Melted cheese intermingled with crispy, warm bread crumbs and steamy chopped spinach kick this white fish bake up a notch, making it a family favorite. Like a deconstructed version of the Polish rolls, this casserole combines ground beef, cabbage, tomatoes, onions, a handful of spices, and the magic of the oven for a dish that even the kids will love.

If you want a hearty sandwich that makes a wow-worthy dinner, then you've gotta choose the beloved Philly Cheesesteak: piping-hot peppers and onions and seared slivers of spiced steak piled on toasty hoagie rolls and topped with melting Swiss cheese.

Avoid the time-consuming mess of tenderizing, breading, and frying with this casserole version of chicken Parmesan. It may not look like your grandma's classic version, but it still delivers "that irresistible combination of tender chicken, crunchy-cheesy coating, and flavorful sauce," says Chef John.

A savory mixture of ground beef, spices galore, egg, and bread are shaped into steaks and smothered in a rich and addictively savory gravy.

I usually make enough extra sauce to pour over mashed potatoes. With only six ingredients, these enchiladas are a breeze to make. Grab your favorite toppings—like cilantro, jalapeños, hot sauce, guacamole, or sour cream—if you want to dress it up once it comes out of the oven. These "Sneaky" Sloppy Joes earn their name from the addition of onions, bell peppers, and budget-friendly lentils into the meaty mix.

and get those veggies in without a struggle," says Andie. Five ingredients pack a serious punch of flavor in this savory tater tot casserole. Cream of chicken soup melts into the browned beef and mixed vegetables creating a rich filling, while crispy and crunchy tots take the limelight.

There's nothing quite like a ready-to-eat Reuben. This classic hot sandwich features piles of steaming thinly sliced corned beef and sauerkraut with a mixture of melted Swiss and creamy Thousand Island. This wallet-conscious and healthy one-pot meal is also kid-friendly, according to StephR "This is incredibly easy, delicious, and spicy!

Taste-test approved by a very picky 3-year-old. Encrusted with a mayo-and-potato-chip outer layer, this skillet-toasted tuna melt gets extra crunch, perfectly complementing its gooey and melty cheese center.

Minced red onions, pickles, and Dijon lend a vibrance to the tuna mixture; while, sharp Irish cheddar brings it all together. When Chef John proclaims a dish is a hit, you'd better believe it. Who doesn't love juicy, fall-off-the bone chicken in flavorful Greek spices?

This four-ingredient red curry chicken is hassle-free and inexpensive to make, especially when compared to takeout prices. If desired, substitute white rice for the rice vermicelli noodles, or garnish with cilantro, green onions, or red chile peppers. Simmered tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, and spices are topped with eggs that cook sunny-side-up in this traditional Tunisian and Israeli dish.

Serve with warm, crusty bread or pita for dipping into this mouthwatering mixture. This family-friendly casserole is guaranteed to please.

Kids love it! This one is a keeper! The salt from the pork rinds is more than enough to season the dish. Will make it over and over again!! Serve up seriously savory chili without breaking the bank.

This award-worthy recipe combines kidney beans, salsa, ground beef, and a slew of seasonings for a bowlful you'll want on repeat. These mini pizzas are super fun and easy to make with just 3 ingredients plus the toppings of your choice.

How can you go wrong with a crispy garlic toast crust topped with sauce and melted cheese? Frozen chicken comes to the rescue again!

I love the idea of using crunchy chicken strips to make tortilla wraps. Whatever you have on hand! For some reason, baking pasta is a total game changer. The cheese gets that irresistible toasty flavor, and the pasta seems to absorb all of the amazing sauce.

This meat sauce casserole includes cream cheese, making it extra rich and scrumptious. Simply place your roast in your slow cooker with a few seasoning packets before you head out the door, and your house will smell like heaven when you get back. Such a cheap and easy dinner idea that takes very little effort.

Bake the meatballs according to the package instructions, toss with sauce, and then load them up onto hoagie rolls with shredded cheese.

My mouth is watering just talking about it! This crockpot soup has amazing reviews! The great thing about these tacos is that you can use any shredded chicken including rotisserie, canned, leftovers, etc.

My family likes to serve them with guacamole for dipping! You can also try these with taco seasoned ground beef. I did some experimenting with fewer and cheaper ingredients, and it actually turned out better with less hassle!

You can even buy prepared mashed potatoes at most grocery stores, making it extra lazy. Classic quesadillas with a fun twist!

Load them up with pizza toppings like pepperoni, olives, and jalapeños, and then dip them in pizza sauce. Fun, easy, and delicious! For some reason I only think of hot dogs for backyard BBQs, but boy do kids love eating them as a special treat on a regular day inside!

With only 5 ingredients you can make this fun and easy weeknight meal that your kids will absolutely love! Skip to main content Skip to secondary menu Skip to primary sidebar Home Recipes About Contact.

If you're a busy parent with a family to feed, you've come to the right place. These quick and easy budget meals are simple to make with just a few basic ingredients. In a large pan or pot, cook and drain the pasta according the package directions. Place the drained pasta back into the pot and mix with the pasta sauce, pulled chicken, HALF of the shredded mozzarella, HALF of the grated parmesan, and tsp of Italian seasoning.

Allow the mixture to simmer for a few minutes over medium-low heat and then spread it evenly onto the bottom of your baking dish; sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese over top. In a small bowl, mix together the panko bread crumbs, melted butter and garlic powder; sprinkle it evenly over the top of the casserole.

Bake uncovered on the center rack for about 15 minutes or until the panko crust turns golden brown. Full Printable Recipe. In your crockpot, whisk together the water, cream of chicken soup, and both packets of chicken gravy mix. Add the seasoned chicken breasts and use a spoon to cover them well with the gravy mixture.

Cover and cook on LOW for hours or until the chicken shreds easily. Once cooked, use a couple of forks to shred the chicken into small pieces. Stir in the sour cream and allow it to warm for an additional 15 minutes.

Serve over mashed potatoes, rice or pasta. Lazy Lasagna This is seriously the laziest meal you will ever make. Arrange half of the frozen ravioli in a single layer over the sauce.

Top with half of the remaining sauce and half of the mozzarella. Finish by topping with the remaining sauce and mozzarella. Sprinkle the top with parmesan. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, and continue baking for an additional 15 minutes, or until the cheese starts to brown.

Loaded Chicken Baked Potatoes Potatoes are really cheap and very filling, making them one of the best budget meals. Microwave for about 5 minutes on a paper towel or bake in a degree oven for about 45 minutes or until soft. Smash the insides with a fork and mix in a few tablespoons of butter, salt, garlic powder, and black pepper to taste.

Crockpot Creamy Chicken Tacos How can you go wrong with cheesy shredded chicken? Place the chicken, salsa, cubed cream cheese, and tbsp of taco seasoning in and cook on HIGH for 3 hours or LOW for hours. Shred with a fork and let the chicken absorb the salsa mixture for at least 15 more minutes.

Serve in soft tortillas, taco shells, or over a bed of lettuce. In a large bowl, mix together the dry stuffing mix, ground beef, eggs, water and HALF of the ketchup. Fill the prepared pan with your mixture and use your hands to evenly squish it down into the pan.

Top it with the remaining ketchup and spread it evenly over the top. You can also use BBQ sauce, chili sauce, or a combination of sauces.

Bake for minutes it takes about 50 minutes in my oven. Cheeseburger Pasta Casserole All the flavors of a cheeseburger but in the form of a pasta casserole!

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to degrees and grease and 9×13 baking dish. In a large skillet, brown and chop the ground beef with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Add the cooked pasta, tomato soup, a half cup of water and HALF of the cheese to your skillet with the browned beef; stir and cook for minutes over medium heat.

Pour the mixture into your greased dish and top with the remaining cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for an additional 10 minutes. Preheat your oven to degrees and butter the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.

Cut the Hawaiian rolls horizontally in half without separating the rolls; place the bottoms into your prepared dish and bake for about 3 minutes. Place a chicken nugget onto each one of the bottom pieces and then top with the marinara followed by the mozzarella cheese and the top halves of the rolls.

Melt the butter in the microwave and mix with 1 tsp of garlic powder and 1 tsp of Italian seasoning; brush the mixture evenly over the top of the rolls. Sprinkle the grated parmesan over top. Cover your dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes.

Uncover, and bake for an additional minutes or until the buns turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the counter for about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, melt the butter and then mix with the box of dry stuffing mix; set aside HALF of the mixture for topping the casserole later.

These beef enchiladas keep things simple with canned enchilada sauce, but don't worry, there's still plenty of spice and melty cheese! Get the Beef Enchiladas recipe. Prices for chicken thighs can vary, but on average they're less expensive than chicken breasts. Learn how to cook the thighs to perfection using an air fryer for crispy skin and juicy meat.

Get the Air Fryer Chicken Thighs recipe. SHOP AIR FRYERS. Say hello to your new favorite family dinner! It's cheesy, comforting, and fit for a crowd. Plus, even picky eaters can get on board with the ground beef and noodle dish.

Get the Cheeseburger Casserole recipe. Jam-packed with veggies and a satisfying, savory sauce, these noodles are everything you love and more! Serve with a drizzle of hot sauce, like Sriracha, if you want an added kick. Get the Lo Mein recipe.

Buy a store-bought rotisserie chicken at the supermarket and you'll be supplied with endless dinner ideas, like this hearty burrito filed with rice, beans, chicken, and cheese.

Get Ree's Ancho Chicken Burritos recipe. When you're in a pinch, you can't go wrong with that can of tuna that's hidden in the back of the pantry! Use it to make this fun pasta salad inspired by tuna noodle casserole. Get the Tuna Pasta Salad recipe. Ree says that you can call this a "clean out the fridge soup" because it's so versatile.

Swap out your choice of veggies depending on what you have on hand. Get Ree's Hamburger Soup recipe. SHOP STOCK POTS. Eating on a budget doesn't need to be boring and this casserole recipe proves it!

The packet of ranch seasoning mix gives it a punch of flavor, plus you can't go wrong with anything topped with bacon! Get the Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole recipe. Stew meat or even chuck roast is a great inexpensive option for making this hearty twist on chicken and noodles.

It has that stick-to-your-ribs kind of goodness. Get the Beef and Noodles recipe. If you've invested in an Instant Pot, then not only will this chili be budget-friendly, but it'll be easy to make, too! No more standing over a pot on the stove! Get the Instant Pot Chili recipe.

Satisfy your pizza craving and your pasta craving at the same time. You'll get a two-for-one deal with this fun Italian mash-up. Get the Pizza Casserole recipe. The humble potato is the star ingredient in this comforting soup recipe.

You can dress it up with fun loaded potato toppings like cheddar cheese, chopped chives, sour cream, or bacon. Get the Slow Cooker Potato Soup recipe. BBQ Meatball Subs Are the Ultimate Picnic Main.

Chicken and Dressing Sheet Pan Supper. Homemade Pasta. How to Make Perfect Beef Wellington. Sour Cream and Onion Tuna Noodle Casserole.

Pressure Cooker Shredded Chicken and 3 Easy Meals! Seasoned Buttery Crackers Are the Easiest Snack. Crispy Pork Schnitzel is the Perfect Cozy Dinner. This Pierogi and Meatball Skillet Is So Comforting. Bonus: Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for two to three days.

With a generous layer of caramelized onions and plenty of sharp Gruyère cheese, this tart packs the depth of French onion soup into every bite. The tofu in this cheap recipe absorbs all of the flavors in the sauce—and there are a lot of them: shallots, ginger, garlic, cumin, red chile, turmeric, coconut cream , and peanut butter.

It all becomes a sauce you have to make and see to believe. Crunchy fried onions transform a simple cabbage salad into a sensorial delight: hot and cold, crisp and soft, sweet and spicy. Make sure to assemble it just before eating in order to capture those different textures.

When the coffers are dry and so is the bread on the counter, this is the one. This cheap meal requires just a few other ingredients, most of which are already in your kitchen.

A garlicky mixture of ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, and maple syrup cooks down until almost sticky in this riff on a Chinese-American classic sesame chicken.

An untraditional but logical addition to the sauce: tahini. You might be surprised by just how flavorful a combination of chicken stock, celery, and chickpeas can be. Garlic, red chiles, lemon, and fresh cilantro contribute to making it so—while still keeping it feeling clean.

If you can swing it, add a big pinch of asafetida for an extra savory note. Quick-cooking, budget-friendly, and pretty hard to screw up that dark meat is automatically juicier , chicken thighs are our default weeknight dinner—and this is our simplest way to prepare them.

These battered, oven-baked florets come out crackly before getting bathed in a sticky-sweet gochujang glaze.

It means you have croutons. Ground turkey is a lean protein that, when simmered with white beans, seasonings, and chipotle chiles in adobo and topped with Greek yogurt, delivers major body and richness.

The key to stress-free stir-frying is in the prep work. Be sure to chop, slice, and grate everything before even thinking about turning on the stove. Once you do, it comes together in 15 minutes. A little bit of flour and butter, garlic, lemon juice, and capers , and you've got a super savory supper.

Say that three times fast. This cheap recipe leaves out the smoked pork or turkey, which is typical in the American South, and goes heavy on garlic for flavor. This all-star easy dinner recipe will work long after corn has gone out of season.

In the winter, just sub in shaved cauliflower or torn kale. This soup packs in all the ingredients that would make your doctor happy—lentils, sweet potatoes, leafy greens—but the fiery Thai green curry paste keeps things interesting. This Haitian meal consists of sos pwa nwa, black bean sauce enriched with coconut milk, served alongside mayi moulen, a creamy cornmeal porridge flavored with garlic and herbs.

Nothing is cozier. This family-friendly weeknight dinner takes a cue from Japanese grilled chicken meatballs called tsukune as well as the glossy, sweet-and-sour sauce that comes with them.

A classic Italian pesto , this is not. Spinach, cilantro, and miso come together for this uber-green sauce, which dresses, of course, springy ramen noodles. In this brothy beans recipe, caramelizing fennel, shallots, and lemon builds a base layer that is sweet, tangy, and bright.

Tinned sardines add protein and a briny flavor. A beloved Hong Kong dish with approximately one billion variations, this soup—which relies heavily on fridge and pantry staples—is meant to be a little sweet and a touch sharp.

Its silky texture comes from blended potatoes and broccoli stalks rather than heavy cream. Well, this is the salad version, with noodles in addition to pink radishes , orange carrots, purple cabbage, and green cucumbers. One head of cabbage goes a long way. This recipe, where wedges are bathed in turmeric-accented coconut milk until meltingly tender and sweet, uses just half of one to feed four.

The soul of this recipe comes from the ginger and tamari marinade that gives crispy tofu a sweet and savory glaze.

We like to turn leftover tofu into tacos, for some Japanese-Mexican fusion. Toss roasted sweet potato wedges in a sweet and nutty tahini dressing for this quick vegetarian weeknight dinner. And no, it will not break the bank. This budget meal is about turning leftover side dishes into something totally new.

Nearly any roasted vegetable or cooked grain could be worked into a frittata using this method. This looks like something that took hours in a crockpot to make, but in reality, the black-eyed peas soak up the flavors of an onion- and tomato-based gravy in under 30 minutes.

Tuna salad deserves to be considered a dinner dish, not just a sandwich filling. Let the pan-fried chickpeas and red endive in this recipe convince you.

Pan-crisped and glazed sweet potatoes. With hearty, almost meaty lentils. And pistachios. Purchase lasagna noodles, mushrooms, mozzarella, and Parmesan. The rest of the ingredients for this cheap dinner recipe are already in your fridge or pantry.

One style of cheap meals: recipes chosen with their leftovers in mind , making two meals out of one. For example, these ground beef meatballs and their tomato sauce make for a great hoagie filling the next day. If you've already got miso in your fridge and don't want to spend on something new, you could use that in this stew recipe instead of gochujang.

It will be a whole different vibe, but a vibe nonetheless. Serve it with a poached egg and a slice of bread for a good cheap meal. Easy homemade tomato soup is an upgrade to the canned stuff, but we don't judge. Try pouring the soup directly over the sliced sandwich for an irresistible comfort food.

Consider this roast chicken your Sunday dinner. And then your Monday lunch, too. You can turn the leftover meat into pulled chicken sandwiches or a chicken noodle salad. Do not underestimate the potential of the often underrated legume, the lentil, a key ingredient when it comes to filling but cheap meals.

Our creamy, almost Alfredo pasta -looking stovetop mac and cheese is about as easy as opening one of those little boxes of shells and powdered sauce —but a lot more delicious. Freeze half of these burgers to pull out during those times when you get the craving for fast food.

Just add heat; you already paid. Here are our favorite ways to prove that a cheap meal can also be the best meal.