2019ve repeated this analysis several times over the years. The most recent analysis was done in January of 2025.<\/p>\n Before we dive in, it\u2019s important to note that this isn\u2019t a perfect analysis. Here are a few factors to consider:<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite these variables, this analysis should give you a good idea about the cost of making bread at home and highlight how your buying choices can impact the price.<\/p>\n Thanks to The Man of the House (TMOTH) for his help with this article. He does the number crunching for the analysis.<\/strong><\/p>\n The recipe I use\u00a0most frequently is for a two-pound loaf of\u00a0sour milk bread<\/a>. So this is the recipe I use in the analysis.\u00a0<\/p>\n By the way, this is an excellent bread machine recipe. The bread turns out perfectly every time, and it\u2019s quick to put together because it doesn\u2019t have a lot of ingredients.<\/p>\n Bread Flour<\/strong> \u2013 We usually buy bread flour<\/a> in bulk at CHEF\u2019STORE. However, in our 2025 analysis we show the cost of buying flour in a five-pound bag from Walmart.<\/p>\n Pro tip: Wondering how we store flour when we buy it in bulk? Check out my article on buying and storing large amounts of flour<\/a>. Storing a lot of flour is SO much easier with Gamma Lids!<\/em><\/p>\n Gamma Lids in action<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Salt<\/strong> \u2013 We buy our salt at Costco.\u00a0 But here\u2019s the thing: we bought a Costco-sized amount of salt in 2017 and we\u2019re still using it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the experts at Morton Salt<\/a>, \u201cWhile salt itself has no expiration date, salt products that contain iodine or seasonings that contain other ingredients such as spices, colors and flavors can deteriorate over time.\u201d<\/p>\n Our salt is iodized, but it isn\u2019t clumping.\u00a0 It smells fine and tastes fine so we\u2019re still using it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Sugar<\/strong> \u2013 We usually buy sugar at Costco.\u00a0 However, our local Super1Foods has had great sales on sugar during the holidays.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we\u2019ve used in our analysis for the last two years.<\/p>\n Olive Oil<\/strong> \u2013 I use olive oil in this recipe and typically get it at Costco. However, for our most recent batch, we decided to splurge on a more upscale type of olive oil. We bought a 1-liter bottle of cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil at Costco instead of the usual two three-liter jugs.<\/p>\n Yeast<\/strong> \u2013 I buy active dry yeast at Costco.\u00a0<\/p>\n Confused about the different types of yeast?\u00a0 You are not alone!\u00a0 Check out my article on different types of yeast<\/a> to clear things up.<\/p>\n Milk<\/strong> \u2013 We buy milk, a gallon at a time, from the grocery store.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n As I mentioned earlier, we base the cost on our most recent expenses. This year, we didn\u2019t buy flour in bulk and opted for a 1-liter bottle of cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil at Costco instead of the usual two three-liter jugs.<\/p>\n Our cost of making a loaf of bread rose to $1.87 per loaf, up from $1.06 in 2024.\u00a0 That\u2019s a 76% increase!! <\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the breakdown:<\/p>\n Earlier this month I checked on bread prices at the store.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what I found.<\/p>\n Sara Lee Artesano Bread<\/strong> was $2.48 a loaf at Winco.\u00a0 This is much lower than last year\u2019s price of $4.99 at Safeway.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Franz Old Fashioned Buttermilk Bread<\/strong> was $2.98 a loaf on sale at Super1Foods, with a regular price of $3.78.\u00a0 This is an incredible deal, as last year\u2019s price was actually one cent more a loaf!<\/p>\n Oroweat Country Buttermilk Bread\u00a0 <\/strong>was $3.64 a loaf at Costco when you bought two loaves in a pack.\u00a0 Last year I bought one loaf at Safeway for $3.49 during a sale.\u00a0<\/p>\n Note that the Oroweat bread is the only one of the three types of bread that I\u2019m tracking with an increased price.\u00a0 Crazy, right?\u00a0 I thought so too, until I saw this graph of bread prices<\/a> from the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis.\u00a0 It shows that bread prices have gone down.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Again, the 2025 cost of making a loaf of sour milk bread<\/a> with my bread machine<\/a> was just $1.87 per loaf!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n What are the takeaways from this analysis?\u00a0 As you can see, the cost of the ingredients makes a huge difference in the cost of a loaf of bread.\u00a0 And despite the fact that we used two ingredients in the bread that cost a lot more, it\u2019s still less expensive to make bread in the bread machine.<\/p>\n My January 2024 analysis confirms what I\u2019m hearing about inflation. Our cost of making a loaf of bread rose to $1.06 per loaf from only $0.77 in 2021.\u00a0 That\u2019s a 30% increase!\u00a0<\/strong> That\u2019s even using salt from 2017 and sugar from a fantastic sale!<\/p>\n Earlier this month I went to my neighborhood Safeway to check on bread prices.<\/p>\n Sara Lee Artesano Bread<\/strong> was $4.99 a loaf.\u00a0 The 2021 regular price was $3.69.\u00a0 That\u2019s a 35% increase.<\/p>\n Franz Old Fashioned Buttermilk Bread<\/strong> was $2.99 a loaf on sale, with a regular price of $5.99.\u00a0 The sale price was a\u00a0 great deal, but still more than the cost of homemade bread.\u00a0<\/p>\n The 2021 price for Franz Old Fashioned Buttermilk Bread was $5.19 per loaf. So the normal 2024 price is 15% more than the 2021 price.<\/p>\n Oroweat Country Buttermilk Bread\u00a0 <\/strong>was $3.49 on sale with a regular price of $5.99 per loaf.\u00a0 Again, the sale price was wonderful, but still way more than the cost of homemade bread.\u00a0<\/p>\n The 2021 regular price of Oroweat Country Buttermilk Bread was $5.09 per loaf.\u00a0 The 2024 regular price is 18% more than the 2021 price.<\/p>\n Again, the 2024 cost of making a loaf of sour milk bread<\/a> with my bread machine<\/a> was just $1.06 per loaf!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In February 2021 we got a big surprise. Our cost of making a loaf of bread fell to only 77 cents per loaf!<\/strong> This is down from 83 cents per loaf in 2020.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The difference was mostly because I bought one ingredient at Costco instead of the grocery store.\u00a0<\/p>\n We usually buy milk at the local grocery store. However, when we ran this analysis, we\u2019d just gone to Costco and bought milk there. Milk is one of the most expensive ingredients in the recipe, so it made an enormous difference.<\/p>\n The lesson here is that it really pays to buy in bulk when you can!\u00a0<\/p>\n I went to my local IGA and got these prices at the start of March 2021.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Franz Old Fashioned Buttermilk bread <\/strong>was $5.19 per loaf. That\u2019s the same as it was in February 2020.<\/p>\n In 2017, the price was $2.49 on sale.<\/p>\n Sara Lee Artesano Bread<\/strong> was on sale for $2.59 per loaf. The regular price was $3.69 per loaf.<\/p>\n In February 2020, a 20-ounce loaf of Sara Lee Artesano Bread was on sale for $2.79. The regular price was $3.69.<\/p>\n In 2017, the price was $3.29.<\/p>\n Oroweat Country Buttermilk Bread <\/strong>was $5.09 per loaf. That\u2019s the same as it was in February 2020.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t have a 2017 price from my local grocery. However, in 2017 Amazon Fresh was charging $3.99 for it.<\/p>\n Again, the 2021 cost of making a loaf of sour milk bread<\/a> with my bread machine<\/a> was just 77 cents!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Our cost for making bread in the bread machine was only 83 cents per loaf in 2020!<\/strong><\/p>\n The big story here is how much bread prices at the grocery store jumped from 2017 to 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n Franz Old Fashioned Buttermilk bread <\/strong>\u2013 In February 2020 a\u00a0 24-ounce loaf cost $5.19. (In 2017, the price was $2.49 on sale. )\u00a0<\/p>\n Sara Lee Artesano Bread<\/strong> \u2013 In February 2020, a 20-ounce loaf was on sale for $2.79. The regular price was $3.69. (In 2017, the price was $3.29.)<\/p>\n Oroweat Country Buttermilk Bread<\/strong> \u2013 In February 2020 a 24-ounce loaf cost $5.09. (I don\u2019t have a 2017 price from my local grocery. However, in 2017 Amazon Fresh was charging $3.99 for it.)\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Again, the 2020 cost of making a loaf of sour milk bread<\/a> with my bread machine<\/a>\u00a0was 83 cents!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Let\u2019s get right to it! Here are the numbers for making a loaf of bread at home from 2017.<\/p>\n Yes, you\u2019re reading it correctly. In 2017, it cost us just 85 cents<\/em> to make a loaf of bread.<\/strong><\/p>\n Kim, a loyal reader of this blog, saw my cost analysis and kindly sent me her costs for the same bread recipe. (You can see her original comment below.) Kim uses soy milk and Himalayan salt in her bread. She doesn\u2019t buy her groceries in bulk. Here\u2019s what it costs her to make a loaf of bread.<\/p>\n So how do these costs compare with the cost of bread purchased at the grocery store or Amazon Fresh?<\/p>\n Both my bread and Kim\u2019s bread were less expensive than bread purchased at the grocery store or at Amazon.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kim showed an important benefit of having a bread machine. A bread machine gives people the freedom to have bread exactly <\/em>the way they want it. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Have you wondered how much it costs to make a loaf of bread in your bread machine? Also, how does that cost compare to store-bought bread? I\u2019ve had the same question and have looked at this several times. Here are the 2025 numbers.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t![\"How](\"https:\/\/www.breadmachinediva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2025Cost.jpg\"\/ "\\"2025Cost")
![\"How](\"https:\/\/www.breadmachinediva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2025Cost.jpg\" "\\"2025Cost")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"What's](\"https:\/\/www.breadmachinediva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Cost2020SQUARE.jpg\"\/ "\\"Cost2020SQUARE")
![\"What's](\"https:\/\/www.breadmachinediva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Cost2020SQUARE.jpg\" "\\"Cost2020SQUARE")
<\/p>\nRecipe Used to Calculate Cost<\/h2>\n
Shopping for Bread Ingredients<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Gamma](\"https:\/\/www.breadmachinediva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GammaLids.jpg\"\/ "\\"GammaLids")
![\"Gamma](\"https:\/\/www.breadmachinediva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/GammaLids.jpg\" "\\"GammaLids")
<\/a><\/p>\n2025 Cost of Making Bread in a Bread Machine<\/h2>\n
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2025 Cost of Bread at the Grocery Store<\/h4>\n
2024 Cost of Making Bread in a Bread Machine<\/h2>\n
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2024 Cost of Bread at the Grocery Store<\/h4>\n
2021 Cost of Making Bread in a Bread Machine<\/h2>\n
![\"2021](\"https:\/\/www.breadmachinediva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/2021Price2.gif\"\/ "\\"2021Price2")
![\"2021](\"https:\/\/www.breadmachinediva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/2021Price2.gif\" "\\"2021Price2")
<\/p>\nBuying Bread at the Grocery Store \u2013 2021<\/h4>\n
2020 Cost of Making Bread in a Bread Machine<\/h2>\n
![\"2020](\"https:\/\/www.breadmachinediva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/cost2020numbers.gif\"\/ "\\"cost2020numbers")
![\"2020](\"https:\/\/www.breadmachinediva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/cost2020numbers.gif\" "\\"cost2020numbers")
<\/p>\nBuying Bread at the Grocery Store 2020 vs. 2017<\/h4>\n
2017 Cost of Making Bread in a Bread Machine<\/h2>\n
![\"cost](\"http:\/\/www.breadmachinediva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/cost.gif\"\/ "\\"cost")
![\"cost](\"http:\/\/www.breadmachinediva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/cost.gif\" "\\"cost")
<\/p>\n2017 \u2013 A Different Spin on the Same Recipe<\/h4>\n
![\"gourmet](\"http:\/\/www.breadmachinediva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/CostKIM.gif\"\/ "\\"gourmet")
![\"gourmet](\"http:\/\/www.breadmachinediva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/CostKIM.gif\" "\\"gourmet")
<\/p>\n2017 How Does this Compare to the Grocery Store?<\/h4>\n
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![\"Cost](\"https:\/\/www.breadmachinediva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/CostFeatured-500x500.jpg\"\/ "\\"CostFeatured")
![\"Cost](\"https:\/\/www.breadmachinediva.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/CostFeatured-500x500.jpg\" "\\"CostFeatured")
<\/div>\nCost of Homemade Bread<\/h2>\n