20 Family Dinner Recipes that Cut our Grocery Bill (2024)
Jan 14 | Grocery Saving Tips, Menu Planning | 2 comments
Planning a menu each week can be such an annoyance. Some weeks, it would take me hours to come up with enough meals for the week because I’d always try to add variety with new meals. I would scour cookbooks and Pinterest for new recipes and get distracted trying to decide if something sounded good or not. Or whether or not the rest of the family would eat it…
So, one thing that has helped us tocut our grocery budgetwas to create a short, go-to recipe list! I mean, we eat the same basic things for breakfast each day, why not apply the principle to dinner too?
Narrowing our meal ideas to only 20 options has made meal planning a breeze and has saved us so much money. It also reduces food waste, because I know I am making food that we all enjoy. These meals are a mix of quick & easy meals, recipes that are great for leftovers, and some a wee bit more complicated because they’re just so tasty.
So, if you want to finally stop wasting money on groceries, I’d encourage you to grab some inspiration from our go-to recipe list. Here’s what we’re eating, aside from leftover nights and super simple meals (like tomato soup & grilled cheese):
Tacos – I find that one package of ground beef is enough for two meals for our family. I’ll often make it stretch further with a can of baked beans.
French Toast – We often like breakfast meals for dinner. I especially love to make a big batch of French toast because I can freeze the leftovers for quick breakfasts.
Instant Pot Beef Stew – This is so good! Since the recipe doesn’t call for potatoes, I like to serve it over mashed potatoes.
Spaghetti – Lately I’ve been browning ground beef, adding it to the slow cooker with a jar of pasta sauce, a bit of water and a sprinkle of beef bouillon powder.
Hamburger Soup – This freezes well and is enjoyed every time I make it.
Slow Cooker BBQ Sauce Pork Chops – Place pork chops over sliced onions in a slow cooker, then pour your favourite BBQ sauce over top. Cook on low for about 4 – 6 hours. Serve with rice or potatoes and steamed veggies.
Sausage and PotatoBake – Cut up potato, carrots, sweet potato, peppers, and farmer’s sausage and place in a big 9×13 baking dish. Drizzle olive oil and a dose of oregano, salt & pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes.
Roasted chicken – It no secret that a roasted whole chicken can stretch for many meals. I’ll often buy rotisserie chicken for a super fast dinner with veggies and potatoes.
Balsamic beef roast – This is another meal that stretches far or is great for feeding a crowd.
Love it when you have meal prep ideas. This list is great. Yes I have a list – but am inspired to narrow it down like this too. But I do enjoy trying new recipes too. Our list includes stir fry, chilli, pulled pork, tomatoe sauce with coconut milk pasta, one pot salmon curry pasta, beef curry, home made pizza and of course pancakes.
Reply
Taya | Simply Frugalon August 18, 2018 at 9:54 am
Thanks for your list! I’m intrigued by the tomato sauce with coconut milk pasta!
Baked potato party. Buy enough potatoes for 30 people. Get smaller potatoes rather then large ones so people can have several with different toppings. For toppings make a chili, A curry, bacon, spring onions, cheese, cheese sauce, sour cream, butter, and roasted garlic butter, anything else you want.
Eat your leftovers and reduce food waste. Only buy meat when it's on sale and buy extra to keep in the freezer for later. Keep a broth bag in your freezer and collect the odds and ends of vegetable to make rich soup bases for basically free. Make meals that center around a healthy carb, like potatoes, rice, and pasta.
Pasta is one of the cheapest and most filling pantry staples you can buy, and that's exactly why it's the perfect food to feed to a crowd! Plus, everyone loves a good pasta dish. Grab yourself a buffet server warming tray so you can pop your cooked pasta inside and keep it warm all evening long!
Once you've decided on your event of choice, here's how to calculate how much food you'll need. Aim to provide around 6-8 courses of small bite size food per person. Each course should have enough for 1-1.5 pieces of food per person.
Each adult will consume 1 pound of food total; children, about 1/2 pound. The more options you have, the less you need of each; decrease the main course portion sizes by 1 to 2 ounces if served on a buffet. Guests will always eat — and drink — more at night than during the day.
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