6x ingredients you can replace with cheaper products

When I make a new dish, I always strictly follow the recipe, but that can sometimes turn out to be quite expensive. That's why I was very happy with these 6 tips from Tasty, where readers share their food hacks: these ingredients could easily be replaced with a cheaper variant.

So I'm going to test all of this, and I'm especially curious about the alternative for pine nuts... Do they really have the same texture?

THE CHEAPER ALTERNATIVES TO TRY

1. “Just use bacon or pancetta instead of guanciale, it's cheaper and much easier to find.”

2. “Use green onions instead of chives. They are cheaper and I can't really see the difference. Plus, I usually have a jar of them in my kitchen.”

3. “I always swap Italian breadcrumbs for panko. In my opinion, panko is superior in almost every way.”

4. “I replace shallots with onions 99 percent of the time. Shallots are so expensive! And sure: they really make a dish better, but I don't bother unless I'm making something fancy.”

5. “When making homemade pesto, I use sunflower seeds as a cheaper alternative to pine nuts. They cost about a quarter, but have a similar texture.”

6. “I always use canned tomatoes unless I can get good, fresh tomatoes that are local and in season.”

Source: Tasty, image: Emily in Paris