NBR: Your go-to CHEAP meals?

PepperStick

Our grocery budget it very small. And I'm starting to have a hard time coming up with cheap meals that aren't just some variation of spaghetti every night. I'm mostly looking for dinners. Breakfast and lunch are usually cereal/eggs and leftovers. 

Our budget is around 70 dollars just for food.

Kissty

Grilled chicken.  You can put it on a salad, taco, casadilla, by itself.  DH does a lot of fajitas and there is always left over meat and we use it for just about everything

Megroons

Something I've always loved is green beans, rice, hamburger and tomato soup. It's not super cheapt but it goes a long way! You'll get at least 3-4 meals out of it.

PepperStick

I don't know why I've never thought of Stir fry. We usually have stuff on hand for that.

Thanks ladies!

Shazzie116

^ I second that. So good!

kristyand

quinoa cooked in a can of diced tomatoes (but you could leave that out if you need to go super cheap) and black beans - if we're feeling snazzy we'll add some avocado

homemade mac and cheese with a simple salad (dark green lettuce, nuts) with EVOO/balsamic dressing I make

pasta w a can of white beans mixed in

spaghetti and peas

eshee8198

Quesadillas are a big favorite in our house. Especially because you can fill them with just about anything. And we do a pizza almost every Friday - it takes about an hour with rising time, but anything leftover from the week tends to go on it. We also do pasta with cream sauce (mostly just reduce the cream with some butter and salt) and frozen sweet peas, or pasta with pesto.

We also grill a lot - especially cheaper cuts like chicken thighs, which tend to not dry out on the grill. We'll make a big batch of homemade rub or glaze (last night was a ketchup, cumin, sriacha and honey glaze), then just have it with a side of black beans, chickpeas, or couscous (usually with lime on top).

Whole chickens are also a good way to stretch your dollar - I can usually get four dinners and four lunches out of one small chicken.

Par13

Hummus is something you can make on the cheap and is versatile. We eat it as a dip with carrots and make hummus wraps for lunch (hummus, cheese, greens, & tomatoes).

I think that just shopping your store's weekly ad is an easy way to save $. I just meal plan around what's on sale.

jhasselt

Even though it's summer, I like soups.  I make a potato soup with frozen hashbrowns, can of gravy and some chicken broth (a little garlic and pepper for seasoning) that makes quite a few meals

Or my mom's chili: celery, onion,hamburger browned, add 1-2 cans of tomato soup, water, chili beans,  anything else you have on hand, add a 1/3 of a bag of uncooked egg noodles, simmer until noodles are cooked and then you can add kidney beans.  This makes a huge vat of soup, and will cover 3-4 meals.  I like to add cheese and crackers, but you can do without it.  I'm sure you can make it with cheaper meat, but we always have hamburger on hand, since we buy either a half or whole cow when we get low.  We're lucky enough to be able to raise our own....

We also make fettucine alfredo once a week w/ a stick of butter, cream cheese, cup of milk and half a cup of parmasan cheese and we add frozen broccoli for a meat less meal.

I'm not a great cook, so I'll be watching for other people's ideas too!!!!

MrsManny

TheAnne said:

we do stir fry a lot and it's super cheap.  You can make 4 generous portions with 1 large or two small chicken breasts, a packet of stir fry seasoning and a bunch of inexpensive veggies like celery, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, etc.  We add a fried egg to ours and often times toss it with the cooked noodles from a ramen pack.  Sometimes I use the seasoning packet instead of the stir fry seasoning.  The whole meal is like $5. 

We do this a lot too and sometimes I leave out the chicken and call it veggie fried rice which makes it even cheaper with no meat.

icedcoffeeluv

TheAnne said:

also, if you're a costco member, their rotisserie chickens are far and away the best ever.  So juicy and really big.  We get one for $4.99 and then shred all the meat off the bones and toss with taco seasoning and a few table spoons of water or even salsa. Then it feeds us for days.  Tacos, burritos, taco salad, nachos.  So good.

We buy these at BJs instead of costco. Just as cheap and so good to have on hand. I buy one almost every week and if we don't eat it then I feed it to the dogs.

I also make chicken salad with it and we have chicken salad sandwiches for dinner.

Another option for cheap dinners are BLT's. We have those with some frozen fries or something and we love that. I buy the Alexia variety of fries and feel like they are a little healthier than other alternatives. Also you can buy turkey bacon for a little cheaper than regular. Some people don't like it as much but I love it.

MommaP12

This is a great thread.  I'm a big slow cooker user too - made soup in it last night which will be leftovers for tonight.

I'm also a fan of shredding the rotesserie chickens.  I buy an extra meaty Purdue one and make it in the slow cooker.  We eat it with mashed potatoes/gravy and a frozen veggie night one and then I shred it and make tacos, enchiladas, tortilla soup out of it.  Literally 3-4 dinners from one $7 chicken.

ifwisheswerefishes

Diced potatoes, summer sausage or regular sausage, green pepper, some onion, all thrown together. You can add scrambled eggs if you want, but I don't like eggs, so we usually leave those out. 

bubblewrapjk

Lentil tacos!

https://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/222610/tasty-lentil-tacos-2

I do lots of beans and rice. Red beans and rice, Italian herbs, Mexican style, etc. I make bean burgers, falafel, split pea soup, vegetarian (or easy on the meat) chili, etc. I love the baked potato soup on the crockpot 365 website. Lots of frozen vegetables, fresh produce that is on sale. Also I make our own granola which is relatively cheap compared to store bought, and tastier and you can control the salt, sugar, and fat in it. Also if you get a rotisserie chicken you can make your own stock!