20 Family Meals On A Budget – Best Cheap & Easy Dinner Menu Ideas For The Week – extremely frugal friendly & simple recipes for your weekly menu – even picky eaters will enjoy these meals.
20 Family Meals On A Budget
When you’re on a budget, there are loads of cheap and easy meals that you can put together that are budget friendly and the whole family will enjoy.
My 8 and 10 year old picky eater kids will happily enjoy any of the extremely cheap meals in this post, and I’m sure your picky eaters will approve too.
These family meals on a budget also happen to be mostly low carb and keto diet friendly. So, if you’re following a low carb lifestyle, you can easily enjoy the same meal together. Just prepare a carby side for the kids and it’s as easy as one meal for all.
Easy Family Meals On A Budget
Here are the 20 easy family meals on a budget that are all loaded with simple ingredients to help keep your grocery budget as low as possible.
1. Sausage Casserole
There are plenty of cheap dinner ideas to enjoy budget friendly sausages, our favorite recipe is in a casserole with plenty of healthy vegetables and pasta sauce.
You can enjoy the sausage casserole with a side of rice, mashed potatoes, ramen noodles, cauliflower rice or cauliflower mash.
2. One Pan Moussaka
An easy way to enjoy moussaka in just one pan. This dish requires no baking, you simply take it from the pan to the table. It’s loaded with healthy vegetables, ground beef and has very little carbs.
3. Best Ever Budget Chicken Bake
This is the dish that my family request for birthdays and special days. And, it’s so cheap and easy to make that I happily oblige.
You’ll find that swapping a dish with a chicken breast for a drumsticks or thighs makes cheap family meals a breeze on a tight budget.
4. Cheesy Broccoli Casserole
This easy vegetarian dinner is easily adaptable to use whatever vegetables are in season (and budget friendly) and cook in a cheesy sauce.
This broccoli casserole dish has only 4 ingredients and is one of the best comfort dishes. (And the number one recipe on my blog – so others must agree!)
5. Beef Stew
An easy and extremely cheap stew is a classic dish made with low-cost ingredients that’s slow cooked and you can easily adapt to include whatever vegetables you like for your simple family dinner.
6. Smoky Paprika Chicken Tray Bake
As you can tell – I enjoy one tray or one-pot meals and this smoky paprika chicken tray bake is another excellent one dish wonder. The dish is tasty and full of colourful vegetables for a low total cost.
7. Authentic Irish Corned Beef and Cabbage
On moving to Ireland a year ago, I sought advice from my local butcher for how to enjoy Corned Beef the Irish way. I shared all the advice in the recipe and it’s really the BEST way to enjoy corned beef. (And wonderfully budget friendly too.)
8. Egg Roll In A Bowl
A super budget friendly dish – you need just cabbage, beef mince and some flavourings to create this easy low carb meal.
The best part is that there’s usually enough for dinner and leftovers for days, making this a brilliant dish for getting ahead with meal planning.
9. Mushroom Stroganoff
This mushroom stroganoff is a creamy vegetarian dinner that is so wonderful that you don’t miss the meat at all.
10. Pizza Stuffed Mushrooms
Another dinner that’s great for the whole family – pizza stuffed mushrooms. Simply top large mushrooms with your go to pizza, pasta sauce or tomato sauce, cheese such as Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese or cheddar cheese, oregano and your favourite pizza toppings.
11. Tuna Noodle Casserole
A low carb friendly way to enjoy tuna noodle casserole that is cheesy and nutritious too.
12. Honey Roasted Chicken Thighs
This honey roasted chicken thighs recipe is a great way to enjoy a meal full of comfort foods that are easy to find at a grocery store. Chicken thighs are simply cooked in a flavorful sauce of honey, garlic, ginger and tamari or soy sauce.
13. Yogurt Roasted Chicken
Another firm family favorite for easy weeknight dinners is this tasty yogurt roasted chicken.
A whole chicken is simply marinated in salt and yogurt then roasted to become crisp on the outside and perfectly tender within, that’s one of the cheapest meals to feed to a large family.
14. 7 Layer Salad
A make ahead salad, like this 7 layer salad, is the easiest way to eat a healthy dinner on busy weeknights, because you can prep your meal whenever you have the time and then dinner will be ready and waiting in the fridge for you.
15. Oxtail Soup
Cheaper cuts of meat that help keep our grocery bills down regularly find their way into delicious meals. This hearty oxtail soup makes a meaty, comfort food meal that’s budget friendly while being full of so much flavor and is always a favorite with my whole family.
16. Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie
Shepherd’s Pie or Cottage Pie are tasty options for easy dinners. There are plenty of variations, with beef mince, lamb mince or even ground chicken cooked into the base and potatoes or sweet potatoes as the creamy topping.
My go to version is this easy recipe for sweet potato shepherd’s pie that consists of lamb mince cooked with onion, garlic, leeks and carrots in a flavorful broth and topped with a creamy sweet potato topping.
17. Irish Lamb Stew
Irish Lamb Stew is another traditional favorite Irish meal that we’ve enjoyed time and time again since moving here as easy weeknight meals.
It’s the perfect meal to keep your grocery bill down because only budget friendly ingredients are used to create a hearty, tasty meal.
18. Tuna Cauliflower Casserole
Another quick, easy and great meal with the cheap ingredient of tuna is this cheesy tuna cauliflower casserole that has only 5 ingredients – cauliflower, tuna, cream, sour cream and grated cheese.
19. Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
These oven baked chicken thighs are our latest family favorite. Chicken thighs are simply baked with extra virgin olive oil, paprika and salt until crisp and flavorful. We serve ours with corn and rice for the perfect delicious dinner.
20. Breakfast For Dinner
And finally, family meals on a budget don’t come much easier than enjoying breakfast for dinner. Choose from fried eggs, scrambled eggs, an omelette or even the above pictured green shakshuka.
As you can see, there are lots of easy family meals on a budget that you can prepare that are low carb friendly and appeal to the whole family too.
More Family Meals On A Budget Inspiration:
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Disclaimer – this post is meant for informational post only and should not be construed as medical advice. Please consult with your health professional before making any dietary changes.
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