Low Cost Meals

cheap-meal

Have you joined the challenge to eat from your freezer and pantry for a week?  Those of us who have been doing this have not only saved money, but also stretched our creative cooking skills as we’ve swapped out ingredients for what we had on hand.

I’m wrapping up this money-saving series with a list of very low-cost meals.  Most of these meals come in at under $1 per person.  Some cost well under that.

Tips for keeping meals cheap

1.  In general, meals that are based on rice, pasta, beans or eggs tend to be inexpensive.

2.  Substitute ingredients for what you have on hand.  Running into the grocery only tempts you into spending more money.

3.  Soups tend to be cheap because one recipe will feed so many people.

4.  Stretch your meals with Depression Era Bread, Corn Bread, Biscuits or Graham Muffins.

Cheap Meals

Lentil Tacos

Pasta with Matriciana Sauce – Thanks Jen @ Hey Ya’ll

Pasta with Red Sauce DiPaola

Grandma’s Spaghetti Sauce

Cheesy Eggs and Ham

Vietnam Fried Rice

Shaker Village Tomato Soup with grilled cheese sandwiches

Chipped Beef Gravy over Cornbread or Biscuits

Mexican Beans and Rice

Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Asian Noodles with Stir Fry Veggies and Chicken

Calico Bean Soup with Smoked Sausage

Hamburger Vegetable Soup

Crockpot Chicken Soup

Corn Chowder

Taco Soup

More inexpensive meals can be found at $5 Dinners.  What are your favorite cheap meals?

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Comments

  1. My dad was the dinner cook in our family and he was great at making meals using what he could find in the kitchen.

  2. Those are some wonderful link’s I’ll have to try! My favorite cheap meal is using leftover ham to make “ham and spaghetti” or, as my late MIL called it, “Irish Spaghetti.”
    Happy SITS!

  3. jeanine says:

    hey great blog – coming ovah from SITS — ck me out when you have a chance :) I’m trying to build subscribers !

    http://www.icoulduseadeal.blogspot.com

  4. LinLori says:

    Oh my goodness, I love this! Thank you! Happy SITS day! I’m totally bookmarking this!

  5. Shanda says:

    So glad you were featured today! It’s been awhile since I’ve stopped in! Great recipes as usual!

    Hope you have enjoyed all of the SITS love today!!

    Blessings!

  6. greedygrace says:

    Great post, and so fitting for these times. Soups and stews are a must for me. So easy to make in the crock pot, you can buy a cheap cut of meat and it will still be tender, and there’s always leftovers!

    Happy SITS Day!

  7. emily says:

    Such a good post!!!! All about savin’ the money!

  8. Stesha says:

    As who mom who is trying to budget more, these tips will really come in handy.

  9. Bookmarked! Some excellent ideas – thank you!

  10. Anonymous says:

    I love low cost meals … and finding something — ANYthing — in the freezer or pantry that I can turn into dinner. I am definitely not heading to the grocery store!

  11. Reeni says:

    I’m a day late from SITS. Came over to say hi and hope you had a great day being featured!

  12. Charmaine says:

    Great post! I bookmarked it for easy finding!

  13. Rachael says:

    What a timely post. My favorite cheap meal is brown rice with taco meat & veggies. You can buy a bag of frozen peppers and it fits in nicely, and I look for the meat when it’s on sale. Sometimes we buy the higher fat meat, then just drain it off & rinse w/hot water after it’s browned. Happy SITS day!

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  1. [...] pulled the recipes for this week’s menu from my list of Low Cost Meals.   Not only are the meals inexpensive, but they are quick to [...]

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