How Much Does it Cost to Make Bread?
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’ve had the same question and have looked at this several times. Here are the 2025 numbers.
Last Updated January 25, 2025 – Originally Published June 4, 2017
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?
I’ve often pondered the cost of bread made with my bread machine versus the cost of store-bought bread. So I’ve analyzed the cost of making my bread with my bread machine, and I’ve repeated this analysis several times over the years. The most recent analysis was done in January of 2025.
Before we dive in, it’s important to note that this isn’t a perfect analysis. Here are a few factors to consider:
- Bread Machine and Electricity Costs: We haven’t included the cost of electricity to run the machine or the initial cost of the bread machine itself.
- Ingredient Prices: Ingredient prices vary widely. Sometimes we buy in bulk, which can be more economical, but not everyone does. Occasionally, we find a great sale at our local grocery store.
- Recipe Specifics: The prices are based on the cost of making our most recent loaf of Sour Milk Bread. In the 2025 analysis, there are two notable differences: we used a high-quality olive oil instead of our usual kind, and we did not buy flour in bulk. We were running low and bought a five-pound bag from the grocery store.
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.
Thanks to The Man of the House (TMOTH) for his help with this article. He does the number crunching for the analysis.
Recipe Used to Calculate Cost
The recipe I use most frequently is for a two-pound loaf of sour milk bread. So this is the recipe I use in the analysis.
By the way, this is an excellent bread machine recipe. The bread turns out perfectly every time, and it’s quick to put together because it doesn’t have a lot of ingredients.
Shopping for Bread Ingredients
Bread Flour – We usually buy bread flour in bulk at CHEF’STORE. However, in our 2025 analysis we show the cost of buying flour in a five-pound bag from Walmart.
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. Storing a lot of flour is SO much easier with Gamma Lids!
Salt – We buy our salt at Costco. But here’s the thing: we bought a Costco-sized amount of salt in 2017 and we’re still using it.
According to the experts at Morton Salt, “While 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.”
Our salt is iodized, but it isn’t clumping. It smells fine and tastes fine so we’re still using it.
Sugar – We usually buy sugar at Costco. However, our local Super1Foods has had great sales on sugar during the holidays. That’s what we’ve used in our analysis for the last two years.
Olive Oil – 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.
Yeast – I buy active dry yeast at Costco.
Confused about the different types of yeast? You are not alone! Check out my article on different types of yeast to clear things up.
Milk – We buy milk, a gallon at a time, from the grocery store.
2025 Cost of Making Bread in a Bread Machine
As I mentioned earlier, we base the cost on our most recent expenses. This year, we didn’t 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.
Our cost of making a loaf of bread rose to $1.87 per loaf, up from $1.06 in 2024. That’s a 76% increase!!
Here’s the breakdown:
- 1.5 cups of milk is 35.4¢ – up 15% from 2024
- 4 cups of bread flour is $1.21 – up 104% from 2024. This significant increase is largely because we didn’t buy flour in bulk this time. On 12/27/2024 we bought a five-pound bag of flour at Walmart for $5.38. In our 2024 analysis we’d used a price from a 25 pound bag of flour we bought at CHEF’STORE for $13.19.
- 1.25 teaspoons of salt is .4¢ – No change here. We bought salt at Costco in 2017 and are still using it.
- 4 tablespoons of sugar is 4.5¢ – up 31% from 2024. This is an interesting item as it’s a direct comparison of one-pound bags of sugar bought at the same local grocery store.
- 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil is 24.4¢ – up 144% from 2024. This massive increase is due to the fact that we bought a more expensive type of olive oil this year.
- 1.75 teaspoons of active dry yeast is 2.5¢ – the same as 2024. In fact, because we refrigerate our yeast, we’re still using the same yeast as last year.
2025 Cost of Bread at the Grocery Store
Earlier this month I checked on bread prices at the store. Here’s what I found.
Sara Lee Artesano Bread was $2.48 a loaf at Winco. This is much lower than last year’s price of $4.99 at Safeway.
Franz Old Fashioned Buttermilk Bread was $2.98 a loaf on sale at Super1Foods, with a regular price of $3.78. This is an incredible deal, as last year’s price was actually one cent more a loaf!
Oroweat Country Buttermilk Bread was $3.64 a loaf at Costco when you bought two loaves in a pack. Last year I bought one loaf at Safeway for $3.49 during a sale.
Note that the Oroweat bread is the only one of the three types of bread that I’m tracking with an increased price. Crazy, right? I thought so too, until I saw this graph of bread prices from the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis. It shows that bread prices have gone down.
Again, the 2025 cost of making a loaf of sour milk bread with my bread machine was just $1.87 per loaf!
What are the takeaways from this analysis? As you can see, the cost of the ingredients makes a huge difference in the cost of a loaf of bread. And despite the fact that we used two ingredients in the bread that cost a lot more, it’s still less expensive to make bread in the bread machine.
2024 Cost of Making Bread in a Bread Machine
My January 2024 analysis confirms what I’m hearing about inflation. Our cost of making a loaf of bread rose to $1.06 per loaf from only $0.77 in 2021. That’s a 30% increase! That’s even using salt from 2017 and sugar from a fantastic sale!
- 1.5 cups of milk is 30.8¢ – up 33% from 2021
- 4 cups of bread flour is 59.1¢ – up 65% from 2021
- 1.25 teaspoons of salt is .4¢ – the same as 2021
- 4 tablespoons of sugar is 2.7¢ – down 58% from 2021
- 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil is 10.0¢ – up 12% from 2021
- 1.75 teaspoons of active dry yeast is 2.5¢ – the same as 2021
2024 Cost of Bread at the Grocery Store
Earlier this month I went to my neighborhood Safeway to check on bread prices.
Sara Lee Artesano Bread was $4.99 a loaf. The 2021 regular price was $3.69. That’s a 35% increase.
Franz Old Fashioned Buttermilk Bread was $2.99 a loaf on sale, with a regular price of $5.99. The sale price was a great deal, but still more than the cost of homemade bread.
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.
Oroweat Country Buttermilk Bread was $3.49 on sale with a regular price of $5.99 per loaf. Again, the sale price was wonderful, but still way more than the cost of homemade bread.
The 2021 regular price of Oroweat Country Buttermilk Bread was $5.09 per loaf. The 2024 regular price is 18% more than the 2021 price.
Again, the 2024 cost of making a loaf of sour milk bread with my bread machine was just $1.06 per loaf!
2021 Cost of Making Bread in a Bread Machine
In February 2021 we got a big surprise. Our cost of making a loaf of bread fell to only 77 cents per loaf! This is down from 83 cents per loaf in 2020.
The difference was mostly because I bought one ingredient at Costco instead of the grocery store.
We usually buy milk at the local grocery store. However, when we ran this analysis, we’d 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.
The lesson here is that it really pays to buy in bulk when you can!
Buying Bread at the Grocery Store – 2021
I went to my local IGA and got these prices at the start of March 2021.
Franz Old Fashioned Buttermilk bread was $5.19 per loaf. That’s the same as it was in February 2020.
In 2017, the price was $2.49 on sale.
Sara Lee Artesano Bread was on sale for $2.59 per loaf. The regular price was $3.69 per loaf.
In February 2020, a 20-ounce loaf of Sara Lee Artesano Bread was on sale for $2.79. The regular price was $3.69.
In 2017, the price was $3.29.
Oroweat Country Buttermilk Bread was $5.09 per loaf. That’s the same as it was in February 2020.
I don’t have a 2017 price from my local grocery. However, in 2017 Amazon Fresh was charging $3.99 for it.
Again, the 2021 cost of making a loaf of sour milk bread with my bread machine was just 77 cents!
2020 Cost of Making Bread in a Bread Machine
Our cost for making bread in the bread machine was only 83 cents per loaf in 2020!
The big story here is how much bread prices at the grocery store jumped from 2017 to 2020.
Buying Bread at the Grocery Store 2020 vs. 2017
Franz Old Fashioned Buttermilk bread – In February 2020 a 24-ounce loaf cost $5.19. (In 2017, the price was $2.49 on sale. )
Sara Lee Artesano Bread – 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.)
Oroweat Country Buttermilk Bread – In February 2020 a 24-ounce loaf cost $5.09. (I don’t have a 2017 price from my local grocery. However, in 2017 Amazon Fresh was charging $3.99 for it.)
Again, the 2020 cost of making a loaf of sour milk bread with my bread machine was 83 cents!
2017 Cost of Making Bread in a Bread Machine
Let’s get right to it! Here are the numbers for making a loaf of bread at home from 2017.
Yes, you’re reading it correctly. In 2017, it cost us just 85 cents to make a loaf of bread.
2017 – A Different Spin on the Same Recipe
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’t buy her groceries in bulk. Here’s what it costs her to make a loaf of bread.
2017 How Does this Compare to the Grocery Store?
So how do these costs compare with the cost of bread purchased at the grocery store or Amazon Fresh?
- 6/13/2017 – a 24 ounce loaf of Franz Old Fashioned Buttermilk bread cost $2.49 on sale at IGA. Amazon Fresh sold it for $3.09.
- 6/13/2017 – a 20 ounce loaf of Sara Lee Artesano Bread cost $3.49 at IGA. Amazon Fresh sold it for $3.29.
- 6/14/2017 – a 24 ounce loaf of Oroweat Country Buttermilk Bread on Amazon Fresh cost $3.99.
Both my bread and Kim’s bread were less expensive than bread purchased at the grocery store or at Amazon.
Kim showed an important benefit of having a bread machine. A bread machine gives people the freedom to have bread exactly the way they want it.
Cost of Homemade Bread
Key Points:
- In 2025 it cost me $1.87 to make a two-pound loaf of sour milk bread.
- The Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis says that bread prices have gone down at the grocery store. This matches what I'm seeing.
- We base the cost on our most recent expenses. This year, despite using more expensive ingredients and falling bread prices, it still makes economic sense to make your own bread.