Neighborhood, family-run ethnic grocery stores dot many urban corners. They focus on fresh fruits used in world cuisines and cuts of meat you don’t often find at national chain supermarkets.
Nowadays, international grocers are popping up beyond major urban centers. Pan-Asian, Middle Eastern or Latin markets are common, but you’ll also encounter shops devoted to a single nationality — Indian, Korean, Serbian, Armenian, Mexican or Jamaican, for instance.
These markets are excellent for sourcing cuisine-specific ingredients and for their bargain prices. Amid aisles of products with unfamiliar labels, you’ll discover pantry essentials like rice, pasta, sauces and canned goods, a wide selection of meats and seafood, and produce that is often both cheaper and fresher than supermarket offerings.
How to Shop Ethnic Grocery Stores and Save on Food
The guide below will point out ways to economize at local markets. Start by considering the stores you pass on your commute or when dropping kids off at school. Those nearby markets are worth a visit — and you won’t be burning extra gas to get there.
Stock Up on Pantry Staples
When mainstream stores ran short of shelf-stable items like canned and dried beans early in the pandemic, savvy buyers turned to their neighborhood Latin market, which still had staples — and even toilet paper.
For shoppers who hadn’t explored local ethnic markets, the search for basics opened their eyes to other ingredients they might want to try. They also discovered many products are sold in larger quantities, another effective way to save money.
Pick Up Spices and Other Specialty Ingredients
Home cooks often head to international grocery stores for specialty ingredients at lower costs. Food blogger Jessica Fisher of Good Cheap Eats points out that items a big-box store may label “gourmet” or tuck into an “international” aisle at a premium are simply “ordinary quality food” at Italian, Middle Eastern, Chinese or Caribbean markets.
Use cookbooks or culinary blogs for inspiration and to get acquainted with staple ingredients in the cuisines you want to explore, then make a shopping list. You can even duplicate takeout dishes at home, saving money and gaining kitchen confidence.
If you’re unsure about an ingredient you see, ask someone working in the store — they’re often happy to help.
Professional cooks and food writers, such as the Leung family who blog at The Woks of Life and cookbook author and teacher Andrea Nguyen, provide ingredient glossaries and shopping guides that explain what to look for in Chinese and Vietnamese markets. Arriving with a list helps ensure you buy what you need for authentic dishes without overspending on items you won’t use often.
Cookbook author Archana Mundhe offers lessons on the many spices in Indian cooking on her site, The Ministry of Curry. An Indian market is an ideal place to find affordable spices.
Find Fresh Food For Less
To really understand the value of ethnic markets, explore the produce, meat and seafood sections. These stores often match or beat supermarket prices without sacrificing the quality or taste of their produce.
The fresh selections will differ from what chain stores stock in both variety and presentation. Ethnic markets carry items their local community requests in addition to mainstream tomatoes, lettuce and oranges. In Chinese markets you’ll find heaps of pea shoots, bok choy, water spinach and thin Chinese celery — all great for stir-fries — alongside familiar chard and kale.
Some shops even have live fish — it doesn’t get much fresher than that — and numerous meat cuts. Skirt steak, for example, can be scarce at national grocery chains but is commonly available at Mexican markets. It’s the preferred cut for carne asada.
In a Wall Street Journal piece, business reporter Anne Kadet observed that food in New York’s Chinatown markets was cheaper than at bigger supermarkets due to ties with smaller producers. Smaller warehouses also deliver more often, resulting in fresher inventory.
The story also noted that packaging and labeling aren’t as slick or mass-produced as big-name supermarket brands. Prices may be handwritten on paper or craft-store stickers. That reduces costs for shop owners and ultimately customers. These stores often rely on neighborhood traffic or word of mouth rather than costly advertising.
No Frills Is a Good Thing
Many family-run markets operate in compact spaces, which lowers rent — if they don’t own the building — and reduces other overhead. That enables them to offer lower prices. Additionally, markets are frequently staffed by extended family members, which can mean reduced payroll. Those savings show up in the price of the groceries.
Shopping at ethnic markets is also a form of “shopping small,” supporting local independent businesses. Stretching your food budget while backing a neighborhood shop is a sensible reason to shop at ethnic markets.
