Well it's no secret that hosting Thanksgiving dinner is going to cost you A bit more this year because of Inflation this year the average Thanksgiving dinner will be 20 more Expensive that's according to the American Farm Bureau federation's annual Survey and that is also in part due to Supply chain issues with turkeys and Other items we find on our dining tables So we're going to cut back on what we Eat that's right no we're not wait I was Like wait no we're not we're going to Cut back on cost because that's what Most Americans are doing and to do that They are turning to generic brands one Out of every five grocery products sold Across the U.S is a generic supplied by A private label manufacturer so we put This method of cost cutting to the tests We are comparing how much you could save By swapping out brand name ingredients With the generic alternative yeah Chef Barbara Rich from The Institute of Culinary education is here with us in The studio 57 to help break us break This whole thing down for us she's also She'll also actually test me and Vlad to See if we can spot which of the dishes In front of us has the generic Ingredients in which ones use brand name And I'm the worst like marketing people And advertisers love me because I'm the Dude because you're like is it more
Expensive it must be better no I'm not Okay no it's just that I'm the guy who Will watch uh a Heinz Ketchup commercial And they'll do that remember they used To show it like it's like oh pours out Real thick you know yeah and I'd be like We have to get that and my wife and my Mom or whoever is with me is like a Ketchup is ketchup bro like you're Spending x amount of dollars more for a Name brand thing which is what I think I Think you're going to be better at this Than me oh really I think you have a More sensitive palette you've talked to Me about the importance of french butter I can't tell the difference I also put Hot sauce on everything so my taste buds Are like burnt which I'm trying to say Is I'm hoity-toity but okay we gotta get Into it you might be surprised with some Of this stuff it might be surprised let Us start with uh what many of us are Called the most important part of Thanksgiving dessert uh we compare Prices of pumpkin pie from uh country Trees from the country's biggest Supermarket chains and we found a Version of this pie made with generic Ingredients that can save you more than Ten dollars that's a lot some of the Biggest savings come from switching out Your pumpkin pie spices and eggs so if Land and I are going to try to guess Which one of these pies is uh gonna be
The generic one and and Chef you're Going to give us some tips on just how You can make a great dessert without Breaking the bag These are not Starbucks like our Producers cook this up like right so This is B and that's a yep let me put This here yeah so we're gonna try the Pumpkin pie first yep for each of you or A spoon whatever you want to use is this The right Fork yes Thanks oh yeah you're right I should do The spoon so you're going to take a Taste of each one okay Small bite of each one and see if you Can I feel like I need to do crust Separately no I'm gonna mix it together Okay yeah Because the crust is part of it as well Going in for seconds do you do [Music] Okay now I have to taste yours right yep You're going to switch pretty good okay We've had our Kobe test today but I feel Like this one looks shinier and orangier Now that could mean artificial Oh I'm all about this one This one's too sweet or whatever Whatever's going on there I feel like there's another layer of Something in this one this one is I don't know this one feels in taste It's got great texture okay yeah it hits All the right notes and it looks deeper
To me like a deeper orange so I'm gonna Say the generic is a okay what were you I'm saying the generic is a because that One because B tastes better oh yeah the Generic is a then okay so what should we Be thinking about though Um well the fact that the generic is B And what the heck so so so here's the Thing okay is that to me as a chef I Mean yes the ingredients do matter so You could make the the pie crust from Scratch you could you could do all that Stuff it depends on how much effort you Want to put in and and yes to some Degree there can be a difference but Even using you know a generic filling a Generic pumpkin pie filling if you spice It up right if you add the right Seasonings in there's there's no Difference but when I buy spices there's A huge difference in the price points Yeah and I never I just assume that the More expensive one must be better well Part of it is is that in you also and This is where it gets a little tricky Sometimes because when you say like oh I Don't want to buy that much pumpkin pie Spice or right the the cardamom and the Cinnamon and you know all those things In the nutmeg the smaller the containers The more expensive they are they are so But realistically if you're you're Buying small you can buy the generic Brand and you will save a little bit
More money you know because you don't Need a huge container of them it'll just Sit on sit on yourself all right so Let's move on to a favorite side dish Mac and cheese okay using generic Ingredients can also save you a little More than ten dollars so we found that Generic cheddar cheese can be as much as 38 percent cheaper than a name brand Product so while Anne-Marie and I try to Guess which of these mac and cheese Recipes uses the generic keys I wonder If you can talk to a chef about another Staple stuffing is it a mistake to go With box stuffing over homemade stuffing Okay okay so you're gonna you're gonna Dig into the mac and cheese so for me Um I my cost cutting on my stuffing is I Don't like to buy already made stuffing I find it has the flavors are a little Artificial for me and it has a huge they Have a huge amount of sodium and to me To me that makes a difference to me that Makes a big a big difference but what I Do is I love Box cornbread mix I don't need to make It from scratch I make cornbread from a Mix I like to use Jiffy and it's a great And then you can add everything to the Stuffing I do the celery and the sausage And the sage and all that kind of stuff But I'm going to save time and money by Using by using that mix and to me you Know by the time you have it with the
Gravy on it and the mashed potatoes and The turkey It yeah it doesn't make that much it Doesn't make it nobody's going to know All right so mac and cheese which one Did you think This is a tough one everybody loves Mac And Cheese everyone has their own Opinion about it the cheese is or I want To get underneath it I got the I got a Lot of cheese um I'm gonna go with Um again I'm gonna say A is generic yeah me too I would like to Say that you are both correct all right Well I'm French I would have had to have Gotten the cheese right I was gonna say I could have to give in my French uh B was creamier yes that's what it just Tasted more like real chicken right to Me yeah so they um I think these were Made with um Velveeta and Um maybe some other cheeses mixed in so You know you could in terms of saving With this To me mac and cheese you want to stick With a little bit more you know It wasn't bad yeah it's also in the hand Of the chef I would destroy it me too I Would eat both of these and like Regardless mac and cheese always they Were both really yeah and the thing is You don't have to you know Thanksgiving Is all about comfort food and so you Don't have to use like the high-end goat
Cheese and all the fancy the gruyere and All kinds of things people just like it To be cheddar and cheese That's what we want all right so it's Finally green bean casserole is what We're looking at here uh going generic With ingredients that will save you Almost six dollars that's a lot Especially when it comes to those fried Onions crispy on top this is our last Chance to uh guess what's catch with Which casserole uses brand name Ingredients and which one use generics But Chef uh what are some of the money Saving tips when it comes to these the Fruits and vegetables and the fresh Stuff that you're buying but just one Second I don't I'm not familiar with This dish I don't I ever all right so I Think it's a very American it's a very It's okay my brother-in-law has Specially requested this one this year Really yes yes yes so the the very Classic recipe is green beans cream of Mushroom soup and then the onion the Fried crispy onion rings on top okay I Feel like it used to either come on the Back of the cream of mushroom soup Absolutely oh yeah yeah recipe oh yeah Yeah yeah oh absolutely so do you so is The trick here that um your that our Chef uh who's our producer uh Brianna And her family are they using this this The name brand fries it's name brand
Versus non-name brand so the more Generic the more generic Is using real onions is that no but You're gonna fry these who wants to do That you can't do it like a box you Can't do it like they would I would say If you're going green bean casserole you Gotta go you gotta go green bean Casserole yeah what about Frozen versus Fresh so absolutely A-Okay to switch that out absolutely Okay to switch that up flavor it's you Know it's and I would tell you that most People as as much fun as it is to do it With fresh green beans you know I was Having this conversation with my mother And she's like oh we'll be you you know What canned is fine you know it works Right because when people think of green Bean casserole that's what they think About Um in terms of see you like it with the Fried onions well I mean like whatever This one is and B I'm going that one Seems cheesier this one just is this This is awesome yeah this is okay this One I guess yeah it's generic as generic A Is generic yeah I got that two out of Three excellent excellent yeah I mean Once again all of them I know once again All of them are actually really good Yeah Um you know what I bet it it's it's the
Real Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup And it really it's it's they taste like Two totally different dishes yeah They're both good yeah but this this Tastes very different from yes so the Green beans absolutely Frozen is fine to Use even can is great to use I would say With this one the Campbell's cream of Mushroom soup because it's the it's the Real deal with it makes makes the Difference yeah Um I don't know if I could have Thanksgiving dinner with you though Because all of your Um You gotta keep that to yourself I think I got that from my wife who like before I met her I didn't really Grunt and make Noises but every time like she really Loves something she's really like she's Very vocal about it it's good A little Chef appreciation uh Chef Barbara uh Rich thank you so much thanks for having Me everyone has a fantastic holiday what Is this Aren't we supposed to drink something I We we go our producers are saying yeah I've got the booze To spike it up right here which one's Generic can't watch us do that on TV Though Happy holidays everybody happy holidays Everybody thank you Chef thank you
