What Are the 5 Most Frugal Meals You Fix?

[momperson]

I need some new ideas for frugal lunches & dinners. Cannot do the breakfast for dinner thing in my household as DH & DS want breakfast only in the am & we do often have big breakfast on weekends. Thanks for your ideas!
momperson

[Amayesing]

I just made a potato soup w/ potatoes, smoked sausage, onions and celery. very easy, very frugal. I also bake chicken leg quarters, w/ veggies and a starch. I will make chicken soup w/ veggies and served w/ a grilled cheese sandwich. stuffed shells and tacos. those are the easiest and most frugal meals I make.

Hope this gives you some ideas and inspiration

Doris

[Bilby]

Spaghetti bolognaise; lasagne; a sorta chowmein with minced beef, vegetables chic stock, soy sauce and 2 min noodles; apricot chicken with rice; and pasta with veges and chic chunks and cream of chic soup.

[Jora]

I'd like to see your potato soup recipe! Thanks.

[ajkennedy]

I think soups are the most frugal dinners to make because you can use whatever you might have leftover or have in your cupboard.
My entire family loves Bean soup. I use canned navy, pinto or northern beans ( sometimes all three) then add ham or beef, potatoes, and carrots. Add enough water so it's not too thick. For the seasonings, I use onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper.
My family eats this for lunch and dinner for several days!!!
Chili is a very easy frugal meal. And also Dried Beef gravy over toast. Canned dried beef mixed with cr. of mushroom soup/milk served over toast.

Hope these help!!

[Goria]

the five most frugal meals for us is:
soup
soup
soup
soup
soup
did I mention soup?

This is the best recipe I have come up with over the years. Measurements are approximate as I am "one of those cooks" that throws a little of this and a little of that in the pot. But this recipe; my husband has said "this is a keeper - don't change it!" So I guess it is time to write it down.

Hamburger Soup

in a large pot, brown 11/2 to 2 cups (or more - according to your taste) of ground beef (hamburger) with 1/2 medium onion and a stalk of celery diced. Drain off excess fat.

Add enough water so that there is about a third of the pot full. Have burner on to medium heat. Add 2 handfulls of barley, and the following good-sized veggies cut up very small. 2-3 carrots; 1 parsnip; about 1 cup of diced turnip; 3 potatoes. Cook until veggies are tender.
Add 2 beef bullion cubes (I find McCormick all vegetable beef - low fat excellent!) and a can of diced tomatoes. (My family does not like tomato chunks in their soup, so I put this through the blender first. Add enough water to have pot 3/4 full. Add about a tsp of salt, tsp pepper, 1 tsp each of summer savory, basil and thyme. Turn heat to low and let simmer for an hour or so. If you are in a hurry you can cook this on higher heat etc. and have ready quickly, or you can cook on low and leave for longer - like a whole afternoon etc. When you serve, you may add a couple of tablespoons of grated marble cheese. Yum!

I make biscuits to go with this just before ready to serve and you have a hearty, hot and inexpensive meal - with leftovers for lunch the next day. I have been experimenting with biscuits also and have come up with a recipe that is pretty good and healthier with lower saturates etc.
I would think for this fairly healthy meal it would be maybe 3.00 - 4.00 for the whole pot of soup with the cost dimishing if you grow your own veggies. This feeds family of 4 for supper one day and lunch the next.
If you try it,
Let me know how it turns out!!!!

[RobertaD]

Hamburger hash- lb hamburger cooked with an onion, 3-5 potatoes, garlic powder, salt, pepper, worchestershire sauce.

Ham, potatoes, green beans chop all into bite size pieces and boil until tender, salt, pepper to taste with a little butter.

Smoked Sausage, potatoes, cabbage cut into chunks steamed together until cooked. Add salt, pepper, butter.

A family recipe is for what is called GooeyGom hamburger, tomatoes, corn, green peppers, onion, salt & pepper. Fry hamburger, bell peppers, onion until cooked then add tomatoes, corn salt & pepper and about two quarts of water simmer for several hours. This is a summer favorite to go pick the tomatoes, bell peppers, corn straight from the garden for this recipe though you can use frozen or store bought.

Soups, stews, chilis are cheap main dishes that can be made with leftovers.

[LILA]

Here's a quick and frugal meal.

lettuce, tomato salad ~free from garden
vinegar and oil salad dressing

frozen gnocchi from Walmart .99 for a 1# bag
Hunts sauce with meat .79 can from Save a Lot

Biquick biscuit mix with coupons on sale for .20
(cheese and garlic mix).


I use this often when we have plans to go somewhere and have to make something quick.

[thsgrbr]

I like the campbells supper bakes get chicken on sale and the supper bakes are easy and good too. Plus there are always coupons for the supper bake and total cost less then $10. but you can get 2 meals out of it if your a small family. If not you have lunch for one person the next day! Good luck!

[LILA]

We plant a huge garden so we have an abundance of tomatoes that I used to make salsa and did freeze many containers. We also plant 50 lbs. of potatoes which in a good year yields 400+ lbs. We have many meals such as using potatoes for soups and also an entree of potato pancakes.