Your best frugal recipes

[puffkin]

I have a chili recipe similar to above that costs me about $7-$8 for all the ingredients plus another $2 for a pan of homemade cornbread. Right off the top I freeze half the pot for a second meal. After dinner, there is usually about 2 portions left for lunches/leftovers. If potatoes are on sale that week, I will get those (bag is $2) and do baked potatoes with half the bag. Then I will put the leftover chili on top and a little shredded cheese for a second meal.

So for about $10-$12 I get 2 full meals plus 1/2 bag of potatoes and a frozen batch of chili leftover. I typically feed 4 of us for a meal.

 

[HeatherC]

Not the healthiest but yummy and cheap. Two can cream of chicken soup, 1 can cream of celery soup, 1/2 cup water or chicken broth, 1 1/2 cup rice, some chicken (I use cooked) bag of frozen veggies. Mix all together in casserole dish and top with shredded cheddar. Bake 350 for 45 min. till rice is cooked.

 

[DisneyQuest]

I just made a veggie pot pie - it should feed 4 of us for around $5. It smells great!

My other thrifty meals are a home-made version of Hamburger Helper or oven roasted Italian sausage with perogies- one pan, no mess!

 

[Jake&IzzyLand]

I have a new one to add, lentil and brown rice tacos.

In a crock pot mix 4.5 cups of water with 1 cup of lentils and 2/3 cup of brown rice with one small onion diced. Season with onion powder, how ever many garlic cloves you prefer and 2 to 3 tablespoons of chili powder and cumin and 1 teaspoon of oregano . Salt and pepper to taste.

Cook on high for 3 hours. Check liquid and add more and/or cook more as necessary.

Warm dome flour tortillas and top with whatever you like on regular tacos. I used lettuce, cilantro and avocado.

This makes enough for 2 nights.

 

[pjlla]

I have a new one to add, lentil and brown rice tacos.

In a crock pot mix 4.5 cups of water with 1 cup of lentils and 2/3 cup of brown rice with one small onion diced. Season with onion powder, how ever many garlic cloves you prefer and 2 to 3 tablespoons of chili powder and cumin and 1 teaspoon of oregano . Salt and pepper to taste.

Cook on high for 3 hours. Check liquid and add more and/or cook more as necessary.

Warm dome flour tortillas and top with whatever you like on regular tacos. I used lettuce, cilantro and avocado.

This makes enough for 2 nights.

Can't wait to try these!! I've seen some lentil recipes on Pinterest that I've been wanting to try, but I love a personal recommendation. I have brown lentils on the grocery list (because I was going to make soup), but I'll buy more now! Perfect for our meatless Mondays!...........P

 

[Minnesota!]

I have a new one to add, lentil and brown rice tacos.

In a crock pot mix 4.5 cups of water with 1 cup of lentils and 2/3 cup of brown rice with one small onion diced. Season with onion powder, how ever many garlic cloves you prefer and 2 to 3 tablespoons of chili powder and cumin and 1 teaspoon of oregano . Salt and pepper to taste.

Cook on high for 3 hours. Check liquid and add more and/or cook more as necessary.

Warm dome flour tortillas and top with whatever you like on regular tacos. I used lettuce, cilantro and avocado.

This makes enough for 2 nights.

We do lentil tacos, too. Either straight lentils or, as you did, mix with something (we do brown rice or hamburger..). It realllllly stretches things.

 

[MomToOne]

I was taught to use a 2-to-1 ratio of water to rice. For the 4 of us, I usually do 2 cups of water and 1 cup of rice. Bring the water to a boil and add the rice and salt, cover and reduce heat to med-low or low. I don't want it to stop simmering, so I keep an eye on it to make sure it is still cooking. I don't open the lid if I don't have to and never stir it. Sometimes I have to open it and let some steam escape so it doesn't boil over. It takes about 20 minutes to be done.

I use a similar method, although I was taught by a very knowledgeable rice cook (LOL) that the amount of water needed can depend on the type of rice, and how old (and therefore dry) it is - you may need to experiment with the amount of water and/or cooking time based on the type of rice you are buying. But once you find your formula, you tend to be pretty well set. For the general long grain rice I buy, I usually use only 1-1/2 cups of water per 1 cup of rice, plus a little splash extra "for the pot" - if I am cooking more than a single cup, everything gets doubled or tripled or whatever except for the splash. I bring it to a boil, then cover it, reduce it to the lowest setting my stove has, and let it cook for 15 minutes. Then I turn off the heat, and let the pot sit on the warm burner, still covered, for another 5 minutes or longer. Fluff with a fork prior to serving. Perfect rice every time!

 

[Dakota731]

Not the healthiest but yummy and cheap. Two can cream of chicken soup, 1 can cream of celery soup, 1/2 cup water or chicken broth, 1 1/2 cup rice, some chicken (I use cooked) bag of frozen veggies. Mix all together in casserole dish and top with shredded cheddar. Bake 350 for 45 min. till rice is cooked.

This is one of my kids' favorites and they are very picky eaters! I use uncooked chicken though and cream of mushroom soup. But I'm sure it's yummy either way.

 

[QueenIsabella]

This is one of my great cheap/fast recipes, but it's almost embarrassing--my dad was born in Italy. My gramma would be turning over in her grave, but my dad loved this, as did my siblings, and now my kids:

Start a large pot of water for spaghetti.

Dice a large onion, fry it up with a couple cloves of chopped garlic. Slice thin and add one pound of hotdogs.

When onions are cooked, add a large can of petite diced tomatoes, and a smaller can (15 oz) of pureed tomatoes or plain sauce. Add bay leaves, Italian Seasoning, and pepper to taste--Italian Seasoning is very cheap at Walmart.

Let this simmer while you finish cooking 1 pound of spaghetti.

It sounds gross to my (half) Italian ear, but it's really delicious. Very cheap, too, and I can get it on the table in 20 minutes, so it's a Budget Board trifecta.

 

[leebee]

I can cook dried beans just fine. But have hack time cooking rice right. Can you post the easy instructions on cooking dried rice.

Rice:

1 cup white rice
Add 2 cups water, 1 tablespoon butter, and some salt (we use very little salt so I don't know how much to add... a half-teaspoon, maybe?).
Bring to a boil on high heat. Once it just reaches a boil, stir well, turn down the heat to low, cover, and time for 20 minutes (15 minutes works, too... we like softer rice so I do 20 mins).
When the time is up, remove rice from burner and fluff with a fork. I then leave the fork in the pot but put the cover back on for about 5 mins. (off the heat, of course)

As long as you keep the proportion of rice to water standard (1 part rice, 2 parts water) this should work for you. On my electric stove, the "heat" goes from off to 10. I bring the rice to a boil on 10, then cut it back to 3 for the actual cooking period.

Brown and wild rice need different cooking directions, so don't use this for them! (It might work for brown, but definitely NOT for wild rice!!)

 

[Vernie822]

Just made this last night and I suppose it could be considered frugal because we had almost all of the ingredients in our pantry & we always buy cheese anyways.

Buffalo Chicken Pasta Bake

2 cups shredded cooked chicken (our fresh chicken was BOGO this week)
2 cups penne pasta (uncooked)
1/3 c ranch dressing
1/2 hot sauce (use less if you like it a little milder)
6 oz cream cheese, softened (we used 1/3 less fat and it worked just fine)
1/2 + 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cook the pasta & drain, mix in a bowl with the shredded chicken.
Add cream cheese, hot sauce, ranch, and 1/2 cup shredded cheddar.
Mix together and spread in a 9x13 pan
Cook for about 15 minutes @ 350, take out after 15 mins & add remaining 1/4 cup cheese (add more if you'd like) - return to oven for 5 mins.

 

[neatokimmo]

SAMs has Romano (sp?) cheese for $4 pp. I get a 1.5 block for two meals.

Alfredo
Garlic 20 cents
1/2 stick of butter 38 cents
3/4 pd of stinky cheese $3
About 1/4th cup of flour -pennies
Roughly 1/3 gallon of milk $1
Pound of dried pasta $1

Cheese gravy on pasta...heavenly.

 

[scrhsa]

Black beans ($1.69 for 2 lbs)---cook them until almost done.
Add:
Bag of southwest corn from Schwans ($7.50)
1/2 jar salsa (I like either the chipotle version from Tostidos or the either the roasted tomato or chipotle one from Frontega $1.50)
salt, pepper, cumin, oregano to taste

Serve with some tortillas, cheese, cilantro, lime...whatever I have in the fridge.

I do something similar.....I use a can of diced tomatoes. Either Rotel or plain with a bit of green chilis or jalepenos. I did it as an "oh, crap I've got nothing for a side dish" one night. The family LOVED it. Sometimes I drain everything really well(using fresh tomatoes) and use it as a dip for chips...adding cilantro

 

[Chrelaine]

When we were on a tight budget we had my grandma's "goulash" often. Cook elbow macaroni. While cooking the macaroni, brown ground beef with chopped onions, salt, pepper & garlic. When browned, drain fat and mix meat and noodles together with a can or two of tomato soup and warm through. I know it sounds a little odd, but we all love it.

 

[T00dles]

When we were on a tight budget we had my grandma's "goulash" often. Cook elbow macaroni. While cooking the macaroni, brown ground beef with chopped onions, salt, pepper & garlic. When browned, drain fat and mix meat and noodles together with a can or two of tomato soup and warm through. I know it sounds a little odd, but we all love it.

That's American chop suey! My mom would make that sometimes. I was youngest of four kids.

 

[manning]

We like pancakes with homemade sausage or brown n serve. Pizza with homemade crust. Lots of from scratch stuff!

The nice thing about home made sausages is you can make them low sodium and they don't have all those additives.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I'm Puerto Rican so growing up rice and beans were on the menu a lot. We ate it about 5 times a week. It can be made in so many different ways. We always had a lot of sides to go with it. Usually some form of plaintains, a salad, a cheap cut of meat, sometimes potato or macaroni salad, avocado, pasteles, empanadas, fried cheese, veggies, etc. An old favorite that goes back to my great grandmother making it was white rice with beans on the side and a fried egg on top. Every now and then I crave this. My kids will eat this but with scrambled eggs on the side.

I don't cook rice and beans as often as my mom made it growing up but my grandmother does watch my kids after school and she still makes rice almost every single day (out of habit, not money) and my kids love it.

 

[DisMommyTX]

Cheap and always in the pantry!

1 Can of chicken
1 can Black Beans
Package of chicken taco seasoning
Stir together in sauce pan

Serve in soft corn tortillas, over chips for nachos, or add chicken broth and canned veggies for soup!

 

[Shmily1]

My dad use to make us a chicken casserole that I still love. DH, not so much, but it is still great to me.

Cut up chicken
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can onion soup
1 cup rice
1 can water
Mix it the liquids and rice together and put the chicken on top. Bake it covered on 350 until almost done (45 minutes), then uncover for the last few minutes to brown the chicken

 

[Bubblegum1286]

Shredded Italian Chicken and Peppers

2 Bell peppers sliced ($.99/ea)
1 medium yellow onion sliced ($.69 ea)
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (recently on sale at my grocery store for $1.99/lb)
1 jar Spaghetti sauce (favorite brand or whatever's on sale)
Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
1 box spaghetti noodles ($1-2)

In the crock pot, line the bottom with half peppers and onions, then add chicken breasts on top. Sprinkle chicken with seasonings and spices. Cover with the rest of the peppers and onions, then pour spaghetti sauce over it. Set on low for 4.5-5 hours. Take chicken out and shred (SO easy to shred chicken with electric mixer!) and add back into the sauce/pepper mix. Stir. Prepare pasta according to directions on box. Serve chicken and peppers over pasta. (It makes a lot and is a favorite at our house).