2 Week Meal Plan for Family of 4
Dirt Cheap Meals
In this article I am going to share ideas for dirt cheap meals that will save your family tons of money! Find easy and super cheap meals that you lot can make in 30 minutes or less for your family! If you lot are looking for super quick, like shooting fish in a barrel, inexpensive meals, so this is the article for yous!
These quick, piece of cake, and dirt cheap meals include breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes and ideas that are perfect for when money is really tight and y'all need super cheap meals to help to make ends meet!
Tip: Relieve the image above to Pinterest and so that y'all can easily find these ideas for clay cheap meals later!
Quick note: Y'all can find a 2-calendar week sample meal plan for breakfast, lunch, and dinner using these dirt cheap meals nearly the end of this article. 👇
These are just examples of clay cheap meals you can eat when money is tight. I know that these are not all super balanced meals. As your upkeep allows, y'all can make these meals more nutritious past adding more fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meats, for example.
If you lot want help to eat good for you on a tight budget, bank check out my best ideas for eating healthy on a upkeep, including my listing of most 50 of the cheapest healthy foods you tin can buy!
Make Dirt Cheap Meals Even Cheaper!
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I can fifty-fifty utilise Ibotta at several of our smaller, local grocery stores, which I dear!
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A Huge Benefit of Dirt Inexpensive Meals or Super Cheap Meals
When you are broke or need to relieve money fast, these super cheap meals are a great way to stretch your food dollar till payday or to aid you salve coin to reach an of import fiscal goal (like paying a bill, paying off a debt, saving for something important, and and so on).
Why Prepare Dirt Cheap Meals?
Sometimes you are in a financial state of affairs, as I mention briefly above, where money is very tight. At these times, rather than get into debt and put myself and my family in an even more precarious situation financially, I personally would much rather cutting my grocery budget in society to save money.
Even if you are not in a particularly bad financial state of affairs, you lot may want to consume clay cheap meals for a time in order to save money to make a large purchase with greenbacks or to go your grocery spending under control. You may as well want to eat dirt cheap meals equally part of a no spend claiming.
Find more than tips to slash your grocery budget spending here.
Is Information technology Worth Information technology to Brand Super Inexpensive Meals?
Yes, I retrieve so! In sure circumstances, making super inexpensive meals can really help your family unit to survive hard times. If you tin cut some other expenses likewise and spend a piddling more on a petty bit college-quality food, than that is groovy likewise. Simply because information technology it relatively easy to cut your grocery budget, it's a nifty place to start when you demand to trim your monthly budget.
That doesn't mean that you take to make super cheap meals forever! As your financial situation improves, you lot tin make more counterbalanced and nutritious meals and not worry so much how much you are spending at the grocery store.
Quick and Easy Dirt Cheap Meals!
For planning easy, really inexpensive meals, below are ideas for dirt cheap breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals you can brand for your family unit in less than 30 minutes!
One of the easiest things you tin do to save money on food is to eat at home and to keep things simple! Keeping your meals unproblematic volition assistance you relieve both fourth dimension and money! And you lot can really slash your grocery budget with these clay cheap meal ideas!
Dirt Inexpensive Meals for Breakfast
These like shooting fish in a barrel and cheap breakfast ideas are perfect for making quick, clay inexpensive meals. And you don't have to reserve these meals for breakfast; you lot tin consume them for lunch or dinner if you lot like, every bit well!
Annotation: You tin can become a summary of all of the breakfast meals listed beneath near the end of this article! Print information technology out to have an like shooting fish in a barrel cheat canvas of super quick and cheap meals.
Waffles
Waffles are one of our favorite inexpensive breakfast meals. To make these extra fun for the kids, my hubby ever makes them a dissimilar color that the kids cull. Here is the unproblematic waffle recipe we use:
Ingredients
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 cups milk
1/two cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white sugar (we by and large go out out the sugar)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/iv teaspoon salt
Directions
Preheat the waffle iron. Crack the eggs and put them in a large basin. (Trounce them at this point, if you want, for fluffier waffles. I never worry near doing that. :)) Add the flour, milk, vegetable oil, sugar, baking powder, and salt, and mix until shine.
Spray the heated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray, and pour virtually 1/2 to 3/4 cup mix onto your iron (depending on the size of your atomic number 26). Cook until desired doneness. (If you like them more than well washed, cook until they are golden dark-brown.)
Serve warm with butter and syrup, powdered sugar, jam, or other favorite toppings.
To make this cheap breakfast even more economical, you can make them with half the amount of milk and add water in its place. (I have done that before when nosotros were depression on milk, and with the syrup or powdered sugar or jam on the waffles, I don't retrieve you volition really notice a difference. I have heard of people who use but water when coin is really tight. I have non tried that myself, only I would requite information technology a try if things got actually tight.)
Common cold cereal with (or without!) milk
Most of the cereal we consume costs about 10 cents an ounce or less—that'due south the rule of thumb I get past when I buy it. My married man's favorite cereal (and one of the few that he really likes) is raisin bran, which is bully since it is one of the cheapest.
The other cereals we buy when they are on sale.
Fried eggs with toast
This is a very quick, easy, and cheap breakfast that we beloved!
French toast
French toast is some other one of our family unit favorites! My dad used to brand these for us oftentimes growing up, and then they e'er make me remember fond memories with him.
This is the recipe nosotros utilize for French toast:
Ingredients
iv big eggs
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla (optional)
dash of table salt (optional)
Cinnamon and sugar mixture
16 slices of your favorite bread
Directions
Preheat a large griddle or square frying pan, and coat it with not-stick cooking spray (or butter or margarine).
Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and vanilla in a square blistering dish or pan. Dip each slice of bread in the batter, coating one side and then flipping to coat the other side.
Place the breadstuff slices on the griddle or frying pan, and sprinkle with cinnamon and carbohydrate. Cook on medium heat until golden brown on each side (near 2 to 3 minutes), or until desired doneness (I like mine pre-aureate brownish :)).
Serve warm with butter and syrup, powdered sugar, jam, or other favorite toppings.
Or for a picayune bit heartier French toast recipe click hither.
Bagel with jam, peanut butter, or foam cheese
Bagels are some other simple and affordable cheap meal thought for breakfast, lunch , or even dinner! Add obviously foam cheese or flavored cream cheese, spread on jam or peanut butter, or even make a tasty savory dish by adding an egg, ham, and cheese as my husband likes to.
Oatmeal
This is another super easy option for budget repast planning! The little prepackaged versions are pretty inexpensive on their own (but when I eat them, I generally put two together; exercise you practice that, too? One but doesn't seem similar enough of a repast to me!).
Only when you get in from scratch, it is even much cheaper than that! We love to add sugar, brown sugar, or cinnamon. If y'all are counting calories, one tablespoon of sucralose mixed in with one loving cup of cooked oats works great, too!
Here is a simple recipe for traditional oatmeal (serves 4).
Ingredients
2 cups oats
4 cups h2o (or milk)
dash of salt (optional)
saccharide, brown sugar, honey, artificial sweetener, or similar, to sense of taste
Directions
1. Bring the water (or milk) to a boil in a medium sauce pan.
2. Add in the oats, and stir well.
3. Cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
four. Add whatsoever sweeteners you would like, as desired.
v. Serve warm.
Crepes
Whether filled with things that are savory or sweet, they are just plain delicious. You can even substitute water for milk if you need to without much difference in taste. We use this basic crepe recipe:
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, eggs, milk, and salt. Crush until smooth. (But if y'all have a few lumps, don't worry about information technology; they yet gustation great.)
Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium loftier heat. Cascade nigh 1/four loving cup batter onto the frying pan for each crepe. Tilt the pan in a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
Cook the crepes for most ii minutes, until the bottom is lightly browned. Then loosen with a spatula, and flip to melt the other side.
Serve warm with powdered sugar, syrup, jam, cinnamon and sugar, or other favorite toppings.
Egg Omelets
Some other one of our favorite easy and cheap breakfasts are omelets. One of the reasons that I love egg omelets is that they are so versatile! Our favorite way to make them is with eggs, milk, cheese, peppers (usually greenish, but sometimes blood-red, orange, or yellow if we can buy them for a skilful price), onions, often sausage or bacon (or both!), and spinach. Nosotros have besides included hash browns or shredded potatoes (that we shredded ourselves), which makes this meal get even farther and makes it even cheaper per serving!
You can make these omelets every bit simple or as elaborate as yous want. At it's very simplest, you could make omelets with simply eggs, water, and a little cheese. Or y'all could make them with eggs, milk, and spinach or light-green peppers and onions, and omit the cheese.
Here is a uncomplicated recipe we like.
Ingredients
8 big eggs
salt andpepper (to taste)
two tablesoons margarine or butter
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
two tablespoons freshly chopped chive (optional)
Directions
- In a medium bowl, mix eggs thoroughly, and then flavour with salt and pepper.
- In a big nonstick skillet over medium heat, melt margarine butter. Cascade in eggs and allow to cook. As eggs start to set, apply a safe spatula to drag cooked edges into the center of the pan. Tilt the pan to let the uncooked egg fall to the edge of the pan.
- Once the bottom is gear up but while top is still a piffling moisture, sprinkle cheese and chives on one one-half of the omelet. Allow to cook for another minute or two, to let the cheese to melt.
- Carefully fold the other side of the omelet over the cheese, cutting into four equal wedges, and slide the omelets onto plates.
Cream of wheat
Our kids, and particularly our older girl, love cream of wheat. Nosotros generally add some chocolate-brown or white sugar to sweeten it, and as a rare care for, we even put sweetened condensed milk (did yous know they even have caramel flavored?) in information technology sometimes. Totally fattening but totally tasty!
Muffins
Though muffins from a mix are more expensive than many of the other foods listed here, we however feed our immature family of five with one box of muffins (12 muffins). I know that won't final forever! We accept fabricated many dissimilar types of muffins from scratch over the years, too, and those are fifty-fifty cheaper (but not always tastier :)). One like shooting fish in a barrel muffin recipe that is tasty is this bones banana muffin recipe:
Ingredients
ane 1/ii cups all-purpose flour
1 loving cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
ane/2 teaspoon salt
3 ripe bananas
ane egg
1/iv cup vegetable oil
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In another large bowl, mash the bananas. And then to that second bowl add together the egg and oil, and mix well. Stir the mixture into the dry ingredients.
Fill 12 greased muffin cups half full. Put the muffins in the preheated oven, and bake for 20 minutes (or until inserted toothpick comes out clean). Serve warm with butter or margarine, if desired.
Yogurt and fruit
Buying yogurt in the tub is cheaper than in the small single-serve containers. We often buy yogurt from the local discount grocery/salvage store for awesome prices. We can go the big tubs of yogurt for $2 each or less and pocket-sized containers often for even cheaper than that! (Many of them are close to the "all-time by" appointment or even past the best by date, but I have eaten unopened yogurt even a month or two past the recommended all-time by date, and the yogurt has always been fine, without any mold or anything.
Toast with jam or peanut butter
This is a super quick and inexpensive breakfast option.
Toaster pastries
Toaster pastries (PopTarts) don't really have whatsoever nutritional value, merely they are cheap and (in my opinion :)) pretty tasty. Of form you will save money if you buy a generic brand rather than PopTarts themselves, so that's what we generally do. We care for them like any other treat, and try to keep them as a less-common indulgence rather than a regular meal pick.
Grits
To exist honest, I haven't really had grits before, since I'm non from the South. 🙂 Merely a wonderful reader suggested this every bit another option for a clay cheap meal for breakfast, and then I wanted to be sure and include it for my Southern friends (or anyone who loves grits, whether you lot are from the South or non)!
Pancakes
Pancakes are another favorite cheap breakfast choice for upkeep meal planning. Every bit with the waffles mentioned above, you could substitute milk with h2o if needed. I have heard of families doing that in difficult circumstances. (You could too do that with crepes, which I accept done. And you could attempt information technology with French toast, which I have non done merely which would likely piece of work just fine.) Over again, nosotros generally make these different colors each fourth dimension nosotros make them. We like this quick and easy recipe:
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon baking pulverisation
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 eggs, browbeaten (if desired, or merely crack them right into the big bowl)
ii cups milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Directions
In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking pulverisation, and table salt. Add together the milk, eggs, and oil. Mix until smooth.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium loftier rut. Pour near 1/4 cup batter onto the griddle for each pancake. Lightly dark-brown on both sides until desired doneness.
Serve warm with butter and syrup, powdered sugar, jam, or other favorite toppings.
On Valentine'southward Twenty-four hours we color them pink with red nutrient coloring and use heart-shaped cookie cutters after they are cooked to brand different-sized hearts. The kids love it. And on St. Patrick'due south Day we color them green (forth with the milk sometimes :)).
Overnight cold oatmeal
This cheap meal is a fun variation of the traditional cooked oatmeal. All you demand is milk, rolled oats, your favorite sweetener (sugar, dear, zip-calorie sweetener, jam, or the like could all work well), desired spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon, and your favorite berries or thinly sliced apples or similar fruit. Put them in a bricklayer jar with closed lid or another container with a closed hat for at to the lowest degree four hours or overnight, and y'all have a tasty breakfast ready in the forenoon!
German pancakes
A fun (and budget friendly, of class!) variation on traditional pancakes are German oven pancakes, which you bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. And and so you tiptop them with your favorite toppings similar syrup, powdered saccharide, or fresh fruit.
Ingredients
i cup flour
vi eggs
1 cup milk
1/four cup melted butter or margarine
2 tablespoons sugar
i/ii teaspoon salt
Directions
ane. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a mixing bowl combine the eggs, milk, melted butter, common salt, and carbohydrate. Mix well. Add the flour, and mix until incorporated.
2. Coat the bottom of a 9 x 11 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Pour the concoction into the dish, and broil for almost 20 minutes, or until the edges start to brown.
three. Serve warm with your favorite toppings.
Find even more ideas for cheap breakfasts here.
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Dirt Cheap Dejeuner Ideas
Information technology is amazing to me how many people spend $5 or more every mean solar day for lunch at piece of work! I just can't practice it.
Luncheon is a meal that you can keep oh-so-cheap and easy if you lot cull to! I primarily eat either a peanut butter and jam or ham and cheese sandwich with fruit and carrot sticks, leftovers, or a homemade salad for lunch every 24-hour interval at work, so information technology keeps things very simple and inexpensive.
In the list below I am including simply very unproblematic tiffin options that you can make in a matter of minutes—of grade you lot tin can use any of the ideas for dinner (or for breakfast!) later in this article as a meal for lunch, as well!
Ideas for Dirt Cheap Quick Lunches
This list of ideas for dirt cheap meals for tiffin is made upwardly of simple foods you can make in a thing of minutes. Add together an apple, banana, or orange (or other fruit of your pick) and baby carrots or cut vegetables to make information technology a more balanced meal.
Peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter and banana, or peanut butter and love sandwiches
These are about as elementary an option as you can get. But I love them! Whether you consume peanut butter with jam or jelly, peanut butter with assistant, or peanut butter and honey sandwiches, you go a super cheap and easy meal ready in only a couple of minutes.
Tuna fish sandwiches
Though non as cheap every bit it used to be, tuna is still an inexpensive manner to go for tiffin. Mix with regular or reduced fat mayo or salad dressing and diced pickles or relish, if you similar.
Ingredients
2 cans (half dozen oz.) tuna in water, drained
one/2 cup chopped celery or chopped pickles (or relish)
one/2 loving cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
1/iv teaspoon table salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper (if desired)
8 slices of your favorite bread
Directions
1. Mix all of the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
ii. Spread the mixture in equal amounts on four slices of staff of life, and tiptop with the remaining 4 slices of bread.
Tuna fish and egg sandwiches
If y'all love tuna sandwiches and you love egg salad sandwiches, put them together for a new twist on an onetime favorite. Hither is a uncomplicated recipe y'all can use.
Ingredients
Directions
1. In a medium bowl, stir together the tuna, eggs, celery or pickles, and mayonnaise.
2. Season with salt and pepper to gustation.
3. Spread the mixture equally onto 4 slices of bread. Height with remaining slices of bread.
iv. Serve.
Egg salad sandwiches
In our family we honey this elementary and tasty cheap lunch choice. All you lot need is bread and eggs and your favorite brand of mayonnaise or salad dressing and favorite seasonings, and you are set to go!
Ingredients
8 eggs
1/ii cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
ane teaspoon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
paprika, if desired
8 slices of bread
Directions
1. Put the eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring water to a boil and boil for 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from oestrus. Allow h2o absurd, and then pare and chop.
2. Identify the chopped eggs in a bowl, and stir in the mayonnaise and mustard. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika. Stir and serve on your favorite bread (or with crackers).
Luncheon meat and cheese sandwiches
Choose your favorite lunch meat such every bit honey ham, chicken, turkey, or beef, and and then add a slice of cheese, love apple and lettuce (or spinach), and a piffling mayo and mustard if desired.
Grilled cheese (with lunch meat, if desired) sandwiches and love apple soup
This classic and inexpensive lunch idea is great whatsoever time of twelvemonth, merely is particularly delicious on cold days! To make this kid-friendly dish even more than filling, add your favorite lunch meat, or add spinach or another favorite vegetable to boost the nutritional value!
Here is a elementary recipe for grilled cheese sandwiches.
Ingredients
8 slices bread
nigh six tablespoons butter or margarine
iv slices cheddar (or other favorite) cheese
sliced luncheon meat (optional)
Directions
1. Preheat large foursquare skillet (or griddle) over medium oestrus.
two. Butter 1 side of 4 slices of bread.
iii. Place bread butter side down onto skillet bottom and add 1 piece of cheese and lunchmeat (if desired) to each.
iv. Butter 4 more slices of bread on one side, and identify butter side up to top the sandwiches.
five. Grill sandwiches until lightly browned and flip over; continue grilling until cheese is melted.
six. Serve with tomato plant soup, if desired.
Quesadillas (traditional or lunch meat and cheese)
Quesadillas are so easy! Yous can use just your favorite tortilla shells and type of cheese, or add sliced lunch meat, spinach, hot dogs (kind of weird, but my younger brothers love it), beans, or favorite cooked vegetables. Yum!
Here is a actually simple recipe to utilise every bit a base.
Ingredients
8 large tortilla shells
about 6 tablespoons margarine or butter
about ane 1/2 to 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
additional ingredients such as spinach, tiffin meat, chicken, and so on, if desired
Directions
1. Heat a large skillet on medium oestrus.
2. Spread margarine or butter on one side of a tortilla beat.
iii. Cover tortilla vanquish with shredded cheese and other toppings as desired.
four. Spread the 2d tortilla with margarine or butter, and place on top of get-go tortilla and cheese.
5. Lightly brownish on one side, and then flip and lightly brown on the other side.
6. Echo with remaining tortillas and toppings.
7. Serve warm.
Avocado egg salad sandwiches
Egg salad sandwiches are awesome, and adding avocado makes them even awesomer (but also more expensive :-\\).
Though avocados take definitely gotten more than expensive over the final few years, avocado egg salad sandwiches are still pretty economic.
Here is a simple recipe I like.
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the eggs and season with salt and pepper. In a minor nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Cook scallions until softened, well-nigh 1 minute. Add the eggs and cook, stirring, until near set up, most ane to ii minutes.
Place the egg on a slice of toast or the bottom half of an English muffin, and season with additional table salt pepper, if desired. Layer with avocado, and and so cover with the other piece of toast or other half of muffin.
Bacon, lettuce, tomato, and cheese sandwiches (BLTs)
What'south not to love about classic BLTs? Add mayo or salad dressing for a little extra zing, and swap the lettuce for spinach to make them a piffling more nutritious.
Chicken salad
I tease (simply information technology really is kinda truthful :-}) that the salad is just the way to get the ranch dressing to my rima oris and that the salads that I really like to eat are the ones where I basically plough them into a sandwich. So my favorite chicken salad, for example, has croutons and cheese in addition to my favorite veggies like spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and so on.
Only whatever you similar to put in your chicken salad, you tin't get incorrect!
This is a salad recipe with grilled chicken that I like.
Ingredients
ii grilled craven breasts
4cupschopped lettuce
2cupschopped tomatoes
ane/2loving cupchopped red onion
i/4cup oil
fourtablespoonsapple cider vinegar
ane/twoteaspoontable salt
1/fourteaspoonblackness pepper
one/2teaspoondried oregano
Directions
1. In a large bowl, combine the lettuce, tomatoes, and onion.
2. In a modest bowl or cup, whisk together the oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and oregano. Cascade over the salad, and toss gently to glaze.
iv. Slice or chop the grilled chicken breasts.
5. Place the salad on serving plates. Arrange half of the sliced grilled chicken breast on superlative of the salad for each serving.
6. Serve.
Chicken salad sandwiches
Craven salad sandwiches are one of my all-time favorite lunches. You can keep it really unproblematic with just the chicken and a lilliputian may or salad dressing and your favorite seasonings.
Or wearing apparel this sandwich up (see the data near chicken salad supreme sandwiches below) with your favorite nuts (such as cashews or my preferred cheaper option, peanuts), seeds, sliced grapes, cubed cheese, finely chopped apples, chopped celery, and more! At that place are so many options for this versatile repast!
Here is a simple recipe nosotros similar.
Ingredients
ii cups cooked, chopped chicken
one/ii cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 stalk celery, chopped (optional)
ane/2 teaspoon season common salt
pepper, to taste
other add-ins noted above, as desired
Directions
1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing basin, and stir well.
two. Season with additional salt and pepper to gustation.
3. Serve with your favorite staff of life as a sandwich or on a tortilla as a wrap.
Chicken salad supreme sandwiches
This is a chicken salad sandwich (meet recipe higher up) with even more than good stuff added, like sesame seeds or peanuts (we by and large utilise the kind we have to crush ourselves, since they are cheaper), chopped grapes, raisins, chopped apples, and dried cranberries.
Traditional green salad
Similar I said just above, in my stance, the all-time green salad is the one that is filled with tons of other smashing foods like meat and cheese and croutons. 🙂 Only you tin too proceed them simpler (as I often do, despite my preferences :)) with using simple greens similar leafy lettuce and spinach or kale and calculation your favorite vegetables and fruits like broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, carrots, and the like.
Spinach and strawberry dark-green salad
Even though I do non plow this salad into a sandwich :), it is all the same 1 of my favorites. All you need are spinach, strawberries, and almonds if you have them on hand (or substitute less expensive seeds or nuts). Here is a simple strawberry spinach salad with tasty homemade dressing:
Ingredients
two tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 cup white carbohydrate
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup vinegar
10 oz. fresh spinach, torn into small pieces
4 cups sliced strawberries
1/4 cup slivered almonds
Directions
1. In a mixing bowl, mix the sesame and poppy seeds, sugar, oil, and vinegar.
2. In another large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries, and almonds. Pour the dressing over the salad, and toss. Refrigerate ten to 15 minutes before serving.
Easy pasta salad
Use leftover pasta and add cooked vegetables like broccoli, carrots, onions, or spinach. Toss with a little oil, vinegar, and your favorite spices, and y'all're fix. Yum!
Or melt the pasta, and yous tin still have this lunch set up in less than 30 minutes!
Here is a recipe for pasta salad that we actually like.
Ingredients
1(12 oz) boxyour favorite pasta noodles (rotini works well)
ii cups chopped tomatoes
1 1/twocupschopped broccoli florets
onecanolives, chopped
onecupchopped baby carrots
1 cup sliced pepperoni
i 1/iiicupsbottled Italian salad dressing(I prefer Kraft with this recipe)
Dressing
1/3 loving cup vinegar
1/4 loving cup mayonnaise (or more than, to taste)
1 tablespoons sugar
1/two teaspoon salt, plus more than to gustation
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
i. Cook the pasta co-ordinate to the packet instructions to al dente. Drain and rinse with cold h2o.
ii. Pour pasta into a bowl, and add tomatoes, broccoli, olives, carrots, and pepperoni.
3. Make the dressing, and pour the dressing over the salad and toss to evenly coat.
4. Serve immediately, or cover and chill for or upward to 1 24-hour interval. Add a trivial more dressing if needed when serving.
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Clay Inexpensive Meal Ideas for Dinner
As I mentioned earlier, ane of the best ways to plan dirt cheap meals for your family unit is to go along things simple!Yous can make all of these super cheap and easy dinner meals in about 30 minutes or less!
Note: Again, these are merely examples of dirt cheap dinner ideas (some recipes are included below). Y'all tin switch out any of the meals with other dinner options that yous like ameliorate. See this article for more than 65 cheap family dinner recipes that you tin can make for $5 or less in 30 minutes or less!
Baked Potatoes
You can make broiled potatoes chop-chop and easily in the microwave in most 15 minutes for a unproblematic dirt cheap dinner (or tiffin) meal.
We pierce the potatoes in several places with a fork and put a piddling bit of water on the plate to help them cook more quickly. We also sometimes cover them with plastic wrap to help proceed the rut in so that they cook a little more quickly, but normally I omit this step.
If you want to relieve time baking your potatoes, get one of these crawly microwave potato pouches for just a few bucks! They are great!
Quick and Like shooting fish in a barrel Chili
This is one of my favorite quick and easy dirt cheap meals! (My older daughter, a somewhat picky eater, is a huge fan of chili!)
Ingredients
i pound footing beef
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1 to two regular size cans of chili with beans
i can of chili beans or kidney beans (optional)
2 or 3 cans tomato sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons chocolate-brown saccharide
i teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin (optional)
Directions
1. Brownish the hamburger with the onion.
ii. Drain the grease.
3. Add all ingredients to the saucepan, and rut.
Ramen Noodles with Vegetables
This is another one of our go-to super easy dirt inexpensive meals. To make this simple meal, start melt your favorite fresh or frozen or canned vegetables (corn, peas, green beans, carrots, and onions all work actually well) in a pot, and and then for the last few minutes, add your favorite flavor of ramen noodles.
You can also add together chopped craven for protein to add together more nutrition and make this a heartier repast.
Classic Bean and Cheese Burritos
These easy edible bean and cheese burritos are another keen option when you are looking for the cheapest meals to eat. They have merely four ingredients (plus add any other toppings y'all dear, such every bit salsa). All you demand are refried beans, cheese, tortilla shells, and taco seasoning mix. Such an easy and inexpensive dinner thought!
Ingredients
one can (xvi oz) refried beans
one cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 oz)
1 package (1 oz) taco seasoning mix
8 8-inch flour tortillas
Additional toppings as desired, such as salsa, sour cream, diced tomatoes, and shredded lettuce
Directions
1. Rut oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with cooking parchment paper or foil (or spray with nonstick cooking spray); prepare aside.
2. In medium basin, mix the beans, cheese, and taco seasoning mix.
iii. Scoop about 1/4 cup of the bean mixture onto each tortilla, just below the middle. Fold the lesser edge of each tortilla up and over the filling. Fold sides in, overlapping to enclose filling. Scroll up from the bottom of the tortilla.
4. Place the burritos seam-side downwards on the cookie sheet.
v. Bake 12 to xv minutes, or until heated through. Serve with boosted toppings listed above, as desired.
6. Remove from heat, and serve.
More Amend Mac and Cheese
This is my family unit'south favorite way to eat good old macaroni and cheese from a box.
To traditional macaroni and cheese we add broccoli and carrots and sometimes cutting upward polish dogs or hot dogs, craven, hamburger, or another meat. We also sometimes add onions and green or other colored peppers.
We sometimes add ranch to shake things upwardly a footling, and I like to add salsa to mine afterwards it is cooked but earlier eating it to get even more vegetables. Yum!
And if you lot prefer to make it from scratch, hither is a simple homemade mac and cheese recipe I like.
Bootleg Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
12 ounces elbow macaroni (or other pasta)
1/4 cup butter or margarine
ane/4 loving cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
one/four teaspoon pepper
3 cups milk
1 i/two cups shredded cheddar cheese
Directions
Boil noodles as directed. In a carve up pan, melt butter and sprinkle in flour to brand a roux. Add milk, cheese, table salt, and pepper. Combine with noodles. For a creamier texture, add more milk.
Meatless Spaghetti
Spaghetti is i of our favorite quick and like shooting fish in a barrel go-to meals! We most oft brand spaghetti the way my mother did. We usually eat it with a pound of ground beef, only for the meatless version, only use a can of tomato sauce with maybe one-half a can of h2o, a packet of spaghetti seasoning (though we have made our own, which is cheap and like shooting fish in a barrel!), and a minor can of cream of mushroom soup. Yous could also add mushrooms (fresh or canned) and peppers (such greenish peppers, since they are the least expensive), as well.
Easy Garlic Chicken and Rice
Garlic chicken is another of my favorite inexpensive meals. For this simple dish, all y'all need is the boneless, skinless chicken breasts, a piddling butter, garlic pulverization, season table salt, and onion powder.
Serve with rice and your favorite vegetables, and you are set! Set up in just xx minutes!
Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
Directions
Cook butter or margarine in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add craven and sprinkle with garlic powder, seasoning salt, and onion pulverization. Saute about 10 to 15 minutes on each side, or until craven is cooked through and juices run articulate.
Traditional or Black Bean Quesadillas
If you lot prefer traditional quesadillas (or even quesadillas with lunch meat added), then grab the recipe higher up.
Or for a fun variation of traditional quesadillas, effort this recipe for black bean quesadillas.
Ingredients
2 cans (15 oz. each) black beans, drained
ane cup salsa
2 cups shredded cheese
8 (8-inch) flour tortillas
i/3 loving cup sour cream (optional)
Directions
ane. Mash ane can of beans. Mix in remaining can of beans and salsa.
2. Spread mixture evenly on 4 tortillas; top with cheese. Embrace with remaining 4 tortillas.
3. Heat skillet, and melt quesadillas 2 minutes. Flip, and melt for another infinitesimal or 2.
4. Cut into wedges, and serve with salsa & sour cream on the side.
Meatless Taco Soup
Combine a can or two of diced tomatoes, a can of ruby kidney beans, a can of chili beans or other beans, a can or two of corn, and a package of taco seasoning, (Do non drain whatever of the cans before you add together them to the pot.) Cook until warmed through.
If yous want to include protein but still save money on meat, use craven instead of ground beef. You tin buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts for commonly $2 a pound or less (at least in our area), and boneless, skinless chicken thighs for even less than that.
Egg Fried Rice
Ingredients
4 big eggs, divided
2 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
ane cup diced red onion (almost1 small onion)
4 loving cupdue south cooked rice|
2 tablespoonsouth soy sauce
Directions
- Crevice eggs into a small basin, and beat out them together.
- Heat a large frying pan or a wok with one/ii tablespoon of the cooking oil over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add together the beaten eggs and scramble them for well-nigh a infinitesimal. Transfer the eggs to a dish, and plough off the heat. Wipe off the pan or wok with a paper towel.
- Pour the remaining 1 ane/2 tablespoons of oil in the pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add the onions, and cook them for virtually 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add the cooked rice into the pan or wok, and cook for a few minutes, until the rice is heated through. If y'all have large clumps of rice, break them apart with the dorsum of your spatula.
- Add the soy sauce, and stir. Add the scrambled eggs, and stir to mix again. Serve immediately.
Hot Dogs and Fries
Expert old hot dogs and fries is one of the cheapest and easiest meals you can make.
Pizza
If you buy the less-expensive brands of store-bought pizza, pizza tin actually be a dirt cheap meal! Totino's is pretty cheap, but your local store brand may be really economical, every bit well. Ane of our local store brands costs only a footling more than than Totino'due south, and the pizzas sense of taste not bad.
You can also make homemade pizza for pretty cheap, depending on the toppings that you put on it, of class. If you make the crust yourself and stick with cheese and pepperoni and typical vegetables like green peppers and olives, you lot can make homemade pizza for even less than the inexpensive store varieties.
Here is a uncomplicated homemade pepperoni pizza recipe that nosotros dearest.
Ingredients
Crust
3 cups flour
ii 1/iv teaspoon yeast, or 1 packet (1/4 ounce) yeast
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm h2o
1 tablespoon oil
Sauce
i to 2 cans tomato sauce
one tablespoon oil
i teaspoon common salt
i teaspoon stale basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1/four teaspoon garlic pulverization
1/4 teaspoon flavor salt
Toppings
1 package (3 1/2 oz) sliced pepperoni
5 cups shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese
one/two cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Directions
1. In a big bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast, and salt. Add water and oil, and shell until smooth. Add together plenty remaining flour to form a soft dough.
2. Place the dough on a floured surface, and knead until shine and rubberband, about five minutes. Encompass and allow stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine tomato sauce, oil, and seasonings.
3. Divide the dough in half, and then printing into 2 xv ten 10 x 1 inch blistering pans coated with cooking spray.
4. Spread sauce over crusts, and so tiptop with pepperoni and cheeses.
5. Broil for nigh 20 to 25 minutes or a little longer, as needed.
Broccoli Alfredo
This is a simple and tasty dish, ready in 30 minutes. It'due south great as a one-pot dinner, or we often eat it with toasted garlic bread. Eat with green salad to become in more veggies.
Ingredients
12 oz. linguine or spaghetti noodles
1 loving cup fresh or frozen broccoli florets
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
i tin (10 1/ii ounces) cream of mushroom soup
1/two cup milk
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
ane/4 teaspoon pepper
Directions
- Prepare the linguine or spaghetti noodles co-ordinate to the package directions in a large saucepan. Add the broccoli during the last 4 minutes of the cooking time. Bleed the linguine mixture well in a colander.
- Heat the butter or margarine in a large skillet over medium-loftier heat. Add the craven, and cook until well browned and cooked through, stirring often.
- Stir the soup, milk, cheese, pepper, and linguine mixture in the skillet and melt until the mixture is hot and bubbling, stirring occasionally. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese.
15-Minute Craven and Rice Dinner
I love this dish considering it is so fast to make! It is one of my quick go-to recipes.
Ingredients
1 pound skinless, boneless craven chest halves
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 can (x 1/2 ounces) cream of chicken (or substitute cream of mushroom) soup
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups uncooked instant white rice
ii cups fresh orfrozen broccoli florets
Directions
- Season the chicken as desired. Estrus the oil in a large skillet over medium-high oestrus. Add the chicken, and cook for 10 minutes or until well browned on both sides. Remove the chicken from the skillet.
- Stir the soup, water, paprika, and pepper in the skillet, and heat to a eddy. Stir in the rice and broccoli. Reduce the oestrus to depression. Render the chicken to the skillet. Sprinkle the chicken with additional paprika. Comprehend and melt for 5 minutes or until the craven is cooked through. Flavor to taste.
Creamy Pasta and Veggies
This is a quick and piece of cake clay cheap repast my married man and I invented to use upward some veggies we had on mitt. And it tastes great, I call back. 🙂
Ingredients
ii to four cups pasta
1 small tin can foam of mushroom soup (or sub cream of chicken soup)
1 cup cutting or babe carrots
1 cup broccoli
1 pocket-sized onion, chopped (if desired)
salt and pepper or seasoned common salt, to taste
Directions
1. In a big pot, cook the pasta according to parcel directions. Add the chopped or infant carrots for about the final 7 minutes and the broccoli and onion for about the last v minutes.
2. Bleed the pasta in a colander, and then return it to the pot. Add the cream of mushroom soup and salt and pepper to gustation, and and then stir well to combine.
Craven Noodle Soup
This is another like shooting fish in a barrel, budget friendly meal that'due south slap-up for cold days.
Ingredients
two tablespoons cooking oil
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped (about ane cup carrots)
ii stalks celery, chopped (most 1 cup celery)
1 medium onion, chopped
ii garlic cloves, minced
8 cups chicken broth (or more, if desired)
1/ii teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
12 oz. pasta or egg noodles
two cups chopped, cooked chicken
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
salt, to taste
Directions
i. Add the oil to a large pot, and oestrus over medium-high heat.
ii. Add together the carrots, celery, and onion, and sauté for about 7 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften. Stir occasionally.
three. Add the garlic, and sauté for another minute or two.
4. Add the chicken broth, oregano, and pepper, and bring to a eddy. Allow mixture to boil gently for near five minutes or until vegetables are fork-tender.
five. Add the noodles, and boil mixture for about 10 minutes, or until noodles are soft and cooked through. Add more water, if needed.
half-dozen. Add together the chicken and parsley, and boil for a few minutes, until the chicken is warmed through. Add salt to sense of taste, and serve with crackers, rolls, or bread and butter.
Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup
This is another tasty chicken soup perfect for cold days. And this one is a flossy comfort food, as well!
Ingredients
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 large carrot, chopped
1 celery stem, chopped
1 medium chopped onion
one clove garlic, minced
one/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
three/4 teaspoon stale basil
one/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups craven goop
1/iv cup all-purpose flour
1 loving cup milk
1 pound cooked chicken, cubed
Directions
ane. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Saute the carrot, celery, and onion until tender.
2. Add together the garlic, and cook for about i minute.
3. Stir in the rice, seasonings, and broth, and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for almost 15 minutes until rice is tender.
5. Mix the flour and milk until polish, and stir into the soup.
half-dozen. Bring to a boil, and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Stir in craven, and cook until craven is heated through.
Leftovers
Don't dismiss your leftovers! Eating leftovers is a bang-up manner to save both fourth dimension and money in the kitchen!
You may even want to keep a paper or whiteboard or similar thing on yoru refrigerator where you continue a list of the leftovers in your fridge and the day that you prepared the repast so that you lot tin utilise your leftovers earlier they go bad and not forget almost them.
ii Week Clay Cheap Breakfast Case Meal Plan
Note: This is of course simply an case of piece of cake clay inexpensive breakfast ideas. Change it up any way that you like!
Also feel free to take merely 2 or iii breakfast options that you choose between (such equally cold cereal with milk, fried eggs with toast, and fruit with yogurt) and then just repeat them to go along things easier for yourselves on busy mornings and to potentially salvage more money!
Cheque out this article for even more ideas for inexpensive breakfast meals.
Week one
Dominicus: Waffles
Monday: Cold cereal with milk (try to get cereal that is close to 10 cents per ounce to brand this a more economical choice)
Tuesday: Fried eggs with toast
Wednesday: Bagels with cream cheese, jam, or peanut butter
Thursday: French toast (or toaster pastries)
Friday: Oatmeal or overnight common cold oatmeal
Saturday: Crepes or German pancakes
Week 2
Sunday: Egg omelets
Monday: Foam of wheat
Tuesday: Muffins (homemade, or from a box)
Wednesday: Yogurt with fruit (generally the cheapest pick is to buy generic-make yogurt in the larger tub and eat information technology wish sliced bananas)
Thursday: Toast with jam or peanut butter
Friday: Cold cereal with milk
Saturday: Pancakes
2 Calendar week Dirt Inexpensive Lunch Example Meal Plan
Note: In the listing below I am including merely very elementary tiffin options for dirt inexpensive meals that you tin make in a thing of minutes—they are perfect for busy mornings when y'all are trying to become ready for piece of work and get kids off to school. (Many of these options are swell for school lunches, as well!)
Of course you can too employ any of the ideas for dinner (or for breakfast!) every bit a meal for luncheon, too!
Week ane and Week 2 (repeat the dirt inexpensive meal ideas for tiffin listed beneath during the ii weeks to meet the needs of your family)
Sandwiches (ideas include peanut butter and jam sandwiches, meat and cheese sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, tuna fish sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, tuna fish and egg sandwiches, and chicken salad sandwiches) or wraps
Green salads (ideas to a higher place)
Pasta salads (ideas above)
Meat and cheese (or but cheese) quesadillas
Leftovers
2 Calendar week Clay Cheap Dinner Example Meal Program
Note: As I mentioned with the list of breakfast ideas, as you practise your repast planning, feel free to reorganize and substitute meals below as needed. Y'all can find a listing of more than than 60 cheap and easy 30-minute (or less) dinner meals here.
Also, if meal planning is very new to you lot and you are just completely overwhelmed by information technology, start super simple with your dinner meal planning! Simply selection vii meals that you similar that are quick and easy, and repeat them each week of the month. Meal planning = Done!
Week one
Sunday: Macaroni and cheese (or More than Better Mac and Cheese, where you add chopped up broccoli, carrots, onions, peppers, and other vegetables of your pick)
Mon: Bootleg refried bean and cheese burritos
Tuesday: Baked potatoes with cheese, sour cream, salsa, barbecue sauce, or other favorite toppings
Midweek: Chili (bootleg or from a can; add an extra tin can or 2 of kidney or other favorite beans to canned chili to make information technology go farther and to make this dish even less expensive) and corn bread (or crackers)
Thursday: Easy Garlic Craven and Rice or leftovers (be sure to utilise your leftovers if y'all have them! :))
Fri: Quesadillas or black bean quesadillas
Sabbatum: Hot dogs with fries or potato chips, or creamy pasta and veggies
Week 2
Sunday: Cheap frozen pizzas (Totino's is one of the cheapest brands, or check store brands; per ounce, our local store brand is sometimes cheaper, and also better tasting, than the Totino's), or backpacker'due south pizza (tortillas, pepperoni, and shredded cheese)
Monday: Ramen noodles (with vegetables)
Tuesday: Meatless spaghetti
Wed: Egg fried rice or craven noodle soup (or creamy chicken and rice soup)
Th: xv Infinitesimal Chicken and Rice Dinner or leftovers (don't forget to eat your leftovers!)
Friday: Broccoli alfredo or grilled cheese sandwiches (with tomato or mushroom soup from a can, if desired)
Saturday: Meatless taco soup
Final Thoughts on Dirt Cheap Meals
These quick, easy, and dirt inexpensive meals are perfect for a super tight upkeep! They volition let you get food on the table fast to feed your family! All ready in fifteen minutes or less, these budget-friendly super inexpensive meals are great for busy families!
For more means to save money on cheap meals, encounter this article for more than 100 inexpensive recipes that you lot tin can make for $v or less in 30 minutes or less.
What are your favorite quick, easy, dirt cheap meals? Do you take quick and cheap go-to dishes that you lot just love and utilise in your meal planning? I would love to hear your thoughts! Leave a comment beneath!
Source: https://familiesforfinancialfreedom.com/dirt-cheap-meals/
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