Check out these $10 meals & tips for sticking to your budget while cooking at home. Trying to save money on food shouldn’t mean sacrificing flavor, variety and nutrition!
Tips for Reducing the Cost of Home Cooked Meals
Buy Frozen Produce
In many meals frozen fruits and veggies can be used as a substitute for fresh produce. Some examples of recipes to try with frozen produce are smoothies, stir-frys, and fajitas, and soups. You can also serve microwavable vegetables as a side for meals.
Frozen produce has the same nutritional value as fresh produce but at a fraction of the cost!
Fresh strawberries retail at $3.99 per pound
Frozen strawberries retail at $2.79 per pound
Buy Generic Brands for $10 meals
I’m not saying you have to give up name brands completely to save money, but you definitely are able to buy certain generic products and get more bang for your buck! Some examples of foods to buy generic brands of are: beans, canned foods, pasta, rice, and seasonings.
Name brand (De Cecco) penne pasta retails at $1.99 per 16 oz box
Generic brand penne pasta retails at $0.99 per 16 oz box
Swap Meat Proteins for Vegetarian
Vegetarian proteins can provide you with the same nutritional value as meat-based proteins! Some great examples of affordable vegetarian proteins to try are: tofu, beans, eggs, frozen veggie burgers, peanut butter, and lentils.
Beef burgers retail at $1.75 per burger
Morningstar black bean burgers retail at $1.14 per burger

Black Bean Burger (Photo by Kaitlin Eckstein)
While these prices may not seem like much, they add up! Being conscious of what you’re buying while grocery shopping and cooking at home will help you stick to your budget.
3 Easy $10 meals
Bean Quesadillas with Peppers and Onions
This bean quesadilla with bell peppers and onion is a delicious meal that will help you fit protein and vegetables into your dinner at an affordable price! For only $10 this meal will be sure to satisfy a family of four.
Total price: $10.00
Price per serving: $2.50
Chickpea Noodle Soup
Soups are an awesome, inexpensive meal to make in the fall and winter time! One tip for saving money while grocery shopping is by replacing meat proteins with other, more affordable vegetarian proteins, such as chickpeas! By replacing chicken with chickpeas, this spin on traditional chicken noodle soup saves you money and provides you with a great source of protein!
Total price: $7.69
Price per serving: $1.92
Easy Chicken Fried Rice
This fried rice recipes lets you incorporate chicken into your list of $10 meals, while not dishing out tons of money! By incorporating frozen vegetables and loading up on eggs, the overall price is decreased to only $7.35 to feed your family of four!
Total price: $7.35
Price per serving: $1.83
Check out these $10 meals that will be featured on the next Facebook Live episode coming up on 9/11/18 at 11am with Registered Dietitians Klara and Kaitlin!
Watch our dietitians cook these recipes live:
Budget Friendly Meals including $10 meals

Looking for more recipes ideas and how to meal plan for you and your family? Reach out to us at 301-474-2499 or at admin@rbitzer.com to set up an appointment with on of our Registered Dietitians!
For more budget meals, take a look at these blogs:
Turn Your Pantry Items into Meals
Easy Meals on a Budget
Contributions to this blog from Ivy Devadas, dietetic intern.
Klara Knezevic is a registered dietitian nutritionist based in Maryland. She has over a decade of experience in the nutrition field and currently serves as the CEO and co-owner of Rebecca Bitzer and Associates, one of the largest nutrition private practices in the country. Klara is passionate about sharing practical nutrition tips to help you feel confident in the choices that you make. Coauthor ofCooking with Food Sensitivities Survival GuideandNourished: 10 Ingredients to Happy, Healthy Eating.