24+ Easy and Dirt Cheap Meals for a Tight Food Budget

Are you looking for dirt cheap meals to feed your family because you don’t have much extra money to spend on food?  

Maybe you are trying to get your family through a tough financial time and you need to find ways to save money on your food expenses.

Or perhaps you realized you are spending way too much money on food every month and you want to try to cut back your spending a bit.  

Whatever your reason for wanting to scale down your food budget and start making frugal meals, I got you!

When times are tough, the grocery budget is one part of the budget that can easily be tightened up.  

You obviously need good, nutritious food to survive.  But you don’t have to pay a lot of money for overpriced food and ingredients.  

There are so many delicious (and nutritious) foods you can buy very inexpensively to keep that food budget under control.  

The key is knowing how to save money on ingredients and how to use these inexpensive ingredients to prepare your family’s favorite meals for super cheap!

So today I am going to tell you about some ways you can save money on ingredients (and groceries in general) to help keep your food expenses within your tight budget.  I’m also going to give you lots of ideas for dirt cheap meals! 

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.  If you click and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.  As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.  You can read my full disclosure here.  

How to Save Money on Groceries to Make Dirt Cheap Meals

Meal planning

Meal planning is a must when it comes to staying within a small food budget.  And it isn’t hard to do.  The hardest thing about meal planning is starting it and making it a habit.  

It is so easy just to get into a routine of ordering takeout or circling the drive-through on busy nights.  Eating out is a huge budget buster.

It is also easy just to swing by the grocery store every day after work to pick up what you feel like eating for dinner that night.  This again is not good for the food budget for a couple of reasons.

First, there is a good possibility that there will be some impulse purchases because, let’s face it, who isn’t hungry after a long day at work?

Also, it will be harder to take advantage of store sales without any planning and thinking ahead.  

If you aren’t meal planning, it is almost as if you are playing roulette with your food budget.  The chances of staying within a tight food budget will be pretty slim without planning out your meals.

If you need some help with meal planning, I have some resources for you. You could start by downloading my free meal planning guide. Here is a preview of what it looks like:

You can download your free meal planning guide here.

If you would like to read more on meal planning or get a simple meal planning system together so you can start meal planning right away, check out some of these related posts:

• How to Create a Meal Planning Binder for Successful Meal Planning
• Easy Meal Planning with Dinner Theme Nights
• 11 Tips to Stop Eating Out to Save Money
• The Easy Way to Make a Monthly Meal plan

Helpful Tip: If you absolutely hate meal planning or you have tried it (like really tried it) and you just can’t seem to figure out a system that works for you, you should take a look at $5 Meal Plan.

$5 Meal Plan is a meal plan service that sends you weekly meal plans right to your inbox and the grocery list for the meal plan already done for you!  

All you have to do is check off the things you already have and head to the grocery store to get the rest.

Most of the meals work out to be around $2 per person.  And it’s only $5 a month!  

So if you would like to check it out, they have a free 14-day trial you can sign up for here.  

Shop for groceries online

Another awesome way to find the cheapest prices on ingredients and make sure you are staying within your food budget is by shopping online.  

If you have been reading some of my other posts, you may know that I am a huge fan of Walmart Grocery Pickup.  If you have a Walmart near you that participates (you can check here), it is definitely worth giving it a try.

If you don’t, even doing online grocery shopping at another store will save you money. 

Why? Because you can quickly compare prices on different brands and sizes from the comfort of your couch AND you can easily see what your total is.  You can add or remove items as needed to stay within your food budget.  

Have the right kitchen tools

Having the right kitchen tools will not only make your life in the kitchen easier, but it will also help you to save time and money.

For example, let’s just say you would like to have salads with your meals.  It is way cheaper (and it lasts longer) if you buy a head of lettuce and chop it up yourself rather than buying pre-chopped bagged lettuce.  

So if you will be eating a lot of salads, it definitely makes sense to buy a cutting mat and a salad spinner.  

If you would like to check out all of my favorite kitchen tools that save me time when cooking, you can read about them here.

Use Ibotta

Ibotta is a cash-back app that is free to download and use.  It can be used at so many different stores like Walmart, Target, Costco, Whole Foods, Kroger, and lots more!

You just add the grocery offer to your account in the Ibotta app, take a picture of your receipt, and they deposit the money into your Ibotta account.  

Ibotta can also be used with Walmart Grocery Pickup, even though you don’t get a receipt with Grocery Pickup.  That’s how we use it the most.  

Before you start your grocery order on Walmart, you click on Walmart through the Ibotta app.  It redirects you and you start your shopping.  

Once you pick up your groceries the money gets deposited into your Ibotta account.  

If you don’t have Ibotta yet, you can sign up here.

By signing up through my link, you can receive up to $20 in welcome bonuses!  

Also if you use your laptop or desktop, Ibotta has a browser extension you can use instead of an app on your phone. 

You can sign up and download the browser extension here.  

Coupons

Of course, you can also save money on the ingredients to make your dirt-cheap meals by clipping coupons.  I used to do that and I used to save quite a bit of money.  

But now that we shop using Walmart Grocery Pickup, the only products I clip coupons for are certain toiletries I am going to buy elsewhere, like at Target. Walmart’s store brand prices are comparable to prices for name brands with coupons.

Shopping at Walmart is such a win-win in my book!

Look for sales

Look for the best deals on the ingredients for your frugal meals in your store’s flyer.  The best deals are usually advertised on the front page.  

Make sure you compare prices with other stores if you will be stocking up on meat or other things so you get the best price!

Check for store markdowns

Sometimes you can find marked-down products if the sell-by date is coming up.  I always walk through the meat aisle if I have to stop at the grocery store to pick up milk.  If I see a good deal, I throw it in the freezer and put it on the next month’s meal plan calendar.  

Buy in bulk

Buying in bulk can save you money on the ingredients for your meals.  However, make sure you check the unit price to be sure it is actually cheaper than buying the item on sale somewhere else.  

We like to shop at Sam’s Club for some bulk items.  We buy large cuts of meat and my husband pretends he’s a butcher and cuts the meat into portions for chops, steaks, ribs, roasts, etc.  

Shop at discount grocery stores

You can also save quite a bit of money on your cheap meal ideas by shopping at a discount grocery store.  We love Aldi and Lidl, but if you don’t have one of those around, check out other discount or scratch and dent grocery stores in your area.  

If you would like to read more ideas on how to save on groceries, check out my post 12 Easy Ways to Save on Food Costs.

Dirt Cheap Meals:  What Makes Meals Cheap?

If you are looking to make super frugal meals, you will need to know how to put together a meal that won’t cost an arm and a leg.  This probably seems like common sense to you, but I do just want to make a few important points.

Cheap Ingredients

The most obvious way to make a meal cheap is to use ingredients that are inexpensive.  However, something I think is inexpensive may not be inexpensive in your opinion.  

That being said, you will have to decide for yourself what constitutes a cheap or inexpensive ingredient.  

Typically the cheapest ingredients are those that you purchase in their most raw or natural state.  So ingredients that are not already prepared (i.e. not cut up, cooked, marinated, or altered in any way) are usually, but not always, the most cost-efficient.  

Check out my post 40 Cheap Food Items for Your Tight Budget to put together a cheap grocery list!

Simple Recipes

Another way to help keep your meals cheap is to use simple recipes.  The fewer ingredients a recipe has, the less money you will need to spend on it.  

Since I’m not actually a huge fan of cooking, I absolutely love simple recipes! Whenever I find a delicious recipe with less than 5 ingredients, it’s a keeper. 

Check out my post 21 Easy Frugal Meals with 5 Ingredients or Less for some ideas!

Leftovers

Utilizing leftovers is another way to keep a meal cheap.  If a meal ends up costing you more than what you had anticipated, sometimes if you can make a little more, you could get a second meal out of it. 

This will spread the cost of the meal over 2 meals so you are essentially cutting the cost in half!  Plus you won’t have to cook much for your “leftover” meal, making your time in the kitchen short and sweet for that second meal.

Just to give you an example of this, I do this all the time with chili.  I bulk up my recipe a bit by adding an extra can or two of beans.  For the first meal, I usually serve chili and corn muffins.  

For the second meal, I turn the chili into a casserole by serving it over tater tots and topping it with some cheese.  My family loves it and it is cheap and easy.  My favorite kind of meal!

Frugal Side tip: If you buy ground beef in bulk and break it down into smaller portions to freeze, instead of freezing one full pound, try freezing three-quarters of a pound to use in recipes.  It helps your ground beef (and money) stretch further.  

Go meatless

Meat prices fluctuate and can end up being quite expensive.  The more meatless meals you can get your family to eat, the cheaper your meals will be.

However, you don’t want to sacrifice nutrition by abandoning meat altogether!  Meat is a good source of protein, vitamins, and minerals, so you will want to substitute your meat with something equally nutrient-dense.  

Let’s talk about dirt-cheap meals you can make on a small budget.

Cheap Breakfast Ideas

I wanted to include breakfast ideas because we actually love eating breakfast for dinner!  We do this about once a month and my kids go crazy for it.  There are usually no leftovers to be seen when making this cheap and easy meal. 

When done right, breakfast meals are some of the cheapest meal options out there.  Here are some of our breakfast staples that will help you stay within budget!

Oatmeal 

A large canister of oatmeal is so cheap! The huge 42-ounce container is only $2.46 at the Walmart where we do our grocery shopping. 

My favorite add-ins are peanut butter and strawberry preserves.  I love taking oatmeal for lunch 3 times a week (make 3 servings ahead of time, divide it up into microwaveable containers, add your mix-ins and refrigerate until you take it to work).

If you are tired of your typical oatmeal add-ins, check out this article to help make your oatmeal more interesting!

Homemade pancakes and waffles

You can mix up the pancake or waffle batter from scratch or use a box mix that you just add water to.  I picked one of these out for my 10-year anniversary gift for work and we use it just about every single weekend.  I love it!

“Mix Mash” (Pan-Cooked Breakfast Casserole)

My husband has made Sunday morning breakfast for years and his specialty is “mix mash.”  It’s his version of a pan-cooked breakfast casserole.  He cooks up some frozen hash brown potatoes, onion, and green pepper.  

He then adds the eggs to the pan for scrambling and any meat we have leftover from Saturday night dinner (sometimes pork chops, sometimes steak).  If we don’t have leftover meat he throws in some chopped-up ham or brown-n-serve sausage.  

Cook all that up and melt some cheese on top. So good!

Generic cereal

Cereal is only cheap if you buy generic or store-brand cereal.  For example, the Great Value Honey Nut O’s cereal at Walmart is $1.23.  This truly is dirt cheap compared to the name brand Cheerios, which is $2.98 and the box is smaller.  

Frugal Side Tip:  If you can get away from being brand loyal, you will save a lot of money!

Eggs & toast

Good ole’ eggs and toast is a classic for a reason! It’s filling, delicious, and cheap.  Make your eggs to order or make an egg sandwich with some cheese and a slice of deli meat. 

This is sorta a side thought, but I recently purchased a bread machine and I am loving making my family homemade bread!  Homemade bread makes the best toast!

It’s healthier and so much better tasting than store-bought bread.  This is the bread machine I purchased and I am super happy with it so far.  

Now that we talked about some cheap breakfast meals, let’s talk about dirt cheap lunch and dinner meals!  

Dirt Cheap Meals

Leftovers

As I said earlier in this post, if you can turn one meal into 2, you will really be stretching your dollars! 

Check out my post on how to repurpose leftovers here.  

Egg meals

Don’t forget that any breakfast meal could be eaten for lunch or dinner also.  There is absolutely no shame in giving your kids cereal for dinner once in a while!  I have totally done that before. 

But incorporating eggs into a dinner-time meal is also a great money saver.  Eggs are so cheap and nutritious that you can’t go wrong.  

Besides the more traditional ways to serve eggs, other ways you could feed your family eggs are:

• scrambling and putting them in a tortilla to make a breakfast style burrito or soft taco
• serving them hard-boiled over a salad
• making egg bites or egg muffins in a muffin pan
• making a breakfast style quesadilla with them
• creating a breakfast casserole with tater tots or hash browns and top with cheese

PB & J

The good old standby for weekend lunches in our house is peanut butter and jelly.  Lately, we have been making them on my homemade bread and they are so good! 

Grilled cheese and tomato soup

Grilled cheese and tomato soup are super quick, easy, and cheap for a busy weeknight when there isn’t much time to make dinner.  

Rice and bean burritos

The cheapest and healthiest way to make these is to cook your own rice and beans from scratch using dry beans and long grain rice.  However, unless you have an instant pot, it can be quite a time-consuming process to cook rice and beans.  

If you are crunched for time, you can use minute rice and canned beans and add some seasonings.  

Or we love Zatarain’s Red Beans and Rice! It’s cheap, easy to cook, and it’s delicious when made into a burrito with some salsa, sour cream, and cheese.  

Pasta with marinara sauce

One of the cheapest meals you can buy is a box of pasta and a jar of marinara sauce! Chop up some lettuce and veggies for a quick side salad to go with it.

Tuna meals

If your family likes tuna, take advantage of it and get creative.  Cans of tuna are cheap and tuna can be eaten in lots of different ways.  You could have tuna melts, tuna noodle casserole, tuna salad sandwiches, or tuna patties. 

Quesadillas

Quesadillas are a great way to use up leftovers and make a frugal meal.  Any kind of meat or vegetables could be chopped up and made into a quesadilla with cheese.  Serve with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.  

Hot dogs & mac-n-cheese

I know, definitely not the healthiest on the list, but hot dogs and macaroni and cheese are definitely cheap.  Try making your own mac-n-cheese or use just buy a box and doctor it up.

Black bean soup

I got this black bean soup recipe from a patient I worked had in the past.  She called it “3-2-1 Black Bean Soup.”  It’s just 3 cans of black beans, 2 cups of water, and 1 jar of salsa.  Simmer for 10 minutes and serve with sour cream and green onion.  

We serve it with cheese quesadillas, but it is very filling on its own and the recipe makes a lot.  We freeze half of it for a “freezer meal” to use the following month.  

Sloppy Joe’s

If you can find a great deal on ground beef, sloppy joe’s can be quite cheap.  Many stores around here will sell ground beef in a 10-pound package at a discount.  As I said earlier, we divide it up into three-quarters of a pound to stretch our money even further.  

Meatball sandwiches

Use some of the bulk ground beef and make your own meatballs.  Or look for a sale on a bag of meatballs to save money and save time in the kitchen.

Rotisserie chicken

Rotisserie chickens at the Walmart near us are only $4.50! Pick the chicken off to reuse in other ways and you got yourself a couple of dirt cheap meals! Check out all these ways to use store-bought rotisserie chicken!

Soup 

Soups are super frugal and easy to make!  I love making turkey noodle soup with leftover turkey from the holidays.  We pick every last piece of turkey off, chop it up, and divide it into portions before freezing (usually 1 or 2 cup portions).

If you don’t feel like making your own soup, look for deals on canned soups.  Serve with garlic bread, homemade corn muffins, or a slice of homemade bread.  

Baked potatoes

A baked potato bar would make a dirt cheap meal and fun theme night! Cook up some baked potatoes and serve with a variety of toppings.  

Goulash

Goulash is another idea for a frugal meal when you find some ground beef on sale.  Beef, macaroni, tomato sauce, petite diced tomatoes, and some seasonings you probably already have in your pantry make this meal super simple and cheap!

Shepherd’s pie

Shepherd’s pie can be made in so many ways.  We use this recipe by Campbell’s Soup, but you can make it however you think your family would like it best.

Chili

Chili is another dirt cheap meal you can make with ground beef.  Add a couple of cans of beans, tomato sauce, petite diced tomatoes, and some seasoning to make some delicious chili that you could stretch into 2 meals.  

Homemade pizza 

Is your family used to a pizza night every week but now you need a super cheap replacement because you are trying to make ends meet?  

You can find some really good frozen pizzas nowadays.  Gone are the days when frozen pizza tasted like cardboard.  Look for generic brands or check your local discount grocery store, such as Aldis, for their frozen pizzas.  

Or, make your own pizza crust with a pizza crust mix.  These are only $0.56 at Walmart! 

You just add water and brush the dough with oil.  Then you let it sit for 5 minutes.  Push it down into your pizza pan and bake slightly.  Then top with toppings and pop it back in the oven to finish baking! 

We make 2 of these so the kids can pick their toppings and we can choose ours.  They turn out quite really delicious!  

Final Thoughts

As you can see, it is possible to make dirt cheap meals to stay within your tight grocery budget.  It just takes some planning (meal planning that is!) and forethought to find the best ways to keep your ingredients cheap and your meals simple.  

If you are struggling with creating and following your meal plan, I want to help!  Meal planning is so important for saving money and eating healthy.  I want to help you succeed so you can save money and meet your financial goals! 

You can check out some of my other posts on meal planning and saving money on groceries, download my Meal Planning Guide, or feel free to send me a message with any questions you might have.  I would love to hear from you!

What are your favorite dirt cheap meals or recipes?  Please let me know in the comments!