I’ve Cooked (And Eaten) Hundreds Of Budget-Friendly Meals As A Food Writer — These Are The 13 I’d Recommend Most Now That Everything's Expensive
Hey, folks! Ross here. ?? I'm a recipe developer and extremely passionate home cook who tries over 100 new recipes each and every year. As proof, I literally document every meal I cook in a very extra (but very useful) recipe tracker, where I rate and record hundreds of recipes from across the internet. Some are OK, others are tasty, but a select few are worth cooking over and over again — and it's my mission to share those Must-Make Meals with you all.
Unless you're Taylor Swift at the Grammys not realizing that eggs have become extraordinarily expensive, you're probably reminded daily that the rising costs of basic ingredients have made cooking on a budget more challenging than ever. But never fear! Cost-effective meals are honestly the basis of my weekly cooking these days, and I've tried plenty that are just as tasty, if not tastier, than a recipe you'd totally splurge on. Enter: the 13 recipes below.
There's a little bit for everyone: whether you're a meat-eater, vegetarian or vegan, or whether you're looking for a healthier meal or something downright comforting. And if you have any go-to budget meals yourself, tell me all about them in the comments below so I can try 'em next.
1.Pastina — Not every dish you cook needs to be a big, sprawling ordeal with "balanced" ingredients...whatever that means. This 10-minute dish lives somewhere between pasta and soup, and it's a great back-pocket meal to lean on when you're trying to save money but have little to no energy left to cook.
I recently wrote about pastina — the famed Italian "feel better soup" of tiny pasta, cheese, and eggs — after it had a pretty serious brush with virality on TikTok this winter. Weeks later, I'm still adding at least one box of tiny pasta to all my grocery runs so I can churn out this comforting, cheap, and nostalgic meal whenever the craving hits.
Ross Yoder
Each serving comes out to just under $2 per serving, if not less, which means it's also one of the most cost-efficient dishes you can make for yourself.
And if your local grocery store is out of actual pastina, since Barilla is really the only major brand to manufacture it after Ronzoni pulled out of the game, you can easily swap the pastina for any tiny pasta shape of your choosing. Acini di pepe, alphabets, or even orzo would all be delicious choices.
Recipe: Pastina
2.Creamy Curried Spinach and Tofu — For just about $2 per serving, this flavorful and filling meal is my go-to when I really need to cool it on the spending for a few days.
Loosely inspired by Indian saag paneer but using coconut milk for added creaminess and roasted tofu for a paneer-like (but cheaper) chew, this recipe makes a lot of food, folks. Like, a "make it on Sunday and devour it for lunch every day of the week" amount — yet I never really get sick of it.
An entire pound of frozen spinach is the real star of the dish, which becomes velvety soft as it braises in a warmly-spiced coconut milk mixture. It also makes this dish astonishingly cheap, since using the fresh stuff would likely cost three times as much, if not more. And if I'm being 100% honest, using fresh spinach doesn't give the same luxuriously soft mouthfeel, either. All this to say, this recipe is why I always keep a bag of frozen spinach in my freezer and a block of tofu in my fridge.
Side note: If tofu isn't your thing, plenty of other cost-effective proteins will work just as nicely. I've tried this recipe with canned chickpeas, lentils, and even shredded rotisserie chicken and have thoroughly enjoyed each and every iteration, so customize away.
Recipe: Creamy Curried Spinach and Tofu
3.Back-Pocket Chicken and Rice Skillet — I live, eat, breathe, and sleep recipes like this one, which are less like "traditional" recipes and more like templates for making use of whatever ingredients are cheap and in season.
The beauty of this crowd-pleasing dinner from Ashley Marti is that it's a "Choose Your Own Adventure" feast, which means you can customize each and every component with whatever's cheapest at your local grocery store. It starts with flavorful bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and ends with rice and some veggies of your choosing.
The photo above was taken in the dead of winter, so I used torn kale and cubed butternut squash, but this dish is equally delicious when you can add in gorgeous, budget-friendly summer produce like zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and shucked corn. Basically, this dish makes an appearance in my kitchen each and every season, and I love that for me.
4.Crispy Black Bean Tacos — These impossibly crispy tacos check off several very important boxes: They're cheap AF, delicious beyond words, and they just so happen to be vegan, too.
I first cooked these wallet-friendly black bean tacos on a whim after stumbling upon a really, reaaaaally enticing Instagram Reel from the Plant Based R.D. I've been hooked ever since. The smoky black bean filling has a surprisingly meaty flavor and texture, especially the crispy edges that become beautifully caramelized as they bake in your oven. Not for nothing, they're also a 10/10 make-ahead work lunch if your office (or home office) has a toaster oven. Pop them in for five minutes or so, and they'll be just as shatteringly crisp as the day you made them.
Recipe: Crispy Black Bean Tacos
5.Kale Sauce Pasta — Relying on only a small handful of vibrant, flavorful, and cheap ingredients, this weeknight pasta dish is a lifesaver when you're in the mood for something ultra-comforting that just so happens to be packed with greens.
This gorgeously green pasta dish from Joshua McFadden, author of Six Seasons, has been a weeknight staple in my home for years. Originally, I loved it because it really only required me to purchase a bunch of kale and a box of pasta, since I almost always have garlic and Parmesan in my kitchen. Now, I'm obsessed with it because it's dirt cheap. And, you know, it's also just really pretty.
A tip from someone who's made this dish a zillion times: Reserve more pasta water than you think you'll need. The kale sauce tends to stiffen up as it sits, so serve it on the runnier side by adding a more generous drizzle of pasta water to the warm sauce than you normally would. It'll be the perfect consistency when it's time to dig in.
Recipe: Kale Sauce Pasta
If you hit a paywall when accessing the recipe above, you can find a very similar version here.
6.Coconut Butter Cauliflower — By using cauliflower, which always plays nicely with whatever flavors it's mingling with, I can guarantee you won't miss the chicken one bit. (And your credit card will thank you for it.)
Inspired by butter chicken, a popular Northern Indian dish, Half Baked Harvest's butter cauliflower boasts a similar richly-spiced creaminess to the original but implements cauliflower for a cheaper (and vegan!) twist. The whole thing comes together in just about 30 minutes, and to make things even better, it's even tastier the next day.
Since the cauliflower is stewed in sauce until it's cooked through, I've found that using even-cheaper frozen cauliflower can save you more money with very little difference to the final dish — just defrost the cauliflower before you cook with it and pat it dry to remove any residual moisture.
Recipe: Coconut Butter Cauliflower
7.5-Minute Miso Chili Crisp Udon Noodles — This is one nearly-instant lunch I will never, ever, ever get sick of.
I've made these three-ingredient noodles more times than I care to admit on the internet. While two of the three ingredients, white miso and chili crisp, won't exactly be the cheapest groceries on your list, these ingredients will last you a very long time in your fridge — which ultimately brings the cost per serving down to a level that I'd classify as delightfully inexpensive.
I'd also classify this recipe as endlessly customizable, no matter what you're in the mood for. Top your noodles with a runny fried egg or whatever leftover protein you have hanging out in your fridge. You can even simmer the noodles with some greens to gently wilt them, like spinach, baby bok choy, or even shredded cabbage.
8.Creamy Skillet White Beans with Parmesan — For a recipe as undeniably simple and easy as this one, it packs in way more than 15 minutes of flavor for its 15 minutes of cooking time.
Beans are inarguably the quintessential budget ingredient, but I can't exactly say that all recipes starring them are particularly exciting. This silky white bean skillet from Family Style Food, however, is one giant exception. You'll end up with lots of food that you can easily bulk up when it's time for leftovers, and since the recipe relies heavily on pantry staples, you likely won't even have to add many new ingredients to your grocery list.
I love a budget recipe that you can easily stretch when it's time to eat leftovers, and this one's as stretchable as they come. Eating this dish with crusty bread is highly recommended, both so you can soak up all that delicious broth and because the addition of bread keeps the cost per serving incredibly low. And when you're running low on leftovers, try bulking up this dish by adding more broth and some cooked rice to turn it into a filling soup. Trust me, I've done this more than a handful of times, and it's nearly unbelievable how many days I can make this simple dish last — in all its various formats.
9.Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas — I've always been wary of "sheet pan meals." That is until this one, which is the definition of simple yet delicious, came into my life.
The older I get, the less I want to stand over a hot stove stirring, sautéing, boiling, and ultimately sweating all over whatever I'm cooking for dinner. Enter: these sheet pan fajitas from The Modern Proper that made me realize how genuinely helpful the humble sheet pan could be.
I could eat these nightly and be perfectly happy, and if I were to do so, my wallet would be thrilled with me. The only work you'll have to do is chop up some veggies and chicken, toss them with some taco seasoning and olive oil, and roast until cooked through. Five minutes of hands-on work, tops.
Recipe: Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
10.Warm Tofu with Spicy Garlic Sauce — The sauce here is the MVP of this recipe, and it's only made with a small handful of ingredients. (Many of which you probably already have in your pantry or fridge.)
Adapted from a 2009 issue of the now-defunct Gourmet magazine by blogger Alexandra Cooks, I can confidently say that the simple sauce included in this recipe is one of my Top 10 sauces of all time. Really! It's garlic-forward, packs just the right amount of sweetness to balance out the heat, and every time I've served this dish, I have literally licked my bowl clean.
Even if you're not a tofu person, I have a feeling you might end up loving this one. Though it seems backward, simmering the tofu in water actually draws out some of its moisture, so you're left with tofu that has a substantial and satisfying chew. Almost like...dare I say...meat. But, you know, not meat, obviously.
11.Chicken Cacciatore — It may not be the prettiest meal, but this dish of slowly-simmered, succulent chicken thighs in a zesty tomato sauce is certainly one of the tastiest.
Well Plated's chicken cacciatore is magical, for lack of a better word. I mean, you've never tasted chicken as melt-in-your-mouth tender as the stuff that this recipe produces. Allowing boneless chicken thighs to simmer in a bright, acid-forward sauce of tomatoes and white wine makes them extraordinarily tender, and as an added bonus, your home will smell incredible for hours.
I'm a sucker for ladling the shredded chicken and sauce over a bowlful of buttered egg noodles, but it's also delicious served over a bowl of creamy polenta. Either way, your accompaniment of choice will cost you very little.
Recipe: Chicken Cacciatore
12.Curried Butternut Squash Soup — If you, like me, once thought squash soups were "boring," you clearly have not tasted this one.
Just when I thought I was over butternut squash soups for good, I encountered this recipe from Minimalist Baker. It made me do a complete 180. Compared to most squash soup recipes which are, in my humble opinion, overly sweet and not very compelling in the flavor department, this recipe is mouth-wateringly savory, just sweet enough without tasting like dessert, and just...really interesting. I have no notes! It's heavy on the garlic and shallot, which really counteract the sweet punch of the squash, and the addition of curry powder and chili garlic paste gives it a zing that's hard to beat.
You can easily bulk it up with some toasted bread or even some homemade croutons, like the ones above, but I honestly think it's a perfect lunch or light dinner all on its own. And listen, y'all: I know the pre-chopped packages of squash at the store seem amazing and convenient, and they are, but if you want to make this meal on the cheap, opt for whole butternut squash. It'll cost you half as much, and I promise they're much easier to break down than you might think.
Recipe: Curried Butternut Squash Soup
13.Soy-Seared Tofu — I know you're probably like "If I see one more tofu recipe, I swear to god I'll [redacted]," but stick with me. The way you prepare it is key, and this preparation might be one of the most flavorful, low-effort methods out there.
This soy-searing method from Andrea Nguyen, featured in Food52's cookbook Simply Genius, deserves an award. If you've ever cooked tofu before, you'll know that the prep can be surprisingly fussy for a weeknight meal. Here, there's no pressing, patting dry, or freezing required, which is music to my ears.
In this recipe, sliced tofu is simply drizzled with soy sauce and seared in a dry skillet. The intense heat of the unoiled skillet draws out excess moisture, the soy sauce flavors each piece with tons of savory goodness without the need for a marinade, and a final drizzle of oil at the very end of the cooking process allows each piece to caramelize to crispy perfection.
It's ridiculously easy, extremely delicious, and when served with budget-friendly accompaniments like roasted veggies or steamed rice, very cheap.
Recipe: Soy-Seared Tofu