Very cheap vegetarian meals

[aliceindisneyland]

A pound of dry lentils and a pound of dry beans (pinto, red, navy, black, whatever) plus a little chili powder and salt makes a vegetarian chili that tastes just like the one they're always sampling at Costco. Make in 8 qt pot, makes about 6 qts super thick—and you can thin it down a bit each day as it thickens on standing, so it goes even farther. If you have bacon grease and Tabasco on hand, even better! (I'm guessing OP wants vegetarian for cost, not for lifestyle choice—of course bacon grease isn't vegetarian!)

 

[REEREEG]

I can do rice with canned veggies for about $2.25 and have enough to feed my entire family of 5 for two meals. I cook 3 cups rice and use 3 cans of vegetables (usually mixed veggies, green beans, and a can of beans for protein). Canned veggies are 50 cents a can at my local grocery (so $1.50 for the veggies) and I buy the rice in bulk so I figure about 75 cents for the 3 cups of rice. $1.25 to feed 5 people is pretty cheap!

Another really cheap meal my kids really like is ramen. I don't use the sauce powder (because it contains MSG and a bunch of other things), but I'll cook the noodles and add vegetables and beans to them. I can get ramen packets for 6/$1.00 here, and I usually cook 5 for my family of 5 (and have enough leftover for a lunch or two). That's another meal that can feed the whole gang for about $2.50 or so.

Kraft macaroni and cheese has recently changed their formulation so it's natural - no artificial colors or flavors. I can get that for around 50 cents a box (sometimes a bit cheaper) and 3 boxes are plenty to feed my family (each box is 2.5 servings, but we eat a bit more than that if it's the entire meal). I often add mixed veggies to that as well (and cut up hot dogs, but if you're vegetarian that would be a no-go). Total cost with the add-ins is about $3.00 or so.

Breakfast for dinner is another really cheap meal, if you eat eggs. I can get eggs for about 69 cents a dozen at Aldi, and it costs me about $2.00 to bake a loaf of bread. Add in some veggies (a bag of frozen spinach costs me about 1.00) and that meal is around $4 or so.

What kind of beans do you add in with the rice & veggies or the ramen?

 

[aprilchem]

What kind of beans do you add in with the rice & veggies or the ramen?

Whatever we have on hand. My daughter really likes black beans, but sometimes we use kidney beans or something like that.

 

[TabbyShabby]

A pound of dry lentils and a pound of dry beans (pinto, red, navy, black, whatever) plus a little chili powder and salt makes a vegetarian chili that tastes just like the one they're always sampling at Costco. Make in 8 qt pot, makes about 6 qts super thick—and you can thin it down a bit each day as it thickens on standing, so it goes even farther. If you have bacon grease and Tabasco on hand, even better! (I'm guessing OP wants vegetarian for cost, not for lifestyle choice—of course bacon grease isn't vegetarian!)

Lentils and beans are the heroes of our pantry. Thanks for really showing how simple it is to make a really tasty and healthy meal.