Just one generation ago, cooking from scratch was the way to save money. Produce was cheap and convenience came at a cost. Things have totally flipped, though. In the height of couponing, convenience came next to free. So, now that tides are shifting and peeps are trying to get back to eating basics, it has become maddeningly difficult.
High real food costs make feeding your family well A LOT more difficult. Add food costs to the fact that we are an entire generation raised up on convenience foods–making KNOWING how to cook from scratch on a budget a steep learning curve, and you’ve got a recipe {pun intended} for frustration.
If you want to start feeding your family nutritious whole foods, but don’t have the budget or know where to start, here’s a quick guide to get your started:
- Beans and Lentils. Not the canned variety, either. Dried beans are cheap, and actually, surprisingly easy to prepare. They are an excellent source of protein, perfect for meatless dishes {which will significantly reduce costs}, and can be made in bulk so that you can create your own convenience food as needed. Check out my recipe index to find tons of ideas on ways to use dried beans.
- Rice. Rice and beans, beans and rice. Everyone knows these two are kind of the staples of cheap whole food diets. Rice is still relatively affordable, and when used to enhance a meal, it is a great staple. It’s easy to digest, and can add calories to budget friendly soups. The only thing is if you have blood sugar issues, it’s probably best to avoid. It’s also a great to add to chicken meals, etc. because it allows you to cut back slightly on the amount of meat you need per person–which on a budget, is helpful.
- Frozen vegetables. Don’t be tricked into thinking you have to have fresh veggies. Frozen veggies are much cheaper than fresh. Lots of people think that frozen veggies equal mush, but that’s just because they are preparing them improperly. Roasted frozen veggies are awesome. Try my roasted green beans, they will totally change your mind. The best part of frozen veggies is that they are usually picked at the height of the season and then flash frozen, which means, you don’t have to worry about sticking to only seasonal choices.
- Spinach, Kale, and/or Arugula. Start a window box, small container, etc. of super foods. You can grow them indoors pretty much all winter, and outdoors from early spring to late fall {provided you move them to the shade in the heat of summer}. You don’t have to have a massive garden to add tons of nutrients to your diet. Add them to your smoothies for a nutritional boost. Even if there is no way to grow them yourself, these are the cost effective ones to buy. A bag a week will run you under $2.00, but add a ton of nutrients to your diet.
- Chicken Thighs or Bone-in Chicken. Get over the skinless boneless chicken breast thing. Pound for pound, breast is waaaay more expensive. Buy chicken thighs, or even better, bone-in chicken and remove it from the bone after cooking to add to recipes. It will cost you significantly less and it’s a great way to add animal proteins to your diet without breaking the bank.
- Eggs. Eggs are still a cheap source of protein {despite the recent surge in price}. Think outside the basic scrambled egg and add hard-boiled eggs to cost-effective salads. You can also scramble them and use them as your protein source in a stir fry.
- Canned Tuna. A serving of tuna can provide 30 grams of lean protein–all for under $2.00 {even less if you find a great sale}. You can make tuna salads, tuna casseroles, or just a classic sandwich. There’s a reason athletes/bodybuilders love this stuff–it’s a cost effective protein. {If you are worried about the mercury content, check out safe consumption guidelines by weight}.
- Bananas. Bananas are a great source of potassium, and can be added to baked goods, eaten plain, sliced over pancakes/oatmeal. They can even be drizzled in melted chocolate and frozen for a healthier dessert option. At less than $.60/lb., they are a pretty cheap fruit source.
- Oats. Plain dried oats are cheap, cheap, cheap, and they stick with you for hours. They are a pretty good source of thiamin, folate, and magnesium. You can make oatmeal, granola, muffins, etc. all for about .$15 a serving.
- Nut Butters. Peanut butter, almond butter, etc. have protein, fats, and necessary vitamins and minerals–a combination that will satisfy your taste buds and your appetite. They are great for snacks {apples dips in peanut butter, slathered on celery} and adding flavor to oatmeal and baked goods. Best of all, they are relatively cheap when you break them down into serving costs.
- Potatoes. Unless you have blood sugar issues, potatoes are a super cheap way to get carbs, vitamin C, fiber, potassium, etc. into your diet. They are super versatile as far as prep goes, and most people love ’em. I can usually pick up a 10lb bag for around $2.00.
- Canned/Jarred Tomato Sauce. Look for low sugar options and feel free to spice them up a bit with your own seasoning prowess {i.e. add Italian seasoning or garlic poweder to kick up the flavor}. Tomato sauce has vitamin A & C, and adds tons of flavor to more than just spaghetti.
- Salsa. I know this seems like a weird one, but salsa {look for ones with minimal ingredients} added to eggs, chicken, enchiladas, etc. adds valuable vitamins and minerals {not to mention taste} without the cost of individually buying tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, etc.
- Avocado. I know what you are thinking: those are expensive! Hear me out, though. Avocados are calorically and nutritionally dense, which means a slice goes a long way. Add one slice to a salad, top off your eggs, etc. and your meal will stick with you much, much longer. They are one of those healthy fats that help with satiety. For $1.00 a family of 4 could easily get a slice for 2 meals.
Everyone wants to give their family the best possible nutrition they can afford {or at least, I assume they do}. Keeping those wishes in line with the budget is the tricky part. Being smart about food choices will help…so will learning to prepare some of the above listed items {when in doubt, YouTube it}.
Did I forget any other budget friendly options? Make sure to list them in the comments if I did!
~Mavis
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E in Upstate NY says
Mavis, my husband is diabetic, requiring insulin. We have found that while starches are a real blood sugar booster, both rice [brown especially] and oats raise the sugar level much slower than say, potatoes [no dangerous spikes]. And please remember that to a diabetic, corn isn’t a veggie, but a starch! And green beans carry a lot of starch in them too.
Re chicken. For those with high cholesterol issues, white chicken meat is far better than dark. Also recommend boiling all those chicken bones til they are tender. Makes wonderful flavorful chicken stock.
Elizabeth
Cecily says
Large turkeys, hams and pork shoulders are great budget friendly protein sources, especially when purchased in season. Every week I go grocery shopping around thanksgiving I pick up a frozen turkey (usually for free with my grocery purchase) I end up with two to three free turkeys a year and I can get between eight and ten meals from each twenty pound bird. Around Easter I stock up on half hams. At around a dollar a pound they are a cheap source of protein. I can usually get five meals from an eight pound ham. Pork shoulders are typically under two dollars a pound and an eight pound one can yield about four meals.
Lauren says
I have to agree with Cecily. Also, I often buy whole chickens when they’re on sale and break them down myself and freeze them. For $5 or so, I can get meat for 3-4 meals, plus stock.
Karen Isley says
Great list! We also try to shop smart. I find that Cash and Carry has a lot of the things I use, like frozen veg, salsa (meat cooler) with minimal ingredients. We will buy pork butts, or shoulders in bulk and divide them up. I love your posts, they inspire me to shop smarter.
Kathy says
I’m eating a lunch of three bean chili over rice as I’m reading this post! I needed to make a gluten-free, plant based whole foods type of meal for a family from our church tonight, and found this great recipe on the Forks Over Knives website. Here’s a link:
http://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/three-bean-chili-for-a-crowd/. I used black beans, kidney beans, and lentils (cooked them first) because that’s what I had on hand. Delicious!
Lindsay says
I buy my meat from a small local farm on a monthly subscription. They GIVE AWAY all the organs, bones and fat you will take from them. So, I like to eat liver and I also dehydrate and freeze it for dog treats (my dog should eat whole foods too, right!). The bones get made into stock and I also get dog bones as well. I haven’t taken any fat yet but I think other people make soap. Since buying meat local is more expensive (but totally worth it), taking all of these extras really stretches my dollar.
sheree says
I find that boneless skinless chicken breasts are the cheaper option pound for pound. Bones are great for broth but when you are trying to get meat there is more meat in a boneless cut than a bone-in cut. For $1.88/# I get boneless chicken breasts. Its the same price as the thighs but I get all meat rather than paying for bones that I won’t usually use.
Teckla says
Good point, Sheree! Part of making frugal living successful is seeing the overall picture and using the options that work for your particular situation. No point in paying more for bones if you know you won’t use them! That also why it’s critical to compare by-unit prices. It’s possible that buying bone-in could actually cost more, even if priced lower, simply because more is needed to feed the same number of people.
Pam says
I saw you mentioned oats and rice – just a reminder that almost any grain can prove to be a filling addition to help stretch your food dollar. Quinoa, couscous, and barley are just a few that spring to mind. You also made a good point about the frozen vegetables. I remember a while back that a TV chef (maybe Rachael Ray?) said the amount of spinach in one of those 10 oz. frozen boxes equals more than a pound of fresh spinach. So, ounce for ounce, a better way to spend your money. Like most folks, I prefer fresh. But if it’s going in a one-pot meal or a casserole, I can’t tell the difference. Great article Mavis!
Marcia says
This is a great list. One caveat is the frozen veggies. While frozen spinach is definitely a good buy, I find that other frozen veggies are often more expensive than fresh (though WAY more convenient).
At very best sale prices, I can occasionally find frozen veggies for $1.25/lb, and that’s only for green beans, and peas (a starch) or corn (a starch). Anything like broccoli or cauliflower would be a lot more expensive.
However, I can find fresh broccoli and cauliflower on sale regularly for about $1 a pound.
So the cheapness of frozen veg depends a lot on location. And I can only eat so many frozen green beans.
Denise says
This is an interesting post, Mavis. I’ve always cooked from scratch, with very few exceptions. Until a spine injury that recently put me out of commission, I baked my own bread too–no bread machine. It’s a little disturbing to me that people–no slight intended, but young people especially–don’t know how to make anything, and chances are that they won’t like it if they do. I’m finding that younger people have sometimes never tasted “real food” because everything they’ve had has been canned, processed, boxed, etc. It’s worrisome–if anything ever happened to our infrastructure, they’d all starve to death. I’m not a prepper, or anything like that, but it’s a joy to cook a real meal. I wish more people had the time, which seems to be the greatest problem in our society. Much of what you list above makes for fabulous meals–I’ll take the skin off my own chicken myself, thanks. You don’t have to eat it, but it does add flavor to the bird. And eggs? A dish like quiche is pricey, but it’s dense and, with a salad, will make meals for 2 or 3 nights. I’ve started chopping and freezing sale veggies and am getting the itch to grow some spinach. A pot of basil, some fresh tomatoes and a relatively expensive loaf of French bread will get you a fabulous bruschetta. These are great ideas–thanks for the refresher!
Wynne says
Great list! Stock helps a lot with the “eating well” part. Turning bones into stock is great. I haven’t roasted a whole chicken in ages–I always spatchcock it and send the back and neck to a freezer ziploc awaiting stock-making; wings, too. But we also eat a ton of vegetarian food, and I’ve given up on boxed stock now that I’ve found a good bouillon cube (Rapunzel).
Ronnica, Striving Stewardess says
I got in the habit of making a small crockpot of chili or lentils in my “buy little” month and I’m so glad I did. So many options and ways to customize…all for $2-3 for a week of meals at work. I plan on keeping it up (though probably more beans and rice than chili in the summer).
cornelia says
Even though I like tuna and it is cheap, I have stopped eating it for environmental reasons. Apparently the tuna populaition is close to its collapse…
Deborah says
We stock up on meats when our local grocery store has a buy one get one for a penny sale. I did get a whole chicken for half price. It w going out of date. I cooked it the next day. So far, we’ve gotten three meals out of them and about 6 pints of reduced broth. I cooked the chicken and broth with the bones, in the crock pot. It cooked all day and all night on low. I did add a bit of water before going to bed.
Maria says
Great tips! I also buy reduced fruit and veggies about to expire and use them or freeze them asap. For example, I bought a bag full of red peppers (6 and only 1 was bruised) for $1. I also buy reduced meat and freeze or cook the day I purchase.
Farmer Phyl says
Learn to shop the perimeter of the grocery store, as that’s where the bargains are. Going up and down the aisles is where the high cost and low nutrition stuff is. Buy staples like flour, sugar, dried beans, rice, pasta, cheese and meat from Costco. Only make monthly trips to the grocery store to eliminate impulse buys (everything you never knew you always wanted!) Which means you probably really don’t want or need it. Learning to garden takes time, but my 200 square foot garden produces ALL the veggies my hubby and I eat all year round and only costs about $10 a year. The only produce I buy is bananas, apples, grapes, mushrooms, and fresh ginger. I also grow all my own herbs which ounce for ounce are some of the most expensive food items. And finally, I make most of my own bread, bringing the cost down to 50 cents or less per loaf.