Low Budget Recipes for Frugal Meals

Easy Meals on a Budget

Oct 5, 2009 Kathy Jackson

With unemployment rates rising, hours being cut for those with jobs, and food costs increasing, meal planning for easy meals on a budget is a necessity for many. Families who previously used grocery savings for things like vacations or eating out now cut food costs to be able to feed the family until the next paycheck. Tough financial times means tightening the budget belt and planning cheap meals is one of the first ways to reduce expenditures.

Meal ideas including low budget recipes can be the anchor to a weekly cheap dinner meal plan. Frugal meals do not have to be tasteless but may not be appropriate for those with health issues. Cheap meal ideas often start with high carbohydrate foods which include pasta, rice or flour based low budget ingredients. Before shifting the family menu plan to cheaper meals, think about the health of those who will be consuming the foods and determine which low cost foods are best for those family members.

Easy Budget Meals from Flour

A five pound bag of flour is an inexpensive staple and the beginning point for many cheap meals. This breakfast for dinner meal is a frugal meal to add to your weekly meal plan.

Oven Pancake

• 2 tbs butter
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. jelly
• fruit pieces if available

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Melt butter in a 10 inch cast iron skillet or small round cake pan.
3. Beat eggs. Add flour, milk, and salt.
4. Stir until smooth. Pour batter into hot skillet.
5. Bake for 20-25 min; pancake should be browned
6. In a separate saucepan, melt jelly over low heat.
7. Cut the large pancake into wedges; cover with fruit pieces and pour topping over all
8. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if available.

Another meal using flour as a base is a Veggie Pie. You can adapt this recipe based on ingredients on hand. The vegetables can be leftovers. This can be converted to a Ground Beef Pie by substituting meat for the veggies or in addition to them. Veggie Pie becomes Onion Pie by omitting the veggies and adding thin sliced Vidalia onions. The pie is better with cheese but can be made without if your budget doesn’t allow it.

Veggie Pie

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 3 cups cooked veggies
• grated cheese

1. Mix first three items together
2. Pour batter into a buttered pie plate.
3. Put in 3 cups cooked veggies in center or plate leaving dough around the edge of the pie plate for the crust.
4. Cook in preheated 400 F oven until browned, begin checking at 15 minutes
5. Top with grated cheese and put back in oven until cheese is melted.

Frugal Meals Using Pasta

Pasta is a filling easy meal which can help with the grocery savings goal. Alternate types of pasta and types of sauces to keep the meal plan from being boring or repetitive. Macaroni Pie is a good basic recipe which can be altered based on available ingredients.

Macaroni Pie

• 2 cups elbow macaroni
• 2 eggs
• 8 oz cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 can. Evaporated milk
• 1 onion, diced
• salt
• pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Cook macaroni
3. Beat eggs. Add onion, pepper, cheese, salt, pepper, and evaporated milk
4. Drain Macaroni and let it cool before adding to cheese mixture.
5. Pour mixture into baking dish and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.
6. Let stand at least 10 minutes before cutting in order to firm up.

This frugal meal can be adapted by adding ground beef, sausage, left over vegetables or using cheese soup instead of the grated cheese. When using cheese soup, additional vegetables may be needed as the liquid amount may increase making the pie soupy.

Finding low budget recipes will help reduce food costs. Frugal meals can be flavorful when time is spent thinking of things which spice them up. Try a few meals easy on the budget each week to help until the financial crisis is over.