5 Easy Meals Under $20

I’m not a gourmet chef, and I do tend (or try) to cook healthy for my family while saving money. It isn’t hard to do so if you research and plan prior to shopping and cooking. When it was just me, I wouldn’t know what to cook until the day-of. But with a family, I have to prepare weekly.

Here are a 5 meals I have found to be cheap, quick, easy, and can be adjusted to be even healthier but may cost more. I myself tend to add more seasonings and doctor things up to be some-what gourmet (I do have a former Chef husband). But for this post, I did the basics so that it costs less to make. To doctor it up probably would just be another $5 at most to give you an idea. Also, I did not list pricing for seasonings (i.e., salt, pepper, ketchup, garlic, onion, Italian seasoning, garlic seasoning, soy sauce, sugar, etc). For me, who always cooks at home, I always make sure my house is stocked with those seasonings as they’re generally staples and used often when I cook.

• Pasta – Noodles can be $0.99 or $0.89 for one box. I find one box is enough to feed 2 adults and have leftovers. Ground beef (or whichever meat you want to use if any) for 1.13lb is usually $5.99 total, but if you buy meat in the bulk monthly at a wholesale club membership store (Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s), it’s even cheaper in the long run. You need to only take out about 1-1.5 lbs of meat to use. Sauces you can make your own if you’re fancy like that, but I tend to buy bottles/cans and doctor it up some more (garlic, onion, Italian seasoning, rosemary, basil seasonings, etc.). 2 Bottles can be around $3-4 if you get the 2 for whatever price deals (sometimes there are 3 bottles for whatever price. Even better. I tend to cook with just two 24oz bottles which makes plenty of sauce). Then, the additional vegetables if you’d like: carrots, mushrooms, celery, spinach. I tend to add one or two vegetables in my pasta. All vegetables pretty cheap under $2 each. Mushrooms at our grocery store is always 2 for $4 which you can get to add all the mushrooms or use just one carton and save the other carton for another meal later in the week. Total minimum cost: $15

• Meatloaf – I wasn’t a fan of this at first until I cooked it myself and found it tasty, hearty, and cheap! The stuff to make it isn’t much either: Generally I make it with ground beef, egg, diced onion, bread crumbs, salt, pepper for taste, ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar. Ground beef (for around 1.5 lb) can be around $6.99 total, unless you again use the meat in the bulk from a wholesale club membership store. Bread crumbs, since not everyone cooks with bread crumbs often, being $3.99. I also make this with mashed potatoes because meatloaf + mashed potatoes = heaven. Bag of potatoes are cheaper to cook with to make home-made mashed potatoes as opposed to buying pre-made mashed potatoes (think quantity: only need 4-5 potatoes from a bag to cook with for the meal; save the rest of potatoes for another meal). Bag of potatoes usually $3 – $4. Then all you really need for the mashed potatoes is (optional) garlic, butter, milk, salt & pepper to taste. Total minimum cost: $15

• Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry – I made this the other day and it was delicious and cheap, but we didn’t have much leftovers since my husband liked it that much. 1 lb of flank steak around $6 – $7, 1-2 heads of broccoli usually $2 – $3/lb. Rice: a small 5 lb bag of Golden Rice jasmine rice is about $6. Other ingredients: cornstarch, garlic powder, onion, reduced sodium soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and sesame oil. Total minimum cost: $16

• Shrimp & Broccoli Alfredo – I know, this meal? Under $20? It can be! For 1.5 lb of shrimp (you’d have to determine if it’s cheaper fresh or frozen. If fresh, I wait until it’s on sale which can be $4.99/lb), it only costs about $7 – $8. I use a 16 oz bag of frozen broccoli florets which are around $2.99, and one 8 oz cream cheese that is usually $2.99 for the Lucerne brand. 1 bag of parmesan shredded cheese around $4, and one box of noodles $0.99. Butter: $3 – $4. Total minimum cost: $20

• Baked chicken legs/thighs w/rice & vegetables: I’ve seen chicken legs/thighs range in price from $5.99 – $9. Chicken thighs usually have 4 in them so cook with 2, save the other 2 for another time or cook all 4 depending on family size (marinade for the chicken consists of: honey, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, salt, pepper). Rice: a small 5 lb bag of Golden Rice jasmine rice is about $6. Vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, green beans are all good sides to eat with. Veggies are usually under $3-4 for ones listed. Maybe even less depending how much you get. Total minimum cost: $15, $20 if you need to purchase honey.

*Based off of estimated grocery prices per Safeway & Wal-Mart in Northern Virginia area.

---

(Photo from Pexel)