Our Favourite Budget Meals

Grocery prices are hitting some families hard, so fancy recipes with 32 ingredients are OUT, and anything you can make for a few bucks is IN.

People have been sharing their favourite “budget meals.”  That’s stuff from when they were younger, or a poor college student, that they’re tossing back into the rotation to save a little cash. 

Here are some highlights:

1.  Instant noodles, including Knorr pasta.

2.  Maruchan Ramen.

3.  Kraft boxed mac and cheese, maybe with sliced hot dogs mixed in.

4.  Grilled cheese and tomato soup.

5.  Lentil rice casserole, which is “Dried lentils, rice, salt, water, and seasoning in a casserole dish, bake for 90 minutes or so.  Costs pennies.”  (Recipe)

6.  Egg drop soup.  “A bouillon base, green onion, any veggie you have, and beaten eggs poured in.”  (Sounds delicious, but eggs can be one of the pricier things to buy at the moment.)

7.  Pasta with white cottage cheese and caramelized onion, topped with butter and salt.

8.  Condiment sandwiches:  Mayo on toast, mustard on toast, or ketchup on white bread.

9.  Cereal or oatmeal.

10.  Cheese quesadilla.  “Total cost to make one would be about 40 cents.”

11.  Hamburger Helper.

12.  Frozen Pizza Rolls.

13.  Red beans and rice, or for a bit more flair, chilli on rice.

14.  Lasagna

15.  “Glop” – “Cream of mushroom soup, sliced green onion, cooked rice, and Lawry’s garlic salt.  Sometimes shredded chicken added in.”  They say their mom called it “Glop” because of how it plops onto the plate in a spoon-shaped lump.  Others shared a similar mushroom soup dish, only with tuna.