The Economic Benefits of Cooking with your Wok

During this economic downturn, an easy way to reduce spending is to reduce your food costs by cooking at home. Cooking with a wok is healthy and saves both time and money.

Wok cooking originated in Asia thousands of years ago. Ironically it was fuel shortages and poor economy which contributed to its invention. Today, fuel prices and poor economy have indirectly pushed people back to frugal recipes the wok embraces.

What’s old is new again.
The wok has enabled people to approach meal preparation in a new, all inclusive way. No longer do you have to spend time cooking side dishes while the main dish steeps or boils. The stress of timing your baked potato with your medium cooked sirloin no longer comes into the equation. Everything is cooked in one wok. You simply time when you add your veggies and meat.

Buy a bag of rice; add vegetables (whatever is in season). Add some meat or poultry and you have a cheap recipe which produces amazing results. If you portion correctly you will be eating a tasty healthy meal and dining on a dime.

Use your wok to prepare for a long work week.
Unfortunately, in a bad economy many people will be forced to work long hours. Rest assured there is something you can do with your wok to prepare for crazy work schedules. Do everything the same as above, but do it in volume. It takes very little effort to bulk up your portions while all your ingredients are out. If you are already cutting up vegetables and boiling rice, why not double or triple the content. Cook the entire bulk meal and save the remainders in individual Tupperware containers to throw in the microwave over next few days.


An unintended payoff with wok cooking is that your friends will think you have taken cooking classes. The final product will be a meal on a dime that not only tastes good, but will impress your guests. You may even find a few non-believers searching through your trash looking for the take-out containers that don’t exist.