Cost of home-cooked vegetarian meal up 10% in a year as onion, oil, rice and LPG prices rise
Crisil says a vegetarian thali cost Rs 30.80 to make at home in September, up from Rs 28.10 a year earlier, with onions up about 89%.
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Eating out comes with all kinds of charges, while home-cooked food seems cheaper because we make it ourselves. Now, however, even the household kitchen budget is rising fast. Prices of onions, edible oil, rice and cooking gas went up in September, and ordinary people are feeling the pinch.
According to a recent Crisil report, the cost of a home-cooked vegetarian meal is 10 per cent higher than a year ago. Cooking a non-vegetarian meal has also become costlier.
Crisil's monthly Roti Rice Rate report gives the detailed figures. The average cost of making a vegetarian thali in September last year was Rs 28.10. In September 2026 it rose to Rs 30.80. The average cost of a non-vegetarian thali was Rs 56 in September 2025 and has risen 6 per cent year on year to Rs 59.50. Compared with August, the price of a vegetarian thali rose 4 per cent in September and that of a non-vegetarian thali 3 per cent.
Onions were a major reason for the rise in the vegetarian thali. In September, onion prices rose nearly 89 per cent year on year to Rs 53 a kg, from Rs 28 a kg last year. According to the report, the stock of the rabi crop was limited and production fell by 5-6 per cent, reducing the availability of onions in the market. In addition, June rainfall was 40 per cent below average, which delayed kharif sowing and the arrival of the new crop.
It was not only onions. Inflation in other essentials also hit household budgets. Compared with last year, prices in September rose 12 per cent for edible oil, 8 per cent for rice and 10 per cent for LPG. Global uncertainty and the possible effect of El Nino on palm oil production are cited as the main reasons for costlier edible oil. Rice prices have risen because of fears that paddy acreage and yield will fall.
On when relief may come, Crisil estimates that festive demand and limited onion supply could keep price pressure up in early October. However, once the new kharif crop reaches the market, onion prices are likely to ease gradually by the end of the month.
For ordinary families, managing kitchen expenses is now a challenge. How much relief households get will depend on how food availability and market prices move in the coming days.
