5 Cheap and Frugal Meal Ideas 

What I've added to beans and rice for years.. and is really amazing is canned green chiles, lime juice and cilantro. I crave this every time I start a pot of beans.

One of my cheapo meals is cooked ground turkey or beef, sliced potatoes, diced onions, cream of mushroom soup. It makes a yummy casserole. Cook at 350 until it bubbles & potatoes are tender....We also like meatless chili with a can of pintos, kidney, and black beans, plus a can of diced (chili ready)tomatoes, 1 tbsp (or to taste) of chili powder, one tbsp of cumin, & we like garlic and onion powder. You can put a dollop of sour cream on top if you have it. We also like pancakes/waffles for dinner. TFS

You could debone the thighs and save the bones and make stock out of them and may even get a little chicken. From what was left on the bones and use it to make chicken pot pie or chicken salad. This would stretch your food for more savings

Thank you Missy for the excellent video! My mom would always keep a Tupperware container in the freezer. Whenever we had leftovers (even if it was just 2 spoonfuls), it went into that container! I remember that she even put mashed potatoes in there. When the container was full, she made soup! She would simply saute about 1/4 lb hamburger for the base and go from there! Not one bite was ever wasted in her home! She had a section in the freezer for leftovers, they never went to the frig to die. Blessngs!

Ham hawk bone in, bag of pinto beans, and chopped sweet onion, put in crock pot in the morning and by dinner time it's done...add corn bread and mmmmmm so good for the fall season💣💥

I love that your husbands favorite meal is beans and cornbread! My favorite meal is beans and rice and Its so uncommon to hear someone's favorite is something so frugal!

These are awesome ideas. Also, anything made of potatoes is cheap. We like potato pancakes. We make burritos too. Also, adding less of the expensive ingredient, and more of the cheap ones into the meal will make it a lot cheaper.

Feeding a husband, kids and yourself with four chicken thighs and making soup the next day with the leftover meat!? Wow! Your family must really skinny

My favorite frugal lazy dinner is baked potatoes. I usually do sour cream, cheese and frozen broccoli or the classic chili potato.

There's an even-easier (and faster) way to cook chicken thighs. Season on both top & bottom and put them on a broiler pan. Roast at 350 degrees for an hour - no turning, no basting. For a full meal. peel & dice potatoes, toss in seasoned oil, and spread (in as thin a layer as possible) on the same broiler pan as the chicken... roast for the same hour. When the chicken & potatoes are half-way done, drop carrots/turnips/bell peppers (prepared the same way as the potatoes) into the empty spaces on the pan. After another half-hour, you have a full meal! Use two broiler pans (on separate shelves in the oven) if one is not big enough.

I'm learning Aldi is the place to shop.

I like this video. Your so helpful. We have a little chicken coop and get about 2-3 eggs a day with two hens. So we'll boil beans and rice for dinner like you said but the next morning My kids love scrambled eggs and beans in a burrito and some kind of frozen fruit or locals who have oranges.

One of my favorite frugal meals is either a lentil chili, lentil stew, or Indian dal made with red lentils served over rice. I have also found pasta salads are cheap, and I make my own dressing with 1/3 cup Bragg apple cider vinegar, and juice from half a lemon with 1/4 olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons garlic paste, and 2 teaspoons Italian dry herbs. Then I add an entire 16 oz. box Barilla penne pasta, 8 oz chicken, 1/4 red onion sliced very thin, 32 kalamata olives that I buy for less than $10 at Costco for a huge jar, then I add two cans artichoke hearts quartered, 2/3 cup feta cheese, 1/3 cup finely grated powdered Parmesan cheese (not kraft, but freshly grated that I do myself, or the kind in a tub), and that's it.. it should yield 4.5 lbs of pasta salad for about $10. I made this yesterday, and it yielded 2.1 kilograms, or 4.6 lbs of pasta salad, and its cheaper than Costco even, and it's really tasty. I've also used that same exact recipe for tortellini pasta salad (frozen tortellini, two 12 oz bags), but minus the olives, and artichokes, and I added orange, and yellow peppers to the tortellini salad version, and the flavour turned out much different, but very tasty. I also like eating baked potatoes for my dinner with sour cream, grated cheddar, dried chives, salt, pepper, and occasionally bacon bits on top. Chili is a great frugal meal, soups also are great, I like making minestrone soup when I'm really low on funds, because it uses beef broth, vegetables, kidney beans, and pasta. I have a recipe on my blog for minestrone soup, and it's really delicious.. www.thebaresthintofsweetness.blogspot.com/2008/10/minestrone-soup.html?m=1 -- I haven't posted in a long time, but I have a few frugal type meals on my blog.

Mashed curry chick peas sandwich with cucumber, tomatoes and green onion.

Our weekly frugal food item lately has been baked potatoes. Bake a bunch, serve as dinner, lunch and then cut up into soups and/or breakfast hash if there is any left by the weekend. Toppers vary based on what's on hand.

I buy ten pound bags of chicken thighs at Kroger for .65/lb. I'll check out Aldi if it is a bit cheaper. I make everything imaginable with those chicken thighs........fried, baked, soup, cat food. These thighs are cheaper than dry cat food and probably healthier. And then you give me bean recipes! We LOVE beans. The jazzier the beans, the better. Thank you so much for these recipes, and may God bless your family. Sylvia

You can make a beef stew: bake potatoes, peeled and quartered,carrots & onions with canned beef broth, salt and pepper to taste, bake at 350* for approx 1 hr, serve with corn bread and slaw, cheap & delicious!

I used to cook mine in the slow cooker but I would always forget and the bottom ones always were over cooked and the whole thing was just inconsistent. Now I cook mine in my rice cooker on the brown rice setting. I soak my beans in a Pyrex measuring cup thing in the fridge for a few hours (at least six) and then cook them in the rice cooker! 1 hour and 15 minutes later I have beans! I used to not soak them and instead cook them through twice in the rice cooker, but I got tired of manager that.

Some great Ideas. I every so often throw in a can of corn or a couple of handfulls of frozen, some chopped Pepper, shallots or onion, spices cheese into pancake mix you can serve them with salsa either fresh or jarred really yummy and a great diff sort of dinner. The Cheese is optional but it is really good and you can customise it to your own taste.

Hey if you want to save a little more try to make your tortillas with Flour, salt and water. Just work in the water a little at a time to form a dough then section out into smaller balls and roll them out. Cook in a little bit of oil and flip over when lightly browning on each side and keep warm.

I was hopping to see each meal prepared

You can also put cooked rice in the waffel/pancakes..Very good, and its used in Norway when we have to save some money :-)

I usually eat keto ( high fat, mod protein super lo carb ) so one day I got a sushi pak from my local fancy store and et all the meat off it and I went to toss the sushi rice and I just couldn't lol since I was raised up poor and hey...that's food...my hubby can eat complex carbs so I rinsed the starch and sugar off all that rice and put it in a bowl and dumped a can of black beans on it and the next day I put a big glop of cheddar cheese and fresh green onion on it and fed it to my hubby two days. He never knew it was sushi rice lol.

One of my favorite for Chicken thighs is put flour,salt ,pepper in a gallon size bag or a bowl and flip the chicken around in it and bake in the oven

With the bean and cheese burritos put the cheese in the center of the beans, then wrap it up and fry it in a pan with a little bit of either butter or margarine which every you have (I prefer butter cause it taste so much better)! It makes it so the burritos have a pocket of cheese and it helps it taste so much better!

Make homemade tortillas-either flour or corn-it's super cheap and it's one of the easiest types of bread to make at home.

I love beans and cornbread. I never thought about making bean burritos before. I like that idea! I also eat grits and eggs for supper. That's a cheap meal too!

I just looked up thecabage recipe. looks delicious. I will add potatoes and kielbasa for a complete meal

red beans and rice from scratch is super frugal and makes a ton and you can make it in the slow cooker!

sounds delicious you need to add some inexpensive fruits & veges

Beans turn out nice in an electric pressure cooker too!

I love beans and chips or tortillas but beans and rice are good especially with avocado. Omelets are cheap and one of my favorites for sure.

Im a mom of 6 and we practically LIVE on these ideas "L" thanks for the video ..first time Ive heard someone give these exact tips before ..very good :)

I love to make a quick Chicken Fajita meal one night a week. Just take 1 onion some frozen bell peppers (or fresh ones if they are cheaper) and about 1lb of chicken breast ( I only cook for 2 people) and throw it into the crock pot with some taco seasonings on low for about 4-5 hours or until the chicken is cooked through. They you shred the chicken and put it in any kind of tortilla you like. You can also add extras such as salsa, cheese and sour cream if you want.

Very good video. Easy to understand and great recipes. 💙

Oatmeal and dried blueberries $3. Just add water. Screw on top and let sit for 1hr. Ez for traveling. No refrigerator needed. Lo fat. Very healthy. Cheap.

Great frugal options :) thanks for sharing. I sometimes get chicken on sale too and make a simple rice and chicken dish with Indian or Persian seasonings. -Hana

Beans,rice,turmeric,tomato paste,frozen vegetables...(Spanish rice)

I think I'll try cooking beans in my slow cooker, I never thought of it before. Tfs.

I like cabbage with sliced carrots and green beans and polished sausage onion and green pepper in a large skillet and red pepper flakes dash of smoked garlic little chicken broth and steam low heat. Make a skillet cornbread. It is easy and fillings

I like frugal but I prefer healthy frugal. I eat alot of veggies! Though your meals are good on days that you have less money to spend.

Some of my favorite meals are homemade hamburger soup, homemade chicken noodle, and homemade beef and noodle

(Mom of five it's me Julie )my family's frugal ingredient is rice we eat Spanish rice with dinner I make more for the morning so my hubby can make eggs to eat along with it or we do white rice with veggies an a protein of some sort then we can either use as a breakfast sweet rice with dried fruit my family likes raisins I just add can of condensed milk sweeten or not up to you an cinnamon an butter to taste or I use the left over veggies an crack an egg an butter or oil an make a friend rice we also add bacon with ours all three have nutritional value via the herbs fats an proteins just cause your frugal dose not meal your lacking !

I can’t eat legumes, wheat, grains, potatoes, dairy!

I'm excited to try the cabbage dish. Also please show us you cooking the rice meal, I feel my rice is always boring!... My Frugal meals is anything with pasta and at the end of the week I throw in all my odds and ends of veggies into a omelette.

definitely trying the beans in slow cooker!!!!

Eggs is a great value.

What the heck is Aldis?! Those prices don't seem right for a California budget :/

Great video. I love cabbage too!

Sounds like your husband grew up eating in a soul food kitchen!

Hollow carbohydrates.

Biscuits are cheap and better than at the store. Buy your thighs on the bone, debone making boneless meat and simmer the bones down for broth. Use in rice or potatoes.

A kindred spirit...breakfast for supper! We try to do that once a week but our garden went CRAZY with tomatoes this year so it's BLTs twice or three times a week n hubby loves tomato sandwiches! Great video!

Thank you just subscribed 😊

Missy, I love this video and I shared today on my facebook page! Thanks so much

Go Vegan

beans cornbread is good

Girl I have a hubby and a toddler and lately we’ve been so broke not even affording our bills I have a few things left in the fridge and pantry, and never struggled so hard but I always make it work! Too bad there’s no aldi near me though! We had waffles this morning 😂 Thanks for the crock pot idea! I always screw up beans by overcooking so I can’t wait to use the rest of the beans I have!!

Hi Missy, one of our now favorite frugal meals is a modification of one of yours.. the cheeseburger/pickle pizza. I changed it by first doubling it and making it on a sheet pan because of the number of meals I need to make at once, and instead of doubling the meat, added a can of beans and 1lb meat. Added taco seasoning and made it with cheddar cheese. Once out of the oven I added shredded lettuce, tomato & cilantro. I tried to share this on your website several months ago but the comment didn't show up.. and I never use profanity, so maybe a glitch. Anyway, am glad to see you're on youtube!

My husband likes a little splash of balsamic vinegar on his sauteed cabbage-- maybe your guy would too! Or I freeze bacon fat by the tablespoon (in wax paper) to change up the sauteed cabbage!

Chicken legs are so much better and tastier than the chicken breast. And makes delicious meals! And I love beans in all combinations...Come from frugal background, I was raised in simplicity :-)

fried bean sandwich I put black pepper in it you can put salad dressing kraft salad dressing after you

Hmmm yum burritos. Bacon, beans and tortillas. Awesome, with pico.

I love this video and meals! I have made all of them. I am very frugal! Keep the frugal tips coming!

Sorry and two pieces of bread I take a fork and make beans solid first

I wish you actually made the food so we could see the portions.

In Australia chicken breast is cheaper than thighs.

sounds delicious you need to add some inexpensive fruits & veges

Hi! I'd love to hear more tips like these, thank you for sharing!

Do you have therecepie for pancakes

i love slowcooker cooking! you can make lasagna in there too and a whole chicken super cheap and easy, im going to start freezing burritos and other things too, thanks for the great tips! i also blog, vlog, and have fb pages on saving money and living frugal. thank you!

I recently did something I call leftover casserole and this one happened to be tamale. I had prepared Masa in freezer leftover, some pulled pork from bbq, black beans from taco night, can of Rotel, onions and some seasoning. it was so good.

Thanks so much for the ideas!

Not a dollar ten a dollar thirty

Frugal, but too many carbs, and not very healthy

My favourite frugal meal is a can tomato soup with pasta and cheddar with a tiny bit of herb seasoning! I sometimes add mushrooms or broccoli but it's so filling and definitely better in colder months! And there's usually some for leftovers too

Enjoyed your video

FRUGAL LIVING

Thank You!

no spaghetti?

chicken thighs and cabbage? Beans and beans and beans... haha, gotta stock up on the beano too! :D

does aldi do coupons

Oh goodness!! Carbs carbs carbs. Not healthy. Raises the blood sugar. We have such a high incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in the USA. This is the reason. Carbs carbs carbs. Eat chicken or ground turkey mostly every day with some carbs.

My husband works hard and I would hate sending him off to work with some frozen thing he has to thaw out. I think a working man should have at least his lunch be a meal he is looking forward to. My husband loves our homemade three bean, vegan chili (we are not vegans but I am a pescatarian). We eat it with tortilla chips and sour cream and guacamole.