DIY Single-Serve Peanut Butter To-Go Cups

Have you ever bought Jif To-Go? They are little 1.5 ounce cups of peanut butter perfect for taking on the go, packing in school or work lunches, or traveling. Yes, you could spread them onto toast or a bagel. You could make a pb&J sandwich with them. But I think they are the bomb if you want a healthy snack like apples or celery sticks dipped in peanut butter. 

The Cost of Convenience 

Convenience is valuable. So is your money. So is your time. So is the environment. There are a lot of factors that go into play in decisions we make every day. I once bought these Jif To-Go cups at my local grocery store because they were on the gas deals for the week (Check out my "Free Gas, Free Flights Post"), but to be honest I would not normally spend the money on them. 

Buying disposable, single serving cups like these does create more garbage/waste and it is more costly (though convenient!!). I generally opt for the option of making my own at home. You can buy small plastic containers that are perfect for portioning out snacks like nuts, peanut butter, dressings, etc. Or if you are on the glass-only containers train, there are great options for small containers there as well. Honestly, baby food jars are a great option! Fill the containers as needed or you can fill up a bunch of them and have them ready to go in your pantry for quick lunch and snack prep! 

​Now in some cases it is just not practical to have reusable containers. Maybe you need to provide a snack for a whole classroom or tour group and disposable is your only option. Again, you can buy the pre-made Jif To-Go cups, or whatever other brand. But you can also buy empty 2 ounceplastic cups with lids on Amazon and fill them with the peanut butter, nut butter, etc of your choice for a fraction of the cost and to be honest it doesn't have to take long. 

Top Tip! 

My top tip is to use a cookie scoop to scoop the peanut butter into the cups. I have this OXO Cookie Scoop and it was perfect for scooping the peanut butter into each little cup without getting it all over the place. 

What do you think?

Is it worth it to you to take the time to make your own on-the-go peanut butter cups whether in disposable plastic cups, reusable plastic, or glass jars? Would you rather just enjoy the convenience of the branded options?

For me, the savings is worth it. It all helps contribute to funding travel. Little by little. 

Cost Comparison 

Jiff To Go Cups - 36 1.5 ounce cups for $19.93 = ~.55 each

Total: 55 cents and no time
​

250 2 ounce plastic cups $12.95 (~.05 per cup/lid)
48 oz of Peanut Butter $4.64 Sam's Club (~.15/1.5 ounces)

Total: 20 cents plus your time. 

(of course if you already had reusable plastic or glass jars, then you can knock that down to 15 cents each!) ;-)