This gives the dish its signature look, as well as adds a subtle nutty flavor. These make-your-own burrito bowls are a whole lot cheaper than takeout. It's a great way to use any leftover chicken or rice you may have on hand.

Fresh basil is the key to this quick and easy stir-fry. Be careful not to overcook it, instead, stir the basil in right before serving. Reviewer samantha says, "This comes together very quickly and is a great way to use up extra basil growing in the garden.

Keep things simple on a Friday with this panini consisting of turkey, avocado, provolone cheese, fresh spinach, and roasted red peppers. If you don't have a panini press , you can place the sandwich in a skillet with a little oil, and top with a heavy skillet such as cast iron to press.

It's hard to believe this entire pizza is made with just four ingredients: shredded mozzarella, fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil. The melted, shredded mozzarella makes a crispy, thin crust that's gluten-free! Take it from reviewer Britney who says, "I was skeptical a cheese crust could hold up to the toppings I prefer.

IT DID! Canned salmon is cheaper than fresh, making it an excellent, budget-friendly protein source. These wraps are loaded with green onions, radishes, cucumbers, rice, and salmon, all tossed in a soy sauce mixture.

This gives me my fix! Looking for a use for that summer zucchini crop? This caprese-inspired salad makes a meal when stirred into pasta.

You can even add grilled chicken for more protein. Although this recipe calls for ingredients you'll likely only find at specialty grocery stores, you can easily swap out the Thai basil with regular basil and the Thai peppers with serrano peppers, as Allrecipes Allstar lutzflcat did: "This was so full of flavor and so darn easy to make I simply couldn't believe it.

This simple linguine is made using ingredients you likely have in your kitchen right now. Try adding grilled or sauteed veggies to make it a meal. Chicken and asparagus are tossed in an orange-soy sauce and served over brown rice to make a well-balanced weeknight dinner.

If you prefer the sauce a little thicker , combine equal parts cornstarch and water, mix until combined, and stir into sauce. Canned tuna is an affordable, high-quality source of protein, and it's hard to resist in this cheesy panini melt.

Serve with homemade potato chips for a diner-style dinner. Vegetarians and meat eaters alike will enjoy these quesadillas loaded with mushrooms, onions, black beans, cilantro, mozzarella cheese, and lime juice. American Goulash. I like to plan snacks and treats based on one or two staples or on ingredients that are already part of the meal plan.

Smoothies are the perfect way to use up yogurt, bananas and frozen berries, and my kids love them as after-school snacks.

Lately we've been crazy about salted roasted chickpeas, the best one-ingredient snack you'll ever make. And none of us can turn down a square of dark chocolate with a schmear of peanut butter after dinner. Apples or any leftover fruit , peanut butter, canned chickpeas.

Apple-Peanut Butter Smoothie. Crunchy Roasted Chickpeas. A number of our meals this week incorporate a few pantry staples that I often have on hand. Here's what I'll rely on this week. Note: I did not include these items in my budget, but included approximate cost per serving for reference.

With a bit of planning and creativity, you can feed your family a week's worth of nutritious meals for a little more than what you'd spend at a restaurant for one meal. Use this healthy meal plan on a budget as inspiration to make the most of your grocery budget without sacrificing taste or variety!

See all of our other healthy meal plans and healthy dinner plans. Use limited data to select advertising. Create profiles for personalised advertising. Use profiles to select personalised advertising. Create profiles to personalise content. Use profiles to select personalised content.

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Develop and improve services. Use limited data to select content. List of Partners vendors. Healthy Eating Budget Cooking Guide. By Carolyn Hodges, M. EatingWell's Editorial Guidelines. Reviewed by Dietitian Victoria Seaver, M. Victoria Seaver is a registered dietitian and Associate Editorial Director for EatingWell.

She completed her undergraduate degree in nutrition, dietetics and food science and her masters degree and dietetic internship at the University of Vermont. Victoria has been a part of the EatingWell. com team since Once the lentils are tender, serve and enjoy! As I mentioned before, lentils are a staple in my extreme budget meal plan.

For this recipe, I use chili powder and paprika to pair with the enchilada sauce. Cook lentils according to the package instructions and remove any excess liquid from the cooked lentils. Stir in all of the seasonings. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Pour half of the can of the enchilada sauce into the baking dish.

Place the rest of the corn tortillas over the top and pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas. Sprinkle cheese on top, if using. Bake for 30 minutes. Top with your favorite taco toppings, serve, and enjoy! Canned tuna is an amazing affordable protein that is filling and nutritious.

Boil the pasta according to the package instructions. To a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil.

Once hot, add the onion and frozen vegetables and cook for minutes. Stir in the flour, then slowly stir in the milk and pasta water.

Once simmering not boiling , add the tuna and seasonings and cook for a couple minutes, until warmed through.

Stir in the cooked pasta, serve, and enjoy. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Sign me up for the newsletter! Welcome here! I'm Julia, a wife and mother to two lovely daughters who LOVES cooking for my family!

You only need basic kitchen items to cook with me! Subscribe to my Youtube or my newsletter for new recipes weekly! Thank you for all the support 🧡. Email address:. Home » Extreme Budget Meal Plan.

Follow these tips for creating a healthy meal plan on a budget each week. Proteins, like chicken or beef, tend to be the most costly items on the grocery list, so build a meal plan around items that are on sale.

Consider seasonal produce, which tends to be cheaper, like asparagus in the spring and fresh berries in the summer. Keep a stock of cheap staples like eggs and canned tuna that can be used in multiple meals throughout the week. Hard-boiled eggs add protein to your morning avocado toast or your kid's lunchbox.

Canned tuna becomes an easy meal-prep filling for lunch wraps and doubles as melts for a quick dinner. When shopping, keep an eye out for deals and stock up when stuff goes on sale.

Pound for pound, plant-based proteins like lentils and canned beans are a steal compared to animal proteins. Plus, research suggests that eating more plants is good for our health. Add in a few meatless options throughout the week for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

Assigning theme-night meals based on different meal types—like Slow-Cooker Sunday, Meatless Monday or Stir-Fry Friday—or based on pantry staples like brown rice and whole-grain pasta think Rice Bowl Thursday or Pasta Wednesday is a good way to stick to your budget and also reduce meal-planning decision fatigue.

Adding in a leftover night or two! is also a good idea. Pack up tonight's leftovers for tomorrow's lunch, or transform whatever is left into another meal for the family. Make loaded sweet potatoes with leftover chili, a frittata to use up any remaining cooked spaghetti noodles, or burritos with the last of a roasted chicken.

This week, I'm keeping things simple with no-cook breakfast options , versatile meal-prep lunches and kid-friendly dinners that come together in about 30 minutes or less. To minimize food waste and save on groceries, I'll use many of the same ingredients for multiple meals.

Planning simple, quick breakfasts I can serve in minutes is key to less-chaotic mornings in our house. I'll meal-prep a big batch of overnight oats to be eaten on demand during the week or packed up to-go.

Or, I'll toast a stack of whole-wheat bread and let everyone choose their toppings. On the Menu. Budget Ingredients. Rolled oats, whole-wheat bread, bananas, frozen berries. Creamy Blueberry-Pecan Overnight Oatmeal. Everything Bagel Avocado Toast. Peanut Butter-Banana Cinnamon Toast.

We keep lunch extra-easy in my house with snack-style lunches for the kids and salads or rice bowls for the adults. Meal-prepping a few ingredients in advance minimizes cooking during the week and allows everyone to help assemble their own lunch. I like to have a couple of protein options, a batch of cooked grains, and some washed lettuce and cut vegetables on hand.

Check out our best base recipes for meal prep for inspiration for what to make. Eggs, canned black beans, brown rice, leftover vegetables from dinner.

Egg Salad Lettuce Wraps. I rely heavily on a well-planned dinner menu because this is where I spend the bulk of my grocery budget plus it ensures I'm not scrambling to find something to serve come 6 p.

One of the best veggie meals. Even my carnivore of a husband said that he liked it," says reviewer Fran. This healthy and filling combination of chickpeas, tomatoes, onion, and numerous spices means Meatless Mondays never have to be boring.

Serve with Indian Naan Bread , basmati or jasmine rice. This gives the dish its signature look, as well as adds a subtle nutty flavor.

These make-your-own burrito bowls are a whole lot cheaper than takeout. It's a great way to use any leftover chicken or rice you may have on hand.

Fresh basil is the key to this quick and easy stir-fry. Be careful not to overcook it, instead, stir the basil in right before serving. Reviewer samantha says, "This comes together very quickly and is a great way to use up extra basil growing in the garden. Keep things simple on a Friday with this panini consisting of turkey, avocado, provolone cheese, fresh spinach, and roasted red peppers.

If you don't have a panini press , you can place the sandwich in a skillet with a little oil, and top with a heavy skillet such as cast iron to press. It's hard to believe this entire pizza is made with just four ingredients: shredded mozzarella, fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil.

The melted, shredded mozzarella makes a crispy, thin crust that's gluten-free! Take it from reviewer Britney who says, "I was skeptical a cheese crust could hold up to the toppings I prefer. IT DID! Canned salmon is cheaper than fresh, making it an excellent, budget-friendly protein source.

These wraps are loaded with green onions, radishes, cucumbers, rice, and salmon, all tossed in a soy sauce mixture. This gives me my fix! Looking for a use for that summer zucchini crop? This caprese-inspired salad makes a meal when stirred into pasta.

You can even add grilled chicken for more protein. Although this recipe calls for ingredients you'll likely only find at specialty grocery stores, you can easily swap out the Thai basil with regular basil and the Thai peppers with serrano peppers, as Allrecipes Allstar lutzflcat did: "This was so full of flavor and so darn easy to make I simply couldn't believe it.

This simple linguine is made using ingredients you likely have in your kitchen right now. Try adding grilled or sauteed veggies to make it a meal. Chicken and asparagus are tossed in an orange-soy sauce and served over brown rice to make a well-balanced weeknight dinner. Each month includes dessert options, suggestions for holiday meals and special occasions, and a meal planning calendar.

Cooking on a budget does NOT mean you have to give up on your diet! Almost all the recipes are built around ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen, so take your pick and enjoy!

This entire-month meal plan is built around main ingredients like chicken, ham, beef, or turkey and includes and encourages great ways to use leftovers to cut down on your grocery budget. Talk about the full package! There are breakfast, lunch, and some dessert options included as well.

The Real Food Menus series has a ton of meal plans and budget-friendly grocery shopping advice, too! This vegetarian-friendly free meal plan for a family of three is all about making the most of simple ingredients, pantry staples, and some creativity but not too much in the kitchen.

This meal plan is entirely vegetarian not for everyone, I get it , so keep in mind that while you can definitely add meat into some of these recipes, it will wind up increasing your budget! Life as a Mom meal plans are just that: universal, perfect for any time of year, and easily adjusted for night-of cooking or make-ahead.

Each weekly meal plan includes a grocery list, printable recipes, and a weekly meal planner. Inexpensive, creative, and delicious meals, PLUS a streamlined, minimal shopping list? What more could you want?! This five meal, one dessert meal plan is budget friendly, includes super simple recipes with shopping lists that could fit into one basket not a cart!

Budget meal planning requires a little extra creativity and this meal plan is definitely not falling short there! This family of five really knows how to pack a punch in a frugal grocery budget! This day free menu plan includes a shopping list and recipes! and an itemized, daily meal breakdown that makes it super easy to stick to budget, follow along, and save money while still coming up with plenty of creative meals for the family!

Plus, the protein is totally swappable—if you find a better deal on beef or even shrimp or pork, you can switch it out for chicken in the dishes.

There are tons of cheap meal plans out there—enough to eat restaurant or at least take-out level quality meals every night. These best free meal plans might just end up in your regular meal planning rotation!

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