Grocery prices are stressing me out. Cheap meal ideas, please?

[cintinative]

I need cheap meal ideas. Here's the problem. I have a Celiac kid.  I can make some regular and some GF (for noodles for example) but casseroles generally don't work. 

My family is not very adventuresome. Oh, and they complain if there is no meat with the dinner (or I would be doing rice and beans).  Any ideas on how to stretch meat a bit (other than soup)?

Sorry, I know my qualifications are hard.  

[73349]

We're also gf. I've learned that my people are less apt to say I'm not giving them meat if there *is* meat--enough for flavoring.

So I make "bacon soup" with one strip of bacon per person (and 2-3 cans of white beans, some fresh spinach, onion/garlic, and juice of a lemon) and freeze the rest of the package of bacon for another time. You could likewise make taco salad with about a cup of ground meat and the rest beans, plus your leafies, tomato, corn, salsa, whatever--doing it as a salad means the $$$ gf tortillas can be replaced with a bag of tortilla chips. And "butter chicken" can be made with a big pile of rice and peas, but quietly replacing at least half of the chicken with mushrooms.

👂 for more ideas.

[HomeAgain]

Can you do a stirfry?  A lot of veggies goes a long way.  Otherwise, some favorites here:

Loaded potato soup and turkey sandwiches.  We leave the ham out of the soup, and I don't know what a good substitute for sandwiches is, but possibly lettuce wraps or a spinach salad?

Burrito bowls

Risotto w/mushrooms, truffle oil,  and onion, served with salad.

Stuffed pork loin.  It's the cheapest cut I can get here, and a 6 inch piece stuffed with feta, greek yogurt, spinach, garlic mixture makes a great main dish that is very filling, especially with a creamy polenta or roasted potatoes on the side along with green beans or squash. For about $6 of meat I can get two dishes.

 

[Laura Corin]

Can you add lentils to ground beef dishes to stretch the meat? Puy lentils have a good texture.

[Farrar]

Do you have Costco? They sell the roast chickens at a loss. Get two and eat three meals off it. First with just steamed veggies and fresh roast chicken. Next turn the leftovers into chicken and rice soup, shredded chicken tacos, salad with chopped chicken, chicken and bean stew, etc. 

[ScoutTN]

For mexican, I use only a pound of ground beef and add 2C of cooked black beans to the meat.

For stir fry, I use chx thighs bc they are less expensive. My peeps like tofu also. 

Buy the cheap cuts and use the crock pot.

Make homemade stock and do soup. Less meat/protein needed because the stock itself has fat and protein in it. 

Do you have Aldi?

 

[cintinative]

1 minute ago, Farrar said:

Do you have Costco? They sell the roast chickens at a loss. Get two and eat three meals off it. First with just steamed veggies and fresh roast chicken. Next turn the leftovers into chicken and rice soup, shredded chicken tacos, salad with chopped chicken, chicken and bean stew, etc. 

Yes! I have not bought their roast chickens in an age. Good ideas.

[cintinative]

2 minutes ago, ScoutTN said:

 

Do you have Aldi?

 

Yes. What do you like there?

[cintinative]

We have been eating a lot of chicken because I won't pay $5.00/lb for ground beef (where is the shocked face emoji?). 

I did have my husband buy some chuck roast (it was expensive at $4.99/lb on sale, but we need something other than chicken).  

I might have to get over some of my price sensitivity about meat.  

Does anyone have a good pork chop recipe? Pork seems to be less affected by the price hikes.

[Beth S]

Agreeing with PP, that Aldi is your New Friend. 
Everyone has different preferences, but you can just buy/experiment with the Aldi versions.
There are youtubers who shop at Aldi each month and talk about the deals.

Also, Frugal Fit Mom (for example) has many, many inexpensive-but-delicious meal ideas. 

You can look at your old grocery receipts to identify good value/necessity vs. optional/frivolous purchases.
Become aware of what things cost.
It also depends on how "desperate" you are to trim your grocery bill.  😉

I think, for everyone, this is an ongoing challenge!
Best Wishes!

Edited January 2, 2022 by Beth S

[cintinative]

I do buy a fair amount at Aldi--most produce, milk/dairy, eggs, GF bread, baking supplies, canned goods, meat (if it is cheaper than the other grocery) etc.  I try to buy everything there that I can. We don't like their cheese though. We also don't like their tortillas.

I do shop sales and try not to impulse buy.  I used to coupon until it got where it wasn't worth the time and effort.

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by cintinative

[ScoutTN]

We do quite a bit of ground pork. Less expensive than beef and higher fat content, so more filling. It takes any seasoning well, so it can be used for asian, mexican , italian, whatever.

My Dh requires meat too. Otherwise he just eats seconds an hour after dinner and we don’t end up saving money.

I do beans n rice recipes with half or a third of the meat.

Save the bacon grease for cooking bc it lends such flavor.

[cintinative]

1 minute ago, ScoutTN said:

We do quite a bit of ground pork. Less expensive than beef and higher fat content, so more filling. It takes any seasoning well, so it can be used for asian, mexican , italian, whatever.

My Dh requires meat too. Otherwise he just eats seconds an hour after dinner and we don’t end up saving money.

I do beans n rice recipes with half or a third of the meat.

Save the bacon grease for cooking bc it lends such flavor.

It is more expensive here. Where do you buy it? At Meijer ground pork was $4.00/lb before the inflation thing, whereas I could get ground beef for $2.00/lb on a really good sale.  

[ScoutTN]

Costco is good for cheese. 
Seconding their rotisserie chx, BUT you will need to check the label bc they use a lot of things ad seasoning.

[ScoutTN]

1 minute ago, cintinative said:

It is more expensive here. Where do you buy it? At Meijer ground pork was $4.00/lb before the inflation thing, whereas I could get ground beef for $2.00/lb on a really good sale.  

Walmart Neighborhood market, Publix when it’s on sale.

We get quite a bit from local farmers, but the price is higher than at the store.  

[prairiewindmomma]

One of the really helpful things for me with all of the changing price structures of food has been to sit down and calculate how much each meal costs to make now. It has been very clear, having done so, where I need to make some shifts.

We eat lower-ish carb and low sodium so meals have become very simple and clean. Dinner might be curry chicken thighs over rice (for the kids) with a side of veg. We do a lot of soups and salads and then a meat based meal a few times a week.

It’s ok to be upfront with the family about changing prices on food and about a need for their flexibility to tolerate new meals.  We offer to let people make a sandwich for themselves if they really can’t handle something.

Finally, don’t neglect health to fund cheap food. Meals should be about nutrition. I 100% believe junk and processed stuff should go first, and then you focus on the rest. You can still eat frugally by focusing on eggs, beans, potatoes, etc. and still incorporating meat a few times a week.

[marbel]

I have 2 here who insist on meat. And I have one vegetarian. I'm in the middle; I like meat but can do without and and prefer to cook with less and often skip it altogether.

My kids are adults (as is my husband) so they can  understand 'meat prices have gone up, so we are not eating as much meat anymore.' I try to do things where meat is not the star attraction - soups/stews with more vegetables, for example. More vegetarian substitutes. This week I am planning on tacos one night; I'll set out ground beef so my husband/son can make regular taco meat. I'm going to make a recipe I found that calls for cauliflower and walnuts as taco filling. I will encourage them to try mine, and see if they can't mix them up so they can still get some meat, but reduce the amount.  I'm not going to refuse to have meat in the house, but I will encourage eating less of it. And, if I'm not eating it, a pound will stretch further, thus reducing the cost.  

I'm also telling them that the future of meat-eating is bleak, so may as well start getting used to it.  Older teens can be part of a frank discussion on the topic. 

[AngelaGT]

I prefer to purchase meat that has the least amount of added hormones, nitrates, sugar, and other non healthy additions (organic if at all possible).  These are the more expensive meats at the different stores I frequent.  Often I find them at reduced clearance prices close to the expiration date.  This is when I purchase all I can find and freeze.  They may still be more expensive than the less healthier versions of meat, but they are much more affordable than their original prices.

[Faith-manor]

Will they eat sauce/gravy over potatoes or rice? One way to stretch meat is to take just a few ounces, cook until tender, shred, and then mix with a thickened broth, herb up, and serve over a starch then have larger vegetable sides. This way there is meat, but not a large serving per person.

[silver]

I add black beans or refried beans to stretch ground beef. If it's with rice or pasta, the carb part fills out the meal and I can do 2:1 beans:beef.

With stir fry, fried rice, and other chicken/rice dishes, if I add enough veggies and don't skimp on the sauce (so that the rice has enough flavor), I can get away with a single chicken breast for 6 servings of an entree. 

When we do a meatless beans and rice, we serve fried eggs on top, it really makes the meal more filling, but is a relatively cheap extra. 

ETA: I've found chickpeas are good for extending diced chicken. I'll do chicken and chickpea curry, for example. My family is also okay if I completely replace chicken with lots of chickpeas. 

Edited January 2, 2022 by silver

[katilac]

1 hour ago, cintinative said:

 Does anyone have a good pork chop recipe? Pork seems to be less affected by the price hikes.

We did pork steaks for the first time recently, and they were so good! They were cheaper than pork chops so I decided to give them a try, and they were universally preferred over chops in my household. 

The ones we had were thin-sliced steaks from the shoulder. I just seasoned them and added a bit of BBQ sauce and threw them in the air fryer, so bonus of also being quick and easy. We ate them as pork steaks with sides, but I could easily see cutting them up and adding to a mixed rice and vegetable dish. 

[Bootsie]

Dishes where meat is mixed in with other foods generally stretches meat servings more than simply serving slices of meat separate from other foods.  If you have a dish that is primarily rice and beans, but also has ground meat in it, people still see "meat" but it goes a lot further.  Sweet and sour chicken or pork served over rice can be full of onions, celery, and carrots (usually relatively cheap) and served over rice, with a hint of meat.  

Ground meat can also be enhanced with lots of chopped onion and finely chopped carrots, even ground mushrooms which will have similar texture and absorb the meat flavor so that a meat sauce contains less meat per serving.  Or you can make a pepper stuffing with rice, beans,, and ground meat, so that it still has the taste and texture of meat.

 

[katilac]

3 minutes ago, silver said:

 When we do a meatless beans and rice, we serve fried eggs on top, it really makes the meal more filling, but is a relatively cheap extra. 

Interesting. What varieties of beans do you use? 

[Faith-manor]

Eggs. When the budget was tight, I fed my kids eggs. I would do six ounces of bacon, then make the scrambled eggs in the bacon fat, and serve with lots of fruit, and some sourdough toast. My kids did enjoy fruit so they would eat two or three servings with lunch or supper. I bought what was in season and on sale, so clementines in the winter, berries and cherries in the summer, apples and pears in the fall. I have also served bacon wrapped asparagus and then not made another meat dish, bacon was what they got, and simply rationed meat to two or four ounce servings and then provided lots of options to go with that serving size. Rice, potatoes, quinoa, polenta, big salads, roasted cauliflower or green beans, vegetable stir fry, etc.

[silver]

On 1/2/2022 at 2:25 PM, katilac said:

Interesting. What varieties of beans do you use? 

My family is partial to black beans, so we often do those. But we've done pinto beans or kidney beans with rice as well.

Edited January 16, 2022 by silver

[saraha]

I make a Cajun smoked sausage and rice, it’s like jambalaya without all the different kinds of meat. Smoked or polish sausage gives a lot of meat flavor without using a lot of meat. We also like smoked sausage coins mixed into Mac and cheese.

[katilac]

13 minutes ago, silver said:

My family is partial to black beans, so we often do those. But we've done pinto beans or kidney beans with rice as well.

ETA: this is a super simple recipe that we use most often when doing beans and rice:
Costa Rican Beans and Rice

Thanks! 

We eat kidney beans all the time, but in typical New Orleans "red beans and rice" style. We're so used to that one way that I think I'd be better off trying this with a 'new' bean for us, so I'll add pintos to the grocery list. 

[Kanin]

2 hours ago, cintinative said:

Oh, and they complain if there is no meat with the dinner (or I would be doing rice and beans).

How about rice and beans with a little bit of meat? Bean burrito bowls with some ground turkey/beef? You could cook up ground beef in a skillet, then add a couple cans of beans, and mix. Everything would taste meat-y. 

[Emba]

Potato soup with smoked sausage is comparatively cheap.  A lot of slow cooker and instant pot recipes are similar in that they use a small amount of meat to make a large quantity of food. A lot of them are also flexible in that you can stretch them easily by adding more starch and less meat.

[matrips]

We don’t have restrictions, but you may be able to adapt.  
 

Is there GF rice?  Tonight we are doing Korean beef (ground beef) over rice with veggies.  You can stretch ground beef a long way.  Other ideas- chicken fettuccine, heavy on the pasta. Chicken fried rice with lots of veggies.  Chicken and veggie fajitas, heavy on the veggies.  
 

I have 3 teens, so I try to make hearty sides to stretch the meat or have the meat over pasta/noodles/rice.

[mom31257]

I love ground turkey in a teriyaki type stir fry sauce with broccoli, carrots, and onion. 

[Emba]

4 minutes ago, Emba said:

Potato soup with smoked sausage is comparatively cheap.  A lot of slow cooker and instant pot recipes are similar in that they use a small amount of meat to make a large quantity of food. A lot of them are also flexible in that you can stretch them easily by adding more starch and less meat.

Whoops, re-read the op and realized I gave soup advice!

a recipe my family likes is a Can of black beans, a cup of salsa, brought to a simmer. Make 4 weeks in the beans and crack an egg into each one. Simmer, covered 20 min or until done, Serve over rice.

 But there’s no meat. My family will accept eggs in lieu of meat on occasion.

 We have a very relaxed Sunday evening meal tradition, in which my kids and dh will eat cereal, pb&j or oatmeal for supper. I have leftovers from earlier in the week, since I can’t wrap my mind around those things as a full evening meal. But if even just your kids could get excited about it, and you and DH have leftovers, you could probably save some money once a week that way.

[athena1277]

I have a celiac child and a bunch of really picky eaters.  I make a rotisserie style chicken in the crockpot on Sundays.  I make extra to use in other meals.  Here are some of the meals I make with the extra. 

chicken and rice casserole (shredded chicken, rice, homemade gf cream of chicken soup, topped with cheese) serve with veggies/bread

bbq baked potatoes (shredded chicken warmed in a pot with bbq sauce, served over baked potatoes) serve with veggies/bread

chicken alfredo

The casserole and alfredo can even be made with canned chicken.

[Sneezyone]

My go-tos in that situation would be build your own (corn tacos), baked potatoes, pulled BBQ pork nachos/salads (a cheap cut is the picnic roast/shoulder cut, skin on, b/c it feeds an army). I'd load up on veg. toppings, skimp on cheese. My stepmom stretches taco meat by adding in finely diced potato. You can also make corn taquitos filled with beans and cheese or ground beef and beans. Egg rolls or dumplings/gyoza are also an awesome meal stretcher. It's mostly veggies and a little meat plus a head of napa cabbage, some onion, carrot, spices, etc. You can use rice paper wrappers or rice dumpling wrappers vs. wheat. A little filling mix goes along way. Serve with fried rice and veg stir-fry. It's labor intensive but cheap.

Edited January 2, 2022 by Sneezyone

[Emba]

Last night I cooked half a pound of black eyed peas and two (cubed up) slices of ham in the instant pot and served it with cornbread (my recipe isn’t gluten free but cornbread is easy to make gluten free).  The way I made it, it was pretty soupy, and we served it in bowls, but with the broth drained off you could serve it on a plate with a salad and it wouldn’t seem like soup. 

[Emba]

A friend of mine with a large family and a sometimes tight budget would load up on chicken wings when they were on sale and have chicken wing night. I don’t know if wings still go on sale super cheap, but it might be worth keeping an eye out for.

[EmilyGF]

I've been adding beans as a side dish. Take a pound or two of cooked beans, saute with oil and a bit of spice (white beans and sage, for example, or pintos and cumin and cayenne), then serve as a side. Filling, reasonably healthy, should reduce the amount of meat needed. My family loves this.

Emily

[Bambam]

Another option is lentil tacos. I didn't believe until I tried them. I think I read it on here. If I didn't know they were lentils, I'm not sure I would have guessed. The texture is there and the flavor is all the spices so it works. Here is one recipe, but there are several available online.  I've made these when we had vegetarian guests and it worked out well. We were doing burrito bowls, so meat eaters used chicken, vegetarians used lentil taco 'meat'. Beans (pinto but you can do black beans too) were also available. 

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/tasty-lentil-tacos/

[Carrie12345]

I don’t think I have more menu suggestions to add to what’s already here.

I would say, if you have the time and financial flexibility to do so, to scour all your local flyers and stock up when the prices are good.  Well… better.
I can still get chicken breast for $1.99/lb sometimes and, less often, ground beef for $2.49 at my locally owned supermarket. But I have to wait it out and stock up.  They still run a few decent prices on other things from time to time, but those are the two I keep serious watch for. 
I’ve been sticking to Walmart and Aldi for most everything else, but I’m not a fan of their chicken and they never beat that ground beef price.

[Ausmumof3]

Yes to the three meal chicken! Do a thick minestrone or vegetable soup with pearl barley the third night as it’s nice and filling.

We can’t save much with meat as we have venison mostly so dairy is the big grocery item for us and fruit and veg. Really need to learn to do homemade yoghurt one day, but so far haven’t been successful.

[Ausmumof3]

I assume you’re likely already doing this, but buy based on the cheapest unit price not the sales. Once I started doing this comparison I realised how often the home brand options were still significantly cheaper than the branded items even on half price sale.

Marked down yoghurt, milk and juice can be frozen for smoothies and cooking. 
 

Have a leftover shelf in the fridge so you know what to use first and date everything.  Have a use it up day the day before grocery shopping where you cook anything that’s left and freeze.

[KungFuPanda]

I think one of the cheapest ways to get a lot of meat is to buy a big pork shoulder and either slow cook, or pressure cook it.  Once it is falling apart and shreddable, divide into meal-sized portions.  You can put it in burrito bowls, where you can use lots of beans, rice and veggies to stretch it.  You can do Asian flavors and make lettuce wraps.  You can do BBQ sandwiches with big baked potatoes and coleslaw on the side.  It freezes really well.

It also helps to know when they mark down meat for final sale at your grocery store.  The best deals aren't advertised and if you're going to cook it that day or freeze it, it doesn't matter how close the the sell-by date you get.  Family packs of ground beef can be half off on those sales. 

I tend to add tomatoes, peppers, and onions when I make taco meat.  That stretches it quite a bit.  I could make it go further with lentils and I could make it even cheaper with half-priced ground beef.  You apply this trick to several different meals that your family already likes and you're in good shape.  It's a juggling act.  Sometimes they won't know.  Other times they'll just have to suck it up and get used the the aldi's tortilla chips because they're less than a dollar and they're better than no chips at all.  My family hasn't had a brand name tortilla chip since Aldi opened.  I absolutely refuse to go back to paying over $4 a bag.  I HAVE successfully left Costco having only purchased the rotisserie chickens.  

Try to remember that it's a team effort.  The person doing the cooking and shopping is doing plenty.  You're not responsible for being a magician that makes your family remain blissfully unaware that they're eating budget meals.  Nobody is going to be damaged if you tell them THIS is the budget and THIS is what we can buy with it.  Living within your means is a life skill that everyone should master.  Prioritize having nutritious meals and zero wasted food over anyone's desire for a giant hunk of meat at every dinner.  That's not a healthy way to eat anyway.

[JennyD]

They're a bit of an acquired taste, but my DS13 adores sardines, and my DH likes them too.  I buy them in large packs at Costco and DS eats them for lunch with rice and seaweed.  

We eat meat once a week so I don't try to stretch it then.   The rest of the week we have beans, lentils, tofu (lots of tofu) and fish for protein.  Tofu is so affordable and versatile, I think it can be really worth experimenting with to see if you can figure out preparations that your family will like.

Separately, fried rice is a great inexpensive meal and a wonderful way to use up leftovers.  

[mmasc]

Breakfast burritos (any time of day!) are filling and cheap-ish. Just dice some potato and cook with diced onions and bell peppers (or use frozen cubed hash brown potatoes). One small package of sausage will go a looong way in these. Cook it and add as much or little as you want to the potatoes. Scramble some eggs. Layer the potatoes/sausage mixture, scrambled eggs, cheese, and salsa into tortillas. 

[fraidycat]

Stir fry

Burrito bowls

Chili w/ a little meat and lots of beans, served over rice to make it stretch further. We always had rice with chili growing up, I didn't realize people ate it "straight" until I was an adult.

Pasta w/ meat sauce.

All of the above use meat, but a little can go a longer way when mixed w/veggies, beans, or sauce.

 

[cougarmom4]

Potatoes…baked potato bar, Eggs & potatoes, mashed potatoes & gravy (with small bits of meat), homemade French fries

Breakfast for dinner…not sure on gf options, but it’s usually cheaper than dinner

Eggs…I make a weekly dinner of this with all kinds of leftovers (diced potatoes, veggies, spinach, leftover ham, bacon or sausage) and pour scrambled egg mixture over top. Sprinkle with cheese and bake.

I’ve found if I put out a plate of raw veggies for people to snack on right before dinner, they don’t need as much dinner.

[cjzimmer1]

I stumbled into a potato stir fry once when trying to use up ingredients.  Now we make it on purpose.

Fry some bacon or sausage (just a small amount for flavor),  after the meat has released some grease, saute onions and peppers, then add chunks of leftover baked potatoes.  Keep stirring until heated through.  Pour in BBQ stir a few times till sauce is heated.  Can be topped with cheese if desired.

[Faith-manor]

Also, gourmet salads can use small amounts of meat but pack a big punch. The meat is for taste and garnish, and for added protein chick peas or black beans, but then make the salad greens and the dressing the stars of the show.

Also chicken schwarma. I make mine with chicken thighs because they are a cheaper cut of meat. I make my own hummus. So I serve one thigh on a bed of arugula with cold quinoa on top, red pepper slices, hummus, and a dollop of greek yogurt. It is very filling and quite yummy. But it isn't a lot of meat so it is very inexpensive per serving.

[1234]

I don’t have a lot of ideas for you but baked pasta here with only a quarter pound of ground beef seems to go a really long way. When I first cut back on meat, that was the the only dish no one seemed to notice. The easiest one here is cooked penne mixed with with whatever red sauce you use, the cooked ground beef, and top with Monterey Jack or mozzarella cheese. I bake covered for thirty minutes and everyone enjoys.

[kbutton]

4 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

It also helps to know when they mark down meat for final sale at your grocery store.  The best deals aren't advertised and if you're going to cook it that day or freeze it, it doesn't matter how close the the sell-by date you get.  Family packs of ground beef can be half off on those sales. 

This is a big help. It’s worth short travels to a store that tends to mark down aggressively. I used to hit a Kroger near the kids’ speech therapist that marked meat down on a consistent day and did so before it was gross. (Loveland)

Aldi has pork butt roasts that are usually good and inexpensive. Kroger usually has ground pork for 2.99, but supply has been iffy (or I get shoppers that don’t know how to find it). Aldi also has ground chicken breast—3/4 of us LOVE chicken burgers (add an egg, grated Parmesan, oregano, salt, and pepper).

If you know somewhere to get them, 4c makes really good GF breadcrumbs that swell a lot when you use them. I use them for meatballs by mixing a small amount into a beaten egg and letting them swell up. Then I add them to my meat. A canister lasts a really long time, but I have to get my parents to bring them out of state from Wegmans.

Corn is a whole grain that can stretch things. GF cornbread is cheaper than other GF products if you make it from scratch. 

Cabbage goes a long way, and you can use it in a lot of meals. Same with potato.

We like shredded cabbage mixed with sausage (most any kind). You can serve over noodles if you like.

Sweet potatoes are filling. They are also excellent fried up with apples or pears and bacon or sausage.

If you have good sun, growing your own tomatoes and beans goes a long way without a big commitment. Our family had the biggest crop of beans ever this summer—we had them basically daily from mid July through mid October. Sometimes it was just enough for a side, and sometimes it was fistfuls. We probably should’ve canned or frozen some, but we just ate them, lol!

Potatoes fried or baked with tomatoes, salt, and pepper are really good, and just a hint of meat goes a long way. Or you can slice them and fry with peppers and hamburger.

We try for lots of veggies.