Are "slop bowls" a waste of money?

TL;DR

Homemade Cava-style bowls cost 64% less per bowl than buying them, making restaurant bowls a poor value for regular meals.

Key Points

• 1.Three Cava bowls cost $45.95 total (~$15.32 average each), while homemade versions came out to roughly $5.55 per bowl using a $46.73 grocery haul.
• 2.The grocery budget yielded enough food for 9 bowls — 6 chicken and 3 lamb — compared to just 3 from the restaurant run.
• 3.Total time costs are real: the Cava trip took ~38 minutes (drive + ordering + return), while grocery shopping, prep, and cooking took longer upfront but produced a week's worth of meals.
• 4.The batch prep strategy is the key advantage — proteins (spicy lamb meatballs and cumin-agave chicken thighs) and two sauces (cucumber dill tzatziki and herby vinaigrette) are made once, then individual bowls assemble in 3–4 minutes throughout the week.
• 5.Homemade meatballs were preferred in the taste test because seasoning can be customized (extra-spicy harissa), while Cava must dial back heat to serve mass audiences.
• 6.The five-component bowl framework — base, protein, vegetables, crunchies/creamies, and dressing — is the repeatable template that makes home versions easy to vary into wraps, rice bowls, or salads.