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Guga's steak-dinner test gives restaurant convenience its due

Costco supplies the tasting favorite, but Guga's answer to whether home cooking is cheaper depends on how you value the work.

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Guga Foods Story of November 1, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? 854,222 views so far, and here is what is inside it.

Is It Still Cheaper to Cook Steak at Home?

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0:01Guga sets a $50 budget at each store to compare home-cooked steak dinners with budget steakhouses.
0:32Whole Foods supplies New York strips and loaded-potato ingredients; Costco later supplies American Wagyu top sirloin.
5:27The sides are twice-baked russet potatoes with bacon and sweet potato mash with brown sugar and hot honey.
9:49The tasters find the Whole Foods steak flavorful but thin, and praise the loaded potato.
11:14Guga, Sebastian and Leo all prefer the Costco steak for tenderness and flavor.
12:44Guga concludes restaurants remain price-competitive when labor counts, but home cooking delivers better food.

Can a budget steakhouse make more sense than firing up the grill? Guga gives restaurant convenience its due in "Is It Still Cheaper to Cook Steak at Home?", even as his tasting makes a strong case for staying in.

He sets a $50 shopping budget at each of two stores, Whole Foods and Costco, to build steak dinners with potatoes. The question isn't just how much meat the money buys, but what ends up on the plate and how much effort it takes to get there.

Whole Foods supplies New York strips and the ingredients for loaded twice-baked potatoes with bacon. Costco supplies American Wagyu top sirloin, sweet potatoes and butter, with a hot-dog stop along the way. The Costco grocery total excludes a membership renewal charge.

Back at the grill, Guga keeps the steaks simple with salt and pepper. The sides get more attention: the sweet potato mash receives brown sugar and hot honey, while the russets become bacon-loaded potatoes.

Sebastian and Leo join him to taste the meals. They find the Whole Foods steak flavorful but thin, and praise its potato. All three prefer the Costco steak for tenderness and flavor.

Guga's conclusion separates quality from convenience: chain steakhouse meals can be competitively priced once the labor of cooking is counted, while he judges the home-cooked food superior. The video includes a paid sponsorship segment for Chime.

Viewers add another wrinkle to the shopping comparison: buying whole packs of ingredients can cover several meals, rather than just the dinner being tested. Others ask Guga to take the same question to Aldi.

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What viewers say

of course eating at home would be 1000x better when Guga's your chef.
@onlychrisgreenSee it on YouTube
Honestly we do need an Aldis video
@GurtiusMaximusSee it on YouTube
Hi Guga. It's true that you have to do the work at home but cooking is a labor of love for me and you have taught me how to do it right. Thanks to you and the crew.
@GrayWolf-745See it on YouTube

4 more comments

Cooking at home is always cheaper, especially when factoring in tip, when you buy in larger quantities. If you're single it might be better to eat out, but a family of 4 buying food for a week is a going to save money with plenty of food. You don't buy a strip of bacon, you buy a pack of bacon for multiple potatoes or to go with something else in during the week.
@chad5696See it on YouTube
Imagine working at the butcher section and your customer is Guga asking you about the meat cuts😅, must be a surreal experience!
@karemsn1725See it on YouTube
here is my take, if I can make it better than the restaurant for the same price or less, I'm taking home cooked all day, but if it's something special that requires extra bells and whistles that I can't reproduce at home, then the restaurant wins
@ilyamondrowski2649See it on YouTube
For over a year now I have been having Steak and Beer mondays. We spend about $80-90 once a month on costco Prime NY Strip, and it feeds 2 people, 4 steak dinners. I do not regret the almost $100 on the food budget just being for steak dinners.
@NeckRemoverSee it on YouTube