Everybody knows that it costs more money to eat out than it does to cook and eat at home. That doesn’t mean you can’t have great food at home. Over the years I’ve tried cooking a bunch of different types of foods with all sorts of recipes. Below are the ones that I find the most tasty while also being light on your wallet.
One of the key things to food that will save you money is the leftover value of the food. Some people don’t like to eat leftovers of the same food the next day, but with these foods you can reuse the leftovers in another recipe to make it look like a completely new meal. If you have a picky eater this alone will save you so much on not only food, but also effort and your time cooking the meal.
1- Lentils, Cheap and tasty
I start with Lentils because they are probably the cheapest food you can buy that is filling, flavorful, and good for you. The best part is there are so many different types of lentil recipes that you can go with. My favorite is a middle eastern recipe called Mjeddrah. Lentils, rice, Onions, and olive oil make up the majority of this delicious dish. Its quick and easy. I also like the lentil recipes with a greek or french background.
For the next day, if you don’t want to eat the same food you can use the leftovers and make lentil tacos or lentil burgers. You’re basically getting tacos and burgers but using lentils instead of meat. Try it, they’re delicious and easy to make.
2- Taco night
Tacos are easy and cheap if you fill them with the right stuff. You can fill them with beans or even lentils like we were talking about before. Really, you can fill them with just about anything you have in the fridge. If you didn’t plan ahead and buy some type of meat on sale from the store then just look in the fridge and google some recipes for tacos with whatever you have available. You’d be surprised at how many recipes there are for tacos.
For your leftovers day you can turn those tacos into a taco salad. You’ve got all the veggies chopped up already from the day before and you usually just need to add some lettuce and dressing to the mix and you’re all set. Not in the mood for a salad? Then put everything in the skillet with some eggs and fry it up as an omelet. Look up some omelet recipes, but some ideas could be southwestern style with toppings like sour cream and salsa. A little hot sauce with your eggs can go a long way.
3- Pork Tenderloin, the cheap and flavorful tenderloin
Pork tenderloin will routinely go on sale at the grocery stores and it’s usually cheaper than any other meat tenderloin. It’s also delicious. How cheap? You can usually find it for $4 per lbs or less. The best part is it’s a really easy meat to cook right. Look up some recipes, but some of my favorites are simple, salt and pepper and stick it in the oven. If you want a crispier crust you can fry it in a pan for a bit before you bake it.
The best part about cooking a pork tenderloin is the leftover meat. I like to shave the meat up thing and add a bit of BBQ sauce for a delicious pork sandwich. Also, (in case you forgot) you can use this meat in tacos for a tasty pork taco treat. Look up some recipes for ideas, but you can keep it simple and just heat up the meat with some taco seasoning and you’re all set.
4- Beans and Chili
There’s so many different ways to cook beams, and I bet you haven’t tried them all. There’s also a lot of different types of beans. If you’re not a fan of the good old red beans, then try something else. The key is figuring out what you like. I recommend looking up chili recipes from different countries. Something like greek chili, lebanese chili, French chili recipes. You can also make the search for beans recipes instead, like “greek beans recipe” and you’ll find a host of great options.
Beans are cheap, tasty, and very versatile. You just need to figure out what recipes you like. The next day for leftovers you can turn those beans into a casserole, burgers, or back to the infamous bean taco. You can also chop up some veggies and toss everything in a bean salad.
5- Ready made Rotisserie chicken
Here’s an easy one you can add to your cart on your way out. Those rotisserie chickens will go on sale every now and then, or you can find them at places like Sam’s Club and Costco’s for around $5 or less. You can have the chicken with baked or mashed potatoes the first day and then for the next day you can use the leftover chicken in a chicken salad recipe or a chicken casserole dish.
Most importantly, don’t waste your food
Even though these 5 foods can taste good and save you money you also need to be better about not wasting. If you know your family won’t eat leftovers after a certain amount of days then don’t cook as much food. Every Time you throw away some food you’re throwing away money. Just because something is a good deal at the grocery store doesn’t mean you should buy more of it, especially if you can’t use it before it spoils. If you can be better about not wasting food you’ll really start saving yourself the most money with your food purchases.