The short answer is: no — not if you’re buying cream specifically to make butter.
I actually tested this myself, because I wanted a real answer, not a theory. I spent £2.60 on cream and ended up with 318g of homemade butter.
The cheapest supermarket butter near me is £1.99 for 250g.
So even though I got slightly more butter by weight, it still cost more to make it myself.
Homemade butter can be satisfying, but it’s usually not the cheaper option — especially if saving money is the main goal.
Why do people say that homemade butter is cheaper?
Making your own butter looks like a clever money-saving trick.
You see:
- Cream being shaken into butter in seconds
- Claims that it’s “so much cheaper”
- Comparisons to fancy, branded butter
- No mention of actual prices or weights
If you’re already watching your food budget, it’s easy to feel like buying butter is somehow the “wrong” choice — or that you’re missing a simple hack.
You’re not. The math is just rarely shown properly.
What happened when I actually tested it
Here’s exactly what I did.
- I bought cream for £2.60
- I made butter at home
- I ended up with 318g of butter
At first glance, that feels decent. More than a standard 250g block, right?
But then I compared it to the cheapest option in the shop:
- 250g own-brand butter: £1.99
Even adjusting for the extra weight, the homemade version still worked out more expensive.
And that’s before considering:
- Time
- Electricity
- Washing up
- Whether you’ll actually use the leftover buttermilk
Nothing went wrong — this is just how the numbers fall.
Why homemade butter usually costs more
The main reason is simple: cream is expensive.
To make butter, you need a decent amount of it, and cream prices have gone up a lot. Butter has too — but basic own-brand blocks are still one of the cheaper dairy options per gram.
Also:
- You don’t get a 1:1 return (some becomes buttermilk)
- Shops buy and process dairy at scale
- Homemade versions can’t compete on efficiency
So unless the cream is free, reduced, or already in your fridge, you’re usually paying extra for the DIY version.
When making your own butter can make sense
There are situations where it’s reasonable — just not as a weekly cost-saving strategy.
It can make sense if:
- You already have cream that needs using
- You find cream heavily reduced
- You want to avoid food waste
- You’ll genuinely use the buttermilk
- You’re doing it for enjoyment, not savings
In those cases, making butter is practical — just not cheaper than buying basic butter.
The part people don’t factor in
Even if the prices were closer, there’s still the invisible cost:
- Time spent mixing and cleaning
- Mental load of another task
- Extra mess in an already busy day
If you’re tired, overwhelmed, or just trying to get through the week, these things matter.
Saving money only helps if it doesn’t cost you energy you don’t have.
What actually helps if butter costs are stressing you out
These options usually make a bigger difference than DIY:
- Buy own-brand blocks, not spreadable tubs
- Freeze butter when it’s on offer
- Use oil or margarine for cooking, butter for flavour
- Check price per gram, not packaging
- Accept that convenience has value
They’re boring. They’re not viral.
But they work.
