Food is one of the largest expenses a family can have each month, which is why I’m a big believer in and lover of weekly meal plans. If you are looking for some new budget recipes to start making for you and/or your family, then you’ve come to the right place.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the average family of four spends around $700 to $1,000 a month on food. That’s a lot of money, especially considering that most families waste around 40% of their food each month!
Related content: 10 Budget Lunch Ideas and Cheap Easy Meals You Should Try
If you want recipes that are budget friendly and delicious, don’t worry, it is possible! The recipes included in this budget recipe roundup are affordable, easy, and you may already have many of the ingredients in your home!
I have all of these recipes in my current meal plan, and I’m excited to make all of them.
Note: If you’re looking for easy weekly meal plans, full of budget recipes, I recommend $5 Meal Plan. $5 Meal Plan is a meal planning service that sends you a delicious meal plan and shopping list every week for just $5 a month.
Other helpful content to read:
- How I Make $1,500 A Month From Pinterest
- Ways To Make An Extra $1,000 A Month
- 12 Work From Home Jobs That Can Earn You $1,000+ Each Month
- 12 Easy Ways To Earn Free Amazon Gift Cards
- 30+ Ways To Save Money Each Month
Here are 10 budget recipes and cheap easy meals you should try:
1. Better Than Chipotle DIY Chicken Burrito Bowl
2. Bean Burrito Casserole
3. One Pot Chicken and Dirty Rice
4. Spinach Artichoke Rice Bowl With Vegetables
5. Classic Beef and Tomato Macaroni Soup
6. Mascarpone, Mushroom, and Spinach Salad
Get the recipe here.
7. Sweet Basil And Corn Chowder
Get the recipe here.
8. Hamburger and Macaroni
9. One Pan Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli, And Rice
10. Green Bean & Potato Curry
What are your favorite budget recipes right now? Share them in the comments below!
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Yum! Those look like good recipes! I may have to make the potato green bean curry this weekend. My family stopped eating meat at home this year, and it has been incredible for our health and wallet (spending $100 less per month on food for the two of us). I love how half of these would work for us!
My wife and I are huge fans of anything we can throw into a crock pot and then go on with the rest of our days. So we enjoy a lot of pot roasts with mixed veggies 🙂
These all sound so good!! I just prepped at home burrito bowls to take for my lunches this week! I am a big fan of one pot meals because of how easy they tend to be (and my husband is a fan because he is normally on dish duty)
My family is obsessed with rice, so you hit the nail on the head with some of these!! I am in need of a few new recipes to rotate in too, so this was good timing!! They look so good too! Thanks for the recipes!
Good morning Michelle,
I’m glad you’re discussing a topic like this today. To talk about food and budgets, one thing that came to mind for aspiring side hustle entrepreneurs is if they’re looking to save money while striving to eat nutritious food, they should hold off on spending money on eating out at buffet restaurants and buying big ticket items at supermarkets like Shrimps and other seafood items. Reason being is because most aspiring side hustlers are just starting out and they need to save their money for things like making sure their hosting bill is paid on time, real world bills are paid, and some money put away just in case they have to run a few PPC ads “pay per click advertisements.” Running paid online advertising adverts from time to time is also good for business, as some webpreneurs may need to put money away for that and watch their food budgets.
I’m an advocate for stocking up good food in the freezer by purchasing low-priced prepackaged meals from the supermarket. Another thing I really like doing to save money is buying large bags of vegetables like corn and mixed vegetables and sometimes other types of vegetables so I stay on track right and saving money from spending at the buffet. That chicken burrito bowl looks pretty nutritious with sliced avocado and mixed veggies.
Eating expensive food shouldn’t be a priority for entrepreneurs just starting out in online business. They should focus on consuming quality food on a budget while building their side hustle businesses from the ground floor up. As long as they get a healthy meal in that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, that should keep them inspired to continue on with building their side hustle Internet business. The expensive food will always be there. Thank you for this thought-provoking post on food budgeting for entrepreneurs. 🙂
I shouldn’t read posts like this when I haven’t eaten yet! Now I’m starving.
The green bean and potato curry looks so good! I’m going to have to try that one. I might add a few of these to my list. My kids love anything with macaroni noodles in it. 🙂
I love using beans because they’re so budget friendly. The only problem is that 3/5 of my household members don’t really like them. I might have to try the mac and cheese with beans, maybe the kids who don’t like beans won’t notice. My husband definitely would though, he hates beans.
I think that meal planning is the best way to save money on groceries. I struggle with this SO MUCH. I need to get better at it. Our biggest way to save on groceries is shopping at Aldi. I love getting a huge cart of groceries for $100.
Love budget meals! What a great list you put together!
These look so good! I’m always looking for cheap meals to make on the boat, especially ones that don’t require many pots and pans 🙂 Thanks for posting!
I have always believed that my grocery shopping is the easiest budget line to control. I love being able to find meals that only cost a couple dollars to make. I almost consider myself the queen of cheap meals that still taste great.
This is a great list that goes past just eating beans and rice. Many of these recipes can be used to disguise small bits of leftover meats and vegetables, too, in order to reduce food waste.
Lovely ideas, thanks for sharing!
These all look awesome! I’m totally going to try a few of them in the next week or two! Always looking for some fresh ideas. Thanks!
All of these look really good. I love recipes that are quick, easy on the wallet and also allows for a quick clean up. Uses one pot sign me up!
Love the burrito bowl idea! My favorite budget-friendly recipe is homemade tortellini soup. We broke down the cost per serving once and it’s under $1 per serving. 🙂 And it tastes uh-mazing.
I’m getting hungry by just looking at all of them. I think I would try #4 and #9 myself. I also use $5 Dollar Meal Plan and it’s the best service I could get for myself! I don’t have time to search up recipes and guess how much time I’ll be cooking. This service definitely does the thinking for me lol.
An easy way to save even more money is to eat vegetarian or vegan. Here are two of my favorite recipes: