A Clever Grocery Shopping Tip From Celebrity Chef Andrew Zimmern That Will Save You Money

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Andrew Zimmern’s face and feasts are familiar to anyone who tunes into the culinary corners of the TV and the internet. The celebrity chef, restaurateur, radio and TV personality, food critic and author has become a common sight on television and social media as he continues to expand his brand. 

Although he’s probably best known as the host of “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern” on the Travel Channel, he is also the creator and executive producer of the entire “Bizarre Foods” franchise, as well as of MSNBC’s “What’s Eating America,” “Andrew Zimmern’s Driven by Food,” the Emmy-nominated “Family Dinner,” the Outdoor Channel’s “Field to Fire” and “Wild Game Kitchen” and, of course, “The Zimmern List,” which brought him home an Emmy.

One of Zimmern’s secrets to success is his knack for sourcing ingredients — and he believes that amateur at-home chefs don’t have to sacrifice quality for price when choosing what to include in their culinary creations. 

The trick, in many cases, is thinking outside the grocery-store box when shopping for your meal plan’s mainstays.

Choose Small, International Markets Over Large, International Corporations

Zimmern has long advocated for local ethnic grocery stores over big chain supermarkets when gathering the makings of your meal plan.

His newsletter posts are rife with mentions of ingredients sourced from neighborhood Asian and Mexican markets, where the four-time James Beard Award-winner says everyday shoppers can find fresh, restaurant-quality meat and produce at a fraction of the price you’d find at the typical mainstream grocery store.

In one educational video, he introduced viewers to his local Italian, Asian and Mexican grocery stores, which he called, “A place to get high-quality ingredients at a great price and with a fabulous selection,” and “A fabulous way to discover the diverse cultures and cuisines of many countries.”

Booming Immigrant Communities Fuel Demand for Foreign Foods

According to IBISWorld, America is currently home to more than 16,000 small ethnic groceries and markets, which employ 193,000 people.

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These kinds of shops are often mainstays of immigrant communities and are therefore thriving despite intense pressure from giant corporate competitors. Large influxes of Hispanic, Latino and Asian immigrants are fueling growth nationwide, especially in big cities, but expanding Ethiopian and West African communities are spurring demand for markets that stock their own familiar fare, as well. 

It’s inside these hidden gems that Zimmern finds the best deals on the ingredients he loves or has yet to discover — and you can, too.  

Save Money While Expanding Your Culinary Horizons

In March 2022, near the height of the food inflation crisis, TheKitchn quoted Zimmern as saying he found skirt steak at his local Mexican market for $11.99 per pound. Not only couldn’t he find it at his mainstream supermarkets for less, but he couldn’t find “that incredible cut” at all.

Chowhound quotes Zimmern as saying he scored bunches of 20 or 25 bananas for just $0.99.

Small ethnic groceries can offer such deals by purchasing surplus produce that doesn’t meet supermarkets’ strict cosmetic and uniformity standards — think undersized peppers, oblong cucumbers and straight bananas — yet is just as good as its prettier counterparts, similar to the Misfits Market business model. 

Consumer Affairs reports that the deals aren’t limited only to produce. Substantial discounts are also standard for spices, particularly those common to ethnic cuisine. For example, a bunch of fresh curry leaves might cost $0.99 compared to between $6 and $11 at a regular grocery store.

Zimmern loves the diversity as much as the discounts and wants Americans to peruse these shops to get acquainted with things like dried mushrooms, chiles, hot sauces, tortilla masa, noodles and dumplings, which are little-known in the U.S. despite being daily delicacies in other countries. 

In his video, Zimmern said, “You’ll find exciting, popular items used each day in the kitchens and on the tables of other people all around the world. You’ll see why these honest, authentic markets have the best quality of products and the best value available.”