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Looking for some easy and cheap dinner ideas? In this post, I’m sharing our favorite budget dinners to help you make a quick and easy dinner for your family.
These cheap dinner ideas help us eat at home more, save money on food, and make dinnertime so much easier.
Whether you need dinner for your whole family, just the two of you, or for picky kids, these budget friendly dinner ideas will help you!
21 Cheap Dinner Ideas
Make your meal plan for the week using some of these affordable dinner ideas.
One of my very favorite resources to use for easy meal planning are the pre made Eat at Home meal plans. I love to save money by eating at home and spending more time with my husband.
You can save so much money, just by eating at home, and skipping the drive thru. Tiffany from Eat at Home takes all the work out of finding recipes and making a meal plan. She does all the work for you.
You can just follow her pre made meal plans and shop with the color coded grocery lists to save the most time and money! I’m a fan! You can check out the affordable pre made meal plans here.
Printed version of these cheap dinner ideas:
You can get a printed list of all these meals here, so you can have it handy when you make your menu for the week.
Click here to get your free printed copy of these cheap dinner ideas.
1. Quesadillas
Grab some tortillas, shredded cheese, and diced grilled chicken. You can add in different toppings your family loves like black beans, salsa, or peppers.
These are super easy to whip up in the skillet and serve with chips and salsa.
2. Individual Pizzas
Individual pizzas are fun if you want to get your whole family involved in making dinner. Grab some flatbread, pizza sauce, Italian shredded cheese, and your favorite toppings.
Let everyone create their own pizza. Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
3. Tacos
Tacos are a favorite at our house! Just brown 1 lb of ground beef, drain the grease, and add a packet of taco seasoning (35 cents at Aldi!) mixed with 2/3 cup water.
You can serve the taco meat several ways:
- Set up a taco bar with tortillas, tortilla chips, and all your favorite toppings. Let everyone make their own creations.
- Taco salad on chips- Tortilla chips, taco meat, shredded lettuce, diced tomato, shredded cheese, sour cream.
- Taco salad – lettuce, taco meat, diced tomato, shredded cheese, sour cream, or tortilla strips.
4. Salads
Not the most exciting thing ever, but salads don’t have to be super boring either! Salads are a great way to eat a little healthier, and use what you have on hand.
I love to find markdown salad kits at Kroger, since they usually include a bag of fun toppings.
Use whatever leftover meat and toppings you have.
Here’s some ideas:
- Southwest salad – leftover taco meat, corn, black beans, lettuce, tortilla strips
- Grilled chicken salad – leftover diced grilled chicken, tomatoes, onion, ranch dressing
- Cobb salad – eggs, ham, tomatoes, bacon
- Steak salad – Couldn’t eat your whole steak at dinner? Save your leftovers, warm, cut and place on salad with your favorite toppings
- BBQ salad – leftover BBQ meat, your favorite toppings, drizzle of BBQ sauce and ranch
5. Chicken Alfredo
Diced grilled chicken, bowtie pasta, and a jar of alfredo sauce makes for a hearty and delicious, simple weeknight meal.
I love to serve this with a side salad and garlic bread.
6. Pulled Pork/Chicken Sandwiches
Place chicken breasts or a boston butt in the crockpot to make pulled pork or chicken sandwiches.
To make pulled pork, I season the boston butt and place it in the crockpot with a can of Dr. Pepper or Root Beer. Once that cooks on low for about 8-10 hours, I remove the juice, shred the meat, and pour in enough BBQ sauce to mix the meat with.
For pulled chicken sandwiches, place chicken breasts in the crockpot with enough BBQ sauce to cover them, and a little bit of water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours and shred.
Serve on hamburger buns.
Tip: This is great for leftovers, so freeze any you have left, or use the leftover meat on salads or potatoes for another meal!
7. Chili
Chili is a great weeknight meal, and you can often make a large enough batch for a few meals. This can be made in the crockpot or on the stove.
Brown ground beef, mix with chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, and your other favorite spices. Mix the meat with kidney beans, pinto beans, Rotel, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste.
You can make chili dogs, Frito chili pies, or just simple chili in a bowl.
Freezer Meal Tip: I almost always make chili when I make freezer meals – this is a great freezer cooking plan with chili.
8. BBQ Potatoes
With leftover BBQ meat, you can make a very filling dinner of a BBQ potato.
Bake potatoes, heat the BBQ meat, top with shredded cheese, a drizzle of BBQ sauce and ranch dressing.
9. Grilled Chicken
Dice some chicken breasts, season, and grill in a skillet. Serve with fresh or canned vegetables. Super easy!
This is my go to on busy nights!
10. Salsa Chicken
Salsa chicken is such an easy meal to make! Just place chicken breasts in a crockpot and enough salsa to cover them. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, shred, and serve as chicken tacos.
Freezer Meal Tip: You can make salsa chicken freezer meals that are ready to dump in the crockpot. Just place your chicken and salsa in a freezer bag, freeze, then dump into the crockpot for any easy meal!
This freezer cooking plan shows you how to make salsa chicken and 20 other meals!
Related Post: My Top 9 Chicken Freezer Meals
11. Chicken and Potato Hash
Dice and grill chicken. Dice, season, and cook potatoes in a skillet.
Combine chicken and potatoes with whatever you have on hand to make a hash: crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, peppers, asparagus.
12. Chicken & Cheese Croissants
Grill small chicken tenders and place in unbaked croissants with shredded cheese or cheese slices. Roll the croissants around the chicken and cheese, and bake according to the croissant directions.
13. Spaghetti
We eat spaghetti almost once a week, so I love to make a huge batch of spaghetti sauce and divide it up into freezer meals. Just thaw the sauce overnight, boil some noodles, heat the sauce, and dinner is ready!
To make my spaghetti sauce: Pour 14 cans of tomato sauce and 2 cans diced tomatoes into large pot to start the spaghetti sauce. Add a dash of hot sauce and worchestire sauce (I don’t measure much, but I would say 2 tbsp. or so of each.)
Add desired spaghetti spices. I use about 2 tbsp. of chili powder. I use about 1 tbsp. of garlic powder, onion powder, basil leaves, dried oregano, and about 1 tsp. of cayenne pepper. Brown 2-3 lbs ground beef, drain grease, and add to sauce. Mix and let simmer.
14. Steak
Ok, steak at first doesn’t seem like a simple, easy, or cheap meal, but it totally can be!
Look for sales, and larger steaks that can be cut into 2 servings. We love New York strips! Fill in with sides like salad, rolls, and baked potatoes.
We got a countertop grill/griddle combo for Christmas that is perfect for 2 steaks. I marinate my steaks all day in an equal mix of Worchestire sauce and soy sauce. Grill, and serve with a salad or vegetables.
Any leftovers are perfect for a steak salad.
You can eat steak on a budget, just use smaller portions and more sides.
15. Burgers
Pre patted burgers can be a life saver on busy weeknights! Quickly grill and serve with your favorite toppings.
I love to use our small stovetop grill to make this quick and easy!
Freezer Meal Tip: Make burger patties and freeze in bags, so you can quickly thaw and grill them on busy nights!
Related Post: Favorite Beef Make Ahead Meals
16. Italian Chicken
Marinate chicken breasts in Italian dressing, grill until brown, and serve with a side salad or vegetables.
17. Chicken Tacos
Place chicken breasts, a taco seasoning packet, and enough water to cover the chicken in a crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, shred, and serve with your favorite toppings.
18. Breakfast for Dinner
Whip up some bacon or sausage, scrambled eggs, and biscuits for a fun and super easy breakfast for dinner meal.
19. Beef Stew
One of my favorite crock pot meals and my all time favorite meal to come home to, all cooked and ready to devour.
Place beef stew meat, or a roast, in the crockpot with diced potatoes and baby carrots.
Use a seasoning packet or your favorite seasonings and plenty of water. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
Tip: Make this budget friendly by using a cheaper cut of meat. Using a crockpot helps make meat super tender, so you don’t need the most expensive meats.
20. Rice, Steamed Veggies, Grilled Chicken
Cook a bag of ready rice in the microwave, add steamed veggies, and grilled chicken. Toss with soy sauce or teriyaki sauce.
21. Grilled Cheese and Soup
When all else fails, a warm grilled cheese and bowl of soup are always filling.
I hope you can add some of these cheap dinner ideas to your favorite meal list and your meal plan for this week. These meals are easy, affordable, and quick to get ready.
You can get a printed list of all these meals here, so you can have it handy when you make your menu for the week.
Click here to get your free printed copy of these cheap dinner ideas.
Save money on groceries and enjoy eating at home more with budget friendly, easy meals like these.
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