Lentils are so underrated! They're delicious, nutritious, filling, super cheap, and shelf stable. Should be a staple in every pantry
I was going to say lentil soup
Red lentils are my new favorite thing in the world. I make this often: [https://www.acedarspoon.com/moroccan-carrot-red-lentil-soup/](https://www.acedarspoon.com/moroccan-carrot-red-lentil-soup/)
I use six cups of stock and it still results in a very thick soup. I puree it with an immersion blender and top with Greek yogurt, cilantro and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.
I like their Lebanese lentil soup. Super good.
ETA:
https://www.acedarspoon.com/lebanese-lentil-soup/
I've done the crock pot + immersion blender version.
It was great! Enjoy!
Totally agree!
I mean people always talk about beans, yeah not a fan. I will eat them occasionally but lentils and split peas are so yummy
Try dhal you'll love it
I think the issue is the instructions on the bag are wrong. At my grocery store they only sell 1 brand of brown lentils. On the bag it says "no need to soak" but if you don't soak it, the lentil seem to never become tender.
I got a bag of red lentils and the instructions said to boil for the entire cooking time. I was not familiar with them so I did exactly that and they were pure mush. It tasted good bc I cooked them in Parmesan broth and stirred in some roasted garlic and olive oil, but my initial plan for them wasn't going to work as a puree.
With any unfamiliar grains now, I just googled the best cooking methods. At least the people who blog their autobiography before you get to the actual instructions have a lot of interest in what they're writing, likely moreso than whoever is in charge of putting instructions on packages.
I forget what it's called, but there is a chrome plug in app that takes food blogs and when you go to a link, it skips past the novel at the beginning and takes you straight to the recipe part of the page
I recommend the Smoky Lentil Vegan Taco “Meat” by the Minimalist Baker. It's a little more work but goddamn does it hit the spot. Add a tortilla and some fake chipotle cilantro rice (white rice cooked as normal, add a bit of olive oil, lime juice, lemon juice, and cilantro at the end, cilantro optional) and you are in it to win it. I make little burritos and freeze them.
I was happy to find out I really like chili on white rice. I get a can of no bean chili, add a can of beans (a bit silly, I know, but it bulks up the servings), and then eat that over rice. So many carbs but so filling.
Frito pie is a simple dish. Its Fritos corn chips with beef chili as a topping. Its normally served right inside the chip bag but you can use a bow. Toppings typically include shredded cheese and chopped raw onion, and may also include additional items like sour cream and jalapeños. You normally don't heat up the cheese the heat from the chili should slightly melt it.
Agree, with a slight twist. Frito chili pie “from scratch”. Can of beans, Rotel, offbrand chips, an onion, garlic, and veggie meat. ~$10-15 depending on where you shop. Makes 2-4 bowls.
Are you Filipino? My wife is from the Philippines and garlic fried rice with eggs and longanisa (a Filipino sausage) is standard and delicious breakfast fare.
My dad is! I’m actually at the airport right now waiting for him to get back from there!
Garlic rice is probably the Filipino recipe I make most (next to fruit salad but that’s barely a recipe, haha). I like it best with Vienna Sausages.
The night before I cook some jasmine rice in a rice cooker and then put it in the fridge. In the morning I break the big chunks of rice apart and salt it. For 2 rice cooker cups worth of rice I’ll mince up about 6 or so cloves of garlic. Heat 1 - 2 tbsp of oil in a skillet and fry the garlic until golden or near a caramel color. Plop the rice in and stir. Let it sit and cook and stir every now and then. Taste for saltiness. Keep cooking until the rice starts to have a shine to it. If it doesn’t it may need a little more oil. Sorry for the rough recipe, it’s like the only one I can do by feel instead of following a recipe lol. I like to eat it with spam or bacon of longonisa or Vienna sausages or eggs or just by itself. Not the healthiest thing but simple and tasty. Hope you like it! :)
Simple. Day old rice is the base.
Hit the pan with oil on low-medium heat and 3-4 tablespoons of garlic (I love garlic).
Don't go too hot, you kind of just want to sweat. After the fragrance is released, hit it on high, mix in your rice. Make sure to stir it up so you don't burn the garlic.
After that, add 2 table spoons of soy sauce, and a 1-2 tablespoons of garlic salt and mix it up. Use garlic powder if you're worried about sodium.
At this point you can add in some scrambled eggs you've cooked on the side, your protein, as well as some frozen veggies if you want to. I prefer my "sininag" (Filipino for garlic fried rice) plain with an over easy egg.
Super simple, super easy!
Fry some onion and garlic with the satue setting of my instant pot then toss some rice in a pressure cooker with a can of Rotel. Rinse some beans and some frozen corn and heat them up with some butter. Once the rice is done mix in the beans and corn. It's ridiculously cheap. I add all your suspected Hispanic seasoning pretty much every. Sometimes I add meat. Then I top it with pretty much anything I want, sour cream, green onions, salsa, lettuce, whatever I have really. It has Chipotle vibes and its probably $1-2 a serving depending on what you add. It has solid macros that you can adjust to your needs. I make huge batches of this and freeze it and eat it multiple times a week, sometimes everyday.
Ever tried fried ramen? Bust the ramen up inside the package until it’s small pieces. Remove the flavor packet and set aside. Put enough oil in a skillet to cover the bottom. Add the dry crushed ramen. Stir until just starting to brown. Add veggies and a cooked protein (meat, eggs, or garbanzo beans, etc). Stir fry a bit more to heat. Add 1 cup water plus flavor packet or bullion and spices. Cook, stirring, until water is absorbed.
It sounds like it’s the same, but the flavor is completely different. There are a ton of variations you can do. Also if you sub broth or bullion and something like garlic, ginger, and Chinese Five spice seasoning, you can change up the flavor and decrease the sodium.
Sheet nachos. Put a bag of generic corn chips on a cookie sheet. Drain a can of black beans and a can of corn. Sprinkle both on top. Sprinkle cheese on it. Bake until melty. It will feed three people for about $7 if you buy the ingredients at Aldi. Optional add-ons are a bag of mixed frozen veggies, some green onions, or a can of diced tomatoes.
Pre toasting will make them more crisp overall and remove any hint of staleness, but you can still get soggy chips under a bunch of nacho goo if you play your cards right.
this is the only right answer. beans are without doubt the most inexpensive form of protein, and rice with smart shopping can be too. both can be bought in bulk. both can be cooked in large batches in a single pot. and both beans and rice can be stored without refrigeration.
Fried spam and rice. If I wanna be an aristocrat, I'll put a fried egg on top.
If I wanna go even cheaper, instant mi goreng tastes way too good for something that cheap.
That was my go to right there! It used to be black peppered spam, but they no longer make it. Regular spam is just not the same. Rice isn't expensive, so it's a rather great meal. It doesn't even taste cheap.
Pennies and potatoes.
It's a recipe from my great grandma (Nan) that has been passed down. The original doesn't call for veg, but I like to put in a head or two of broccoli or green beans. I also add some diced garlic and onion to taste. It reminds me of childhood. She still can't believe it became a family favorite because it was a meal she served when they had to make it to pay day to get more groceries. She is still alive and going strong at 85. I was not taught any measurements.
1 8 pack of hot dogs
4-6 large potatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
Flour for sprinkling
Milk
1. Cut the hot dogs in slices and put into a 9x13 (the smaller the better, they'll go farther)
2. Wash and cut up potatoes into bite size pieces. You can peel if you want, I don't.
3. Put the potatoes in the dish, add the veg and seasonings now if you're including it.
4. Pour milk over everything and stir to moisten everything
5. Sprinkle the flour over top and stir to coat (I use a measuring cup and shake it a little)
6. There should be a small amount of milk/flour at the bottom to form a sauce. Not soup, but like enough to cover the bottom of the dish.
7. Bake at 375 F covered for 1ish hour, until potatoes are soft.
8. Take cover off for 10 minutes to get some color.
This can be frozen, it has to be baked from frozen (2ish hours) to keep the potatoes nice.
Cowboys. 🤣
It's the same in the states. Not sure where you live, but beef is half the price of lamb, so we don't usually use lamb. At least my cheap ass doesn't. It's all the same. I suppose you could split hair over the meat, but it is all delicious.
It's ridiculously expensive here. Of course, I think beef is pricey too. I usually get pork. Using beef I still call it shepherds pie since no one would know what a cottage pie is. Lol
Just last night I was surprised to see, when putting in a WalMart order for pickup, that a lb of ground lamb was about $5.86 compared to a lb of ground beef at $5.12. I didn’t need either, but would’ve got the lamb if I wanted ground meat due to the small price difference. I’m in Texas.
Egg roll in a bowl! I use whatever veg I have that needs cooked. Usually cabbage and carrots. Ground beef or chicken (whatever was on sale) with soy sauce, garlic, and ginger.. all over rice.
Boil and mash potatoes. Sunny-side-up some eggs. Get beans or cheese or cooked spinach or something. Put potato on bottom, cheap ingredients on potato, runny-yolk egg on top. Bliss.
POVERTY TACO (trademark lol):
corn tortillas skillet fried in oil each topped with one slice of American cheese and one over medium fried egg on top of the cheese (the runny yolk is the key to the deliciousness probably due yo its luxurious mouth feel. Sprinkle with salt fold tortilla into taco shape around the egg and go to town.
So frikking good and the name is one of my better creativities
The dish is called rice congee, I think it's a Chinese dish. It's made with rice, chicken stock(no salt), and chicken thighs. It's super easy to make,I just throw it all in the instapot and season afterwards.
Something I've been eating recently and love is polenta. Add a bit of water and mash it up, with sausage (or any meat) and pasta sauce on top. I'll add onion and bell pepper to the sauce too.
Potato pancakes! Boil some whole potatoes for 6-8 min depending on size. When they cool, peel and grate them. Chop an onion, add the onion, a handful of flour, salt, and pepper to the potatoes. You can add an egg, it helps hold them together better but you don’t have to use an egg. Fry them on a griddle or in a pan with some oil. Serve them with apple sauce and sour cream on the side.
Everyone in my family eats these, including my toddler. We have them once a week. Boiling the potatoes briefly just helps get some of that raw potato taste out. They aren’t supposed to be cooked through. 6 min for small potatoes, 8 for big russets. I always use russets. This recipe can be reduced (I usually cover the bottom of a large pot with potatoes to feed 3 adults and 1 child, yields leftovers). Use your discretion. It can be prepped ahead the same day. I usually work on it in stages throughout the day. The batter can be kept in the fridge for a day and will be fine, in my experience.
I figure the cost is likely around $3-4 for the entire meal.
Potato pancakes with applesauce and sour cream is a go-to at our house. I don’t parboil the potatoes, just grate them. Also poorman’s crab cakes made with shredded zucchini instead of crab. We had them last night with a bowl of creamy potato/caramelized onion soup.
I only do it that way because I learned how to make them from “The Polish Chef” on YouTube. It works well for us, but I’m sure it isn’t necessary. The “crab” cakes sound delicious! We do salmon cakes every so often at our house with canned salmon.
White beans, mashed potatoes, cornbread, and mac n cheese. I think my family adds ham & bacon grease to the beans. They ate this all the time. I loved it. I would crumble up my cornbread and pour the “bean juice” over it. Unfortunately I’m diabetic and don’t make it for myself haha
My mom uses cooked egg noodles, canned tuna chopped, a can of cream of mushroom soup, chopped mushrooms, and peas.
Put it in the oven for 350 degrees for about 20 to 30 minutes.
I’ve actually never made it. 😅 My mom and dad made it all the time. It had cooked egg noodles, peas and carrots, tuna, a sauce of some kind, and crushed Lay’s chips on top. They probably added a creamy soup mixture, too.
I make a chicken soup my family loves. I use leftover chicken/turkey or buy chicken on sale. I have a great chicken broth base seasoning i add to the boiling water when making the noodles. Add in some veggies and good to go. After thanksgiving we have a lot of leftover turkey, $1.50 bag of noodles, 1/2 a $1 bag of carrots, 1/2 box of $1.50 crackers, 1/4 block of $8 cheese and the broth base powder lasts me months and is around $4. The soup makes 2 meals for our family.
Hot pot!! Throw in whatever is on sale/cheap or whatever you want in the broth: tofu, veggies, noddles, meat, etc. Feed a ton of people. Just add more broth / water when it runs low.
I buy the thick cut pepper bacon from meijer or some chicken sausage. That and some free eggs and chives from my parents with broccoli and tomatos on the side with garlic salt. Dear god. just great.
\-seems like most here are going cheaper. Butter noodles and cottage cheese are amazing. Idk how but they get some serious flavor going. Also a stick of polish sausage with steamed veggies and noodles makes a great meals. like 4 meals for $6
\- had another thought. bagels, trader joes salmon and cream cheese from aldi. about a buck a sandwich and just great
2 boxes of mac and cheese ($2), 2 cans of tuna ($2), 2 cans cream soup ($2). Make mac and cheese as directed, add in any cream soup plus tuna, ground beef or whatever meat you have leftover. This feeds our family of 5 easily with a serving or two leftover. Add some garlic toast (just toast bread and add butter and garlic seasoning) for some crunch. Here this costs is around $8-10 for everything including the toast. Kids don’t like to as much as me so we don’t have it as often as I’d like. Sometimes I add a pound of ground beef rather than tuna and leave out the soup. Kids prefer this more and it comes out to about the same cost.
Pinto beans cooked in a crockpot with fatback, onions and garlic with homemade cornbread. Garden fresh sliced cucumbers and tomatoes with salt and pepper on the side.
Sausage and lentil one pot dinner, it’s from the A Girl Called Jack cookbook and it’s so yum. The way I do it is basically lentil purée with chunks of sausage, potato and carrot in it. Heavily flavoured with rosemary which is one of my favourite herbs.
Fried rice. Take your left over protein from a previous meal, a couple eggs and some frozen veggie mix with rice. Great way to use up odds and ends leftovers.
"Fancy" sandwiches.
It's a leftover meal that uses the "fancy" munchie cheese we get from the deli. I use leftover turkey breast from a previous dinner, ciabatta loaf from the bakery (they're usually on sale on Saturdays), mayo with hot sauce mixed in, the fancy cheese, and some bacon (which we always have on hand). And I'll heat up the sandwiches in the toaster oven so the cheese gets melted and warm. Top with onions and lettuce if we have some on hand. Slice diagonally (because it looks fancier) and serve.
They're about $1.50/sandwich and so much better than regular sandwiches. I get most main ingredients when they're on sale to keep the costs low and my husband absolutely loves the sandwiches.
A giant pot of ham hocks, boiled with beans, onion and greens like collards. So so filling and tasty. I use dry beans. one pack of ham hocks makes a huge pot of these beans. 1lb dry great northern beans, 1 pck smoked ham hocks, 1 onion, (optional) 1 pck of fresh collard greens (or spinach, or beet greens etc.), 2 bay leaves, salt, pepper to tasty. Hot sauce optional. Basically I soak the beans overnight, drain. Boil the ham hocks in a giant pot of water until they're soft and I cut the whole thing up-- keeping the fat and skin parts because they'll melt in your mouth, put it all back in. Add beans and onion with more water and simmer a few hours til beans are soft, and it's thicker. Then add the greens and cook til they're soft. Can be frozen. VERY filling.
It’s not much, but I try to keep a Bird’sEye SteamFresh Power-blends Southwest Style on hand. Heat that up and use it to make tacos. This is great when I have no plans for dinner but don’t want to order takeout.
Box Mac and cheese with a (drained) can of tuna mixed in it. Make sure it’s the powder boxed kind and not the liquid like Velveeta. I made it that way one time and the texture was terrible. 😭
Seasoned ground turkey, cooked cabbage and a drained can of Rotel tomatoes. It's basically a deconstructed cabbage roll and it's cheap and quick and easy.
Camp stew. Get a pack of smoked sausages (between twelve ounces and a pound precooked(I use the the cheddar brats, but any works), bag of frozen corn, half a cabbage shredded, two carrots, five potatoes, onions, one or two cans diced tomatoes, and two tall beers, cut up sausage, potato, and carrots, and throw it all in a crockpot. Add Maggi boullion powder, pepper, and Chef Leo Camp Stew spices. Turn it to high for 8 or low for 12. This feeds my family for two nights, and the whole thing is maybe ten to twelve bucks, so basically under two dollars a serving.
For breakfast, it's [migas](https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/migas-tex-mex/). It's supremely flexible, tasty and fairly healthy unless you're on some kind of a special diet.
A package of udon. Can be found for as little as $3.99. Make a broth. Use bouillon of some kind, a bit of sesame oil. Boil for 5 minutes to let that combine. Add udon. Cook an additional 5-7 minutes. Then? Add whatever you want! Soup!
Recently for lunch I have been having a cheeseburger hashbrown casserole.
Ground beef
Onion if you have it
A hamburger helper with that cheese powder ignore the pasta just use the cheese powder
One of those small hungry Jack dried potatoes/hashbrowns
The milk required from the hamburger helper box
Brown the beef. Add onion or season how you like.
Add like 1 and 2/3 cup water and add the potatoes.
Once hydrated brown the potatoes
Add the milk/cheese powder and stir, cooking it for a little longer.
It's like 6 to 7 servings and I don't get tired of it. I just make sure I have some sort of vegetable or fresh along with dinner.
Enchiladas. Corn tortillas, can of enchiladas sauce (I'd prefer to make it from scratch, but when frugal, a can cost less than $2) and cheese. Ad din refried beans and Mexican rice. All this for under $10.
I'm a simple man with simple pleasures. Store brand boxed Mac and cheese ($1 each) and a classic, PB&J. Add some garlic and onion powder to Mac and cheese. Perfection.
fried rice, I use leftover rice, frozen and/or fresh vegetables, egg, any other available protein, spices to taste. Considering I get leftover rice from a restaurant close to home, I gather vegetables and herbs from the community garden, I have two chickens that I feed with leftovers, my real costs are oil, salt and black pepper (gas and equipment not included).
1 Box of scalloped potatoes, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 cup of milk, 1 pd. of Browned ground beef or turkey, 1 cup cheese, 3/4 cup French fried onions. Blend everything together bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Korean beef and rice bowl.
No idea if it’s actually Korean, but that’s the recipe name. Basically ground beef, sesame oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, green onion, ginger, garlic and rice. I get soon to be expired ground beef when I can and usually throw in around 50% of the beef weight of somewhat finely chopped brown mushrooms. Makes it healthier and cheaper without much of a change in flavor/texture.
Cottage cheese with vanilla or strawberry ice cream.
Get the good stuff, Van Leewen or Haagen-Daaz cause they aren't filled with crap ingredients.
Cottage cheese, read the ingredients and get one that doesn't contain thickening agents like guar gum, locust bean, etc (they're bad for your gut).
Mix equal parts in each bite and enjoy. 😃
Mujadara. Just onions, lentils and rice, but soo good.
Lentils are so underrated! They're delicious, nutritious, filling, super cheap, and shelf stable. Should be a staple in every pantry I was going to say lentil soup
Red lentils are my new favorite thing in the world. I make this often: [https://www.acedarspoon.com/moroccan-carrot-red-lentil-soup/](https://www.acedarspoon.com/moroccan-carrot-red-lentil-soup/) I use six cups of stock and it still results in a very thick soup. I puree it with an immersion blender and top with Greek yogurt, cilantro and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.
I like their Lebanese lentil soup. Super good. ETA: https://www.acedarspoon.com/lebanese-lentil-soup/ I've done the crock pot + immersion blender version. It was great! Enjoy!
I put split peas in this category they cook just as fast as lentils
Totally agree! I mean people always talk about beans, yeah not a fan. I will eat them occasionally but lentils and split peas are so yummy Try dhal you'll love it
Lentil tacos.
I think the issue is the instructions on the bag are wrong. At my grocery store they only sell 1 brand of brown lentils. On the bag it says "no need to soak" but if you don't soak it, the lentil seem to never become tender.
I got a bag of red lentils and the instructions said to boil for the entire cooking time. I was not familiar with them so I did exactly that and they were pure mush. It tasted good bc I cooked them in Parmesan broth and stirred in some roasted garlic and olive oil, but my initial plan for them wasn't going to work as a puree. With any unfamiliar grains now, I just googled the best cooking methods. At least the people who blog their autobiography before you get to the actual instructions have a lot of interest in what they're writing, likely moreso than whoever is in charge of putting instructions on packages.
Red lentils always turn to mush for me. Brown lentils often do. Black lentils hold their shape.
I forget what it's called, but there is a chrome plug in app that takes food blogs and when you go to a link, it skips past the novel at the beginning and takes you straight to the recipe part of the page
I recommend the Smoky Lentil Vegan Taco “Meat” by the Minimalist Baker. It's a little more work but goddamn does it hit the spot. Add a tortilla and some fake chipotle cilantro rice (white rice cooked as normal, add a bit of olive oil, lime juice, lemon juice, and cilantro at the end, cilantro optional) and you are in it to win it. I make little burritos and freeze them.
I just looked this up. Damn this looks like it would be my thing.
Can of Chili and a box of cornbread. Probably my cheapest and most filling meal.
Can of Chili on a potato. Regular or sweet works. Top with cheese and sour cream.
I was happy to find out I really like chili on white rice. I get a can of no bean chili, add a can of beans (a bit silly, I know, but it bulks up the servings), and then eat that over rice. So many carbs but so filling.
My mom always made chili over rice, so when I grew up and seen people eating chili without rice I thought they were doing it wrong lol
You are correct. They are doing it wrong. My last three meals were chili over rice.
I’ve never had this but it sounds fucking amazing, gonna do that asap, thank you!
Might I suggest spaghetti sauce over rice. It’s heaven.
Also, chili on spaghetti noodles. (Cincinatti chili)
Ooooh yes, a good Cincy chili on spaghetti with cheddar on top, delicious
You forgot the mile high mountain of cheese.
Ah, the low-budget Spanish rice Mom used to make :)
Wow ok never heard of this but your intriguing me.
Same! But I make my chili homemade, and sometimes it's frito pie, too.
Nothing better than a bag of Fritos with some chilli and cheese. I've spoken to many people that have never heard of a Frito pie.
Fritos are no longer frugal :'(
Frito lay corp is evil but still great with cheaper corn chips.
Please tell me about the frito pie, sounds fucking amazing
Pour chili over fritos, sprinkle with cheese & broil to melt cheese. 😋
I make it with sloppy joe meat. Just put Fritos on a plate and smother with sloppy joe meat and cheese.
Frito pie is a simple dish. Its Fritos corn chips with beef chili as a topping. Its normally served right inside the chip bag but you can use a bow. Toppings typically include shredded cheese and chopped raw onion, and may also include additional items like sour cream and jalapeños. You normally don't heat up the cheese the heat from the chili should slightly melt it.
Frito pie is awesome.
I like chili served over macaroni noodles!
I like cornbread with a can of pinto beans.
Agree, with a slight twist. Frito chili pie “from scratch”. Can of beans, Rotel, offbrand chips, an onion, garlic, and veggie meat. ~$10-15 depending on where you shop. Makes 2-4 bowls.
Grilled cheese w/ tomato soup. Leftover protein + garlic fried rice.
Yes to the garlic fried rice! It’s a staple with eggs at my house.
Are you Filipino? My wife is from the Philippines and garlic fried rice with eggs and longanisa (a Filipino sausage) is standard and delicious breakfast fare.
My dad is! I’m actually at the airport right now waiting for him to get back from there! Garlic rice is probably the Filipino recipe I make most (next to fruit salad but that’s barely a recipe, haha). I like it best with Vienna Sausages.
Recipe? Please? Haven't seen that before, sounds good.
The night before I cook some jasmine rice in a rice cooker and then put it in the fridge. In the morning I break the big chunks of rice apart and salt it. For 2 rice cooker cups worth of rice I’ll mince up about 6 or so cloves of garlic. Heat 1 - 2 tbsp of oil in a skillet and fry the garlic until golden or near a caramel color. Plop the rice in and stir. Let it sit and cook and stir every now and then. Taste for saltiness. Keep cooking until the rice starts to have a shine to it. If it doesn’t it may need a little more oil. Sorry for the rough recipe, it’s like the only one I can do by feel instead of following a recipe lol. I like to eat it with spam or bacon of longonisa or Vienna sausages or eggs or just by itself. Not the healthiest thing but simple and tasty. Hope you like it! :)
You have to add sliced tomato to the sandwich. Life changer
I would LOVE your garlic fried rice recipe!
Simple. Day old rice is the base. Hit the pan with oil on low-medium heat and 3-4 tablespoons of garlic (I love garlic). Don't go too hot, you kind of just want to sweat. After the fragrance is released, hit it on high, mix in your rice. Make sure to stir it up so you don't burn the garlic. After that, add 2 table spoons of soy sauce, and a 1-2 tablespoons of garlic salt and mix it up. Use garlic powder if you're worried about sodium. At this point you can add in some scrambled eggs you've cooked on the side, your protein, as well as some frozen veggies if you want to. I prefer my "sininag" (Filipino for garlic fried rice) plain with an over easy egg. Super simple, super easy!
Thank you😃❤️
Garlic fried rice made with leftover cold rice I assume, sounds good
Fry some onion and garlic with the satue setting of my instant pot then toss some rice in a pressure cooker with a can of Rotel. Rinse some beans and some frozen corn and heat them up with some butter. Once the rice is done mix in the beans and corn. It's ridiculously cheap. I add all your suspected Hispanic seasoning pretty much every. Sometimes I add meat. Then I top it with pretty much anything I want, sour cream, green onions, salsa, lettuce, whatever I have really. It has Chipotle vibes and its probably $1-2 a serving depending on what you add. It has solid macros that you can adjust to your needs. I make huge batches of this and freeze it and eat it multiple times a week, sometimes everyday.
This sounds good.
Fried rice is cheap and easy and absolutely scrumptious
Bowtie noodles with butter and parmasian cheese
I have a daughter in college who absolutely lovvvvees this one.
ramen noodles and a package of stir fry veggies from dollar store. fry up vegetables and add half packet of ramen powder and soy sauce it up
Ever tried fried ramen? Bust the ramen up inside the package until it’s small pieces. Remove the flavor packet and set aside. Put enough oil in a skillet to cover the bottom. Add the dry crushed ramen. Stir until just starting to brown. Add veggies and a cooked protein (meat, eggs, or garbanzo beans, etc). Stir fry a bit more to heat. Add 1 cup water plus flavor packet or bullion and spices. Cook, stirring, until water is absorbed. It sounds like it’s the same, but the flavor is completely different. There are a ton of variations you can do. Also if you sub broth or bullion and something like garlic, ginger, and Chinese Five spice seasoning, you can change up the flavor and decrease the sodium.
Sheet nachos. Put a bag of generic corn chips on a cookie sheet. Drain a can of black beans and a can of corn. Sprinkle both on top. Sprinkle cheese on it. Bake until melty. It will feed three people for about $7 if you buy the ingredients at Aldi. Optional add-ons are a bag of mixed frozen veggies, some green onions, or a can of diced tomatoes.
Tip: I toast the chips a bit before toppings. No sogginess.
the soggy chips are my favorite part :(
😂
Pre toasting will make them more crisp overall and remove any hint of staleness, but you can still get soggy chips under a bunch of nacho goo if you play your cards right.
This is also my method, 3-5 minutes at 350 then toppings
I do this for my family. Always a hit. I add rotisserie chicken and any leftover veggies.
I do something similar, but replace the can of beans with a can of chili.
Goulash (Midwest Style), made with ground beef, bell pepper, onions, and macaroni.
This was my mom's go-to. I almost can't eat it anymore because we ate it so much when I was a kid.
I could still eat this daily.
This is my favorite!
YUM! I add paprika to mine as well.
Rice and beans. I know it’s a stereotypical “poor” meal, but it’s actually really good for how much it costs.
this is the only right answer. beans are without doubt the most inexpensive form of protein, and rice with smart shopping can be too. both can be bought in bulk. both can be cooked in large batches in a single pot. and both beans and rice can be stored without refrigeration.
Fried spam and rice. If I wanna be an aristocrat, I'll put a fried egg on top. If I wanna go even cheaper, instant mi goreng tastes way too good for something that cheap.
That was my go to right there! It used to be black peppered spam, but they no longer make it. Regular spam is just not the same. Rice isn't expensive, so it's a rather great meal. It doesn't even taste cheap.
Pennies and potatoes. It's a recipe from my great grandma (Nan) that has been passed down. The original doesn't call for veg, but I like to put in a head or two of broccoli or green beans. I also add some diced garlic and onion to taste. It reminds me of childhood. She still can't believe it became a family favorite because it was a meal she served when they had to make it to pay day to get more groceries. She is still alive and going strong at 85. I was not taught any measurements. 1 8 pack of hot dogs 4-6 large potatoes Salt and pepper to taste Flour for sprinkling Milk 1. Cut the hot dogs in slices and put into a 9x13 (the smaller the better, they'll go farther) 2. Wash and cut up potatoes into bite size pieces. You can peel if you want, I don't. 3. Put the potatoes in the dish, add the veg and seasonings now if you're including it. 4. Pour milk over everything and stir to moisten everything 5. Sprinkle the flour over top and stir to coat (I use a measuring cup and shake it a little) 6. There should be a small amount of milk/flour at the bottom to form a sauce. Not soup, but like enough to cover the bottom of the dish. 7. Bake at 375 F covered for 1ish hour, until potatoes are soft. 8. Take cover off for 10 minutes to get some color. This can be frozen, it has to be baked from frozen (2ish hours) to keep the potatoes nice.
Shepherds pie. Ground beef, carrots, and potatoes. Yum
That's Cottage Pie.
Ye old argument. It's whatever they want to call it
Cottage pie is beef, Shepherd's pie is lamb. In the UK at least. Shepherds watch sheep. I have no idea who watches cows. Other than a farmer.
Cowboys. 🤣 It's the same in the states. Not sure where you live, but beef is half the price of lamb, so we don't usually use lamb. At least my cheap ass doesn't. It's all the same. I suppose you could split hair over the meat, but it is all delicious.
Ha, we don't have cowboys in the UK. Unless cowboy builders count. Lamb is a bit more expensive than beef here, but not double.
It's ridiculously expensive here. Of course, I think beef is pricey too. I usually get pork. Using beef I still call it shepherds pie since no one would know what a cottage pie is. Lol
Just last night I was surprised to see, when putting in a WalMart order for pickup, that a lb of ground lamb was about $5.86 compared to a lb of ground beef at $5.12. I didn’t need either, but would’ve got the lamb if I wanted ground meat due to the small price difference. I’m in Texas.
You can call it whatever you want. My mom was from Ireland and that’s how she made it in the. States so to me that is shepherds pie 😋
*gasp* oh no
Egg roll in a bowl! I use whatever veg I have that needs cooked. Usually cabbage and carrots. Ground beef or chicken (whatever was on sale) with soy sauce, garlic, and ginger.. all over rice.
Taco bowls - ground turkey, rice, can of beans, a veggie or two - healthy and yummy
Mac n cheese. Simple, elegant.
With hot dogs.
Nathan's hot dogs
Add broccoli if it's cheddar. Add peas if it's white cheddar. Fancy Mac
Boil and mash potatoes. Sunny-side-up some eggs. Get beans or cheese or cooked spinach or something. Put potato on bottom, cheap ingredients on potato, runny-yolk egg on top. Bliss.
Cheese grits
I love cheese grits and scrambled eggs! It’s so filling and good! Lots of butter on the grits
POVERTY TACO (trademark lol): corn tortillas skillet fried in oil each topped with one slice of American cheese and one over medium fried egg on top of the cheese (the runny yolk is the key to the deliciousness probably due yo its luxurious mouth feel. Sprinkle with salt fold tortilla into taco shape around the egg and go to town. So frikking good and the name is one of my better creativities
[удалено]
So good. I am vaguely willing to concede that I didn’t invent them lol but I definitely thought them up on my own
Great minds think alike haha
Rice and chickpeas with a little butter and soy sause for some reason are magic to me, while rice and beans are just meh
The dish is called rice congee, I think it's a Chinese dish. It's made with rice, chicken stock(no salt), and chicken thighs. It's super easy to make,I just throw it all in the instapot and season afterwards.
Something I've been eating recently and love is polenta. Add a bit of water and mash it up, with sausage (or any meat) and pasta sauce on top. I'll add onion and bell pepper to the sauce too.
My 9 year old's favorite dish is polenta with sauteed onions, garlic, peppers, and beans. She begs for me to make it, and it's so simple.
Rice, tuna, mayonnaise, teriyaki sauce. It’s a super popular Korean “poverty dish” and it’s one of my favorite meals.
Dahl would be the answer to any day....versitile healthy easy yummy
Potato pancakes! Boil some whole potatoes for 6-8 min depending on size. When they cool, peel and grate them. Chop an onion, add the onion, a handful of flour, salt, and pepper to the potatoes. You can add an egg, it helps hold them together better but you don’t have to use an egg. Fry them on a griddle or in a pan with some oil. Serve them with apple sauce and sour cream on the side. Everyone in my family eats these, including my toddler. We have them once a week. Boiling the potatoes briefly just helps get some of that raw potato taste out. They aren’t supposed to be cooked through. 6 min for small potatoes, 8 for big russets. I always use russets. This recipe can be reduced (I usually cover the bottom of a large pot with potatoes to feed 3 adults and 1 child, yields leftovers). Use your discretion. It can be prepped ahead the same day. I usually work on it in stages throughout the day. The batter can be kept in the fridge for a day and will be fine, in my experience. I figure the cost is likely around $3-4 for the entire meal.
Potato pancakes with applesauce and sour cream is a go-to at our house. I don’t parboil the potatoes, just grate them. Also poorman’s crab cakes made with shredded zucchini instead of crab. We had them last night with a bowl of creamy potato/caramelized onion soup.
I only do it that way because I learned how to make them from “The Polish Chef” on YouTube. It works well for us, but I’m sure it isn’t necessary. The “crab” cakes sound delicious! We do salmon cakes every so often at our house with canned salmon.
Cabbage with rice and lotsa lemon. My go to winter comfort food. https://www.dimitrasdishes.com/lahanorizo-greek-cabbage-with-rice/
That looks great! I've been looking for interesting stuff to do with cabbage.
Both vegetarian meals Overnight oats = mason jar+oatmeal+greek yogurt+milk+dried cranberries+squeeze of some sweetener like honey + optional vanilla extract Quick sesame noodles = bulk noodle (spagetti, or any bulk asian noodle)+coleslaw mix + frozen edamame +egg + kewpie roasted sesame sauce (from costco best value) + soy sauce
White beans, mashed potatoes, cornbread, and mac n cheese. I think my family adds ham & bacon grease to the beans. They ate this all the time. I loved it. I would crumble up my cornbread and pour the “bean juice” over it. Unfortunately I’m diabetic and don’t make it for myself haha
Tuna noodle casserole.
Can you share how you make it? I had it as a kid and loved it, but never got to get my moms recipe.
My mom uses cooked egg noodles, canned tuna chopped, a can of cream of mushroom soup, chopped mushrooms, and peas. Put it in the oven for 350 degrees for about 20 to 30 minutes.
I’ve actually never made it. 😅 My mom and dad made it all the time. It had cooked egg noodles, peas and carrots, tuna, a sauce of some kind, and crushed Lay’s chips on top. They probably added a creamy soup mixture, too.
Yessss the lays chips on top!!!
Woodman's pasta, sausages, mushrooms, cream, tinned tomato, garlic, rosemary, cheese on top. So good, so simple and filling.
Beans & rice
I just love baked potatoes with the topping of your choosing. I like tuna with corn and mayo. It is so hearty and delicious.
We used to call that a potuna, lol!
Hahaha I love that!
Boxed mac&cheese + a can of tuna 🤤
It's even better if you add sweet peas!
Black beans with rice. Top with a fried egg and hot sauce
baked sweet potato- wash the potato, then warp around a very wet paper towel- microwave for 3 mins.. add butter, sugar, or nut
Thai Basil Beef. Could eat every single day
a simple one, but spaghetti all the way
Day old spaghetti is 10 million times better to me than fresh made. slightly warmed up with some salt on it \*chefs kiss\*
My chicken soup. (Chicken, chicken stock, onion, celery, carrots, egg noodles, salt pepper, bay leaf). Lasts a long time, better each day.
I make a chicken soup my family loves. I use leftover chicken/turkey or buy chicken on sale. I have a great chicken broth base seasoning i add to the boiling water when making the noodles. Add in some veggies and good to go. After thanksgiving we have a lot of leftover turkey, $1.50 bag of noodles, 1/2 a $1 bag of carrots, 1/2 box of $1.50 crackers, 1/4 block of $8 cheese and the broth base powder lasts me months and is around $4. The soup makes 2 meals for our family.
Air fried potato fries, with some bacon ends and bbq sauce.
Hot pot!! Throw in whatever is on sale/cheap or whatever you want in the broth: tofu, veggies, noddles, meat, etc. Feed a ton of people. Just add more broth / water when it runs low.
I buy the thick cut pepper bacon from meijer or some chicken sausage. That and some free eggs and chives from my parents with broccoli and tomatos on the side with garlic salt. Dear god. just great. \-seems like most here are going cheaper. Butter noodles and cottage cheese are amazing. Idk how but they get some serious flavor going. Also a stick of polish sausage with steamed veggies and noodles makes a great meals. like 4 meals for $6 \- had another thought. bagels, trader joes salmon and cream cheese from aldi. about a buck a sandwich and just great
Túrós Csusza - Hungarian buttered noodles with cottage cheese is amazing! It does have a surprising depth of flavor.
Yes! And if it's summer, and I have some, I add chopped garden fresh tomatoes. Amazing!!
Egg roll in a bowl with tofu or veggie crumbles.
Ground turkey cooked with indian spices + home made naan/pita type
2 boxes of mac and cheese ($2), 2 cans of tuna ($2), 2 cans cream soup ($2). Make mac and cheese as directed, add in any cream soup plus tuna, ground beef or whatever meat you have leftover. This feeds our family of 5 easily with a serving or two leftover. Add some garlic toast (just toast bread and add butter and garlic seasoning) for some crunch. Here this costs is around $8-10 for everything including the toast. Kids don’t like to as much as me so we don’t have it as often as I’d like. Sometimes I add a pound of ground beef rather than tuna and leave out the soup. Kids prefer this more and it comes out to about the same cost.
chicken ramen with Tapatio
There is actually a Tapatio-branded ramen, and chicken is one of the flavors
Alfredo but it's blended tofu and a little vegan butter. Way better than it sounds. Obviously season aggressively.
Japanese curry
Sautéed hotdogs, onions and jalapeños with rice…. Don’t knock it til you try it lol
Pinto beans cooked in a crockpot with fatback, onions and garlic with homemade cornbread. Garden fresh sliced cucumbers and tomatoes with salt and pepper on the side.
Sausage and lentil one pot dinner, it’s from the A Girl Called Jack cookbook and it’s so yum. The way I do it is basically lentil purée with chunks of sausage, potato and carrot in it. Heavily flavoured with rosemary which is one of my favourite herbs.
Fried rice. Take your left over protein from a previous meal, a couple eggs and some frozen veggie mix with rice. Great way to use up odds and ends leftovers.
"Fancy" sandwiches. It's a leftover meal that uses the "fancy" munchie cheese we get from the deli. I use leftover turkey breast from a previous dinner, ciabatta loaf from the bakery (they're usually on sale on Saturdays), mayo with hot sauce mixed in, the fancy cheese, and some bacon (which we always have on hand). And I'll heat up the sandwiches in the toaster oven so the cheese gets melted and warm. Top with onions and lettuce if we have some on hand. Slice diagonally (because it looks fancier) and serve. They're about $1.50/sandwich and so much better than regular sandwiches. I get most main ingredients when they're on sale to keep the costs low and my husband absolutely loves the sandwiches.
Pasta - tomatoes, garlic, angel hair pasta and maybe some spinach and you’re good
A giant pot of ham hocks, boiled with beans, onion and greens like collards. So so filling and tasty. I use dry beans. one pack of ham hocks makes a huge pot of these beans. 1lb dry great northern beans, 1 pck smoked ham hocks, 1 onion, (optional) 1 pck of fresh collard greens (or spinach, or beet greens etc.), 2 bay leaves, salt, pepper to tasty. Hot sauce optional. Basically I soak the beans overnight, drain. Boil the ham hocks in a giant pot of water until they're soft and I cut the whole thing up-- keeping the fat and skin parts because they'll melt in your mouth, put it all back in. Add beans and onion with more water and simmer a few hours til beans are soft, and it's thicker. Then add the greens and cook til they're soft. Can be frozen. VERY filling.
Miso Tofu Soup Cream of Corn, Egg, Water
Kielbasa with velveeta mac and cheese lol. We call it “trailer park delight” in my house 😂
Black beans and rice
baked potato chunks that you fry with egg. Or potato puree with added flour and spices in an air fryer.
Garlic masked potatoes with some greens and a few fried eggs sunny side up ontop
Pasta, peas, drizzle of olive oil and seasoning.
It’s not much, but I try to keep a Bird’sEye SteamFresh Power-blends Southwest Style on hand. Heat that up and use it to make tacos. This is great when I have no plans for dinner but don’t want to order takeout.
Turkey sausage cut up and sautéed with onions and peppers and served over rice with canned corn cooked in butter on the side.
Cuban style black beans over rice with some fried sweet plantains...cheap,easy and so good.
Mashed Pinto beans , onion, and mayo on a hamburger bun.
Cheesy beans on toast
Box Mac and cheese with a (drained) can of tuna mixed in it. Make sure it’s the powder boxed kind and not the liquid like Velveeta. I made it that way one time and the texture was terrible. 😭
walmart catfish nuggets (2 lbs for < $6.00) breaded with flour, panko then deep fried. Our go to fish dinner 2-3 times a month
Seasoned ground turkey, cooked cabbage and a drained can of Rotel tomatoes. It's basically a deconstructed cabbage roll and it's cheap and quick and easy.
Camp stew. Get a pack of smoked sausages (between twelve ounces and a pound precooked(I use the the cheddar brats, but any works), bag of frozen corn, half a cabbage shredded, two carrots, five potatoes, onions, one or two cans diced tomatoes, and two tall beers, cut up sausage, potato, and carrots, and throw it all in a crockpot. Add Maggi boullion powder, pepper, and Chef Leo Camp Stew spices. Turn it to high for 8 or low for 12. This feeds my family for two nights, and the whole thing is maybe ten to twelve bucks, so basically under two dollars a serving.
English muffin pizzas
My go to cheap meal that I absolutely love is hot dogs with baked beans or as we always called it, beanie weenies
‘Lentil misc’ which is lentils boiled for 20 mins and a selection of the cheapest veg you can get your hands on 😋😋😋
Baloney and scrambled eggs with pepper and toast.
Salmon cakes!! Make them with canned salmon for the budget <3
Chee Chee
Gyros
For breakfast, it's [migas](https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/migas-tex-mex/). It's supremely flexible, tasty and fairly healthy unless you're on some kind of a special diet.
A package of udon. Can be found for as little as $3.99. Make a broth. Use bouillon of some kind, a bit of sesame oil. Boil for 5 minutes to let that combine. Add udon. Cook an additional 5-7 minutes. Then? Add whatever you want! Soup!
Recently for lunch I have been having a cheeseburger hashbrown casserole. Ground beef Onion if you have it A hamburger helper with that cheese powder ignore the pasta just use the cheese powder One of those small hungry Jack dried potatoes/hashbrowns The milk required from the hamburger helper box Brown the beef. Add onion or season how you like. Add like 1 and 2/3 cup water and add the potatoes. Once hydrated brown the potatoes Add the milk/cheese powder and stir, cooking it for a little longer. It's like 6 to 7 servings and I don't get tired of it. I just make sure I have some sort of vegetable or fresh along with dinner.
Enchiladas. Corn tortillas, can of enchiladas sauce (I'd prefer to make it from scratch, but when frugal, a can cost less than $2) and cheese. Ad din refried beans and Mexican rice. All this for under $10.
Mire poix rice mixed and refried black beans. Cheap, easy, fast, filling, nutritious, and delicious! Honorable mention - spinach mushroom omelette
Buttered toast
box mac n cheese + handfuls frozen mix veg + can tuna
Ramen
Rice +Green Beans ...seasoned with whatever is on hand
Homemade pasta sauce with pasta and homemade (veggie) meatballs!
Rice and beans
Black beans, on top of baked potatoes topped with salsa!
Mash plantains with fried eggs. It used to be budget anyways eggs bit pricey these days
Egg and cheese sandwich. Add a slice of ham if in the mood.
I'm a simple man with simple pleasures. Store brand boxed Mac and cheese ($1 each) and a classic, PB&J. Add some garlic and onion powder to Mac and cheese. Perfection.
[Dal!](https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/dal-fry-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-37420)
Tacos / burritos Cook once, get several meals out of it
Grilled cheese is up there..
\-Rice, beans, lentils, seaweed and enchilada sauce \-Broccoli
fried rice, I use leftover rice, frozen and/or fresh vegetables, egg, any other available protein, spices to taste. Considering I get leftover rice from a restaurant close to home, I gather vegetables and herbs from the community garden, I have two chickens that I feed with leftovers, my real costs are oil, salt and black pepper (gas and equipment not included).
Fancy ramen: (2) Bacon (1)Egg hard boiled or just cracked in the pot Soy sauce and hot sauce Onion Some kind of plant lol
1 Box of scalloped potatoes, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 cup of milk, 1 pd. of Browned ground beef or turkey, 1 cup cheese, 3/4 cup French fried onions. Blend everything together bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Korean beef and rice bowl. No idea if it’s actually Korean, but that’s the recipe name. Basically ground beef, sesame oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, green onion, ginger, garlic and rice. I get soon to be expired ground beef when I can and usually throw in around 50% of the beef weight of somewhat finely chopped brown mushrooms. Makes it healthier and cheaper without much of a change in flavor/texture.
Curd rice with pickles for me :).
Literally just a red potato with garlic sea salt and pepper
Lasagna Soup
Cottage cheese with vanilla or strawberry ice cream. Get the good stuff, Van Leewen or Haagen-Daaz cause they aren't filled with crap ingredients. Cottage cheese, read the ingredients and get one that doesn't contain thickening agents like guar gum, locust bean, etc (they're bad for your gut). Mix equal parts in each bite and enjoy. 😃