No one said that a healthy and sumptuous dinner has to be expensive! These dinner ideas on a budget bring inspiration to the dinner table, making it possible to have amazing meals on a budget. Besides, with inflation and food prices being what they are, it is useful to get some budget ideas as a way to bring more health, variety, and nourishment to the dinner table.
So, let’s look at some ideas!
Inspiration For Budget Dinner Ideas You Will Love
1. Curried Butter Beans With Chicken
Now here’s an idea that’s as yum as it’s easy on the pocket. Plus, it looks great! Curried butter beans are a healthy and delicious meal by themselves, but top them with some chicken, and you have a delicacy worthy of a gourmet table. Both these elements are fairly rich in nutrition, they have good taste, and go well together splendidly!
2. A One Pot Tuscan Pasta
This one pot tuscan pasta looks so elegant, is easy to make, and it fits even a small dinner budget just right. Plus, this is a one pot recipe, so there’s less to clean up after dinner.
You can cook this pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, ground chicken, baby spinach, and of course, a few choice herbs and spices. It’s relatively easy to cook and offers an amazing taste and texture.
3. Tomato Basil Chicken
This tomato basil chicken is a nourishing meal that’s just right for a delicious budget dinner. It is the chicken that does the heavy lifting here and forms much of the body of the meal. The tomato adds that deeper flavor and texture to the meal, along with the umami touch to make it more tasteful.
Then the basil gets into action to form the garnish and add its flavor to the whole recipe. Of course, there are a few other ingredients here, but the stars of the show make their presence felt and help make this an amazing meal.
4. A Meaty Sloppy Joe
A well-made sloppy joe is one of the oldest and perhaps laziest choices for a quick budget meal. But that lazy choice can be full of nourishment and flavor. And this recipe does it right, while preserving the other essentials like quick preparation, taste, and easier cleanup!
The tangy sauce adds a nice touch and deeper flavors to the whole setup, making this sandwich even better.
5. One Pot Cheesy Sausage Pasta
Egg noodles and smoked sausage are the heart and soul of this recipe. Other ingredients include diced tomatoes, chicken broth, spinach, a green onion, and a yellow onion. Some shredded monterey jack cheese adds flavor and texture to this recipe.
These are fairly basic and budget-friendly ingredients, so your sumptuous meal won’t burn a hole through your pocket.
Plus, it’s a one pot meal, so there is some convenience and ease to its preparation and eventual cleanup.
6. Bowties and Broccoli
Bowtie pasta with some fresh broccoli makes for a wonderfully photogenic and nourishing meal. The recipe involves a few other ingredients, like a bit of parmesan cheese, some butter, and a few spices. It’s a simple and straightforward recipe, that’s easy to make and is easy on the budget.
Given the simplicity of the recipe, it is possible to indulge in several variations. You could make it more complex with more spices and herbs. Or change the type of pasta to something else, according to your preference.
7. Chicken Fried Rice
Fried rice, with chicken! That’s exactly the kind of budget friendly meal that songs are (or should be) written about! It’s quick to prepare, uses simple ingredients, is nourishing, and is absolutely delicious.
Fried rice is famous enough and with the added goodness of chicken, things get a whole lot better. It’s easy on the budget and takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. Everything about this recipe is a big plus!
8. This Zuppa di Fagioli e Zucca
This is an old-fashioned Italian recipe with a name that’s tough to pronounce and tougher to write! Yet, I do dare to assume that it flows right off the tongue. This simple recipe starts with borlotti beans with a little bit of garlic and herbs like sage and rosemary.
Saute and add some veggies like carrots, onions, and celery, and perhaps something else that suits your taste buds. I feel diced tomatoes would be a good addition as well, though the recipe is amazing in its original form.
9. This Chicken Wrap
Look at this simple and delicious chicken wrap. Takes a few minutes to put together, looks divine, and is easy on the pocket. As a bonus, even picky eaters could be encouraged to try these veggies and chicken in a nice wrap.
10. Hawaiian Fried Rice
Fried rice is an Asian dish and is quite famous for being so. However, that doesn’t mean that it can’t be influenced by other flavors, especially in our globalized world. This Fried Rice with a Hawaiian touch proves so!
That “influence” gets in some additional ingredients like pineapple and bell peppers. I guess pineapple on fried rice would be less controversial than pineapple on pizza!
Yet, as a budget recipe, this one is absolutely one of the best to enjoy. And you could always skip the pineapple if that doesn’t tickle your tastebuds.