Graceful Little Honey Bee

35 Frugal Recipes to Make When You’re Broke

by 56 Comments

Check out this list of extremely frugal recipes to make when you're broke.

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  It’s an extremely important skill to know how to feed your family quality food when the budget is tight. That’s why I’ve put together this list of simple, from scratch recipes that make the most of easy low-cost ingredients. These recipes are frugal, yet satisfying so check them out and see how to feed your family well when your wallet is empty.

 

  And if you are looking to save even more on your grocery bill then you will want to checkout IBOTTA and Checkout 51. I use these apps regularly to earn cash back on my groceries purchases such as milk and produce. No coupons needed. Now on to the frugal recipes!

 

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35 Frugal Recipes to Make When You’re Broke

 

Breakfasts

Cinnamon Sugar Pancake Squares – Graceful Little Honey Bee

Amish Baked Oatmeal – Cooking Classy

Buttermilk Biscuits – Graceful Little Honey Bee

Vegetarian Breakfast Burritos – Frugality Gal

Egg Muffins – Graceful Little Honey Bee

Cinnamon Sugar Amish Bread – Redfly Creations

Banana Bread – Graceful Little Honey Bee

Cinnamon Sugar French Toast Sticks – Averie Cooks

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins – Graceful Little Honey Bee

Country Breakfast Bowls – Budget Bytes

 

Side Dishes

Basic Sautéed Cabbage – Graceful Little Honey Bee

Slow Cooker Honey Glazed Carrots – Fabulessly Frugal

English Muffin Bread – Graceful Little Honey Bee

Southwest Pasta Salad – Graceful Little Honey Bee

Crockpot Baked Sweet Potatoes – Graceful Little Honey Bee

Golden Skillet Potatoes – Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

45-Minute Yeast Rolls – Graceful Little Honey Bee

Crockpot Corn on the Cob – Recipes that Crock

 

Main Dishes

Super Simple Beans & Rice – Graceful Little Honey Bee

Baked Potato Bar – Money Wise Moms

Bean & Cheese Burritos – Graceful Little Honey Bee

Vegetable Soup – Cooking Classy

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup – Graceful Little Honey Bee

Tuna Salad Sandwich – Cincy Shopper

5 Meals from 1 Chicken – Graceful Little Honey Bee

Chicken Fried Rice – The Recipe Critic

Slow Cooker Pinto Beans – Graceful Little Honey Bee

One Pot Chicken and Potatoes – Let the Baking Begin

Southwest Chicken Casserole – Graceful Little Honey Bee

 

Desserts

Blackberry Jam Bars – Graceful Little Honey Bee

No Bake Cookies – The How to Crew

Freezer Apple Pie Filling – Graceful Little Honey Bee

Apple Cinnamon Rice Pudding – Mostly Homemade Mom

Amish Lemon Bars – Graceful Little Honey Bee

Cake Mix Sugar Cookies – Graceful Little Honey Bee

 

What’s your favorite frugal recipe? I’d love to know!

 

 

Other posts you might enjoy:

These inexpensive meal ideas will get you through when your wallet is empty!Here are 35 of the most frugal and relatively healthy foods that money can buy. Regularly menu planning around this list will help you to save money and stay within your budget.

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  7. Sue says

    Loved the crock pot sweetpotatoes... That is the best way to make them. .. Just delicious! I did use organic coconut oil instead of Pam but other than that they were just awesome. I also tried your baked oatmeal that was delicious as well. Such a great list.
    Reply

  8. Tracy says

    Thank you for these! I have a few suggestions. First, bake everything you can whenever the oven is on. Potatoes may bake slower at 325 than 350, but they'll still bake while the bread is in with them. Eggs "boil" better in the oven, and no need to waste water, so put them in, too, for egg salad, etc. It saves money over time. One of my favorite things is to save bones and vegetable peels for stock, which I then reduce to a demiglace and freeze. I break off what I need to use as broth, but it's great for flavoring pot pies, gravies, and everything else that needs a boost. It's like a bouillon cube without the salt and chemicals.
    Reply

  10. PamO says

    One of my favorites from my childhood is Eggs and Potatoes. My mom would dice up potatoes, crispy them in a little oil and then pour scrambled eggs over the top. All of us loved it. Now that we're grown Mom points out that she only made it when the pantry was bare and there were still a few days until payday.
    Reply

  11. Melissa says

    One of my guys' favorite budget meal is fried potatoes with onions and smoked sausage with bbq sauce. If I have bell peppers I add them too, but good without them.
    Reply

  12. Frances says

    Your recipes sound really good my only problem is this. You have ingredients in some of your recipes that if a person is broke they wouldn't be able to make. When I'm broke it means nothing but the basic and bananas is not a basic In my home being broke means we only have the bare necessities beans rice maybe potatoes I don't think you really know what broke is how about putting recipes that real broke people can use thanks
    Reply

    • Bob says

      But using these recipes when you are NOT broke can help keep you from getting broke. Seriously, live like you are broke until you can get a $10,000 emergency fund built up. Then, anytime you have to dip into that fund, do it again until you get it back up to $10,000. Difficult? Yes. But far better than being hungry.
      Reply

      • Allison says

        I don't think that's very realistic. When we get our SS and SSI, which is based on need, (SSDI disability is not available in my case , and I'm too young to collect SS for a few years.), Husband is too old for disability because he NW Michigan. Anyway, there's never enough to save anything. We get food stamps and medical care, at least for now, but that doesn't pay much for our mortgage, utility bills or plow our driveway, or pay for insurance or property taxes. In our rural area there aren't many resources to get much help. II'm disabled and still have to be caregiver, driver and all purpose homebody, so if that's not 'broke' then I wouldn't what 'broke' means. How are we supposed to live more frugally to save anything when we can't even afford what we are trying to handle already?
        Reply

    • Tejas Prairie Hen says

      I agree that we need to learn how to cook as many dishes as possible that use only pantry-stable goods, like grains, dried beans, powdered milk for calcium and added protein, canned tomatoes for vitamin C. Long term buying of spices by the lb. is much cheaper than buying tiny bottles, and spices are what make meals using very simple ingredients taste very good. If you can't spend more than a few dollars on a main dish to nourish your family, you sure can't spend $10 on a dessert that provides sugary, cholesterol-laden, high-but-empty calories that are not good for our bodies. We need to relearn how to cook like our ancestors did in the 19th and early 20th centuries when food was never wasted, but re-invented all week, and often without any refrigeration.
      Reply

  13. Cynthia says

    My favorite frugal recipe has always been potato soup with some kind of sausage. I prefer kielbasa but it's not critical. The problem is, it's only super-frugal when you buy the sausage when it's on sale (preferably code dated and popped in the freezer immediately), then when milk is at its lowest (or heavy cream is code dated), go for it! Of course when I use cream, I use far less than I would if it were milk. My "recipe." Soak potatoes in warm water. Cut up an onion (size depends on how much you like onion). Slice sausage into 1/4 to 1/2" pieces. Saute together in a pan large enough to hold as much soup as you intend to make in a little oil (or bacon grease if you're so inclined). Remember that the sausage will give off grease so you just need enough to keep the onions from sticking while it gets started. When the sausage pieces are nicely browned, remove them from the pan. Don't worry about how many onions you take out or leave behind. It all ends up back in the soup. Scrub potatoes with an abrasive scrubby to get them as clean as possible. Cut into relatively bite-sized pieces. Add potatoes and as little water as necessary into pan in which the onion was sauteed. The water really needs to be pretty close to the top of the potatoes but don't cover them. Cook until the potatoes are very tender. Mix flour with some of the milk/cream. I generally go with approximately a tablespoon per approximate cup of liquids. This is guesswork but if it's not thick enough when you're done, you can either mix more flour with milk or water or you can make a slurry of cornstarch and milk. It mixes more easily. Add the thickener and milk or cream. As I said earlier, if it's cream, I use lots less than if it's milk. Milk is generally about half milk, half water. Cream is however much you want to add. It makes a much creamier soup. Once you have all the liquid in (you don't have to have it all hot yet), either stick an immersion blender in there for just long enough to leave about half the potatoes in chunks. If you don't have an immersion blender, either put about half of it in a blender or food processor (probably in batches) or go low tech and just use a potato masher. As soon as the soup has heated through and the flour or other starch has had a chance to thicken it up a bit, stir in the sausage and enjoy. As you can see, you can use more or less of just about everything. Feel free to use a real recipe for the potato soup and just add browned sausage (actually, bacon and ham work quite well, too). Oh, that's the other thing I make. If you or a friend make ham with a bone, make sure one of you uses it. I went to a friend's house for Easter and she was going to throw away the bone and the drippings. The drippings are amazing for seasoning navy bean soup, split pea soup, well, just about anything you would put ham in. I divide it into seasoning-sized packets and freeze for future use.
    Reply

  14. Robin says

    Your recipes sound nice. But chicken is a complete luxury item, certainly not for when you are broke! :-) I barely buy it when I'm not broke! I have found that a nice red lentil chlli is very cheap and filling.
    Reply

  15. Lynna says

    I'd like to add that soup is just about the ultimate "broke" meal! It's a great way to use up veggies that are maybe a little past their prime, or animal bits that most Americans wouldn't normally consider. We're fortunate to live very near an Asian market, and you can get a huge bag of chicken bones (with plenty of meat left on them) for about $2. You can also get pork or beef bones for cheap, or fish heads. Admittedly these things aren't good for much other than soup, but once they're boiled down they make great broths and stocks to freeze. You can get meals for a week for under $10 if you play your cards right (and don't mind eating soup every meal,heh).
    Reply

  16. Karen says

    Cheap and versatile dinner recipe: Mexican: 1 can tomatoes broken up (mushy). Slosh of salsa or just hot sauce or chilli flakes - something spicy Ground cumin if you have it Chopped onion Take above and cook on medium heat in skillet to sauce consistency. Be sure you have some kind of lid for the skillet or just use a large plate or tin foil. When sauce is thickened. carefully break in as many eggs you need to feed. Put lid on skillet and turn down heat a bit. Lift lid periodically to check that eggs are done to your liking (I like done whites and runny yolks). Grate some cheese if you have it and sprinkle on eggs to melt (put the lid back on). Spoon out eggs with sauce onto rice in bowls and serve. Any Mexican go-alongs are great if you have them - for example, corn chips. Italian version: Same as above but use prepared pasta sauce or canned tomatoes with Italian seasoning (oregano, garlic) to recipe above. Proceed as above. Serve over pasta. Cheap and cheerful and tasty. Sorry it's not an exact recipe but if you have to cook frugal, you probably already know how to improvise.
    Reply

  17. Melody says

    I saw this post at the perfect time. We've got too much month left at the end of our money, but a freezer full of chicken, so I copied all these recipes into a document and am going to have my family pick out a few for me to make to tide us over until payday. Thank you!
    Reply

  19. Carol Jensen says

    I use an old 30 cup electric coffee pot, fill with corn on the cob and water. Sometimes I leave the basket out, put the lid on and turn it on. When the light comes on showing that the coffee is brewed, means the corn is done. Other times I leave the basket in and cook other veggies. Quick, easy, stove top clear for other cooking, and you don't have to keep an eye on it.
    Reply

  20. Angela says

    My fav is German Quick 4 cans green beans 1 lb skinless smoked sausage Chopped onion Chunked potatoes Oil Minced garlic or garlic powder Salt and pepper Sauté onion and garlic, throw in sausage to brown, toss in potatoes. Top with green beans in their juice. Being to a simmer. Simmer 6-8 minutes until potatoes are soft. Easy, fast and cheap. We like it with either homemade hush puppies or fried cornbread. You're gonna thank me for this. ;)
    Reply

  24. Alison at NOVA Frugal Family says

    Just found your blog today and already made the Cinnamon Amish bread today!!! Amazing!!! It was really great and used things I already had around the house. Super easy to pull together and I love your list. I can't wait to check out the rest of your blog :)
    Reply

  25. Shay says

    We like German/hootenanny/puff pancakes. 1/3 cup butter in a 9x13 in the oven while it preheats to 375. Mix 9 eggs, 1 1/2 cup milk, 1 1/2 cups flour, tsp salt. Add into hot pan with melted butter when oven is done preheating. Serve with jam, syrup or powdered sugar.
    Reply

  28. Melody Bold says

    I LOVE this! I use it almost every week and everything has been very tasty. We are perpetually on the thin edge of being broke. For example, this last paycheck didn't even cover all the bills and mortgage, so I was not able to get any groceries to tide us over for the next 2.5 weeks. So...I went shopping in my freezer and pantry and put together a menu that will feed our family of 6 until the next paycheck arrives!
    Reply

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