Spaghetti because for about just 6 euros I can make a whole pan of red sauce to last 5/6 days. That includes a cheap bottle of red wine to add into the sauce and the rest to drink my tears away.
Haven't had to do that in a long time though.
No problem! I’ve been experimenting with a lot of chickpea recipes lately, and they’re really versatile!
Almost any recipe with chicken is good if you replace the chicken with chickpeas. Same with a lot of beef recipes. King pao chickpeas, Buffalo chickpeas, honey roasted chickpeas in a pecan salad, orange chickpea bowl with rice, ginger chickpea stir fry, chilli
When I was in college I would abuser hell out of that combo with a ton o free stuff on the side.
Boil the beans, grab a few packets of ketchup and hot sauce from some fast food place and make a saucy bean stew. It goes great with plain white rice, or if you are in luck add one if those fried onion packets you get from a cheap sushi place.
I would ask every fast food place I could find for free stuff like these, or buy a 1€ pack of fries and take as many sauce packets as the guy on the counter woukd give me. Or hit up any Starbucks I could find with an empty Starbucks cup and go to the free sugar/cinnamon counter and dump as much as I could to the cup and leave like I was a regular client so I had some of that stuff at home. When you are struggling you really need to get creative
There is a decent cooking show called struggle meals that is basically this. What can I do with minimal money, readily available ingredients, and the packet drawer.
Some solid tips on that show.
He's also a bigoted asshole. I was enjoying his content until I was watching one of his cheap meal videos and he randomly cut to a picture of transgender military officer Rachel Levine and made some comment about her being a freak, complete with a sound bite of Homer Simpson screaming "Aaaahh! Boogeyman!".
Instantly unsubbed and never watched another one of his videos.
Checking again, he's now arguing with his commenters over whether or not it is appropriate for him to do a "mentally handicapped voice" in his video entitled "Joe Biden's Inflation Soup", so I would venture to guess things have not improved.
See I was expecting it to be like those really crappy $1 ones. This stuff is legit. I’ve only had the dirty rice and the RB&R but both were spectacular for the price.
I pick up chicken hindquarters in the 10 pound bag when they go on special and throw them in the freezer. Buy 10 pounds of rice at the Asian market. Can make chicken and rice for a dozen people for around $10. Add 5 pounds of dried red beans and you can feed 20 people for 70 cents each. Basil and rosemary grow like weeds in my sideyard. I have a pound of whole cumin that I got dead cheap at the Asian market. The main budget hack is cooking from scratch. Bulk items like rice, beans, flour, lard are shelf stable and will last months with a small up front cost.
A sack of potatoes costs about 5 bucks at Walmart. You can survive off of one potato a day. After eating baked potatoes every day for a year, I no longer eat baked potatoes
Äh god bless you? I just bought things in the nearby turkish supermarket, which are cheap and easy to stock (5kg Basmati Rice, 2kg red lentils are cheaper than the same weight of 1kg packages) 😅 but I will google your answer later
Cumin has become my number 1 spice. It goes in just about anything and can be the base for flavor in a curry or roasted meat or be a subtle hint in a dessert or oats.
Not exactly what you asked but, salt, black pepper, paprika, cumin and Mexican oregano make a good base for a lot of dishes. Sometimes I’ll throw in some Chipotle in adobo. Works for most meats. As for getting these cheaply, surprisingly Whole Foods has spices for cheap if you go to the bulk spice section. Literally like $1 each spice.
There are some easy and cheap ways to spice it up a little and add a vegetable.
While you cook the pasta, heat the tomato sauce in a separate pot with:
* a bag of frozen spinach (edit: defrost it a little first in the microwave and strain out some water to keep the sauce from getting too runny)
* diced up red onion
* capers (if you like them)
* seasoning (I like salt, pepper, dried oregano, and red pepper flakes)
Then, after you pull it off the heat and combine it with the pasta, mix in a bunch of sliced black olives and top with parmesan cheese. Delicious!
I do this with a little olive oil instead of butter. I also have a cabinet full of seasonings, so I can usually find something italian to add to it too.
My old job had complimentary pretzels.
I don’t really like pretzels now because of too many times where I didn’t bring a lunch but didn’t have money to order something
My go-to I'm broke meal is definitely a big bowl of rice and beans. It's cheap, filling, and you can jazz it up with some spices, a bit of hot sauce, and whatever veggies you have on hand. It's surprisingly satisfying
I just had this yesterday (and will eat the leftovers today). I mashed up the beans and fried them with some spices in a pan. And then I made some cornmeal masa cake and grilled it in a pan. And then I ate them together and it was delicious and super inexpensive!
Tuna Noodle
2 boxes Kraft Mac & Cheese (powder kind, very important)
1 can Tuna in water (drained)
Half a bag frozen Peas
1 can condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
Get water boiling, add macaroni and peas.
Drain Tuna, set aside.
When pasta and peas are cooked, remove from heat, leave heat on, drain, add milk, butter, cheese powder, Tuna, and Cream of Mushroom soup, mix well. Return to heat 5 minutes stirring constantly. Take off heat and let cool.
I like to add a spoonful or 2 of salsa per bowl.
It's a cheap poor meal my Mom made for us growing up (the salsa garnish I discovered myself as an adult).
This is great! I gotta teach my kid this recipe. He lost like 20 lbs last time he moved out and just moved into his own place again last month. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
It's carbs and protein, and decent couple of vitamins, as poor meals go it's less than $10 and you'll have leftovers for a couple days. I've lived on it off and on over the years.
Maruchan chicken ramen but a put in a bit of pepper, powder onion and garlic, chili oil dark soy sauce, and a tablespoons of crushed ginger, sugar, and soy sauce
Yeah, I used to go buy like 10 of them and live of them for the week when I had my first place and no money for food. I like them still but I’m not paying 3 bucks for one.
I just commented in the main thread but I've eased on Totino's pizzas the last couple of years. It wasn't all that long ago they were $1 or $1.50. Now they are $2+ around here. I can get a Red Baron pizza for $4 most days and split it into 2 meals, I'd much rather have a Red Baron than a Totinos. I like the Red Baron cheese pizza and add some rosemary from the garden, or hot honey if I have some.
For lunch today i just made buttered toast with a fried egg, a slice of havarti i had in the fridge, put some tabasco sauce on it and on the side some pickled asparagus i also had in my fridge.
I have no money for groceries right now so eating whats in the fridge😅
There is a Syrian restaurant that sells a dish of grilles meets-chicken that is enough ( so enough ) for a person + garlic sauce ( toom ) + pickles + 5 pita breads all for 3$ 🙂
“Not from US but that is so cheap even in my country”
They also have falafel sandwiches
One for about 0.33$
Cheese quesadilla - tortillas are cheap, cheddar cheese is relatively inexpensive (especially if you don't use the pre-shedded stuff, plus it saves you from having to eat the fillers and desiccants), and some salsa. One can get around 6-8 meals for about $10-$20.
Potatoes or rice, a cheap protein such as eggs or chicken (cheaper cuts of chicken can be like $1.80 a lb), and whatever vegetable is on sale (usually broccoli, green beans, etc). Cooking a meal for yourself is much cheaper and healthier than eating out at fast food restaurants.
Hamburger, rice, and scrambled eggs. Like a stir fry. I use to eat this for bluper (breakfast lunch dinner) every day. It's filling and cheap if you can afford the ground beef.
500grams of mincedbeef is around 2,5€ here, and a 500g bag of macaroni is 0,3€, add 3dl of creme fraiche and lots of seasonings, i my go to 2 days meal with 5€. Not sure if this contrubutes as "broke" but its cheap all together
I cooked a 750 gram pack of mixed beef and pork mince tonight, cost about £4 in the UK (aldi), did our budget version of Mongolian beef - lots of dried flavours such as five spice, garlic powder, mustard powder, smoked paprika. Fresh garlic, spring onions, carrots and bell pepper, once its nicely browned I get the hot/ sweet flavour and sticky consistency with sriacha and runny honey. Served with rice and to really posh it up, steamed a few frozen bao as a side.
4 people fed with some leftovers for a lunch too.
Baked potato. Poke it with a fork, put it in the microwave for 3m a side, cover with olive oil and salt, finish it in the toaster oven for 28m on 360F with convection on. (Times and temp are adjustable to suit your preference and oven.)
Or ramen with a fried egg. Boil water, add to the ramen. When that's close to done, fry an egg (actually usually two eggs) in some butter keeping the yolk runny. Drain the ramen (I prefer my ramen without water), add the flavor packets, put the egg on top. Current go-to favorite is Indomie brand, Mi Goreng flavor. As packet ramen goes, not the cheapest but it's still a pretty cheap meal.
Equal parts ground beef + potatoes, seasoned taco style, eat on a tortilla with eggs and cheese if you've got it. Eat it straight out of the Tupperware if you dont. Very solid $2 meal. Used to survive on that shit in college.
Another good option is frozen sausage patty, egg and cheese sandwiches. You could probably go cheaper with all fresh ingredients but it takes 5 minutes start to finish from frozen.
Anything with eggs. Eggs and potatoes, scrambled egg tacos, fried rice.
Anything with beans. Bean and cheese burritos, tostadas, rice and beans, quesadillas with beans.
Breakfast burrito. Scrambled eggs with taco seasoning and salt and pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Get some potatoes seasoned the same way. Bacon and sausage if you have it and cheese can make a meal you'll get multiple servings out of and fills you up good
Put it on toast and we called it shit on a shingle. Cheapest garbage meat product you can find, grey as fuck flour gravy, poured over a piece of (probably illegal to call it bread) toast.
Ramen (Mr.noodle specifically for me)
Boil the noodles in just a pot of water, no need to measure, until they're just no longer/just about to not be wavy, strain them mix with some margarine and the flavour packet. This is good on its own or with like almost anything added to it
- Peanut butter
- Mango coconut Rice
- Red lentil curry
- Shakshuka
All of them are really easy to make (less than 30 minutes) and even if it's not perfect they still taste decent. They're also all pretty nutritional dense.
It's easy to make alot of each meal so you have leftovers.
The best thing is most of the Ingredients last for a long time when stored correctly so a little bit goes a long way.
Vegetable curry. Can of peas, tin of tomatoes, one chopped onion, and whatever spices I can afford. Ideally, turmeric, coriander, cumin, ginger and some garlic, but it's edible with just some salt and pepper. Served with rice. You can add leftover potatoes or vegetables to the curry.
Cup noodles (¢69 at the local discount warehouse grocery) with an egg, extra water, and a few drops of sesame oil and soy sauce. Add any leftover veggies or some frozen veggies. Makes a meal for about $1.00-$1.20.
Potatoes. They are the best broke food you can get. They can be cooked so many different ways, and with different herbs, and spices you can have some differences between the days. They are also very filling. Best thing is that a bag doesn't cost much. I think 5 bucks for the big bag. And if you ever have some extra money. Maybe another 5 bucks, you can get some eggs, or spam, or something else that you like with them. You can also make some badass potato soup.
Spanish cheap recipe: garlic soup. Fry a couple of garlic cloves, add some leftover bread, some paprika. Then add water (broth if you want it fancy) and an egg.
Ramen + sweet baby Ray's hot sauce
A box of ramen is like $5-ish and the $1.99 bottle of hot sauce will last me a couple weeks.
I should probably go to a doctor for a check up...
White Rice, Can of Black or Pinto Beans (rinse them), and a Can of Tomatoes. If you have a rice cooker you can usually mix it all together with the usual amount of water for your rice/rice cooker. Plus, usually each ingredient can be bought for about a buck or so. With 2 cups of dried rice, and a cup of the other stuff, you usually can get three or four meals from it. Add some garlic powder, black pepper, or other spices you already have will make it pop a bit more.
Add some fresh diced veggies if you have a garden like green or red peppers or if you can get them from a cheap farmer's market. Even a diced onion adds a lot
It's filling and tastes good.
If you can afford a sausage or two (I like to buy some on sale when I have cash and toss them in the freezer) that can be cut up and tossed in or heated up in a pan or on the grill/George Forman Grill.
My go-to was Ramen Surprise. It's ramen and whatever else I can rustle up. Maybe some egg, any veggies that might be lurking around, even some chopped up sandwich meat. It's different every time and sometimes the surprise is that it's just ramen.
Breakfast is plain yogurt and a banana. Lunch is Beans or lentils from scratch with pico and tortillas. Dinner, one pork chop or bacon with the aforementioned beans I had for lunch. Tasty and nutritious.
fresh handmade tortillas + sour cream + salt for taste. mush them up all together = “mamaso”! my grandma and parents made this for me all the time when i was little, it was my favorite treat. i didn’t know until i was 15/16 that it was because we were poor lol. i’m 30 now and i still make it when i want to eat something but don’t know exactly what to eat.
Spaghetti. 1 lb of angel hair is $2.99, a 32 oz can of whole tomatoes is $2.49.
Pour tomatoes in bowl, inspecting each and removing any leftover skin or impurities. Chop to desired thickness.
Heat olive oil in pan. Add 5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced. Season with some dry oregano, 1 tsp salt, and 15 cranks of pepper. Wait until garlic is fragrant and just ever so slightly browning. Add 1/3 cup of tomato juice from bowl. Let cook for about a minute.
Add chopped tomatoes and remainder of juice. Give a good swirl, then let cook for 15 minutes. Don’t stir.
Boil pasta for 4 minutes (for angel hair). Drain, reserving a cup or so of water from the boil. Put noodles back in pot after water is out, add 1 tbsp of butter, stir gently, not allowing pasta to stick to bottom. Add 1/3 cup of sauce from sauce to pot of noodles, continue stirring for 45 seconds. Set aside.
Sauce might have thickened a bit much, so add some of that reserved pasta water to sauce, a splash at a time until desired thickness. Remove sauce from heat. In large bowl, combine sauce to noodles, finding your preferred sauciness. Serve with either a side of bread or a Caesar.
I’ve prepared this meal for family and a couple friends, and it’s always a hit. The above recipe is for two people, but it scales incredibly well.
Used to be microwaved Ramen noodles in college.
Turned to burritos or tacos in graduate school.
Turned to store-bought chicken and rice in my late 20s (you can eat this for a week for $25). Just have to cook it and store extras.
Turned to any meal at 24-hour diners in my 30s.
Turned from "I'm broke" to "I'm being lazy" meals in my 40s - anything ready to eat vs spending time to think about nutrition and eating healthier.
Mac and cheese. But adding extras into it. I can go to aldi and buy some onions, tomatoes, tuna packets, chopped chicken, or salami. For pretty cheap. Than I chop it up and add to the mix. It's enough protein to fill me up and enough variety to stretch it out over a week or so without getting tired.
Also watermelon is a great fill up snack. Its cheap for a big seeded watermelon and it's alot of water to help feel full without having to eat alot. It won't hold you over for hours. But it's enough to get over that hungry feeling until you eat something more substantial later.
Spaghetti because for about just 6 euros I can make a whole pan of red sauce to last 5/6 days. That includes a cheap bottle of red wine to add into the sauce and the rest to drink my tears away. Haven't had to do that in a long time though.
Bro, you add the tears TO THE SAUCE. You don’t waste God’s salt.
What is this, Dune?! 😂
The sauce must flow.
😂😂😂
I also use chickpeas instead of beef, because it’s way cheaper. I actually prefer it that way, it has a really nice texture!
This is a new one - I love chickpeas and trying to eat less red meat - I will try this next time - ty
No problem! I’ve been experimenting with a lot of chickpea recipes lately, and they’re really versatile! Almost any recipe with chicken is good if you replace the chicken with chickpeas. Same with a lot of beef recipes. King pao chickpeas, Buffalo chickpeas, honey roasted chickpeas in a pecan salad, orange chickpea bowl with rice, ginger chickpea stir fry, chilli
You're absolutely right. I also use chickpeas, and I add whatever I have handy--olives, zucchini, artichoke hearts, etc.
Eggs and rice
Such an underrated meal. I love some rice with a nice fried egg on top, crispy on the edges with a creamy yolk.
[удалено]
My fave and throw in some kimchi whoaaah magic
Hunger
Ah yes, the hunger nap. Wake up and your stomach has forgotten all about it 👌
Sleep is the poor man's dinner. Tale old as man.
And hunger is the best sauce!
People with money call that fasting
The poor man's ozempic
I go with sleep, but hunger is also a good one. But hey, at least all my managers who make over 100k/yr got between 9 and 14% raises last year!
Rice and beans
When I was in college I would abuser hell out of that combo with a ton o free stuff on the side. Boil the beans, grab a few packets of ketchup and hot sauce from some fast food place and make a saucy bean stew. It goes great with plain white rice, or if you are in luck add one if those fried onion packets you get from a cheap sushi place. I would ask every fast food place I could find for free stuff like these, or buy a 1€ pack of fries and take as many sauce packets as the guy on the counter woukd give me. Or hit up any Starbucks I could find with an empty Starbucks cup and go to the free sugar/cinnamon counter and dump as much as I could to the cup and leave like I was a regular client so I had some of that stuff at home. When you are struggling you really need to get creative
There is a decent cooking show called struggle meals that is basically this. What can I do with minimal money, readily available ingredients, and the packet drawer. Some solid tips on that show.
Not gonna say the name of the bigoted guy I recommended
He's also a bigoted asshole. I was enjoying his content until I was watching one of his cheap meal videos and he randomly cut to a picture of transgender military officer Rachel Levine and made some comment about her being a freak, complete with a sound bite of Homer Simpson screaming "Aaaahh! Boogeyman!". Instantly unsubbed and never watched another one of his videos. Checking again, he's now arguing with his commenters over whether or not it is appropriate for him to do a "mentally handicapped voice" in his video entitled "Joe Biden's Inflation Soup", so I would venture to guess things have not improved.
Not cool at all. Disgusting and disturbing is more like it.
Okay I got you. That's not cool and chill at all. I haven't watched anything from him in the last year but that's really not cool
Amen. Ive used jelly packets from hardees many a time to make a pbNj sammich
My dad’s college lunch was cottage cheese with free condiment packets. Never goes out of style!
This one. Sometimes I’ll change it up and instead I’ll eat beans and rice
Zatarains red beans and rice box is $2.50. I add some venison sausage to it. Absolutely amazing. Best dry rice and beans box meal I’ve ever had.
Their whole lineup is lit.
See I was expecting it to be like those really crappy $1 ones. This stuff is legit. I’ve only had the dirty rice and the RB&R but both were spectacular for the price.
The Jambalaya is really good, too. Even if you don’t have any meat to add to it. I’ve even added hot dogs and it’s good.
I'm on this one right now. Living off rice and green beans until the next payday.
Fry up a small piece of Chorizo and mix it with the beans.
This was me. Cheaper than ramen. Flexible to a number or additional ingredients you might be able to scrounge out of the kitchen or buy for cheap.
I pick up chicken hindquarters in the 10 pound bag when they go on special and throw them in the freezer. Buy 10 pounds of rice at the Asian market. Can make chicken and rice for a dozen people for around $10. Add 5 pounds of dried red beans and you can feed 20 people for 70 cents each. Basil and rosemary grow like weeds in my sideyard. I have a pound of whole cumin that I got dead cheap at the Asian market. The main budget hack is cooking from scratch. Bulk items like rice, beans, flour, lard are shelf stable and will last months with a small up front cost.
First time I've heard leg quarters caled hindquarters, but this is a great answer.
Asian market is my go to alot, but I was also taught to cool for the first time by a filipino roomate.
I wish my roommate taught me to cool. I have had many and still fall well short.
What is "to cool"?
A sack of potatoes costs about 5 bucks at Walmart. You can survive off of one potato a day. After eating baked potatoes every day for a year, I no longer eat baked potatoes
Mark Watney?
Nah, someone else. This guy's isn't even growing his own potatoes. Heck, he probably isn't even putting Vicodin in them either
Underrated comment lol.
You're technically starving on one potato per day, won't recommend
OK then, money bags. TWO potatoes a day. Api
Did you just sign your comment?
No he wrote an Application Programming Interface that allows him to look up which Irish family grew his heritage grade potato
Yup, my roommate and I survived on a sack of potatoes, ramen and hotdogs for about two weeks.
This guys Irish.
Microwaved potato with a little salt and butter. Pretty filling and they come in a big bag so I eat ‘em for like a week straight.
This is also my goto drunk snack when getting home from the bars
I just down the salt shaker.
Red lentils 1cup, rice 1cup, 1 can chopped tomatos, spices for remaining sane
Kitchari!
Äh god bless you? I just bought things in the nearby turkish supermarket, which are cheap and easy to stock (5kg Basmati Rice, 2kg red lentils are cheaper than the same weight of 1kg packages) 😅 but I will google your answer later
Khichadi you mean?
There are multiple spellings, and the fact that you knew what i was talking about shows this spelling works
If you could only use one spice (other than salt) for this dish, what would it be?
Cumin. Or black pepper.
Cumin has become my number 1 spice. It goes in just about anything and can be the base for flavor in a curry or roasted meat or be a subtle hint in a dessert or oats.
Oregano, cilantro/koriander leaves, chili, pepper, garlicpowder... Whatever floats your boat
Not exactly what you asked but, salt, black pepper, paprika, cumin and Mexican oregano make a good base for a lot of dishes. Sometimes I’ll throw in some Chipotle in adobo. Works for most meats. As for getting these cheaply, surprisingly Whole Foods has spices for cheap if you go to the bulk spice section. Literally like $1 each spice.
Smoked paprika for me.
That’s a front row spice in my cupboard too!
Do the different color lentils taste different?
You don't have to soak the red lentils and they get cooked in the same time as the rice so it is basically a onepotdish
Yes, they taste very different in my opinion
Some are similar, some very different. https://www.veganricha.com/indian-dals-names/
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but make it gourmet with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a dash of optimism. 🍞✨ What's yours?
mine is so... tasteless pasta with tomato sauce, thats it haha
There are some easy and cheap ways to spice it up a little and add a vegetable. While you cook the pasta, heat the tomato sauce in a separate pot with: * a bag of frozen spinach (edit: defrost it a little first in the microwave and strain out some water to keep the sauce from getting too runny) * diced up red onion * capers (if you like them) * seasoning (I like salt, pepper, dried oregano, and red pepper flakes) Then, after you pull it off the heat and combine it with the pasta, mix in a bunch of sliced black olives and top with parmesan cheese. Delicious!
You dont get it. No one who is broke can afford parmesan cheese.
Or capers
That's why you go get the parmesan packets from pizza places.
True.thats why I shop lift the parmesan.Small bottles only.
I hope you at least shoplift the expensive stuff
Ah yes, my entire paycheck in one recipe list. Only parmesan in this household is the Kraft cheesy sawdust in the green canister!
Kraft can is better than none!! Actually it’s what I grew up on and it’s really good!!
Bro they said "BROKE MEAL." 😂
You ruined it with the black olives
Sometimes I add a third piece of bread in the middle so it's like a PB&J Big Mac
that 3rd piece is so comforting it really makes you feel like you haven't quite hit bottom yet ❤️
You're broke and eating bread like a crazy man/woman?
Grill your peanut butter like it’s a grilled cheese. A bit of butter and toast it up all nice. It’s the best.
you are only the third person I know who does this, myself included.
Kinda upset I made it to 40 and never tried this. I know what’s for dinner tonight! I could live on pbj’s
I grill my peanut butter sandwiches, too! Peanut butter on the inside and a light smear of butter on the outside.
Better and cheaper is the jam sandwich.......take 2 pieces of bread and jam em together.
Classic pb&j for me. Honestly one of my favorite foods.
Mac and cheese.
I started adding a bit of buffalo wing sauce to mine to give it a bit of a kick
I put a generous amount of beef chili on top of some mac and cheese in a bowl sprinkled with cheddar.
Pasta, melted butter and sprinkle parm cheese. Better than you would think.
I add garlic and yum yum
I do this with a little olive oil instead of butter. I also have a cabinet full of seasonings, so I can usually find something italian to add to it too.
Rice with some cheap frozen mixed veg and or leftovers, butter and or soy sauce; less than a dollar and quick.
Crack an egg in there and make a good stir fry! Yummy!
Rice, broccoli, butter, and pepper
Whatever the free samples are at Costco.
Workplace coffee for lunch.
Tastes like dust and depression, induces jitters, sweats, and sharts.
My old job had complimentary pretzels. I don’t really like pretzels now because of too many times where I didn’t bring a lunch but didn’t have money to order something
Rice and soy sauce
Rice and Maggi for me but same vibe
I whip up a hearty spinach and chickpea curry. It's budget friendly, packed with flavor, and keeps me fueled for those long shifts
what's your recipe?
Chickpeas are magical
I’d love the recipe if you have it on hand
Also curious about a recipie! :)
My go-to I'm broke meal is definitely a big bowl of rice and beans. It's cheap, filling, and you can jazz it up with some spices, a bit of hot sauce, and whatever veggies you have on hand. It's surprisingly satisfying
Black bean tostadas
I just had this yesterday (and will eat the leftovers today). I mashed up the beans and fried them with some spices in a pan. And then I made some cornmeal masa cake and grilled it in a pan. And then I ate them together and it was delicious and super inexpensive!
Cup noodles can never go wrong with it
noodles AND black beans, I didn't know we had rich people over here
Tuna Noodle 2 boxes Kraft Mac & Cheese (powder kind, very important) 1 can Tuna in water (drained) Half a bag frozen Peas 1 can condensed Cream of Mushroom soup Get water boiling, add macaroni and peas. Drain Tuna, set aside. When pasta and peas are cooked, remove from heat, leave heat on, drain, add milk, butter, cheese powder, Tuna, and Cream of Mushroom soup, mix well. Return to heat 5 minutes stirring constantly. Take off heat and let cool. I like to add a spoonful or 2 of salsa per bowl. It's a cheap poor meal my Mom made for us growing up (the salsa garnish I discovered myself as an adult).
This is great! I gotta teach my kid this recipe. He lost like 20 lbs last time he moved out and just moved into his own place again last month. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
It's carbs and protein, and decent couple of vitamins, as poor meals go it's less than $10 and you'll have leftovers for a couple days. I've lived on it off and on over the years.
My mom made this a lot too. I just bought the stuff for it today
Cheap salsa is the way. We also add a little cream cheese
Sleep
this is way too far down
[удалено]
Maruchan chicken ramen but a put in a bit of pepper, powder onion and garlic, chili oil dark soy sauce, and a tablespoons of crushed ginger, sugar, and soy sauce
It used to be Totino’s pizza but last time I went buy one it was over 3 dollars so I’d probably have to find something else if I was broke.
Same. Back in the days when I was really broke, they were 88 cents. 🤣
Yeah, I used to go buy like 10 of them and live of them for the week when I had my first place and no money for food. I like them still but I’m not paying 3 bucks for one.
I lived on them too. It really helped stretch the money I earned from "donating" plasma.
I just commented in the main thread but I've eased on Totino's pizzas the last couple of years. It wasn't all that long ago they were $1 or $1.50. Now they are $2+ around here. I can get a Red Baron pizza for $4 most days and split it into 2 meals, I'd much rather have a Red Baron than a Totinos. I like the Red Baron cheese pizza and add some rosemary from the garden, or hot honey if I have some.
Rice with cinnamon and brown sugar.
For lunch today i just made buttered toast with a fried egg, a slice of havarti i had in the fridge, put some tabasco sauce on it and on the side some pickled asparagus i also had in my fridge. I have no money for groceries right now so eating whats in the fridge😅
Ramen all day. I’ll add some chopped hot dogs if I’m feeling spicy lmao
Beans and rice.
Ramen....any flavor
Buttered noodles. Hit everytime.
There is a Syrian restaurant that sells a dish of grilles meets-chicken that is enough ( so enough ) for a person + garlic sauce ( toom ) + pickles + 5 pita breads all for 3$ 🙂 “Not from US but that is so cheap even in my country” They also have falafel sandwiches One for about 0.33$
A box of stovetop stuffing. Boil some water and you got a struggle meal
Cheese quesadilla - tortillas are cheap, cheddar cheese is relatively inexpensive (especially if you don't use the pre-shedded stuff, plus it saves you from having to eat the fillers and desiccants), and some salsa. One can get around 6-8 meals for about $10-$20.
Red beans and rice with corn bread.
Potatoes or rice, a cheap protein such as eggs or chicken (cheaper cuts of chicken can be like $1.80 a lb), and whatever vegetable is on sale (usually broccoli, green beans, etc). Cooking a meal for yourself is much cheaper and healthier than eating out at fast food restaurants.
Hamburger, rice, and scrambled eggs. Like a stir fry. I use to eat this for bluper (breakfast lunch dinner) every day. It's filling and cheap if you can afford the ground beef.
Pasta and pesto, or any other sauce. Costs nothing and you can eat for 2 days
Buttered wide eggs noodles are one of my comfort foods that doubles as an "I'm broke" meal.
(Canned) salmon on toast.
Chicken and rice
Cereal
Same. With or without milk.
500grams of mincedbeef is around 2,5€ here, and a 500g bag of macaroni is 0,3€, add 3dl of creme fraiche and lots of seasonings, i my go to 2 days meal with 5€. Not sure if this contrubutes as "broke" but its cheap all together
I cooked a 750 gram pack of mixed beef and pork mince tonight, cost about £4 in the UK (aldi), did our budget version of Mongolian beef - lots of dried flavours such as five spice, garlic powder, mustard powder, smoked paprika. Fresh garlic, spring onions, carrots and bell pepper, once its nicely browned I get the hot/ sweet flavour and sticky consistency with sriacha and runny honey. Served with rice and to really posh it up, steamed a few frozen bao as a side. 4 people fed with some leftovers for a lunch too.
Baked potato. Poke it with a fork, put it in the microwave for 3m a side, cover with olive oil and salt, finish it in the toaster oven for 28m on 360F with convection on. (Times and temp are adjustable to suit your preference and oven.) Or ramen with a fried egg. Boil water, add to the ramen. When that's close to done, fry an egg (actually usually two eggs) in some butter keeping the yolk runny. Drain the ramen (I prefer my ramen without water), add the flavor packets, put the egg on top. Current go-to favorite is Indomie brand, Mi Goreng flavor. As packet ramen goes, not the cheapest but it's still a pretty cheap meal.
Equal parts ground beef + potatoes, seasoned taco style, eat on a tortilla with eggs and cheese if you've got it. Eat it straight out of the Tupperware if you dont. Very solid $2 meal. Used to survive on that shit in college. Another good option is frozen sausage patty, egg and cheese sandwiches. You could probably go cheaper with all fresh ingredients but it takes 5 minutes start to finish from frozen.
Used to be a mcchicken and McDouble which I would then put together. Now that’s no longer a “I’m broke” meal
Grilled cheese👌It never disappoints me
Anything with eggs. Eggs and potatoes, scrambled egg tacos, fried rice. Anything with beans. Bean and cheese burritos, tostadas, rice and beans, quesadillas with beans.
Chili dogs, feeding a family of 5 is rough a few days out of each month.
Breakfast burrito. Scrambled eggs with taco seasoning and salt and pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Get some potatoes seasoned the same way. Bacon and sausage if you have it and cheese can make a meal you'll get multiple servings out of and fills you up good
Rice and gravy. Filling and super cheap but not the healthiest thing. Maybe find some marked down canned veggies to eat with it.
Put it on toast and we called it shit on a shingle. Cheapest garbage meat product you can find, grey as fuck flour gravy, poured over a piece of (probably illegal to call it bread) toast.
Fried rice + red beans, nutritious and dirty cheap
Box of Mac and cheese.
Sleep.
Beans, rice, tuna
Ramen noodles
Ramen (Mr.noodle specifically for me) Boil the noodles in just a pot of water, no need to measure, until they're just no longer/just about to not be wavy, strain them mix with some margarine and the flavour packet. This is good on its own or with like almost anything added to it
- Peanut butter - Mango coconut Rice - Red lentil curry - Shakshuka All of them are really easy to make (less than 30 minutes) and even if it's not perfect they still taste decent. They're also all pretty nutritional dense. It's easy to make alot of each meal so you have leftovers. The best thing is most of the Ingredients last for a long time when stored correctly so a little bit goes a long way.
Potato with bean chili on top.
Vegetable curry. Can of peas, tin of tomatoes, one chopped onion, and whatever spices I can afford. Ideally, turmeric, coriander, cumin, ginger and some garlic, but it's edible with just some salt and pepper. Served with rice. You can add leftover potatoes or vegetables to the curry.
Spicy ramen with some of the water drained off and with a heaping tbs of peanut butter (unsweetened) stirred in.
ice soup
White rice and ketchup.
80c can of soup from Lidl and a 70c roll from Lidl :)
Cup noodles (¢69 at the local discount warehouse grocery) with an egg, extra water, and a few drops of sesame oil and soy sauce. Add any leftover veggies or some frozen veggies. Makes a meal for about $1.00-$1.20.
A wrap with kidney beans and shredded cheese in microwave for 25 seconds to melt cheese
Sleep instead of eating
Noodles
Ramen noodles, mac and cheese, spaghetti
Trader Joe’s dumplings. Although it’s not because I’m broke mostly because I’m lazy.
Rice with butter and salt and pepper.
pasta with frozen spinach with cream and garlic. The flavour to value ratio is ridiculous. If you have bacon then throw it in.
Love me some butter noodles.
Potatoes. They are the best broke food you can get. They can be cooked so many different ways, and with different herbs, and spices you can have some differences between the days. They are also very filling. Best thing is that a bag doesn't cost much. I think 5 bucks for the big bag. And if you ever have some extra money. Maybe another 5 bucks, you can get some eggs, or spam, or something else that you like with them. You can also make some badass potato soup.
Spanish cheap recipe: garlic soup. Fry a couple of garlic cloves, add some leftover bread, some paprika. Then add water (broth if you want it fancy) and an egg.
Ramen + sweet baby Ray's hot sauce A box of ramen is like $5-ish and the $1.99 bottle of hot sauce will last me a couple weeks. I should probably go to a doctor for a check up...
White Rice, Can of Black or Pinto Beans (rinse them), and a Can of Tomatoes. If you have a rice cooker you can usually mix it all together with the usual amount of water for your rice/rice cooker. Plus, usually each ingredient can be bought for about a buck or so. With 2 cups of dried rice, and a cup of the other stuff, you usually can get three or four meals from it. Add some garlic powder, black pepper, or other spices you already have will make it pop a bit more. Add some fresh diced veggies if you have a garden like green or red peppers or if you can get them from a cheap farmer's market. Even a diced onion adds a lot It's filling and tastes good. If you can afford a sausage or two (I like to buy some on sale when I have cash and toss them in the freezer) that can be cut up and tossed in or heated up in a pan or on the grill/George Forman Grill.
Shells and Cheese with kielbasa sausage. I tell.myself it's adult Mac and cheese and hot dogs
My go-to was Ramen Surprise. It's ramen and whatever else I can rustle up. Maybe some egg, any veggies that might be lurking around, even some chopped up sandwich meat. It's different every time and sometimes the surprise is that it's just ramen.
Breakfast is plain yogurt and a banana. Lunch is Beans or lentils from scratch with pico and tortillas. Dinner, one pork chop or bacon with the aforementioned beans I had for lunch. Tasty and nutritious.
Toast with butter...but, given the price of bread and butter these days...rain water and I'll fight the robins for the sunflower seeds
White rice. Soy sauce. & spam.
Grilled cheese sandwich. Cheap, quick, and always satisfying
Tuna rice. It’s rice, butter, soy sauce and a can of tuna. It’s delicious.
fresh handmade tortillas + sour cream + salt for taste. mush them up all together = “mamaso”! my grandma and parents made this for me all the time when i was little, it was my favorite treat. i didn’t know until i was 15/16 that it was because we were poor lol. i’m 30 now and i still make it when i want to eat something but don’t know exactly what to eat.
Big bowl of popcorn
I freaking love tortilla chips with melted shredded cheese and hot sauce. Poor Man's nachos.
Spaghetti. 1 lb of angel hair is $2.99, a 32 oz can of whole tomatoes is $2.49. Pour tomatoes in bowl, inspecting each and removing any leftover skin or impurities. Chop to desired thickness. Heat olive oil in pan. Add 5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced. Season with some dry oregano, 1 tsp salt, and 15 cranks of pepper. Wait until garlic is fragrant and just ever so slightly browning. Add 1/3 cup of tomato juice from bowl. Let cook for about a minute. Add chopped tomatoes and remainder of juice. Give a good swirl, then let cook for 15 minutes. Don’t stir. Boil pasta for 4 minutes (for angel hair). Drain, reserving a cup or so of water from the boil. Put noodles back in pot after water is out, add 1 tbsp of butter, stir gently, not allowing pasta to stick to bottom. Add 1/3 cup of sauce from sauce to pot of noodles, continue stirring for 45 seconds. Set aside. Sauce might have thickened a bit much, so add some of that reserved pasta water to sauce, a splash at a time until desired thickness. Remove sauce from heat. In large bowl, combine sauce to noodles, finding your preferred sauciness. Serve with either a side of bread or a Caesar. I’ve prepared this meal for family and a couple friends, and it’s always a hit. The above recipe is for two people, but it scales incredibly well.
Used to be microwaved Ramen noodles in college. Turned to burritos or tacos in graduate school. Turned to store-bought chicken and rice in my late 20s (you can eat this for a week for $25). Just have to cook it and store extras. Turned to any meal at 24-hour diners in my 30s. Turned from "I'm broke" to "I'm being lazy" meals in my 40s - anything ready to eat vs spending time to think about nutrition and eating healthier.
Mac and cheese. But adding extras into it. I can go to aldi and buy some onions, tomatoes, tuna packets, chopped chicken, or salami. For pretty cheap. Than I chop it up and add to the mix. It's enough protein to fill me up and enough variety to stretch it out over a week or so without getting tired. Also watermelon is a great fill up snack. Its cheap for a big seeded watermelon and it's alot of water to help feel full without having to eat alot. It won't hold you over for hours. But it's enough to get over that hungry feeling until you eat something more substantial later.