What meals do you cook when very low on money?
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As a side note, it's a good investment to buy a pressure cooker at least for the beans since it cuts the cooking time to about 10 minutes (and this is assuming you've soaked the beans for at least 12H).
Pressure cookers will also cut down the cooking time of things that need longer cooking to not be too hard to chew, such as cheap pieces of beef.
Also consider chickpeas along with beans and lentils since you can cook them in the same way and they're the same kind of thing (pulses).
wrote last edited by [email protected]If you didn't soak your beans, you can still do them in a pressure cooker. It'll just take about an hour. It lets you make a somewhat last minute decision to have beans whenever you want.
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Ramen with frozen vegetables mixed in.
Bean tacos.
Some kind of dish using chicken thighs as you can buy the thighs for cheap.
If ground beef is cheap, cottage pie.
Various pasta dishes
Ramen with frozen vegetables mixed in.
I like to add soy protein chunks (TVP) in my instant noodles too. They're one of the cheapest sources of protein and do not need any extra work as long as you get the small ones. Just dump it in with the hot soup and wait for it to rehydrate.
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Agreed! Pulses in general allow for a healthy and affordable diet.
I'm not a proponent of rice mainly for the way it gets produced (lots of water needed and methane emitted in the process) and the fact it's a hyperaccumulator of arsenic. About all these things I don't need to worry when picking pulses.
But each to their own and some variety rarely is a bad idea.How much of a concern is arsenic? A lot of Asian cultures have rice with every meal and they have some of the healthiest people on the planet.
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Herb water? As in tea? Never heard of this
Its probably some kind of herb tea
I put herbs like oregano into the noodle water before even adding salt. Mostly i use some ready made mix -
How much of a concern is arsenic? A lot of Asian cultures have rice with every meal and they have some of the healthiest people on the planet.
Dunno. What I can say is that it's not no concern.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/15/health/arsenic-cadmium-rice-wellness
Add the methane production and use of water to the equation and beans or pulses in general look quite a bit better in terms of environmental or individual health.
And last but not least rice contains very little protein whereas pulses are rich in protein.
But because pulses typically are low on some protein like methionine and cysteine, grain is a indeed a good addition to a diet based on pulses.
Yet I'd pick oats over rice for that part. -
In a beat boxing tone:
Beans 'n rice (repeat as many times as needed).
Also do pasta with tomato sauce a lot, add whatever I have or what I can find on sale (mostly lentils, beans, frozen vegetables (kinds that have protein)).
I've always loved lentils but I've kinda rediscovered them lately, it's crazy how good they are in every way. Cheap, somehow always makes more food than you think, easy to cook and extremely versatile, makes you feel full with less and keeps you going for longer. Truly a superfood IMO.
Beans, rice, potatoes - the holy trinity.
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Beans, rice, potatoes - the holy trinity.
Adds nicely to the beatboxing too
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So far wasnt in the situation, buuut:
Cheap and easy spaghetti salad:
A big bowl
1 piece of garlic, finely chopped or sliced
2-3 big tomatoes or appeopiate amount of smaller tomatoes, small pieces
Basil, finely chopped
Spices (rosemary, Oregano, etc. for other pizza and pasta appropriate spices)
Olive oil, a healthy amount. The ingredients should be moderately covered in a small pool of oil (dont drown it.)
Pepper and chili flakes as much as you like
Let it rest for >60min. But you can be impatient and eat it earlier)
Salt to taste (should be a bit saltier than you like)Cook as much spaghetti as you like.
Remove from water and add to the bowl with the oil mix.
Mix all ingredients hntil everything is covered.Enjoy
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In a beat boxing tone:
Beans 'n rice (repeat as many times as needed).
Also do pasta with tomato sauce a lot, add whatever I have or what I can find on sale (mostly lentils, beans, frozen vegetables (kinds that have protein)).
I've always loved lentils but I've kinda rediscovered them lately, it's crazy how good they are in every way. Cheap, somehow always makes more food than you think, easy to cook and extremely versatile, makes you feel full with less and keeps you going for longer. Truly a superfood IMO.
Even easier:
Rice with broth of joice + pureed (blended?) tomatoes.
Add a solid spoon of sour cream and parsley.Easy tomato soup with rice. (also works with pasta)
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So far wasnt in the situation, buuut:
Cheap and easy spaghetti salad:
A big bowl
1 piece of garlic, finely chopped or sliced
2-3 big tomatoes or appeopiate amount of smaller tomatoes, small pieces
Basil, finely chopped
Spices (rosemary, Oregano, etc. for other pizza and pasta appropriate spices)
Olive oil, a healthy amount. The ingredients should be moderately covered in a small pool of oil (dont drown it.)
Pepper and chili flakes as much as you like
Let it rest for >60min. But you can be impatient and eat it earlier)
Salt to taste (should be a bit saltier than you like)Cook as much spaghetti as you like.
Remove from water and add to the bowl with the oil mix.
Mix all ingredients hntil everything is covered.Enjoy
That sounds amazing! And really simple, and even affordable. Some chunks of cheese would make it even better, if there's cheap cheese to be had. Will definitely try this, maybe try adding some lentils as a meat substitute. Thanks for the suggestion!
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That sounds amazing! And really simple, and even affordable. Some chunks of cheese would make it even better, if there's cheap cheese to be had. Will definitely try this, maybe try adding some lentils as a meat substitute. Thanks for the suggestion!
Your suggestions arent what I'd use it with but feel free to modify as you please
Take a look into the asiasn kitchen.
Some stuff can be made very easy with few ingredients there.For example I made a duck breast broth udon bowl.
But it's
200 g (7 oz) duck breast fillet
1 leek
1 teaspoon sunflower oil
500 ml (2 cups) water
100 ml (7 fl oz) soy sauce
50 ml (3½ fl oz) sake
50 ml (3½ fl oz) water
100 ml (7 fl oz) mirin
5g (¼ oz) dried kombu
5 g (¼ oz) katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
UdonYes, the ingredients require upfront cost and are usually more costly (for example in Asian supermarkets) but the broth was amazing for those few ingredients.
And they could probably be substituted with cheap version (in comparison to mid-quality products) or swapped.
Maybe not the same taste but similar enough to still taste well.(If someone wants the recipe, the epub can be found online.
This book (EN version under the same title) https://www.dorlingkindersley.de/buch/maori-murota-wiebke-krabbe-japan-home-kitchen-9783831046881
Page 14Tried only one recipe but so far it's a good book.
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Who eats popcorn for dinner? They asked about food, not snacks. Popcorn contains basically zero nutrition.
Really? Sure it's not a meal replacement, but it's a great snack, and who doesn't have a snack for dinner once in a while (my partner calls it "girl dinner"). You'll be hungry the next morning for sure, but I love popcorn for dinner once in a while.
Also, found this little writeup
Popcorn is a whole grain food that is high in important nutrients. This includes vitamins, minerals and very high amounts of fiber.
PS obviously don't do this for young kids, but for adults who know what they're doing...
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A friend had a recipie for a dinner he ate almost every night in college. One can of beans. One can of diced tomatoes. Put in microwave. Spice to taste. He called it "beans and tomatos".
Rofl, but actually a better "recipe" than many college students are capable of.
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Yeah you can just soak them in boiled water to shorten the time required.
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I have to admit that I do not do beans nearly as much as I should. I think it is because canned beans are not nearly the deal money-wise as dried beans are ... and I am not good at letting beans soak without forgetting them and ruining them.
I started vaguely planning my meals by the week sort of by accident. A friend made me a "weekly planner" whiteboard that had a "menu" section I thought would be totally useless.
But I started jotting down some ideas there, just on a whim, and I'll be damned but I love it!
I don't always follow my own plan, and I often just write the main/protein part and wing it a bit, but it's great having at least an idea what's coming down the pipe for the week, so I can actually plan prep and shopping, and use up what I have. It looks something like:
MON lentils TUE beans WED tofu ....Etc, so like now I know to soak beans overnight on Monday, and go buy tofu before Wednesday.
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I can get many varieties of squash and brassica cultivars locally for a ridiculously low price as most of the entire county I live in used to be all farmland and we have a ton of actual farmers markets that aren't fully commercialized
So I eat a lot of acorn and spaghetti squash, broccoli and cabbage in many forms, peppers are usually cheap as well as carrots. Onions are cheap as well as bananas
Beef and chicken bouillon for cheap flavor, whatever fruit is on sale for desert
Tofu for protein as I can't stand the texture of beans
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Soup with lots of root vegetables, cabbage, lentils etc. whatever is in season (a tip is to roast the veg in the oven first for better flavour and mouth feel). I always have some good sausages in the freezer that I buy for 50% off because they're close to expiration. Thaw them and fry them pretty hard before joining the soup. I can easily feed myself and my gf for a week from one batch. A boring week for sure but you do what you gotta do. Mix it up with some different toppings or other flavourings during the week.
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I imagine the right answer differs from country to country, as prices can be pretty different from place to place.
But in the U.S., when I was poor I'd often use regular boxes of dried pasta and add canned chili to them, and maybe shred a little bit of cheddar on top, add hot sauce to taste.
0.5 lb (230g) of pasta: 800 calories, 28g protein. Approximately $0.50 ($1/box).
15 oz (425g) of canned chili with beans: 460 calories, 29g protein. Approximately $3.
4 oz (113g) block of cheddar cheese: 440 calories, 24g protein. Approximately $1.50 ($3 per 8 oz pack).
That's a 1700 calorie meal with 81g of protein, for about $5, that takes about 12-15 minutes. It requires only a single pot and a cheese shredder if you prefer shredding it yourself (you can also buy pre shredded for maximum ease/convenience).
Obviously you can portion down in size, or keep some leftovers, if you're not the type of person to need a 1700 calorie meal in a single sitting.
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Pot of beans with chicken meat in it. A rotisserie chicken is pretty cheap. You can also do a lot with meat, rice, and gravy or sauce. Asian recipes do a lot of delicious things with a little, too.
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Oatmeal. Lentils. Beans and rice. Pasta.
