Are you having a financial setback that forces you to cut costs on most of your expenses? And yet, you want to provide your family with hearty and nutritious daily meals? No need to worry about that, then. The following frugal dinner ideas could be your best answer for your current situation
Being on a low budget for meals and everything does not make you unable to serve delectable and healthy meals for your family. It could be challenging, though, but with a little creativity and adjustment, you will finally be able to serve the best potential frugal meals for your darling family.
Learn more on some frugal dinner ideas here to help you provide the best meals you can afford at a relatively low budget.
Hearty and Healthy Frugal Dinner Ideas
The following frugal dinner ideas are pretty cheap and consist of less than 10 ingredients to help you save more money. Let’s take a look at the available options you may want to choose:
1. Vegetable and Tofu Stir Fry
To make this simple dish you will need tofu, broccoli, green beans, bell peppers, and zucchini. Seasoning ingredients are ginger, red chili, garlic, sesame, soybean, and rice vinegar for the seasoning.
Actually, you can use other kinds of vegetables or any leftover in your fridge to make this delicious stir fry meal. You can keep the meals in an airtight container in your fridge for up to 5 days. Warm your frugal meals in a microwave before serving. This stir fry dish is best served with garlic noodles or rice
2. Shepherd’s Pie
One of the coolest frugal dinner ideas is having a budget shepherd’s pie for your family. This recipe can save your money, yet it is very yummy. Add your available veggies to the fridge, onions, and potatoes and you are ready for the dinner your family will love.
3. Crock-pot Chicken Tacos
This delicious and stuffy meal only needs 3 ingredients, i.e., chicken, tortilla, and taco seasonings. Evenly cover the chicken with a jar of salsa and taco flavor before putting it in the slow cooker. Leave it until dinner time.
All you have to do is shred the chicken and serve it the way you and your family like it. Make a roll on your chicken with a tortilla and enjoy it. However, you can also add extra garnishes such as shredded lettuce, cheese, chopped tomatoes at your preference. It is a pretty simple and healthy meal to serve.
4. One-Pot Potatoes and Chicken
Another simple yet filling frugal dinner ideas you can make is one pot of potatoes and chicken. This meal will never go wrong and could be your favorite one despite its low budget. You will need chicken, carrots, potatoes, and seasonings to make this simple meal. Chicken thighs or drumsticks are a good way to go with this meal.
Put potatoes, chicken, and carrots along with the flavors in a tray and bake. Voila, your delightful and easy dinner is ready.
5. Vegetable Soup
One of the best ways to serve a low-budget meal is using vegetables instead of meat. However, this simple vegetable soup is not only yummy and filling but also healthy. You can custom the ingredients to make do with your budget.
Carrots, potatoes, sweet corn, peas, green beans, tomatoes, garlic, and yellow onion will do you good to make this yummy meal. Add dried herbs like basil, oregano, Italian seasoning to add more flavor to your dish and you are ready to go.
6. Poor Man’s Stew
Despite the name, this simple and low-priced meal is healthy and delicious that will brighten your dinner. You will need ground beef (which Is more economical compared to beef in a tray), potatoes, carrots, and dried spices. To help you save your budget you can replace the broth with water to make this recipe.
You need to brown your beef in a frypan before putting it in the slow cooker along with carrots, potatoes, garlic, onions, and other seasonings. Put the lid on and cook it for about 7 to 8 hours. Make sure that the potatoes are tender before serving them.
7. Corn Chowder
This recipe is amongst the best frugal dinner ideas you can do at home without having to heat your kitchen. Simply use the slow cooker and your yummy dinner will be ready in no time. Instead of using cream or milk which will cost you more, this recipe uses puree potatoes to thicken the meal’s texture.
Simply brown your bacon slices in a frying pan and chop them small. Place the chopped bacon along with other seasonings and ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook for about 8 hours until the veggies are all tender. Make the chowder puree by using a blender. Your chowder is ready to serve.
Preparing delectable and healthy meals for your family on a tight budget is still possible. The above-mentioned recipes of frugal dinner ideas will help you provide the best for your family. So, which one of the above recipes is your favorite?