Cheap Food: Smart Tips to Reduce Food Costs with 23 Cheap Meal Ideas

Life is expensive. 

As inflation skyrockets with stagnant wages, it’s getting harder and harder to afford the basic necessities of life, like housing, healthcare, and even food. 

With these rising costs, we all must collectively tighten our belts to get by. Reducing food costs will help. 

Discover the easiest ways to get cheap food and feed your family for less. 

The Best Ways to Get Cheap Food

Here, we’ll discuss finding cheap food at the grocery store, creatively using your pantry, planning inexpensive meals, ways to cut back when eating out, and unique strategies for reducing food costs. 

There’s likely something on this list you haven’t considered, so dive in and start saving!

Cheap Food at the Grocery Store

Lowering your food costs starts at the grocery store. Although there are many tried and true methods for saving money on groceries, these strategies will help you stretch your budget to the limit. 

Buy Generic

Most name-brand products aren’t worth the inflated cost. Opt for generic cornflakes, chicken, pasta, and rice. 

Although a handful of name brands are superior to the generics, most taste the same, and swapping will save a lot of money. 

Check the Clearance Section

Sometimes, you can fantastic deals in your grocery store’s clearance section. I’ve found a bag of bell peppers for forty cents (when a green pepper itself is usually a dollar, and the reds and yellows are even more!) and packs of chicken legs for eighty-two cents.

You can find canned goods, pantry essentials, meats, and vegetables on clearance, depending on the store. 

However, you must keep in mind that products are usually on clearance for a reason. Use or freeze any perishables in a day or two so they don’t spoil before you get the chance.

Traditionally Cheap Foods

Many grocery store items are always cheap. Rice, beans, and pasta still cost a dollar or two per pound, and each pack makes a ton of food. 

A sack of flour is a few dollars, but it will make tons of food like pancakes, crepes, bread, and other filling carbs with just a handful of additional ingredients.

Stop Buying Junk

How much money did you spend on junk food during your last grocery store run?

Stop buying it. 

I know we all love our soft drinks, chips, cookies, cupcakes, and tasty treats, but we don’t need them. They cost more money than hearty, healthy foods like beans while being terrible for our health and wellness. 

You can save a lot of money if you stop buying junk food. 

Swap Meats

“Beef – it’s What’s for Dinner!”

America propagandized beef so much that most of us think we need it for dinner. We don’t. 

Beef is the most expensive meat you can buy. It’s also the worst for your health and the environment. 

Cut back on beef. Swap ground beef for ground turkey. Eat more chicken. Make one or two vegetarian meals each week. 

The Cheapest Groceries

When you’re broke, you should focus on getting the most food for the lowest price. 

Our list of 30 staples are traditionally low-cost and versatile enough to use in a variety of meals. I use many of them in the cheap meal ideas below!

Keep in mind, that current events and political policies can have massive impacts on food prices. Although these items are traditionally cheap, they may be impacted by tariffs, animal diseases, or other issues beyond our control.

1. Flour
2. White bread
3. Chicken legs or thighs
4. White rice
5. Beans (packaged dry beans are cheaper than canned beans)
6. Lentils
7. Pasta 
8. Pasta sauce
9. Pork
10. Eggs
11. Potatoes
12. Carrots
13. Celery
14. Onion
15. Head lettuce
16. Oatmeal
17. Frozen veggie medley
18. Blue box mac & cheese
19. Hot dogs
20. Canned veggies
21. Butter
22. Sugar
23. Salt
24. Pepper
25. Milk
26. Peanut butter
27. Apples
28. Generic, plain cereal 
29. Garlic
30. Cheese

Use Your Pantry to Reduce Food Costs

Most of us have tons of food in our pantries and refrigerators. A lot of it goes to waste. 

To reduce your food costs, try using the food you have on hand. 

Pantry Challenge

A pantry challenge forces you to cook with what you have. Find a way to use that can of tomato sauce that’s been sitting for months or the bag of flour you bought to make cookies. Challenge yourself to create delicious meals with things you already have. 

I’ve turned a can of tomato sauce into a tasty marinara with just a few spices. I’ve also made hearty stews from beans and canned chicken. 

With a dash of creativity, almost everyone can find a meal or two in their pantries. 

Creative Leftovers

Do you save your leftovers or toss them out?

You could be missing out on cheap meal opportunities!

I transform taco night into cheesy taco casserole with just a few extra ingredients. I throw leftover chicken into a crockpot with beans to make burritos. 

When all else fails, I keep my leftovers to eat for lunch the next day, meaning I don’t have to spend money on an extra meal. 

Cheap Meal Ideas

The cheapest foods require prep and meal planning. 

To help, we’ve identified 21 cheap meal ideas covering breakfast, lunch, and dinner to give you an idea of how you can eat well for less. 

Incorporate these ideas into your weekly meal plan. 

Cheap Breakfast Ideas

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but many of us skip this essential morning ritual when trying to save money on food. 

You don’t have to skip breakfast anymore. Eat cheap foods for breakfast instead. 

Avocado Toast

The media constantly berates millennials for blowing money on avocado toast, but when you break it down, it’s one of the cheapest breakfast meals available. 

Small avocados only cost a few dollars. A loaf of bread is two dollars. If you use one side of an avocado per piece of toast, you can make 4 servings of avocado toast for less than five dollars. 

I like to add some tomatoes to my avocado toast, but a Roma tomato is less than a dollar, so I’m still only paying about a dollar a meal if I only eat one slice. 

Cottage Cheese & Fruit

A tub of cottage cheese costs between $2-3, while a basket of blueberries (in season) costs $3-4). If you stretch them, one of each will last the entire week (for one person). 

That’s a dollar a day for breakfast. 

You can substitute blueberries for other fruits depending on the season. Melons, pineapples, and bananas are typically inexpensive throughout the year. 

Egg Sandwich

Though eggs are getting more and more expensive, they’re still a great value. 

You can find a dozen eggs for about five dollars and get a cheap loaf of bread for two. The combo allows you to make 6-7 sandwiches for seven bucks. 

I pan fry my egg over easy and put a dab of mayo on the bread. The gooey yolk mixes with the mayonnaise for a wonderful flavor parade. 

You could make your sandwiches more hearty with cheese or bacon, but each extra ingredient will increase your overall cost. 

Hard Boiled Eggs

Hard-boiled eggs are the perfect cheap food for an easy breakfast, despite rising egg costs. 

Even though a dozen eggs costs $5-6 nowadays, you can boil them and have 6 days worth of breakfast (if you eat two each day, as I do). That’s only a dollar a day for breakfast. Its hard to find food cheaper than that. 

Cereal

Cereal is a breakfast staple because it’s cheap and easy. 

Avoid the big brand-named cereal; it’s just sugar cosplaying as a healthy breakfast option. Not only are they becoming prohibitively expensive, but they’re also terrible for your health. 

Choose store-brand cornflakes or Krispy Rice instead. They’re still relatively cheap and offer a great bang for your buck. 

Cheap Lunch Ideas

Meal prepping lunch is tough, especially when you need to go to the office. You need something that’s cheap yet portable so you can eat on the go. 

Here are my favorite cheap lunch options. 

Sandwiches

Throw some meat and cheese between two slices of bread and you’ve got yourself a meal!

I buy cheese from the deli counter because I can get a quarter pound of Swiss for about two dollars, which is a far better deal than most of the pre-packaged cheese. 

Although deli meat is getting expensive, you can still find generic turkeys for less than $10 a pound. 

You can get a pound of turkey, a pack of cheese, and a loaf of bread for about $15 total, which will last one person a full weekday of lunches. That’s only $3 a day. 

If you’re on a tight budget, swap the deli turkey for the prepackaged one or bologna. You could also replace the meat & cheese with peanut butter and jelly – although the jars will cost a little more upfront, they’ll last way longer to help you stretch your budget. 

Veggies and Hummus

Reducing your meat intake will lower your food costs. Go veggie at lunchtime by munching on some vegetables with hummus. 

My favorite vegetables to eat with hummus are carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, and green peppers – all of which are relatively inexpensive. 

To make life easy, prep your veggie trays on the weekend. Chop everything up and put them in separate Tupperware for each day of the week. 

Pro Tip: Opt for normal carrots instead of prepackaged baby carrots. They’re cheaper and they taste better. 

Veggies, Fruits, and Cheese

Carrots, celery, and apples top the list of cheap food. You can score a bag of carrots for a dollar, a stalk of celery for two, and a couple of tasty apples for $3.

Add a few crackers, a piece of cheese, and a scoop of peanut butter and you’ve got yourself a hearty, low-cost lunch. 

I only eat half an apple each day to reduce spending, saving the other half in the refrigerator with a sprinkle of lemon juice. I cut my celery into small stalks and submerged them in water in the refrigerator to keep them fresh and firm throughout the week. 

These simple tricks ensure I always have fresh ingredients for my meals, and limit my food waste. 

Soup

For a cheap, easy lunch, you can’t go wrong with a can of soup. You can find tasty options for about three dollars a can, making it an easy lunchtime choice, especially in the colder months. 

Those on a tighter budget can opt for the cheaper soups which only cost a buck or two. Although they aren’t as hearty, they will do in a pinch. 

Rice & Beans

My husband likes to make a can of charro beans and a cup of rice for lunch. Since the bag of rice only costs a dollar and the can of beans costs 2, he’s able to eat lunch for less than $3 per day. 

Rotisserie Chicken

I buy a rotisserie chicken once a week for about $6. It provides enough meat to last me all week. I eat a little every day for protein, pairing it with veggies like carrots or cucumbers and a small piece of fruit. 

At the end of the week, I can boil the leftover chicken, using the broth and remaining meat as a base for a stew. 

Cheap Dinner Ideas

Dinners are often the most expensive meal, as we make up for the skipped breakfast and light lunches. 

However, you can still eat cheap food for dinner while filling your belly. Here are my favorite cheap dinner ideas. 

Sausage Lentil Medley

Grab a package of Italian sausage (about $5), rice ($1 per pound), lentils, ($2 per pound), chicken stock ($2), and a bell pepper ($1). 

Brown the sausage in a frying pan. Add ½ cup rice, ½ cup lentils, and 1 ⅔ cup chicken broth. Stir, then simmer on low for 30 minutes. 

You’ll have a delicious concoction of hearty lentils, flavorful sausage, and filling rice for less than $11, and extra rice and lentils to use later. To increase your savings, can swap the chicken stock for water. 

Turkey Burgers

You can get a pound of ground turkey for about five bucks. After buying buns (which you can freeze for later) and cheese (see our trick about cheaper deli cheese above) Burger Night will cost about ten dollars at most. 

To stretch your budget even further, make smaller burgers. Four people don’t each need quarter-pound burgers. Put half the meat aside for something like chili, tacos, or a casserole. 

Potato Tacos

Potatoes are the epitome of cheap food. They’re also hearty and delicious. 

But did you know they make perfect taco fillings?

Dice your potatoes into small cubes and pan-fry until they’re slightly crispy on the outside. Add tortillas and your favorite fixings (I prefer cheese, sour cream, and tomatoes), and you’ve got a delicious meal costing less than $10.

To spice it up a bit, add the leftover ground turkey from burger night. However, you don’t need meat to make an enjoyable potato taco. 

Taco Casserole

I mentioned taco casserole above, but here’s the recipe. 

Mix a cup of Spanish rice (you can make your own, or the Lipton {Knorr} Spanish rice mix which costs about $3) with all the leftover taco meat and potatoes from last night. Add a can of beans and a cup of frozen corn. Mix it all into a casserole pan, and place some ripped-up tortilla shells on top. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and cook at 350 for about an hour. 

It’s a tasty way to finish off all your taco leftovers for only a few extra dollars. 

Stir Fry

The beauty of stir fry lies in its versatility. You can use nearly any meats and veggies you find on sale. 

Use ground turkey, chicken, or shrimp with broccoli, carrots, or celery. Pick seasonal veggies and clearance meats. 

Don’t limit yourself by thinking you need a wok. Just throw everything into a frying pan with a bit of oil and seasoning. 

However, you mustn’t throw everything in at once. Do onions and garlic first for the flavor base, then the meat, then veggies that take a long time (like carrots and broccoli), and add the final veggies like squash and green peppers at the end. 

Pair your stir fry creation with a cup of rice to make it more filling. 

Crock-Pot Creations

If you need a cheap, filling meal that will last a few days, throw something in the crockpot. 

You can make a variety of delicious meals for less with this marvel of modern technology. Mix lentils and chicken for a tasty lentil stew, beans, and tomato sauce for a traditional chili, or chicken and salsa for crockpot burritos. The possibilities are nearly endless. 

When using a crockpot, be aware that slow cooking will melt certain items. If you’re making a noodle soup, you’ll want to add the noodles at the end so they don’t get soggy. 

Frozen Meals – The Ultimate Cheap Food

I dislike processed foods, but sometimes you need something quick and easy. Frozen foods are the ultimate cheap food. 

Keep an “emergency pizza” on hand in the freezer for those nights when you’re just too tired to cook. Add a frozen lasagna to the mix. 

These freezer staples are inexpensive and will prevent you from ordering out when you’re too tired for anything else. 

What Can I Cook for $5?

We saved the cheapest of the cheap foods for last. 

When you’re on a really tight budget, these options will keep you fed. 

Ramen

There’s a reason college kids live on Ramen. At about forty cents per package, it’s the ultimate cheap food. 

I spice my ramen up with a handful of frozen vegetables from the cheap, $1 frozen vegetable medley bag. It adds some extra nutrients to an otherwise salt-heavy dish while keeping the price below $5. Others like adding an egg for a bit of protein.  

Pasta

Pasta is the best cheap meal option. A box of generic noodles costs about a dollar, and you can get a cheap can of pasta sauce for $2. 

That’s only 3 bucks for a hearty meal that can feed a family. 

Chicken & Rice

Although chicken is pricey than pasta, if you need protein, it’s one of the best options. You still find packages of chicken legs or thighs for between $2-3 on a good day at the grocery store. 

Add a cup of rice, and you’ve got an easy meal for less than five bucks. 

Hot Dogs

Hot dogs are the staple of easy, cheap food. You can buy a package of eight hot dogs and a ten-pack of buns for $2 each. These cheap dog and bun options aren’t the best quality, but when you’re on a tight budget, you have to make some sacrifices. 

This four-dollar meal can easily feed a family of four with a little left over. If you’re on your own, you can have a dog a day for dinner for an entire week. 

Oatmeal

A tub of oatmeal only costs about three dollars, and there are 13 servings per container. As a bonus, it’s really good for you. 

Although you only need water to make your oatmeal, you can enhance it with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, or fruit. 

Cheap Food when Eating Out

We don’t always have the option to cook at home. Sometimes we have no choice but to eat out, whether due to meetings, long commutes, or lack of energy. 

While eating out will always be more expensive than eating at home, there are some ways to make it cheaper. 

Dollar Menu (Well, “Value” Menu)

Though dollar menus are rapidly disappearing in favor of “value menus”  you can still score great deals at some fast food places. Though Taco Bell no longer has a real dollar menu,  it still offers some of the cheapest fast food you can find. You can still get a cheesy roll-up or spicy potato soft taco for less than two bucks. 

Pick It Up

Don’t waste money on food delivery fees when you’re on a budget. Take the extra few minutes and pick it up yourself. 

Not only will you save on tip and delivery charges, but some restaurants charge more on the apps than they do at the counter. 

Strategies for Reducing Food Costs

Even the best options for cheap food can’t mitigate all the costs. These strategies can help reduce the burden even further. 

Buy in Bulk 

I bought a 50lb bag of rice for $25. Rice typically costs a dollar or more a pound, so I got my rice for half the price because I bought it in bulk. 

Consider buying bulk quantities of staples that don’t go bad, like rice, beans, pasta, and canned goods. 

Warehouse stores like Costco often have wonderful deals on bulk products, but if you don’t have a lot of money, the monthly membership fee might be out of reach. 

Ethnic Markets

I found my bulk rice at a Korean store. They also had a wide selection of bulk pastas and lentils, for far less than the smaller quantities. 

Ethnic markets typically have lower prices on spices, fish, and teas as well. 

Sharing is Caring

In times of strife, community is essential. Host potlucks with your friends so you can all reduce food costs together. Share bulk products like flour and sugar with your neighbors and community. 

Use the story of the stone soup as inspiration. Do you remember how the starving community came together to create a feast? Each person contributed one small thing to the soup, and by the end, there was enough to feed everyone. 

Eat Less

Most Americans eat too much. We’ve been spoiled with massive portion sizes at restaurants, and we make too much food at home. 

We don’t need that much. 

I used to eat half of a rotisserie chicken in one sitting – with carrots, bread, and ranch dip. Now, I eat less than a quarter a day, and I’m just as full. 

Forget your mother’s warning about clearing your plate. Eat until you are full, and put the rest away for later. 

Drink Water

We often snack when we’re thirsty, mistaking the water cravings for hunger. When you feel the pangs of hunger, drink a glass of water instead. More likely than not, it will hold you over until the next meal time, even if you were really hungry. 

Grow Your Own

If you can’t afford to buy food, maybe you can grow your own. Gardening for food is a lot harder than it seems, but if you can grow a few fruits or vegetables, you can reduce your food costs. 

People in rural communities can also buy a few chickens and harvest their own eggs. 

The 20 Dollar Challenge

Here’s a thought experiment: what would you buy if you only had $20 a month for groceries?

Consider the options if you have to stretch your food budget to the limit for a week or two. 

Use a Food Bank

If you’ve used all the advice for cheap food and still can’t afford to eat, visit your local food pantry. There is no shame in getting the help you need to feed yourself or your family. 

What are Your Favorite Options for Cheap Food?

What is your grocery store staple that I missed? Tell me about your favorite ways to eat well for less in the comments!