Cheapest Foods to Eat: Simple Strategy to Save on Food

_{Preview: One of the simplest ways to spend less on food is to choose the cheapest foods to eat to build your meal plans. You won’t have the stress of couponing or chasing sales, and you’ll probably eat healthier too.}

With ever-increasing food costs, a trip to the grocery store is enough to give anyone a stress headache. Forget the old adage “never shop hungry”. The new rule is to pop a couple ibuprofen before stepping inside.

Speaking of stress, let’s talk about couponing. I’m sure you’ve watched, wide-eyed, at the reality TV moms who fill their garages with deodorant and peanut butter using this tactic. But who has time or energy for that?

And with gas prices as unpredictable as the Taco Bell guy getting your order right, driving around to the sales at multiple grocery stores is also not on anyone’s to-do list.

The simplest way to spend less on food?

Base your meals around foods that are consistently inexpensive.

_{Note: this is a reader-supported site that contains affiliate links, including Amazon associates links, meaning if you click through and make a purchase, I earn a small commission. Thank you!}

This is one of my major takeaways from the Tightwad Gazette books. The author, Amy what’s-her-name is the original Riot Grrrl of frugality. And T.T.G. is one of my favorite books on radical frugality.

Here are some examples of the cheapest foods you can eat, along with simple recipes.

Why Irish Eyes Are Smiling

Ya gotta love the humble potato. It was responsible for the Irish population explosion in the 1800’s, because potatoes were cheap, easy to grow, and are a powerhouse nutritionally.

Afraid to eat potatoes because they’re high in carbs? Don’t be. Potatoes contain complex carbs – the kind that boost serotonin levels and make you feel happy (source).

_{Photo by ?ukasz Rawa on Unsplash}

Easy Potato Hash

Melt a little butter in a cast iron or other heavy-bottomed pan on low-med heat, and throw in chopped onions. (Or reuse bacon grease for even more savings.) If you have it, add a bit of diced bacon, ham or pancetta.

Cook until the onions get soft and the bacon crispy.

Add a few sliced potatoes, about one per person. Let them cook until crispy on the bottom, then flip them over to cook on the other side. Sprinkle with a little garlic salt and pepper. Once they’re cooked, add about a cup of grated cheese.

In France, this dish is called pommes Anna. The French sure do know how to make potatoes and other frugal vegetables taste delicious! See: How to Eat Like a French Woman.

The kids love this dish.

Uncle Fred’s Famous Potato Soup

When our family gets together, my mom makes this potato soup and it’s always a big hit.

Chop potatoes, one per person served, into a large dice and put them in a large soup pan, along with diced celery and onions. Cover with water and simmer until soft. Add 4-8 cups chicken broth, depending on how chunky you like your soup, and lots of salt and pepper. Add milk, half-and-half or cream, then reheat until hot. Sprinkle with a little cumin if you wish.

It’s ultimate comfort food on a cold or rainy day. I also sometimes add a grated carrot for a little interesting color.

Scalloped Potatoes

This is another dish that kids love. To make it, slice potatoes thinly and place them in a large casserole dish.

(Choose one that’s larger than you think you’ll need, or they’ll bubble over and make a mess in the oven. Of course a sensible cook might put the casserole dish on top of a cookie sheet, but I always forget that step.)

Make a white sauce with butter, flour, and milk and pour on top of the taters. Add lots of salt, pepper and garlic (optional). Then top with shredded cheese. Cheddar is great, especially sharp, but last time I made this I had a little mozzarella that I didn’t want to go to waste, so I threw that on top with the Cheddar and the result was out of this world.

If you have leftover ham or bacon, throw that in too.

Fried Potatoes

Fried potatoes are another favorite, especially for breakfast, or served alongside pinto beans. Pro tip: To save on utility costs, I always throw several potatoes into the oven when it’s on for some other reason. Because there are so many things you can do with them, they won’t go to waste.

To make them, simply slice potatoes thinly. (It’s great if they’re partially baked, but not a deal-breaker.) Pan fry the potatoes in butter, lard, bacon grease, or coconut oil until they’re as crispy as you like.

Keep your potatoes away from apples, as the gas that comes from ripening apples makes potatoes go bad faster. Store them in a dark, dry place, as light causes potatoes to turn green. If they do turn green, no biggie, just peel them well. Unless you’re pregnant, in which case you should probably not eat greenish potatoes.

Baked Potato Bar

One of my childrens’ favorite dinners is also one of the cheapest and easiest: baked potato bar. I bake a large potato for each person. (I rub the potato, unpeeled, with a little ghee or bacon grease, then bake at 400F until done – usually 30 minutes.)

On the table, I’ll put out small bowls of toppings. Diced crispy bacon, shredded cheese, sour cream, butter, cooked broccoli (if I have time, I’ll make a cheese sauce). Everyone gets to design their own perfect spud.

Everybody Cooks Rice

When my kids were small, we loved the book Everybody Cooks Rice. In it, a young girl walks through her diverse neighborhood and notices that while everyone looks a little different, and speaks various languages, they all cooked rice.

Rice is another one of the cheapest foods and a staple of the frugal cook. You have to love that it’s nutritious, goes with anything, and a 20 pound bag costs less than two Venti lattes.

Rice is wonderful to keep on hand for always-ravenous teenagers. I’m a kitchen minimalist, but a rice cooker has earned its place on my counter. It makes perfect, hands-off rice every time. Before I got it, I’d often get distracted and my rice would burn on the stove, leading to big stinks and big messes.

Rice is a no-brainer side dish. But to make it tastier and healthier, I cook it with a couple tablespoons of butter and a little homemade chicken broth. Here are a few more cheap rice-based dishes:

Breakfast Rice

Rice is delicious and comforting for breakfast. It’s cheaper and more nutritious than cereal, by a long shot.

Simply cook rice, any style, with milk instead of water. Add butter, a teaspoon of vanilla, a tiny bit of your favorite sweetener, and the kids will beg for it. If you want to get fancy, sprinkle a little cinnamon or orange zest , or even coconut on top.

Fried Rice

Fried rice is a fast, delicious way to use up leftover bits of meat and veggies and avoid food waste. All you need is cold leftover rice, an egg and other odds and ends. Saute the vegetables in a greased pan until crispy-crunchy, add the rice, and lastly the egg, stirring until it’s scrambled. Serve with soy sauce or tamari.

Kid Friendly Sweet and Sour Chicken and Rice

Cook pieces of chicken in your favorite oil, then set aside.

Mix pineapple juice (from a can of chopped pineapple), ketchup, a splash soy sauce and a little garlic to make the sauce. Add this to the chicken, then add veggies. Sliced red pepper, green pepper, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, water chestnuts, whatever you like or have on hand.

Cook until sauce thickens. Serve over rice.  I promise your kids will love this!

Be grateful, Juan Pablo, today is especially delicious.

Nacho Libre

Mr Bean

No conversation about how to spend less on food is complete without discussing beans. I buy my beans in bulk to save money and reduce waste. To save time, I cook a pot of them, then portion out family-size servings for the freezer so I always have “easy beans”.

If you want to eat more beans, download my free printable, 30 Days of Beans. It contains simple bean recipes you can eat for a month, with no repeats. Simply enter your name and email address below to get access.

Southern-style Collard Greens and Beans

This meal always reminds me of my paternal grandmother. She lived to be 102, and ate beans every day of her life.

In a large stock pot, saute a handful of chopped onion in the fat of your choice. When soft, add collard greens (I buy them pre-washed in bags) and just enough water to cover. Cook on low/medium heat until they’re the texture you like. I usually cook mine at least a half hour. Check regularly and add water if needed.

Greens will “cook down” fast so don’t worry that you will have a huge pan of food. A large bag of collards, once cooked, will be enough to feed several people a couple of times over.

Once the greens are soft, season them as you like. I typically add a slice of bacon to the boiling water. You can also use chicken broth. At the very least, add a little garlic. Then add salt, pepper, red pepper flakes (unless you have little ones who will protest), and a little more olive oil.

And this part is very important – a splash of apple cider vinegar! The acid makes this dish pop. I love greens served with “chow chow” which is a southern style naturally pickled relish, but if you can’t locate any, just use the vinegar.

Serve with cornbread and pinto beans.

Bell Peppers > Ground Beef?

Google “how to save money on food“, and I’ll bet your pea-picking heart you see this recommendation everywhere: eat more vegetables. For the most part, it’s true. Many of us need to eat more veggies for optimal health and to maintain a healthy weight.

But if you’ve ever become discouraged when bell peppers are $5/lb but ground beef goes on sale for $2.79/lb, you know that advice should be taken with a grain of kosher salt.

The good news is, some vegetables are reliably cheap. Examples: onions, cabbage, carrots, celery, sweet potatoes and zucchini. These are highly nutritious as well.

Make half your plate fruits and vegetables, vary your veggies.

MyPlate.gov – US Dept of Agriculture

These inexpensive vegetables work well to stretch the meat and fill out the main dish. A few ideas:

• Cabbage, finely shredded, is delicious when sauteed for an “Egg Roll in a Bowl”, meat optional. It’s also lovely on its own, pan-fried in butter with a splash of cream added at the end. So decadent and tres French!
• Try starting most recipes with a mirepoix (diced carrot, celery and onion). Almost any soup is made better with this trio.
• Serve your pizza on a bed of salad.
• Finely dice mushrooms, zucchini or carrots in a food processor and add to ground meat dishes. Mushroom has a lovely umani flavor similar to meat with a fraction of the calories. Zucchini is mild and takes on the flavor of what it’s served with. Carrots add color and sweetness. All three add extra fiber.
• Make sweet potatoes the main attraction with a “potato bar”. Bake one sweet potato per person and serve with all the toppings: sour cream, diced chicken, black beans, maple syrup and nuts, etc. More ideas here.

Eggs-cellent

I have to give a final shout-out to eggs. Eggs are around $1 a dozen currently. They’re far more affordable than meat, quick and easy to cook, and contain high-quality protein.

Omelets, frittatas and egg-based casseroles are an excellent way to use up leftover bits of vegetables, meat, cheese and even bread that might otherwise go to waste.

You can throw a friend egg on just about anything – toast, rice, sauteed greens, and call it a meal. My kids love hard-boiled eggs as a snack. They’re a busy mom’s bestie.

Did you notice something about the tips on this page? I’m not a vegetarian, but I keep my meat portions very small. Instead of being the bulk of my protein source, I use it as a condiment to add flavor.

By building your meal plans around the cheapest (but also nutritious) foods, you can take the headache out of spending less on food for your family.

Like this post? Consider pinning this image. Thanks!