As the cost of living surged in 2022, the number of Americans facing financial hardship has also jumped. 6 in 10 United States adults (including more than 4 in 10 high-income consumers), live paycheck to paycheck.
Interested in how people get through difficult times, Reddit user GetFreeFromFood made a post on r/EatCheapAndHealthy, asking folks on the platform, "What are your favorite 'end of the month/broke 'til payday' meals?"
"Groceries are scarce [and I'm] waiting on payday," they wrote. "What are you making that's relatively healthy with what you have left? I know what everyone has left differs, just trying to get ideas that may be helpful for more than just my family!"
And the call was answered; thrifty cooks happily shared their budget meals. Continue scrolling to check out the best-sounding ones and don't miss the talk we had with Haley, the person behind the Cheap Recipe Blog for more ideas. You'll find it in between the entries.
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Grilled cheese and tomato soup will always be a favorite of mine.
My absolute cheapest meal is mujadara. Well browned onions, lentils, rice, s&p. It's so much more than it sounds.
"Keeping your fridge, freezer, and pantry stocked with affordable essentials is probably the number one thing you can do to save money on food," bargain hunter Haley, who has been running the Cheap Recipe Blog since 2011, told Bored Panda.
"While every person's list will vary, some of my favorite low-cost staples include frozen fruits and vegetables, oats, eggs, beans and lentils, rice, pasta, ground turkey and ground beef (purchase frozen to save money), and low-cost produce (carrots, celery, bell peppers, bananas, apples, etc)."
Haley said that if you have a well-stocked pantry with various spices, sauces, and cooking oils, these few ingredients can be used to make all sorts of meals.
Google "I have these ingredients".
You'll get a ton of websites that will help you put something together.
I was down to potatoes and flour. And this how I learned about gnocchi! Turned into one of my fav things.
I have just discovered there is a romaine lettuce and pecorino omelette!
Canned tuna mixed with mayo on toast. Served with a pickle spear
Beans! I've been leaning on pintos a lot recently and have come to really appreciate them. Served with a bit of cotija cheese, a garnish of cilantro and it's really good, but you can get much more fancy with them also.
One thing I learned the 'hard way' is to plan for those lean times by adding some pantry staples every time I go shopping to make sure I have enough of those important building blocks available for quick, easy, and inexpensive meals.
A lot of success in filling up plates without spending a ton of money boils down to preparation. "For me, it's all about two things: shopping at the right grocery store and planning my meals out," Haley explained.
"I typically do most of my grocery shopping at ALDI and other discount grocery stores. While it's more convenient to go to the higher-end grocery store just down the road, I make it a point to almost always shop discounts."
"While weekly meal plans work for a lot of people, I find it easier to meal plan about 3 days in advance. In any case, meal planning helps prevent last-minute (and potentially costly) decisions like grabbing prepared food at the grocery store or getting takeout," the foodie highlighted.
I've found baked potatoes to be a great cheap, easy, filling, tasty meal. You can dress them up a ton of different ways with whatever you have around, but honestly some days I just throw one in the microwave with a little of whatever vegetable I have (a handful of frozen broccoli from a giant bag I got for cheap, usually) and it's good to go.
Also, as others have said, seek out your local food bank! There is absolutely zero shame in getting help, the whole point is to keep you and yours fed without judgment. If you don't know of one, try calling 211... in most places in the US, that'll connect you with the United Way, and they can hook you up with a whole variety of local resources.
There are only a few foods that cook well in a microwave and baked potatoes are definitely one. And it takes a fraction of time and energy bills as doing them in the oven. If you're sceptical, try it!
Peanut noodles! Ingredients are peanut butter, soy sauce, and pasta, plus some things to jazz it up if you've got them.
For the sauce, mix roughly equal parts of PB, soy sauce, and water, adjusting the ratio to taste. If I have them, I add red pepper flakes, garlic powder and ground ginger, a few drops of sesame oil, and sesame seeds, but it's also decent without. You just put it on cooked pasta and voila! I like it with steamed frozen broccoli. In an ideal world, you'd have spaghetti, fettucine, or linguine for the pasta, but any shape is fine.
My fave one is egg and chips. It's fried eggs and English style chips but you can do fries it doesn't matter. My English mom used to make it growing up so it's super comforting and it's delicious and cheap
Reddit user GetFreeFromFood, the person who started this discussion, said the response to their post has been amazing. "I'm so glad I could compile a list that helps more people too," they told Bored Panda.
"I learned to cook cheap from my grandmother and it's stuck ever since. When I feel the urge to eat out, I look at this list and it helps me realize I can make something similar at home for a lot cheaper, and still reach my goals to eat healthier."
Haley of the Cheap Recipe Blog added that there are a couple of techniques and tools that are very useful in a budget-friendly home kitchen.
"I save my vegetable scraps (ends of carrots, outer onion peels, broccoli stalks, etc.) in a freezer bag. When I get enough, I use those scraps to make vegetable broth which can then be used to make soups, stews, and other dishes. I simmer the vegetable scraps with water and spices on the stovetop for up to an hour to make a flavorful broth," she explained.
"Slow cookers are also great for making affordable and healthy meals. Specifically, I routinely do freezer clean-outs, combining different meats, vegetables, and sauces to make slow cooker meals. For example, I had some frozen chicken thighs, bell peppers, and black beans to use up. I combined these with some prepared salsa and spices. After the chicken was cooked, I shredded it, returned to the slow cooker, mixed it all up, and used the meat as a taco filling. Freezer clean-out plus a delicious meal all in one."
White rice + black beans is my favorite cheap/healthy meal. Add some tomatoes and cilantro, and avocado if you can afford it, drizzle lemon or lime juice and you have a super filling and delicious meal for super cheap (except the avocados lol)
Lentil and carrot soup. So tasty and good for you, but extremely cheap.
other peoples comments are better but so you dont feel hungry in the "breaks" between your (real) meals: oatmeal. so filling. add some lineseeds for fibre, omega3 and a bit more chewiness
Pantry 'chili'- cans of beans, diced tomatoes, corn, tomato paste and green chilis if I have 'em.
Saute onions in cumin & chili powder, then add beans, then rest of it. Simmer for a bit, but usually tastes better next day.
Mustgo soup, all the leftovers you have in the fridge and some broth of your choice or just some Mater sauce
Maximize your beans, lentils, carrots, potatoes, and eggs as meat substitutes. Curry with any of those can help stretch it. Or bbq sauce.
Savory pancakes - - you can put anything in ‘em and/or anything on ‘em
pinto beans and cornbread was my great grandmother's go to during the depression. It is one of my top comfort foods. Make a pot of dried beans and experiment.
This is one of my family's favorite meals . We just get a big can of Lucky's pinto beans with pork and a box of cornbread muffin mix. The only other thing we might need is a small tomato and sweet onion diced for toppings. Once the muffins are baked and cooled, we crumble the muffins into a bowl and top with the beans. So warm and filling.
Ramen + PB + sriracha basically feels like poor man's pad Thai. Even better if you have an egg to put in
My poor times Ramen was to throw a few raw eggs in the boiling water and some Tabasco.
Rice bowls. Throw together whatever left over meat and vegetables you have left in the freezer, add sauce, and go. There's so many different ways to make it it never gets old. If you're not in the mood for rice, add beans and salsa instead and make burritos.
Frittata using whatever odds and ends I have. Or a regular quiche if I have a box of pie crust in the fridge. If I have frozen hash browns, then a hash brown crust quiche! :)
Pasta salad, sometimes I just add a can of green beans and a can of corn, both drained, fresh herbs, if I have it (basil, cilantro, mint, whatever's in the fridge) and some Italian dressing, garbanzo beans, if I have it. The best part, the longer it sits, the better it gets, so it's good as a leftover, and it's filling
Pasta with Italian dressing, salami cut into cubes, provolone (or your favorite alternative), black olives is great and good for several days
I always have flour and baking items on hand. If I needed to I could make a variety of breads. Pancakes are popular, but I also like dumpling stew. For dumpling stew I flavor some water with pepper and chicken bouillon, then make drop dumplings with flour, salt, pepper, and any other spices I want. After I spoon the dumplings in to the boiling water, I add a dash of milk to cream up the soup, but you can keep it thin if you need to. Basically, if you added chicken, it would be chicken and dumplings.
Caremelise some onion put in 2-3 tablespoons of tomato paste and chilli pepper. Add some boiling water and cubes of your stale bread. Add some oregano and mix well. Cheapest most enjoyable recipe to have.
Soups from the leftovers. One main stock can be split for different spices and proteins. It can serve as is or further watered down as the basic broth for a variety of (yes I’m saying it) ramen.
Keep a steady hand of this broth on hand. Depending on the type of broth, it could be watered down as mentioned or add a roux and simmer down to a gravy. Old chicken drippings works fantastic for making a nice broth.
Tortillas, cheese, eggs
I do flour tortilla peanut butter sandwiches... Add jam, banana... Whatever...
Chili is my thing. I keep a ton of different canned (and dry) beans on hand at all times. Almost always have a random can of tomatoes. Just made it two days ago and had no idea I had everything. If I have enough different beans I don't even add meat. I play with different seasonings.
I usually try to keep canned whole tomatoes. You can always chop it up if you need diced, but you can't always put it back together again if you need it for something else.
I always stock up on Lentils when I can. I can usually also get carrots and celery for pretty cheap , and I have no problem living off of that combination together for a week or two. They cook up well in my rice cooker and make for a pretty filling meal.
I’ve also developed a slow cooker chicken soup recipe that makes around 7 servings and comes out to around $1.50/serving. I’ll make a big batch of that at the beginning of the week and take it to work for lunch each day.
... and put a bunch in the freezer. We cook soup in decent-sized batches and freeze it in two-person portions, reusing supermarket ready-made soup pots. My husband generally complains at the time then later says "I'm so glad we did this".
Ramen with an egg and frozen veggies
Pasta, jarred pasta sauce, frozen veggies and shredded cheese
Honestly an egg dropped in instant ramen can be so good. I lived off that (plus lots of hot sauce) for a while.
Note: this post originally had 50 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Me neither (nor lentils) but I'm learning to cook them in ways where I can't taste them/feel them. If you really over cool lentils or red beans until they are mush, they add a lot of fill to a pasta or curry dish without being noticable.
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I buy splurge items when they are on sale. So, when money used to get tight, we raided the freezer and ate like kings.
There’s this chain called “Lucky” that does this “5 for 5” sale where if you buy 5 of the selected things they are $5 each and it’s always something awesome like steaks or chops or shrimp or fish, so I would always stock up during 5 for 5 and eat fancy food for a month!
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Me neither (nor lentils) but I'm learning to cook them in ways where I can't taste them/feel them. If you really over cool lentils or red beans until they are mush, they add a lot of fill to a pasta or curry dish without being noticable.
Load More Replies... I buy splurge items when they are on sale. So, when money used to get tight, we raided the freezer and ate like kings.
There’s this chain called “Lucky” that does this “5 for 5” sale where if you buy 5 of the selected things they are $5 each and it’s always something awesome like steaks or chops or shrimp or fish, so I would always stock up during 5 for 5 and eat fancy food for a month!
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