What's your favorite super cheap meal?

[nunzia]

Had this for years and still do. Big can of Bean and Bacon soup, add extra water, put in some ramen and cook. Serve with cheap biscuits. Yum.

 

[Sandy61]

I don't think any one said this yet....

A great way to keep the grocery bill down is to ONLY buy what is on sale. You have to use the weekly flyers to make your meal plan for the week. You also have to have a small amount of grocery money held in reserve for the times that something your family eats a lot is deeply discounted so that you can stock up.

Use coupons.....there are plenty to be found online.

I have a friend that spends $200/week on groceries....they are a family of 2 adults and 2 kids age 2 and 7. My family only spends $60-$80 per week on groceries...we are a family of 4 adults. The difference? I only buy what is on sale.


BTW...I envy all of you that say you can get chicken breast for $2/lb. Where I live it's $6-7/lb and the rare occasion that it goes on sale it's $4/lb. Also, milk....here it's between $4 and $7 for the equivalent of a gallon.

We do this. My pantry is full so when I cook, I "shop" from the pantry. Then when something is on sale I stock up and use coupons. There are lots of sites that help you match coupons to store sales. I can get things for almost free sometimes or even free.

Every week when the store ad comes out, I sit down and make a list of what I need and what I see on sale that I need and then find the coupons either online or from Sunday paper inserts. I rarely pay full price for anything. When I was getting pork roasts for $2 a roast I bought 6 of them and they are in the freezer right now.

Also price match. Most stores will price match another store's ad. For instance, Chex Mix was on sale for $1 a bag at one store, I had a couple coupons and pricematched it at another store that was giving gas discounts for Chex Mix that week. Got 10 bags super cheap and they don't expire for a year.

Ling Ling coupon on facebook right now $3/1 and a website says that makes them free this week at Target.

 

[worm761]

I second the suggestion to find and Aldis and shop there.

This only good advice IF there is an Aldi's near you. The closest one to me is a 5 hour drive. You don't really save any money if you have to drive 5 hours to grocery shop.

 

[redrosesix]

Soups are an excellent choice because they can be cheap and healthy -- and if you have the time you can make them really luxurious.

Our fave is split pea soup -- instead of spending money on a ham bone I use 1/2 can or more of canned ham. like Flakes of Ham.

hot dog and cabbage soup -- the base is chicken stock -- you can add carrots, diced potatoes and onions.

we like to serve soup with fresh bread, either from the breadmaker or the stuff you buy frozen and throw in the oven if it's on sale

the possibilities are endless -- even Gordon Ramsey has soup recipes you can use

 

[worm761]

One of the weirder things that I do is order some stuff off of Amazon. I work Swagbucks and get free Amazon money and use that so it doesn't even come out of my grocery budget!

 

[sksjasams]

One more I just thought of.. I just bought two pork roasts from our local Aldi for 1.49/lb. They were about 2 1/2 lbs each. This recipe is awesome, but you need to find some smoked salt. I bought a jar of it at Home Goods for a couple of dollars and it has lasted me for a few years.

Slow-Cooker Kalua Pork

2 1/2 to 3 1/2 lb boneless pork shoulder roast
1 Tablespoon smoked salt

Rub salt into roast. Place in slow cooker and cook on low 8-10 hours or until meat shreds easily with a fork. That's it!

You can eat this on a sandwich like pulled pork, or use it in fajitas. Have it plain with mashed potatoes or macaroni salad. When I make it it usually feeds us for three meals. (Four of us - two kids are away at school.)

I found some smoked salt at our grocery store. I have pork loin roast from Costco. It's pretty lean...do you think I shoul add some water? Can't wait to try this. Thanks!

 

[Sacha_L]

My go to cheap meal:
1 box rice a roni fried rice $0.88 on sale
1/2 bag frozen peas $1.00
1 egg $0.33
1 chicken breast finely chopped $2.00
A few splashes of oyster and soy sauce.

Feeds our family of 4 dinner for $4.21

 

[TwoMisfits]

Like others have mentioned, the best super cheap meal is the one using the food you already have...but I take this thought a step further - it's using the food that's about to go bad in your house that you'd normally throw away. So, a super cheap meal is using that starting to limp celery, that half-opened sour cream and milk expiring in a few days, that onion that's just starting to sprout, the carrots and potatoes (now with a few eyes) you've had a few weeks, the can of peas on your shelf expiring next month and comboing it with the package of chicken breasts found on the bottom of your freezer and some dried herbs and some bread product and making a chicken pot pie or a chicken stew. I mean, yes, anyone can open a jar of sauce ($1) and a box of pasta ($.50) and feed a family of 4 for next-to-nothing. But making magic with what needs to be cooked before it must be tossed is where you will save long-term.

Just today, I found I had a Greek yogurt expiring tomorrow and a container of pomegranate seeds about to go bad. So, I changed my dinner plan carb and made a pomegranate orange bread (using normal muffin-type ingredients plus the yogurt, the seeds and the rind and juice from a navel orange I had). Very tasty, very fun to eat (since my family had never had it before), and very cheap to me (since I was gonna have to toss the 2 most expensive ingredients very soon)...

Chefs use this trick all the time, using soups/stews to use up anything they have leftover. I find that soups, stews, pastas, quiches/eggs, and quesadillas are great for using up savory items for little extra cost and muffins, quick breads, and even cookies are great for using up sweet ones.

 

[petlvr1064]

One of my favorite cheep meals is beans and hamburger.
1 can baked beans One pound gound meet turky or beef
One can tomato soup and a little brown sugar. Just brown the meet and add everything to it after it is browned a good kid friendly one pot meal

 

[crisi]

Its easy to make your own ground chicken using thighs and use it in place of hamburger if you have a food processor. Toss the thighs into the food processor and grind them up (or if you have the grinder attachment for your mixer - my mother still has the hand crank meat grinder from the farm).

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Large can of Bush's beans, cut up hotdogs and add to beans spead in 8X8 pan. on top of that I put corn bread mix prepare as package states. Bake till corn bread is done.

Breakfast - scrambled eggs, with cheese and toast, yogurt.

Waffles.


I always have breakfast at least once a week for dinner.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I also go to Costco and buy there already made chickens. I pull the meat, make pot pies, fajitas, empanadas, and you can take the carcass to make stock or soup.

I do this too! The homemade stock tastes so much better is is much less expensive. I freeze it in mason jars.

I also freeze the pulled meat in meal size servings to use in casseroles, etc. That rotisserie meat makes a casserole taste sooooooo much better!!

 

[ceecee]

Baked Ziti, Spaghetti, Penne, etc. Pasta and sauce, you can't get much cheaper. Less fat than hamburger dishes too. A giant pot of vegetable soup frist day with crackers, then left over with biscuits cooked on top (like pot pie) a few days later. Chili one day then left over chili with spaghetti a few days later. Get creative with left overs.

 

[NicoleLarson]

PB&J, kraft Mac & cheese and a coke.

 

[pocomom]

everyone had great suggestions.... I'll add one more I didn't see. A banana ...I'm serious! At least once a week I have a leftover night , or kids choice light meal and DH and I will just eat a banana, or some toast with pb, or something else super light. Some nights we are just not full meal hungry, and I'm trying to recognize that and not have a full dinner just because it is dinner time. I've been slowly losing weight too because of it.
We also have "restaurant" for dinner, where we get to pick our favorite individually sized freezer meals. Sometimes I make a few servings extra just to add to the freezer stock, because the kids love anything they can just microwave and this way it is healthy and something I want them to eat instead of Easy Mac or store bought frozen dinner.
Another meal that is cheap for us in the summer since we have a big garden and the kids adore is salad bar night. I make a big bowl of greens and then lay out all sorts of toppings, from leftover bits like shredded cheese, nuts , fruits, beans, hard boiled egg even leftover taco stuff...and the more standard salad veggies, and everyone builds their own. Fun night and the kids eat a lot of veggies this way. We do a similar thing with baked potatoes.

 

[Sandy61]

I do this too! The homemade stock tastes so much better is is much less expensive. I freeze it in mason jars.

I also freeze the pulled meat in meal size servings to use in casseroles, etc. That rotisserie meat makes a casserole taste sooooooo much better!!

I have never thought of freezing in mason jars. Does it keep the meat from getting freezer burn? How does it compare to using freezer bags. I have lots of mason jars and would love to stop buying freezer bags.

 

[My3kiddos]

Red beans and rice. I get smoked ham hocks at Savealot ($1-$2) and cook them covered with water on high in the crockpot for a few hours. Once they are soft I pull them out and pull the meat off and shred. Pour out half of the broth from the meat and add 1 pound of red beans ($1)that have been soaked preferably overnight. I also add half a bag each of frozen diced green peppers and diced onions ($1 each bag so $1 total), 2 bay leaves, salt and pepper, and the meat and finish covering with water. I cook all day then make a slurry of water cornstarch and water and add to thicken.

Serve over rice (about $1)

So total $4-$5 and it makes a bunch. We have both lunch and dinner at least 2 days. My kids love red beans and rice and it's very filling.

 

[msquoted]

One of my favorite meals on the cheap is comfort food for me, Creamed Tuna and Peas over Toast, but I know it sounds gross to some so skip it if you want I use the Hillbilly Housewife recipe (not sure if I am allowed to link to it or not but you could just Google search it)

Actually, if you haven't checked out the Hillbilly housewife website before- she has great, fugal meals!

 

[tinkerone]

One of my favorite meals on the cheap is comfort food for me, Creamed Tuna and Peas over Toast, but I know it sounds gross to some so skip it if you want I use the Hillbilly Housewife recipe (not sure if I am allowed to link to it or not but you could just Google search it)

Actually, if you haven't checked out the Hillbilly housewife website before- she has great, fugal meals!

we used to have creamed peas on toast when I was a child. brings back memories. never had tuna with it though.

 

[SKTiger]

These posts are my favorite!

I try to only buy from the "about to expire" when it comes to the meat department. When I can get a steak for about $5 and have the butcher cut it in half to make it go further, we have a fancy food night. (Milk also goes on sale for us this way. 1% is frequently less than $2 a gallon with a week until it expires) Otherwise we stick to chicken. I buy at less than $2/lb and freeze in individual baggies. One breast is plenty for both of us and I cut into chunks to make it go further. Some of our favorites:

Cajun Chicken and Rice
Pizza (use rolled out crescent rolls, top with whatever is on hand, cook per crescent roll instructions)
Chicken Parmesan (chicken, pasta, sauce tossed and topped with cheese, baked)
Pancakes from scratch (less than $1!!!)
Huevos Rancheros (egg, black beans, a bit of salsa served with tortillas)
Nachos ($1 bag of tortilla chips, topped with whatever veggies we feel like, cut up chicken, top with cheese and toss in the oven)

Now that its warmer, we'll start eating from the garden: tomato everything, grilled squash, zucchini, strawberries and supplement with in season veggies from the grocery and farmers market.

Also, if you aren't already using them, Ibotta and Checkout 51 apps give cashback from grocery purchases, and frequently offer any brand of milk, bread and veggie rebates. Hope that helps!