A good meal does not have to be complex or costly to be good. So why is it that so many families spend over $10 per meal to feed their family? Here’s how to make a cheap and easy family meal.
Using this simple guide, you can make a complete healthy meal for around $4.50 that will satisfy a hungry family of four. So let’s get started.
How to Make a Cheap and Easy Family Meal
How to Choose Cheap Meat
The best way to start a cheap meal with inexpensive meat. Try to find meat options that are under $1.50 a pound.
Some great meats to look for are chicken quarters, bone-in pork chop, ground turkey.
Not only are these meats inexpensive, but with just a little creativity, they can be used in almost any dish.
If you are trying to watch your diet, be sure to remove any skin or excess fat and buy the lowest fat ground turkey you can afford.
You can also drain fattier burger and ground turkey after frying it.
Here’s a meal you can put in the crockpot and dinner will be ready when you come home. This Bean and Ham Slower Cooker Soup is a healthy frugal meal.
Add a Starch
Next, you are going to want to add some type of starch to your meal. Some very inexpensive options are white rice, egg noodles, and bread made from scratch.
Try to spend no more than $1 on the carbohydrates that you want to use. You can often find bread on sale either at the bakery or in your grocery store.
Consider starting to make your own bread; it is much cheaper in the long run to buy a bread maker and bake your own.
Add a Sauce to your Cheap and Easy Family Meal
The meat and starches are the backbones to the meal; now, it is time to add in some sauce.
You are going to want to stay under $1 to keep your meal cheap, and luckily there are many different options at this price point.
Store brand alfredo or spaghetti sauce, white or brown gravy mix and cream of broccoli, chicken, or mushroom soup are all great inexpensive options to add to your meal.
Add Some Vegetables for a Healthy Meal
You could just stop at the sauce, but that would not make for a very healthy meal. Veggies are an important part of improving everyone’s health.
So, find a vegetable option that appeals to you for around $1. You can typically buy one bag of frozen vegetables or two tins of canned vegetables for around that price.
Now that you have all of your food ingredients, it is time to make a cheap meal. Take a look at the items you have bought and decide whether you would like to combine them together in a casserole dish.
Or maybe you would rather cook them separately to enjoy on their own—no need for fancy preparation.
If you think that it tastes good, then you have made a meal.
For only around $4.50, you have made a complete meal for four people. The best part is, you can take this same approach and use a variety of different ingredients to achieve a completely different meal for the same price.
Meals do not have to be expensive or complicated to be enjoyed. So get started creating your own masterpiece.
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