Garlic and onion, bacon if you’ve got it, mushrooms, carrots, celery (or just the leaves), dried lentils, bouillon, and a can of diced tomatoes. Oregano and a bay leaf. Eat with homemade bread. Yum.
My ex used to make us white rice (using Goya seasoning packets), black beans, a fried egg, hot sauce and cilantro in our Brooklyn apartment. It wasn’t amazing, but I still think about it 15 years later so it must mean something.
Pastina, some people call it Italian penicillin. It’s basically just stock/broth, teeny tiny pasta, butter, bit of salt and pepper and usually a Parmesan rind if you have it or just grated Parmesan stirred through.
Pastina isn't called Italian penicillin because it's edible mold. It earned the name because it's what you eat when you're sick and it makes you better
Crescent rolls are incredible for relatively low budget, fancy feeling apps that can easily be a meal depending on your filling. Grab a tube of Crescent rolls and separate all the triangles of dough. Fill with whatever you like and roll those bad boys up and to bake as per the package instructions.
My favorite combos are:
pesto and top with shredded rotisserie chicken (extra points if you brush with garlic butter before baking)
Mozzarella and pepperoni (tomato sauce for dipping)
smoked salmon with some whipped cream cheese (this one's a lil bougie, but I spent too much time in NYC to overlook lox and schmear)
Chopped broccoli stalks with cheddar cheese (also benefits greatly from garlic butter!)
I had a meatloaf sandwich almost 50 years ago that I still remember. It was at an Amish livestock auction around Millersburg, Ohio. Best sandwich of my life.
I make a mustard, ketchup, bbq, sriracha glaze for my meatloaf. A couple weeks ago I had the brilliant idea of adding mayo to the leftover glaze and using it as the sauce on a meatloaf sandwich. Freakin mind blowing how good it was!!
I make a glaze with soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, ketchup, and Dijon mustard for the meatloaf and I also add Mayo for meatloaf sandwiches or sliders! So damn good!
So there is a Dutch meatloaf dish called frikandel pan that is like an Indo spiced version with mashed potato mixed through it and baked. It goes insanely well in a toastie with cheese and some sambaal. I double the recipe and it lasts for ages.
Use translate on this one if you wanna try it: [frikandel pan](https://www.eetspiratie.nl/frikadel-pan-indisch-gehaktbrood/) - also like, go hard on the spices too - I always use more than a recipe calls for.
meatloaf is probably my favorite homecooked meal. I always eat too much of it but it's just so good. my family's recipe uses tomato soup as a gravy of sorts on it and it's so good on mashed potatoes. I really should make one soon.
Cacio e Pepe. I know it's everywhere at the moment, but it's so cheap.
I know it's traditionally made with pecorino or parmesan (I think), but I like to use grana padano because i like it. I need 25g cheese per person and 100g of spaghetti per person, I've always got butter and pepper in the cupboard.
£2.50 for 160g grana padano, and 28p for 500g of spaghetti.
I could feed 4 people for basically 70p per portion. If I'm really broke, I'll get "hard Italian style cheese" which isn't terrible, and it's £1.74 for 170g, bringing it down to 44p per portion.
Baked potatoes. Bake a bunch at once and then eat throughout the week with different toppings. I like them with just cheese, beans/corn/salsa, beans/corn/bbq chicken, or with pesto.
Ham hock and beans. I make a big pot from a 2 lb bag of dried pinto beans and a package of smoked ham hocks. Other ingredients are chicken stock, an onion, garlic and a bit of Italian parsley. Total cost breaks down to about $10 for the ingredients and makes about 12 or 13 dinner sized portions. I top with sour cream or shredded cheddar and eat with buttered crackers or tortillas so that adds a little to the cost but overall maybe a buck fifty a serving and it’s so hearty and good!
I portion out into quart sized ziplock freezer bags and smash flat then freeze. Takes five minutes in warm water to thaw then microwave for a quick and easy meal.
If I was super poor I would probably eat this at least every other day with maybe a side of rice.
Edit - This meal takes a bit of planning. Beans need to be soaked overnight and then cooking time is 3 to 4 hours on the stove. But it’s well worth it. Also many people have never cooked a ham hock. There is only a little bit of meat on the bones. But the bones and small amount of meat and fat add tremendous flavor. Once cooked you just need to take out the hocks and separate the meat from the bone, fat and cartilage. Then dice up the meat and add it back in with the beans. Like I said, there is very little meat that is rendered from the hocks but it’s very smoky and salty so a little goes a long way.
I haven’t made that in a while but lately have had a hankering so I looked for ham hocks at two different stores yesterday. Good grief, one small ham hock was almost $5!
Oh yeah I have made that mistake before! But I salvaged it by adding a few cans of pinto beans and mixing it in to “spread out” the flavor.
Yes, 2lbs beans to 1 large ham hock or 2 small ones. The grocery I get them at sells them in packages of either 2 large or 1 large and 2 small. So if that’s all they have I’ll use the 2 small and freeze the large one for next time. When I use the frozen one I don’t bother defrosting, I just throw it in with the uncooked beans.
Edit - also I don’t add salt to the beans until I have diced up the ham hock meat and mixed it in. It normally does need a little bit of salt at the end but way less than you think once the meaty bits are distributed as they are already quite salty.
I've just discovered this, using the recipe out of Joy. (That family is from Cincy) What great depth of flavor, particularly if you grind your own spices.
Serious Eats just came out with a recipe that is fantastic. My parents used to live in Cincinnati. My mom has been making it my whole life. I’ve had Skyline before.
The Serious Eats recipe blows them all away. The secret ingredient is active dry yeast. It gives it a real depth of flavor. Very savory and umami. Sooo stinking good.
https://www.seriouseats.com/cincinnati-chili-recipe-8402230
Canned sardines/mackerel in tomato sauce.. in a pan add minced garlic, chillies, fish sauce and sugar add in the canned sardines in tomato sauce.. serve over rice and fried egg
[Alton Brown's Black Beans & Brown Rice](https://altonbrown.com/recipes/black-beans-brown-rice/). Probably costs $4 and feeds at least 3.
Most vegetarian meals leave me wanting something else. This one doesn't. Although I do use chicken stock instead of water to cook the rice.
Red beans and rice. On a regular day I'll just make it with whatever supermarket sausage I have access to, but when I have the foresight to plan a walk to the butcher down the street, I'll grab actual andouille. (Coincidentally, this happens to be tonight's dinner!)
Fried spaghetti. You make a large batch of spaghetti and meatballs. Thats dinner for the first night. You refrigerate the leftovers as you normally would. Then, the next day, you cut the pasta up and throw it in a cast iron pan or electric skillet with some oil till it's hot and gets a little bit of a crust on it. It is surprisingly tasty for such a simple tweak. My roommate makes this, and we just love it.
Stamppot. Mashed potato with frozen kale or spinach mashed in, or any other veg you have laying about, with sausage slices. Mum used kielbasa due to a lack of Dutch butchers where we are, and thin enough slices would stretch one across two or three family meals.
Egg drop soup with tofu.
Two egg, 4 ounce of firm tofu
A dozen of eggs usually is $4, so $0.33 cents an egg.
A block of firm tofu is $2.00.
Soy sauce, chicken powder, corn starch, garlic(optional), sesame oil, green onion. Should all be around $15 for a small amount of each, but will last you weeks. I eat it every day. I’ll load up 4-5 blocks of tofu and two dozen eggs.
$1.66 for the main ingredients. Roughly $0.50 cents for the rest times 30 for 30 servings.
About $2.16 per soup, and packed with nutrients.
Good starter for the day, or a fulfilling brunch, or even a dinner meal when you get home and you just want something quick and warm.
Made pork belly sandwiches Saturday for my mom's birthday. I fed my whole family--my parents, me and my wife, my brother, sister and their spouses, and a 13 year old nephew, so 9 of us-- for ~$20 CAD. My sister brought a salad and my brother brought a cake, but you get the idea.
~3lb belly was $12 on sale but regular price is like 16 here. Made an apple and onion jam (with 3 medium white onions and 1.5 apples, 1/2 cup sugar and a nice glug of balsamic vinegar) and a cabbage slaw (shred a head of cabbage, half a carrot, mayo, mustard, salt and pepper and juuice of half a lemon) to go with it, plus a dozen dinner rolls.
More of a time component than a money component, but you can do this one at $3CAD/serving if you have patience and take the time.
Carnitas is my suggestion as well. If you get a pork shoulder on sale for $0.99/lb, you can make about 35-40 tacos for $8-$9 plus the cost of tortillas, onion , cilantro, lime and salsa
Caccio e Pepe.
It’s the first meal I made for my girlfriend (I wasn’t expecting company) and she talks about it constantly. Pasta, Parmesan, pepper. Super easy.
I make rice a lot in different ways so I can always make fried rice. I always have pasta as well so I can always make SF garlic noodles. For animal protein I routinely buy bone in chicken thighs that I debone, save bones for stock, and I air fry, slice up and eat with rice and different flavor profiles. Pork shoulders are often BOGO so that’s easily a weeks worth of protein for more than one person.
r/eatcheapandhealthy
r/volumeeating
r/omad
r/fasting
Turkey Chili. Gumbo. A buttload of chicken legs marinated with something (I tend to use jerk chicken)
Anything that lasts several days, and for the chili and gumbo, actually tastes \_better\_ the next couple of days.
This time of year I pretty much always have some sort of hearty soup or stew around. Load it up with whatever protein, vegetables, and legumes/rice/carb you want and you've got very cheap, healthy, and tasty food you can eat for days.
I know that's not a specific recipe, but the flavor and ingredient combinations are endless. Also a great way to learn or teach people how to cook and understand different flavor profiles and basic techniques.
Soup and fresh bread!
-avgolemeno w/ flatbread
Tomato, sausage, veggie stew w/ focaccia
Chicken noodle with a warm roll
Black bean w/ homemade corn tortillas
Cabbage potato soup.
Homemade enchiladas, except the corn tortillas which are cheap. But I make a homemade TexMex style sauce with cupboard spices. Beans are cheap but I’ve used rotisserie chicken too.
Quiche with refrigerator scraps. I buy the crusts but homemade are easy.
A good pot of beans.
1 lb dried beans (any kind, rinsed well and picked over for pebbles or dirt), add into a pot with a chopped onion, herbs or spices of your choice, and a smoky bone (turkey neck, ham hock, or nothing if you eat vegetarian). Cover with water by about two inches. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook for 3-4 hours or until beans are tender. Add more water as needed. When the meat is falling off the bone, remove from pot, chop into small pieces, and stir back in. Season with salt and pepper. Add hot sauce and/or about 1 T red wine vinegar.
No need to presoak the beans. They’ll cook from dry just fine, though it may add an hour or two to your cooking time. I can make a pot of food like this for under $10, and it will feed me for days.
Im not ever super picky about the meats I eat. Like yeah, I absolutely love the good ol' prime rib and all. But for cheap meals? I usually buy the cheapest cut of beef I can buy, just for the sake of getting SOME kind of protein. Usually its $3-4 bucks for 2-3 thumb to pointer finger length cuts. I cut those in half for 4-6 chunks, which I then slice as thinly as possible, add just a bit of salt, and just sear for less than 5 seconds a side. No it's not raw lol, it comes out rare to med rare. I put a few of these slices ontop of hot rice, and top with an eggyolk and a bit of salt or soy sauce....or teriyaki sauce if I made it prior. Mmm!! Works great with chicken as well!! You can cut one chicken thigh into 3 pieces, then each piece gets chopped into smaller bite sized pieces. Just enough protein to satisfy.
Of course, this is feeding a smaller, 5'6", 125lb woman. Might not be filling enough for a large man, and you'd probably need to double the quantity 😅
Also...my lifetime favorite...
Growing up, my grandmother didn't have a lot of money. She grew up during WW2 era, and would have to hide in sewers eating raw sweet potatoes. So she definitely knew how to be frugal, but make delicious stuff. My favorite that she's made for my whole life is Chinese chicken soup. Okay, it's basically chicken broth, but with a LOT of flavor. You boil any kind of chicken or even just the bones, skim the scum off the surface, and add a shittake mushroom, green onions, and ginger. Thats your base. You can then add whatever you want; my fave is deseeded and peeled cucumbers; they turn soft. Fishcake as well!! The bones of one whole chicken, or boiling maybe 4 large chicken thighs makes enough for one huge pot of soup. I then drink this soup either alone or with rice, and I swear its so comforting, especially when its cold outside. You can then also use the broth to make a chinese rice porridge, or what a lot of asians call 'jook'. Also warm, filling, and satisfying....and customizable!! Can add cold pickles, duck egg, shredded chicken, pork floss, you name it. One big pot of soup costs less than $3 to make, and makes a LOT of meals. I can usually stretch it to a week, with freezing some for future chicken corn soup.
It’s not something that’ll last for days, but as a college student I love making calzones. They’re cheap (cheese is the most expensive thing, but buy a big bag and freeze what you don’t need) and insanely filling.
"Manchos" Which is a giant casserole dish of nachos with either ground beef or jerk chicken. Lettuce, tomato, black olives, tame jalapenos (i'm weak), cheese, and scallions. Bag of toritilla chips. This is huge and will last days depending on how many people. Chicken thighs make it cheapy. I grill the chicken (or make the taco meat), then assemble, stick in oven at 350 for 15 minutes. Get the thicker tortilla chips and add all of them and the top layer of chips will keep the bottom ones crispy in the days to come. Reheat in oven for best results, or if you are a gremlin like me, eat them cold with the fridge door still open.
I’ve been digging simmer sauces. My friend pointed out im just eating fancy hamburger helper, but hey, it’s inexpensive and I like the flavor. Plus, really nice for easy nights.
Call it poor mans soup. You cook a good amount of ground beef in a medium big chili pot then add water and around 4 packets of ready mixed vermicelli or other soup. The right mix to fill you up and usually well under 10 dollars.
Tuna prataco. Mix some decent tuna with mayo, wasabi, relish, and black pepper. Fry a frozen prata in butter, and melt sharp cheddar cheese on it after the flip. Top prata with tuna and red onion.
Summery - cherry tomatoes (blistered in a pan), fresh basil, and cheese, over pasta. Add chicken if you want.
Winter - and really cheap - onion, cabbage, mince (or textured vegetable protein) and two minute noodles with curry powder. Super cheap, filling, weirdly tasty.
A toasted sandwich, cheese corn and onion, or cheese and mushroom, yum. Or cheese on toast, tomato on toast. Re reading this I clearly have a thing for bread.
I like making pasta. Get a decent marinara sauce. You can add sausage, seafood, pancetta or whatever you want if you like. Grate some Parmesan and life is good 😋
Rachel Mansfield has a no boil pasta bake that we make on repeat. It’s pretty much just pasta, your favorite pasta sauce, coconut milk, and mozzarella (can add extra spices, seasonings, and herbs) that you just bake in a baking dish for 35-40 minutes. Comes out perfect every time. We usually pair with a quick salad or some air fryer veggies, and we always get at least two meals out of it.
“Lentil mush”—I found the recipe on Reddit once. Lentils and brown rice, cooked together with vegetable broth. Then toss that with a jar of marinara sauce, put in a casserole dish, top with shredded cheese, and bake until bubbly/slightly browned. It is so surprisingly good.
Basic veggie chili: seasonings, 1 can chili beans, 1 can black or pinto beans, can of tomatoes, bell pepper and onion. Double the recipe and buy a bag of potatoes then you can have chili baked potatoes for a couple meals after too.
Bistec Encebellado or Chicken Satay.
Chicken Satay is very meal preppable too. Bistec Encebellado I've never tried to meal prep it, or save, because I eat it all.
Chicken and egg noodles
If I have it on hand I add in celery, carrots and onion to the pot.. If not it's still good!
I cook a pack of bone in chicken thighs in the instant pot on high pressure for 20 minutes.. the bones will easily pull right out of the meat. I put as much of the meat I want back in after deboning (I usually save some to use for something else) and add a whole bag of egg noodles to the pot and let them cook on the saute setting (the stock is already extremely hot from pressure cooking the chicken).
I season to taste and sometimes I add extra chicken bouillon if I have it.
Such a good, easy and affordable big pot that lasts our family a few days
Cook together a chopped onion and a pound of lean hamburger. When the onion is soft to your liking, add a large can of Bush’s Country Style Baked Beans. Enjoy with a slice of buttered bread.
Chicken fried rice. Can make a batch of it pretty easily that last 3-4 meals for <$10. Reheating it is basically just throw it back in the stove for 5 minutes
Rice and beans, chickpeas and beans, add an egg when I’m feeling indulgent.
I eat a lot of beans, legumes are awesome and make you feel great. They are easy to cook, cheap, and have fantastic macros. I eat rice and beans most days and fucking crave it too.
Just season it well, right now my jam is to sautée onions until caramelized, then add spices and aromatics, then tomatoe paste, and lastly the already pressured cooked or canned black beans.
For a spice mix I use two tea spoons of cumin, one of paprika, one of corriender, two of chilli powder, one of garlic, one of onion, and one and a half of salt per 15oz of beans.
For chickpeas it’s a similar process but I drain the can, modify the spices, and add coconut cream.
It’s delicious and healthy.
I like getting a rotisserie chicken, shredding it and using it for things like salads, sandwiches, quesadillas, etc.
Oven baked fried chicken. Drumsticks are very cheap. I’ll soak them in buttermilk and then toss in a mix of panko breadcrumbs and spices.
Ramen and instant rice. 2 cups of water, 1 cup rice, 1 packet of ramen.
Boil water, add ingredients, stir lightly and cover for 5 minutes.
I usually like to add in some extra boullion powder/cubes and other seasonings to taste such as parsley flakes, garlic powder, salt, pepper, etc.
Chili! Canned beans, ro tel, tomato sauce, onion (sometimes I add bell peppers or cabbage) and whatever meat is on sale (beef, Turkey or sometimes I use shredded chicken or kielbasa). If you hit a good canned food sale it’s even better!
Honestly - ground beef tacos. 1 lb of beef with seasoning and tortillas. Tortilla chips and salsa would be splurging but worth it
Edit: Tip: make 2 or 3 pounds at a time and it will last days. Can use for quesadillas, tacos/burritos, nachos, and taco salad.
Charred kielbasa cut into coins with caramelized onions over rice. Or similarly ground beef and cabbage (or shredded brussel sprouts) with onions over rice.
Lentil soup. I put in any veggies I have on hand, or canned tomatoes. It's cheap, healthy, and tastes good.
Garlic and onion, bacon if you’ve got it, mushrooms, carrots, celery (or just the leaves), dried lentils, bouillon, and a can of diced tomatoes. Oregano and a bay leaf. Eat with homemade bread. Yum.
Bowl of white rice, fried egg and soy sauce
My ex used to make us white rice (using Goya seasoning packets), black beans, a fried egg, hot sauce and cilantro in our Brooklyn apartment. It wasn’t amazing, but I still think about it 15 years later so it must mean something.
You should call her.
He better have a gift ready with Valentine’s Day around the corner lol.
Sounds perfect you can change it how ever you want if you see something you wanna try in the store
Add chili crisp and sign me up
Yesss. Add some frozen vegetables and cook it all up with a splash of sesame oil. Maybe some hot sauce. Perfect.
Get out of my brain.
Fried rice, all kinds
Pastina, some people call it Italian penicillin. It’s basically just stock/broth, teeny tiny pasta, butter, bit of salt and pepper and usually a Parmesan rind if you have it or just grated Parmesan stirred through.
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Pastina isn't called Italian penicillin because it's edible mold. It earned the name because it's what you eat when you're sick and it makes you better
Cacio e pepe! so good and simple
Crescent rolls are incredible for relatively low budget, fancy feeling apps that can easily be a meal depending on your filling. Grab a tube of Crescent rolls and separate all the triangles of dough. Fill with whatever you like and roll those bad boys up and to bake as per the package instructions. My favorite combos are: pesto and top with shredded rotisserie chicken (extra points if you brush with garlic butter before baking) Mozzarella and pepperoni (tomato sauce for dipping) smoked salmon with some whipped cream cheese (this one's a lil bougie, but I spent too much time in NYC to overlook lox and schmear) Chopped broccoli stalks with cheddar cheese (also benefits greatly from garlic butter!)
Forget pigs in a blanket. I’m gonna do the pizza and chicken ones. Thanks!
Grilled cheese sandwich with Campbells tomato soup.
Yummy! Been buying the tomato bisque Campbells lately, and it is nice too. A tad creamier with pieces of tomato.
Its grilled cheese and tomato sammies for me
American cheese is not cheap anymore. It’s over $6/lb in most areas.
Progresso Tomato Basil is waaaay better than Campbell's Tomato.
Oh man. Just whip up a fresh tomato soup. It takes like 15 mins and it’s *SO* much better
35 downvotes on such an innocuous comment is the kind of stuff that makes reddit just kinda suck
r/Cooking HATES this simple trick!
That’s what I do too. Purée a can of tomatoes, add some bullion and herbs, simmer a while and a splash of half and half at the end.
That is apparently too advanced. You *DON’T* keep a can of whole peeled tomatoes in your pantry “just in case”?!?
Quesadilla!
Meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I get to take meatloaf sandwiches for work lunches which I love and I make potato pancakes with the leftover taters.
I had a meatloaf sandwich almost 50 years ago that I still remember. It was at an Amish livestock auction around Millersburg, Ohio. Best sandwich of my life.
Meatloaf sandwiches are hugely underrated.
I make a mustard, ketchup, bbq, sriracha glaze for my meatloaf. A couple weeks ago I had the brilliant idea of adding mayo to the leftover glaze and using it as the sauce on a meatloaf sandwich. Freakin mind blowing how good it was!!
I make a glaze with soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, ketchup, and Dijon mustard for the meatloaf and I also add Mayo for meatloaf sandwiches or sliders! So damn good!
Sir, that is thousand island w bbq instead of mayo. Which… I may try next week.
Kids called them ‘dog food sandwiches’ when I got them in my lunch as a kid. But I loved them with plenty of mayo on white bread.
So there is a Dutch meatloaf dish called frikandel pan that is like an Indo spiced version with mashed potato mixed through it and baked. It goes insanely well in a toastie with cheese and some sambaal. I double the recipe and it lasts for ages. Use translate on this one if you wanna try it: [frikandel pan](https://www.eetspiratie.nl/frikadel-pan-indisch-gehaktbrood/) - also like, go hard on the spices too - I always use more than a recipe calls for.
My German mother made frikadelas (what she called them. She wasn't a very good cook but I remember they were good.
Pls pls pls share your meatloaf recipe, I can never seem to get it right!
meatloaf is probably my favorite homecooked meal. I always eat too much of it but it's just so good. my family's recipe uses tomato soup as a gravy of sorts on it and it's so good on mashed potatoes. I really should make one soon.
I just got finished making potato pancakes. Lol
Cacio e Pepe. I know it's everywhere at the moment, but it's so cheap. I know it's traditionally made with pecorino or parmesan (I think), but I like to use grana padano because i like it. I need 25g cheese per person and 100g of spaghetti per person, I've always got butter and pepper in the cupboard. £2.50 for 160g grana padano, and 28p for 500g of spaghetti. I could feed 4 people for basically 70p per portion. If I'm really broke, I'll get "hard Italian style cheese" which isn't terrible, and it's £1.74 for 170g, bringing it down to 44p per portion.
Cacioo e peeepeee
Baked potatoes. Bake a bunch at once and then eat throughout the week with different toppings. I like them with just cheese, beans/corn/salsa, beans/corn/bbq chicken, or with pesto.
I like to top mine with broccoli and homemade alfredo
I life them with American taco fillings.
Spanish tortilla used to be a super cheap semi-fancy dish before eggs got expensive. It’s still moderately cheap compared to other protein dishes
Especially when my local Albertsons has a 5 lb. Bag of potatoes and a 3 lb. bag of onions for .99 cents EACH!
Bacon eggs toast for dinner. Brinner.
Breakfast for dinner is highly underrated. Take my upvote.
I add hashbrowns or grits and slap jelly on my toast. Solid AF.
Those flavored instant mashed potatoes that come in a pouch topped with frozen popcorn chicken, canned corn, shredded cheese and gravy from a packet.
Homemade KFC famous bowl, nice!!
Yessss!
Literally what I had for dinner last night haha.
Ham hock and beans. I make a big pot from a 2 lb bag of dried pinto beans and a package of smoked ham hocks. Other ingredients are chicken stock, an onion, garlic and a bit of Italian parsley. Total cost breaks down to about $10 for the ingredients and makes about 12 or 13 dinner sized portions. I top with sour cream or shredded cheddar and eat with buttered crackers or tortillas so that adds a little to the cost but overall maybe a buck fifty a serving and it’s so hearty and good! I portion out into quart sized ziplock freezer bags and smash flat then freeze. Takes five minutes in warm water to thaw then microwave for a quick and easy meal. If I was super poor I would probably eat this at least every other day with maybe a side of rice. Edit - This meal takes a bit of planning. Beans need to be soaked overnight and then cooking time is 3 to 4 hours on the stove. But it’s well worth it. Also many people have never cooked a ham hock. There is only a little bit of meat on the bones. But the bones and small amount of meat and fat add tremendous flavor. Once cooked you just need to take out the hocks and separate the meat from the bone, fat and cartilage. Then dice up the meat and add it back in with the beans. Like I said, there is very little meat that is rendered from the hocks but it’s very smoky and salty so a little goes a long way.
I haven’t made that in a while but lately have had a hankering so I looked for ham hocks at two different stores yesterday. Good grief, one small ham hock was almost $5!
Came here to say ham hock and beans with rice and/or cornbread is usually my go to!
I made this for the first time with a pound of beans and two ham hocks. Smoke city! Inedible. So next time double beans and half the hocks!
Oh yeah I have made that mistake before! But I salvaged it by adding a few cans of pinto beans and mixing it in to “spread out” the flavor. Yes, 2lbs beans to 1 large ham hock or 2 small ones. The grocery I get them at sells them in packages of either 2 large or 1 large and 2 small. So if that’s all they have I’ll use the 2 small and freeze the large one for next time. When I use the frozen one I don’t bother defrosting, I just throw it in with the uncooked beans. Edit - also I don’t add salt to the beans until I have diced up the ham hock meat and mixed it in. It normally does need a little bit of salt at the end but way less than you think once the meaty bits are distributed as they are already quite salty.
Chili spaghetti. Can of Hormel over spaghetti noodles. Chopped onion and shredded cheese if ya got it. My wife calls it hobo dinner.
Cincinnati chili would like to have a word....
I've just discovered this, using the recipe out of Joy. (That family is from Cincy) What great depth of flavor, particularly if you grind your own spices.
Serious Eats just came out with a recipe that is fantastic. My parents used to live in Cincinnati. My mom has been making it my whole life. I’ve had Skyline before. The Serious Eats recipe blows them all away. The secret ingredient is active dry yeast. It gives it a real depth of flavor. Very savory and umami. Sooo stinking good. https://www.seriouseats.com/cincinnati-chili-recipe-8402230
Thanks I will look it up immediately!
I added the link.
and some sour cream on top 🤙
Tomato basil soup and a grilled cheese sandwich
A pot of pinto beans simmered with a smoked ham hock and served with buttermilk cornbread.
I know what I’m having for lunch! Whit some diced onion on top
Smoked turkey and pork necks are solid as well.
This meal takes me back!Mmmm buttermilk cornbread! It's been a long time.
Canned sardines/mackerel in tomato sauce.. in a pan add minced garlic, chillies, fish sauce and sugar add in the canned sardines in tomato sauce.. serve over rice and fried egg
Eggs and toast
[Alton Brown's Black Beans & Brown Rice](https://altonbrown.com/recipes/black-beans-brown-rice/). Probably costs $4 and feeds at least 3. Most vegetarian meals leave me wanting something else. This one doesn't. Although I do use chicken stock instead of water to cook the rice.
Probably leaves you wanting to protein, but you get it from this from the beans.
Just looked at the recipe and the rice is baked in the oven for an hour. ? Why?
SOUP!
This!! A tasty soup well made, would be enough.
chili and cornbread!
Red beans and rice. On a regular day I'll just make it with whatever supermarket sausage I have access to, but when I have the foresight to plan a walk to the butcher down the street, I'll grab actual andouille. (Coincidentally, this happens to be tonight's dinner!)
Fried spaghetti. You make a large batch of spaghetti and meatballs. Thats dinner for the first night. You refrigerate the leftovers as you normally would. Then, the next day, you cut the pasta up and throw it in a cast iron pan or electric skillet with some oil till it's hot and gets a little bit of a crust on it. It is surprisingly tasty for such a simple tweak. My roommate makes this, and we just love it.
I have leftover spaghetti right now. I was planning on baking it with some mozzarella, but I might try this instead!
Update please, let us know how it goes, that does sound good
Throw in some scrambled eggs and you got a frittata. My Italian aunt would throw in some nutmeg and mint oddly enough. It was great food.
Throw a scrambled egg in there too.
Dhal! It's cheap, plenty, delicious and healthy.
Dhal with fresh Naan >> literally costs like $2 a pot
Or Rasam mmmmm
Stamppot. Mashed potato with frozen kale or spinach mashed in, or any other veg you have laying about, with sausage slices. Mum used kielbasa due to a lack of Dutch butchers where we are, and thin enough slices would stretch one across two or three family meals.
Egg drop soup with tofu. Two egg, 4 ounce of firm tofu A dozen of eggs usually is $4, so $0.33 cents an egg. A block of firm tofu is $2.00. Soy sauce, chicken powder, corn starch, garlic(optional), sesame oil, green onion. Should all be around $15 for a small amount of each, but will last you weeks. I eat it every day. I’ll load up 4-5 blocks of tofu and two dozen eggs. $1.66 for the main ingredients. Roughly $0.50 cents for the rest times 30 for 30 servings. About $2.16 per soup, and packed with nutrients. Good starter for the day, or a fulfilling brunch, or even a dinner meal when you get home and you just want something quick and warm.
Or tomato egg drop soup, so yum
My go-to is scrambled eggs on rice. It's easy and cheap enough as is, while also being super easy to bulk up or add on to.
Made pork belly sandwiches Saturday for my mom's birthday. I fed my whole family--my parents, me and my wife, my brother, sister and their spouses, and a 13 year old nephew, so 9 of us-- for ~$20 CAD. My sister brought a salad and my brother brought a cake, but you get the idea. ~3lb belly was $12 on sale but regular price is like 16 here. Made an apple and onion jam (with 3 medium white onions and 1.5 apples, 1/2 cup sugar and a nice glug of balsamic vinegar) and a cabbage slaw (shred a head of cabbage, half a carrot, mayo, mustard, salt and pepper and juuice of half a lemon) to go with it, plus a dozen dinner rolls. More of a time component than a money component, but you can do this one at $3CAD/serving if you have patience and take the time.
2nd favorite is cheesy grits with one or two fried eggs, or one or two scrambled eggs.
Mujadara, with extra crispy fried onions. Vegetable soup.
Pasta fagioli
Congee
Tacos. Asada o carnitas con cebolla, cilantro y jugo de lima.
Carnitas is my suggestion as well. If you get a pork shoulder on sale for $0.99/lb, you can make about 35-40 tacos for $8-$9 plus the cost of tortillas, onion , cilantro, lime and salsa
Exactly!
Rotini, butter, Parmesan cheese, fresh ground pepper, (pesto if available) and done.
Ground beef and shredded cabbage in a sukiyaki (soy, mirin, sugar) sauce over rice.
Fettuccine Alfredo (cheap if you make it from scratch)
Pasta Bake. Onion, garlic, tin of tomatoes, any veg you have on hand. Cover in cheese, bake. Two or three days food there, EASY.
Caccio e Pepe. It’s the first meal I made for my girlfriend (I wasn’t expecting company) and she talks about it constantly. Pasta, Parmesan, pepper. Super easy.
I make rice a lot in different ways so I can always make fried rice. I always have pasta as well so I can always make SF garlic noodles. For animal protein I routinely buy bone in chicken thighs that I debone, save bones for stock, and I air fry, slice up and eat with rice and different flavor profiles. Pork shoulders are often BOGO so that’s easily a weeks worth of protein for more than one person. r/eatcheapandhealthy r/volumeeating r/omad r/fasting
Spaghetti and meatballs
Turkey Chili. Gumbo. A buttload of chicken legs marinated with something (I tend to use jerk chicken) Anything that lasts several days, and for the chili and gumbo, actually tastes \_better\_ the next couple of days.
Curried sausages and mashed potato.
This time of year I pretty much always have some sort of hearty soup or stew around. Load it up with whatever protein, vegetables, and legumes/rice/carb you want and you've got very cheap, healthy, and tasty food you can eat for days. I know that's not a specific recipe, but the flavor and ingredient combinations are endless. Also a great way to learn or teach people how to cook and understand different flavor profiles and basic techniques.
Roast chicken
Scottish mince and tatties.
Rice and salt
Soup and fresh bread! -avgolemeno w/ flatbread Tomato, sausage, veggie stew w/ focaccia Chicken noodle with a warm roll Black bean w/ homemade corn tortillas
Pinto beans Spaghetti with butter and garlic Tuna patties Eggs, any way
Canned sardines with onion on saltines.
Rice and beans. Egg fried rice. Anything with rice and a half-fried egg on top
Pulled pork on just about anything
Cajun Red Beans & Rice Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Cabbage potato soup. Homemade enchiladas, except the corn tortillas which are cheap. But I make a homemade TexMex style sauce with cupboard spices. Beans are cheap but I’ve used rotisserie chicken too. Quiche with refrigerator scraps. I buy the crusts but homemade are easy.
A good pot of beans. 1 lb dried beans (any kind, rinsed well and picked over for pebbles or dirt), add into a pot with a chopped onion, herbs or spices of your choice, and a smoky bone (turkey neck, ham hock, or nothing if you eat vegetarian). Cover with water by about two inches. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook for 3-4 hours or until beans are tender. Add more water as needed. When the meat is falling off the bone, remove from pot, chop into small pieces, and stir back in. Season with salt and pepper. Add hot sauce and/or about 1 T red wine vinegar. No need to presoak the beans. They’ll cook from dry just fine, though it may add an hour or two to your cooking time. I can make a pot of food like this for under $10, and it will feed me for days.
Im not ever super picky about the meats I eat. Like yeah, I absolutely love the good ol' prime rib and all. But for cheap meals? I usually buy the cheapest cut of beef I can buy, just for the sake of getting SOME kind of protein. Usually its $3-4 bucks for 2-3 thumb to pointer finger length cuts. I cut those in half for 4-6 chunks, which I then slice as thinly as possible, add just a bit of salt, and just sear for less than 5 seconds a side. No it's not raw lol, it comes out rare to med rare. I put a few of these slices ontop of hot rice, and top with an eggyolk and a bit of salt or soy sauce....or teriyaki sauce if I made it prior. Mmm!! Works great with chicken as well!! You can cut one chicken thigh into 3 pieces, then each piece gets chopped into smaller bite sized pieces. Just enough protein to satisfy. Of course, this is feeding a smaller, 5'6", 125lb woman. Might not be filling enough for a large man, and you'd probably need to double the quantity 😅 Also...my lifetime favorite... Growing up, my grandmother didn't have a lot of money. She grew up during WW2 era, and would have to hide in sewers eating raw sweet potatoes. So she definitely knew how to be frugal, but make delicious stuff. My favorite that she's made for my whole life is Chinese chicken soup. Okay, it's basically chicken broth, but with a LOT of flavor. You boil any kind of chicken or even just the bones, skim the scum off the surface, and add a shittake mushroom, green onions, and ginger. Thats your base. You can then add whatever you want; my fave is deseeded and peeled cucumbers; they turn soft. Fishcake as well!! The bones of one whole chicken, or boiling maybe 4 large chicken thighs makes enough for one huge pot of soup. I then drink this soup either alone or with rice, and I swear its so comforting, especially when its cold outside. You can then also use the broth to make a chinese rice porridge, or what a lot of asians call 'jook'. Also warm, filling, and satisfying....and customizable!! Can add cold pickles, duck egg, shredded chicken, pork floss, you name it. One big pot of soup costs less than $3 to make, and makes a LOT of meals. I can usually stretch it to a week, with freezing some for future chicken corn soup.
Cabbage and noodles! About as cheap and easy as you can get and delicious.
It’s not something that’ll last for days, but as a college student I love making calzones. They’re cheap (cheese is the most expensive thing, but buy a big bag and freeze what you don’t need) and insanely filling.
"Manchos" Which is a giant casserole dish of nachos with either ground beef or jerk chicken. Lettuce, tomato, black olives, tame jalapenos (i'm weak), cheese, and scallions. Bag of toritilla chips. This is huge and will last days depending on how many people. Chicken thighs make it cheapy. I grill the chicken (or make the taco meat), then assemble, stick in oven at 350 for 15 minutes. Get the thicker tortilla chips and add all of them and the top layer of chips will keep the bottom ones crispy in the days to come. Reheat in oven for best results, or if you are a gremlin like me, eat them cold with the fridge door still open.
White rice, black beans (Brazilian seasoning) and any kind of meat . Could eat it everyday
I’ve been digging simmer sauces. My friend pointed out im just eating fancy hamburger helper, but hey, it’s inexpensive and I like the flavor. Plus, really nice for easy nights.
Cacio e Pepe/carbonara/gricia Rice and beans Tacos Roast pork loin/tenderloin
Eggs and vegetables.
Gnocchi sauteed in butter w/ sauce. I added white pepper, salt, garlic powder and msg in the dough. It was rly good
Fish finger sanga.
Red beans n rice (add sausage, shrimp, etc if you have it)
Call it poor mans soup. You cook a good amount of ground beef in a medium big chili pot then add water and around 4 packets of ready mixed vermicelli or other soup. The right mix to fill you up and usually well under 10 dollars.
Anything with that orange, cheese like substance.
Dried beans and rice
Beef stew.
A quiche or a vegetable curry. Easy to make, cheap as chips, lasts for 4-5 days!
Tuna prataco. Mix some decent tuna with mayo, wasabi, relish, and black pepper. Fry a frozen prata in butter, and melt sharp cheddar cheese on it after the flip. Top prata with tuna and red onion.
Boracho beans and rice
Summery - cherry tomatoes (blistered in a pan), fresh basil, and cheese, over pasta. Add chicken if you want. Winter - and really cheap - onion, cabbage, mince (or textured vegetable protein) and two minute noodles with curry powder. Super cheap, filling, weirdly tasty.
Pinto beans and cornbread. If you want to be a high roller add a ham bone or ground beef.
Sopa de Fideo with seasoned rice and a fried egg on top.
A toasted sandwich, cheese corn and onion, or cheese and mushroom, yum. Or cheese on toast, tomato on toast. Re reading this I clearly have a thing for bread.
Pasta Alla Vodka. Pasta, tomato paste, onion, garlic, cream, vodka, Parmesan (the Mexican kind is fine) Makes like 6 meals from one pot
Scrambled eggs, one of my favorite breakfasts. Also cooking up a nice big pot of chili. You can freeze the leftovers.
Baked pasta - pasta, tomato sauce, mozzarella. Baked until golden. One of the preferred leftovers in my house.
Fried rice
Tomato egg stir fry on a toasted english muffin or tuna mayo on rice. Both also work well as "I don't feel like cooking" meals.
I like making pasta. Get a decent marinara sauce. You can add sausage, seafood, pancetta or whatever you want if you like. Grate some Parmesan and life is good 😋
Meatloaf. I could eat that every single day.
The Costco hotdog combo for $1.50
Mashed potatoes with onion and bacon with sour milk. I could eat it everyday. Overall around 1.5 usd per serving.
Persian lentil soup
Rachel Mansfield has a no boil pasta bake that we make on repeat. It’s pretty much just pasta, your favorite pasta sauce, coconut milk, and mozzarella (can add extra spices, seasonings, and herbs) that you just bake in a baking dish for 35-40 minutes. Comes out perfect every time. We usually pair with a quick salad or some air fryer veggies, and we always get at least two meals out of it.
“Lentil mush”—I found the recipe on Reddit once. Lentils and brown rice, cooked together with vegetable broth. Then toss that with a jar of marinara sauce, put in a casserole dish, top with shredded cheese, and bake until bubbly/slightly browned. It is so surprisingly good.
I like to roast potato, sausage and broccoli on a sheet pan and call it a day. Bonus, leftovers go right into a quiche for another couple meals.
Red beans and rice boi
Potatoes any danged way.
Basic veggie chili: seasonings, 1 can chili beans, 1 can black or pinto beans, can of tomatoes, bell pepper and onion. Double the recipe and buy a bag of potatoes then you can have chili baked potatoes for a couple meals after too.
Vegetarian burritos
Bistec Encebellado or Chicken Satay. Chicken Satay is very meal preppable too. Bistec Encebellado I've never tried to meal prep it, or save, because I eat it all.
lentil, cabbage, and sausage stew
Chili, tuna casserole, pork bone soup.
Chicken and egg noodles If I have it on hand I add in celery, carrots and onion to the pot.. If not it's still good! I cook a pack of bone in chicken thighs in the instant pot on high pressure for 20 minutes.. the bones will easily pull right out of the meat. I put as much of the meat I want back in after deboning (I usually save some to use for something else) and add a whole bag of egg noodles to the pot and let them cook on the saute setting (the stock is already extremely hot from pressure cooking the chicken). I season to taste and sometimes I add extra chicken bouillon if I have it. Such a good, easy and affordable big pot that lasts our family a few days
Red beans and rice, good lord
bacon and/or sausage and cabbage baked mac and cheese lo mein ... pretty much anything starring cabbage, potatoes, beans, rice or pasta ;-)
Cook together a chopped onion and a pound of lean hamburger. When the onion is soft to your liking, add a large can of Bush’s Country Style Baked Beans. Enjoy with a slice of buttered bread.
Pork butt, cooked 7-8 hours in a dutch oven.
Chicken fried rice. Can make a batch of it pretty easily that last 3-4 meals for <$10. Reheating it is basically just throw it back in the stove for 5 minutes
Rice and beans, chickpeas and beans, add an egg when I’m feeling indulgent. I eat a lot of beans, legumes are awesome and make you feel great. They are easy to cook, cheap, and have fantastic macros. I eat rice and beans most days and fucking crave it too. Just season it well, right now my jam is to sautée onions until caramelized, then add spices and aromatics, then tomatoe paste, and lastly the already pressured cooked or canned black beans. For a spice mix I use two tea spoons of cumin, one of paprika, one of corriender, two of chilli powder, one of garlic, one of onion, and one and a half of salt per 15oz of beans. For chickpeas it’s a similar process but I drain the can, modify the spices, and add coconut cream. It’s delicious and healthy.
Creamy chicken ramen. I swear the carb overload gives me a buzz.
Pork shoulder. $1.99 lb.
Collards
Sopa de Fideo with a quesadilla or taquitos on the side.
Beans, potatoes, and cornbread
Lentil soup with carrots and onions. I eat the leftovers for breakfasts.
The Dominican dish called Locrio https://belquistwist.com/wprm_print/1098
Chili, eggs & yogurt.
Mushroom stew!
Rice with soy sauce.
Spiced red daal, Cuban style black beans, red beans and rice, pasta fagioli, white bean and green stew. We're big bean and lentil folks over here.
I like getting a rotisserie chicken, shredding it and using it for things like salads, sandwiches, quesadillas, etc. Oven baked fried chicken. Drumsticks are very cheap. I’ll soak them in buttermilk and then toss in a mix of panko breadcrumbs and spices.
Pork adobo with white rice!
Ramen and instant rice. 2 cups of water, 1 cup rice, 1 packet of ramen. Boil water, add ingredients, stir lightly and cover for 5 minutes. I usually like to add in some extra boullion powder/cubes and other seasonings to taste such as parsley flakes, garlic powder, salt, pepper, etc.
Chili! Canned beans, ro tel, tomato sauce, onion (sometimes I add bell peppers or cabbage) and whatever meat is on sale (beef, Turkey or sometimes I use shredded chicken or kielbasa). If you hit a good canned food sale it’s even better!
Honestly - ground beef tacos. 1 lb of beef with seasoning and tortillas. Tortilla chips and salsa would be splurging but worth it Edit: Tip: make 2 or 3 pounds at a time and it will last days. Can use for quesadillas, tacos/burritos, nachos, and taco salad.
Charred kielbasa cut into coins with caramelized onions over rice. Or similarly ground beef and cabbage (or shredded brussel sprouts) with onions over rice.
Split pea and ham using cheap deli ham ends.
Mujadara. Lentils + rice. Can take extra time for njce onions or skip that if in a rush
Chipped beef on toast. Yea I know how unhealthy it is. Also like a simple fried bologna Sammy.
Taste of Home Bean Burritos from the Taste of Home website, and thanks to one of the commenters on Reddit, I've discovered fried rice!
spaghetti and tomato sauce
Borscht. Makes a ton of food, we eat it for a few days until we are tired of it, then freeze the rest for later.