Eating well doesn’t have to mean spending a fortune. With a little creativity and smart planning, you can serve up satisfying, flavorful meals without blowing your budget. This collection of budget-friendly dinner ideas is full of simple, affordable recipes that don’t skimp on taste.
Whether you’re cooking for a family or just trying to make your grocery dollars go further, these dishes prove that delicious meals on a dime are absolutely doable.
Pretzel Crusted Chicken
Pretzel Crusted Chicken is total comfort food. The crispy, salty pretzel coating on the chicken complements the homemade honey mustard sauce that is made for dipping. Eat it on it’s own or make it into a delicious chicken sandwich.
Get the Pretzel Crusted Chicken recipe.
Easy Meatballs & Mashed Potatoes
These Meatballs & Mashed Potatoes are straight up comfort food. Easy to make meatballs on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes and a rich gravy that brings it all together for one satisfying meal. When you’re running low on time to get dinner on the table, or just looking to use up some of your pantry staples, this meal is a great solution.
Get the Meatballs & Mashed Potatoes recipe.
Green Chicken Chili
This Green Chicken Chili brings cozy, Southwestern warmth to your table with each spoonful. The soup is creamy yet light, filled with tender chicken, green chilies, and just the right blend of spices.
Get the Green Chicken Chili recipe.
Spaghetti Pomodoro
When it comes to comfort food, Spaghetti Pomodoro hits all the right notes. With just a handful of ingredients—tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and basil—you can create a sauce that’s bright, fresh, and packed with flavor. This dish is a great go-to for busy weeknights, but it’s also elegant enough to serve for a cozy dinner party.
Get the Spaghetti Pomodoro recipe.
Vegetable Orzo Soup
This Vegetable Orzo Soup has a delicious aroma of onions, celery, and carrots mixed with diced tomatoes, seasonings, and orzo pasta to make a hearty filling soup. This is a good hot soup for a cold day. We love using orzo in soup because it’s so easy to eat, with a little bit of everything in each spoonful.
Get the Vegetable Orzo Soup recipe.
Baked Ravioli Casserole
This Baked Ravioli Casserole is a comforting dish that’s as easy to prepare as it is delicious. Packed with ravioli, tomatoes, onions, and mozzarella cheese it’s a perfect weeknight meal. Who can resist the comfort of a quick and easy casserole? There’s something so satisfying about pulling a dish from the oven that’s bubbling, warm, and irresistibly gooey.
Get the Baked Ravioli Casserole recipe.
Southwestern Chicken Soup
Southwestern Chicken Soup uses pantry ingredients for a quick and satisfying meal that’s incredibly easy to make. For anyone who has plenty of pantry staples, like beans and canned corn, this is a go-to soup that is in both filling and delicious.
Get the Southwestern Chicken Soup recipe.
Skillet Lasagna
Lazy Skillet Lasagna is just as good as the classic but it takes a lot less time to make in a skillet. Instead of spending all that time delicately layering your lasagna, just throw it all in the skillet and watch it bubble into a delicious meal.
Get the Lazy Skillet Lasagna recipe.
Quick & Easy Coconut Curry Chicken
This Coconut Curry Chicken uses just six ingredients that you likely already have at home to make a delicious curry dish that packs a ton of flavor. You can make great coconut chicken curry at home very quickly and it tastes as good as take out. The best part is it’s done in just 25 minutes.
Get the Coconut Curry Chicken recipe.
Instant Pot Shredded Beef Tacos
Instant Pot Shredded Beef Tacos are simple to make in the Instant Pot. You’ll get deliciously tender beef that can be quickly shredded and added to your tacos and burritos. It’s a budget-friendly way to cook.
Get the Shredded Beef Tacos recipe.
Stovetop Chili
Stovetop Chili is a true comfort food, packed with meat, beans and so much flavor. You don’t have to make it in large quantities to enjoy it. This recipe makes just 4 servings on the stovetop in just over 2 hours.
Get the Stovetop Chili recipe.
Easy Homemade Sloppy Joes
This easy homemade Sloppy Joe recipe has a zingy tomato sauce that will bring you right back to eating these iconic sandwiches as a kid. They’re very easy to make at home with just a few simple ingredients. You’ll never buy another can of Sloppy Joe sauce again after you see how easy it is to make at home.
Get the Sloppy Joe recipe.
Instant Pot Ham & Bean Soup
This Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup is a breeze to make with dried navy beans, celery, carrots, onion, and seasonings. It’s the perfect warm, hearty winter soup. If you have a ham bone that you need to use up, this is the perfect soup to make. It’s so delicious cooked in the Instant Pot because all the flavors from the bone mix into the broth and turn simple ingredients into something so incredibly tasty.
Get the Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup recipe.
Easy Instant Pot Pulled Pork
This Instant Pot Pulled Pork is the ultimate recipe to make tender and flavorful pulled pork from a Pork Butt or Shoulder. The best thing about pulled pork is that it can be used in so many dishes. So you can make a large batch of it and use it throughout the week with other dishes.
Get the Pulled Pork recipe.
Creamy Chicken & Potato Pasta
This Creamy Chicken & Potato Pasta combines chicken thigh meat, crispy potatoes and sliced mushrooms in a cream sauce with bowtie pasta. I’ll admit, adding potatoes to pasta may sound weird. If you’ve never tried it, you’re in for a treat.
Get the Chicken & Potato Pasta recipe.
Angela’s passion for discovering and experimenting with new flavors and recipes is at the heart of her culinary philosophy. Residing in a quaint Oregon town, she finds joy and inspiration in her kitchen. Angela has a lot of expertise in cooking and she eagerly shares her discoveries and unique creations with you.