Ask Lemmy

Sweet potatoes. Alternately, potatoes, carrots and green beans stewed together with cornbread or rice. If you can afford it, chicken, pork, or turkey for flavor and protein. It need not be expensive cuts, necks or tails will do.

Rice and beans.

Oatmeal

Pasta

Marked down produce

Beans and cornbread. Or beans and rice. Cornmeal is especially cheap in the US with how subsidized it is, so cornbread is a good way to fill out a meal.

try to opt for dried beans over canned if u have time canned beans are expensive these days. lentils especially red lentils cook pretty fast from dry, whereas white beans or black beans take longer but if u can cook a whole bag it should last u ab a week. u can season w season salt or bouillon or some cheap spice mix so u dont have to buy a bunch of individual spices.

Boil some red lentils, add carrots when they're half done. Then some coconut cream and a stock cube. Fry up some onion and garlic with cumin and coriander powder, then chuck that in too. Eat with rice. Add some sambal.

Ramen. Spaghetti (sauce optional). Rice. Oatmeal.

Hopefully you like Indian food, because there are loads of lentil dishes that are super cheap. Dal Makhani plus some basmati rice (and if you’re ambitious, make some naan from scratch). Basically lentils, a few spices, an onion, some garlic and ginger, and rice.

oats with whey

2 cans of beans with oil and spices (or chickpeas)

pasta with oil and frozen veggies (pasta always whole grain ofc) pasta with canned fish

these are my go to meals. However i cook them because im lazy and these are all very healthy, chep, and easy to make

Sandwiches and soup. I always preferred tuna, but grilled cheese or ham and cheese are solid too.

Rice & Beans

Hashbrowns

Rice & Lentils

Popcorn

Chili butter noodles

Ramen with frozen vegetables mixed in.

Bean tacos.

Some kind of dish using chicken thighs as you can buy the thighs for cheap.

If ground beef is cheap, cottage pie.

Various pasta dishes

If putting a pizza in the oven qualifies as cooking then that.

I imagine the right answer differs from country to country, as prices can be pretty different from place to place.

But in the U.S., when I was poor I'd often use regular boxes of dried pasta and add canned chili to them, and maybe shred a little bit of cheddar on top, add hot sauce to taste.

0.5 lb (230g) of pasta: 800 calories, 28g protein. Approximately $0.50 ($1/box).

15 oz (425g) of canned chili with beans: 460 calories, 29g protein. Approximately $3.

4 oz (113g) block of cheddar cheese: 440 calories, 24g protein. Approximately $1.50 ($3 per 8 oz pack).

That's a 1700 calorie meal with 81g of protein, for about $5, that takes about 12-15 minutes. It requires only a single pot and a cheese shredder if you prefer shredding it yourself (you can also buy pre shredded for maximum ease/convenience).

Obviously you can portion down in size, or keep some leftovers, if you're not the type of person to need a 1700 calorie meal in a single sitting.

Soup with lots of root vegetables, cabbage, lentils etc. whatever is in season (a tip is to roast the veg in the oven first for better flavour and mouth feel). I always have some good sausages in the freezer that I buy for 50% off because they're close to expiration. Thaw them and fry them pretty hard before joining the soup. I can easily feed myself and my gf for a week from one batch. A boring week for sure but you do what you gotta do. Mix it up with some different toppings or other flavourings during the week.

Rotisserie chicken. Cheapest thing in the store most times, and they're pre-cooked, pre-seasoned, ready to devour

I also lived on chicken nuggets for a while, but I can't recommend those.

Other comments remind me of potatoes! So many simple ways to prepare them. my favorite is microwave baked potato.

Rinse it off, stick holes in it with a fork several times, coat it in oil, salt it, and microwave until you can smash it with your fingers (through a napkin, or use the fork). Then bust it open, add whatever sounds good that's on hand, and eat it up.

If you don't add salt to a baked potato, then it pairs well with most oversalted foods. Like pour a can of baked beans over the opened potato.

Kraft Mac n cheese. You can add all sorts of stuff to it to make it stretch and be somewhat healthier. Frozen riced cauliflower, onions, beans, hot dogs, whatever.

Suddenly salad works well this way too. Add tomato, carrot, bell pepper, etc.

I used to do the same with instant ramen but the sodium level in it is way too high for me to eat anymore.

You can fancy up top ramen by putting some sliced onion, basil, egg etc in it.

Rice, pasta, hot dogs, oven baked pizza if it's cheap.

Pasta, instant noodles, polenta, rice+tuna, bean guiso or stew whatever you call it. Also whatever vegetables in season and cheap, ie, potatoes, pumpkin.

Frozen Basa fillets are the cheapest unprocessed meat too

Search for guiso recipes if you need to learn what to do with legumes. Beauty of guiso is that the amount of ingredients doesn't matter much and you can always add more of what you like and remove what you don't like. You can add any bits of meat to it like sausages, chorizo, beef, chicken, you name it. You can also add any tubers, onion, or pumpkin if you have any, but if you don't have any of these things you can still cook it.

When very low on money, it's what's in the cupboard,.which is oil, butter and pasta. Cheese is a bonus but the fridge will be empty before the cupboard.

You should always have rice and pasta available. Cheep and quick. So good for when tired or lazy, as well as when broke. Lots of people recommend beans but I don't like them so much.

Look at the specials in your supermarket. Many please discount heavily for stuff that is close to expiry date. If you shop daily you've less waste and get food deals.

Life of Boris has a funny (and actually useful) series on budget cooking if you're into that. Great watch imo

Playlist

When I was in college, it was a lot of yogurt, cereal, pasta, and subway. Those $5 subways were 2 meals for me.

However, as an adult, I just made a cabbage salad. I highly recommend recipes from budgetbytes. They try to use cheap but nutritious ingredients whether fresh, frozen, or canned