Use this 1-week meal plan for low cost dinner ideas, breakfasts, and lunches to feed your family affordable meals. Stick to your budget and enjoy delicious real food!

Some people truly believe that the only way to eat healthy real food is to shop at high-end health food grocery stores like Whole Foods or Central Market.
However, this couldn’t be further from the truth!
You can make inexpensive meals regardless of where you shop. And whatever your finances look like, I assure you that it’s possible to feed your family real food on a tight budget!
To help you make this possible, I came up with a budget-friendly meal plan!
Whether you’re saving for something big, working on a smaller income, or overspent in previous weeks and need to scale back, this meal plan can help get you (back) on track!
For the family who is trying to make healthy food work with a small budget, but isn’t sure where to begin, this meal plan with low cost dinner ideas, plus breakfasts and lunches, is exactly what you need!
LOW COST DINNER IDEAS FOR ONE WEEK
Ready to make this week of low cost meal ideas work for you? Here’s what you need to know to keep money in your wallets and food on your plates.
- This menu was created to feed the average family of four. If you’re feeding more or less people, feel free to halve or double the recipes.
- Snacks and desserts are not included. If you MUST have snacks or desserts, I encourage you to use what you already have on hand. Fresh fruit and vegetable snacks are low cost and good for you. Bell peppers, carrots, and broccoli are tasty!
- Spices (salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning) are not included in the shopping list. Most people have basic spices already; however, you can include them in your budget if you don’t. The dollar store sells garlic powder, a salt/pepper combo for $1, and you can make your own Italian Seasoning. Alternatively, leave them out of your meals.
- There is a meal planned for every breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but eating leftovers should be a priority. Not eating food you’ve already paid for and cooked is a waste of money. To stay within budget, you can’t afford to waste anything.
- This menu is seasonal. Adjust the produce as necessary to fit the season you’re in, and don’t rule out frozen fruits and veggies if they’re less expensive.
This menu is 100% real food, but it was not written to include organic, grass-fed, or any other qualities of real food. Of course, these things are great, but they’re not required for eating clean. If your budget is really tight for the week, these qualities need to be momentarily set aside until your financial situation is more stable. Luckily, even some of the cheapest meal recipes are still made with real food ingredients!
Remember! Everyone’s family, food preferences, and financial situation are different, so if these low cost meal ideas don’t fit your family’s needs perfectly, use them as inspiration and adjust them as necessary.

WEEKLY MEAL PLAN FOR AFFORDABLE MEALS
Day 1
- (B) Oatmeal with fruit (make it on the stovetop or the Instant Pot)
- (L) Hummus with fruit and veggie sticks (carrot, apple, celery, and cucumber)
- (D) Baked chicken, corn on the cob, Baked Potatoes

Day 2
- (B) Breakfast Potatoes with runny eggs (or Scrambled Eggs)
- (L) Tuna salad with Homemade Crackers
- (D) Savory Bacon, Onion and Greens Pasta Skillet

Day 3
- (B) Oatmeal (did you know you can also use the slow cooker for oatmeal?) with apples
- (L) Peanut butter sandwiches and grapes
- (D) Garden salad topped with chicken and bacon (like this Buffalo Chicken Salad) with buttered bread

Day 4
- (B) Oatmeal with fruit
- (L) Hummus with fruit and veggie sticks (carrot, apple, celery, and cucumber)
- (D) Minestrone Soup with Dinner Biscuits

Day 5
- (B) Breakfast Potatoes with runny eggs (or Scrambled Eggs)
- (L) Tuna salad with Homemade Crackers
- (D) Chicken sandwiches, Roasted Potato Wedges, carrots
Day 6
- (B) Oatmeal with apples
- (L) Peanut butter sandwiches and grapes
- (D) Simple spaghetti (try my 15-Minute Homemade Spaghetti Sauce or substitute an inexpensive marinara sauce) and garden salad

Day 7
- (B) Oatmeal with fruit
- (L) Egg salad with Dinner Biscuits
- (D) Veggie Fried Rice (you can also use brown rice)
If you’re craving dessert, try my Homemade Yellow Cake Mix. It’s a simple dessert made with pantry staples and it’s SO good!
It’s important to realize, real food doesn’t have to be expensive. It doesn’t matter how small your grocery budget is – you can do this!!
Finding real food recipes that are cheap and easy meals to make is one of the principles I teach in Grocery Budget Bootcamp that’s helping families save hundreds on their groceries every month. Enrollment is currently closed, but you can check out my FREE Fight Inflation Workshop. You’ll get access to three AMAZING video sessions focused on how to save money on food right now, despite rising grocery costs.
MORE INEXPENSIVE DINNER IDEAS
Not a fan of one of the inexpensive dinner ideas on the list? Try one of these instead:
- Homemade Hamburger Helper
- Our Favorite Rice and Beans Recipe
- Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
- Homemade Pizza Dough
- Buffalo Chicken Potato Nachos
- Homemade Pizza Pockets
- Pasta Primavera
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese
Make sure to update your shopping list accordingly if you make changes to one of the affordable meals listed.
MORE LOW COST DINNER IDEAS ADD-ONS
If your family is big and you need an additional side dish or you need to increase vegetable or macro numbers try adding these staples to your list. Vegetables are easy to roast on a sheet pan or serve in a salad, and proteins can be prepped ahead and added in as needed.
- Sweet potatoes
- Tomatoes
- Spinach
- Cauliflower
- Mushrooms
- Peas
- Cabbage
- Ground beef
- Shrimp
- Lentils
- Salsa
- Black beans
- Pork chops
- Ham
- Rotisserie chicken
- Tortillas
- Noodles
INEXPENSIVE MEALS FAQS
How do I plan inexpensive meals for a week?
Here’s my meal planning process, with my best tips to stick to the meal plan. Stick with simple ingredients, cheaper proteins (add in some meatless meals!), and recipes that repeat ingredients you’re already buying for another meal.
Where can I find the recipes for these low cost dinner ideas?
Some recipes aren’t linked because they are very basic (i.e. peanut butter sandwiches). I’ve linked to recipes where they would be helpful. The meal plan download will give you even more specifics, along with the shopping list!
What affordable meals can I prepare for the week?
Some of these meals can be prepared ahead of time, such as Oatmeal, Hummus, and Baked Chicken recipe. Using this list of cheap and easy meal ideas, you’ll also make meal components that carry over for multiple meals, like dinner biscuits and sandwich bread.
MORE LOW COST MEAL IDEAS AND TIPS
- Eating Real Food on a Budget
- How to Meal Plan and Make it Work
- The Secret to a Healthy Grocery Budget
- How to Make a Frugal Grocery Budget
- 25+ Cheap Healthy Meals (for under $10)

These recipes sound amazing. My husband and I are empty nesters. Our son Joshua is 25 years old. He and his fiancé have our beautiful granddaughter Everly. My husband doesn’t want to do all of our shopping at Aldi. We could eat more fruits and vegetables. If we did and my son and his fiancé are eating a lot of take out. With Everly I want to make sure she has balanced diet. She does have fruit and vegetables . Just not as much as Mimi would like.
Recipes are indeed easy and tasty. However here in the 2020s, “shopping circulars” may be anti-cost effective because gas mileage may vary.
In my case, most of my shopping is at local $general/family$. with 1 trip down the mountain a month (make that zero in 2022) Nearest grocery is 25 mi and Walmart is 22.
Not including special item consideration for inherited health conditions that affect my choices, the ingredient selections seem dependent on being within or reasonably near a metro area ;_;
Yes that does make it much more difficult. We live in small town there are two grocery stores. But the prices are high. So we have to drive 30 minutes. Too stores that are cheaper, You living in the mountains makes that impossible.
The Day 3 salad you linked doesn’t match- Garden salad links to Buffalo Chicken.
Hi Lydia,
Thanks for you thoughts. 🙂 The buffalo chicken salad recipe on the blog is the closest recipe we have to an affordable garden salad with chicken and bacon, and that is why it’s linked. It is written in the post as ‘garden salad with chicken and bacon,’ as a cost-effective and protein packed dinner salad. However, in case it’s in the budget for a buffalo chicken salad, we linked it for another option. Hope this helps. 🙂
Do you have the recipe for that beautiful salad with the blueberries?
Hi Vanessa!
So sorry for the delay in responding. The recipe is this one: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/kale-salad-blueberries-walnuts-feta/. I hope you enjoy it!
I love this! Thank you so much for sharing. I can easily adjust to something like this. However, because I have such a picky eater (6yr old) we always have spend a little more money. This does give me an idea on how to work a much better budget.
Hi! I have a 10 month old at home. If it wasn’t for WIC I wouldn’t know where to begin affording to feed her. She is prescribed Nutramigen formula…which is $40 per small can. Needless to say, it is a life saver! But…I just got a raise of .10¢ per hour. Which puts me over by $6 per month for food stamps. So, I am really losing $350 per month by getting a raise. $50 per week might even be too much. But I am going to try as hard as I can. Any words of advice and encouragement would be wonderful. I need it.
I know it is really hard when you don’t have enough money to eat. My husband and I plus our son Joshua were on food stamps. When we just over the income level it was hard. The thing we used to do was lots of soup and grilled cheese. The canned soup at Aldi is cheap not the healthiest but add some canned fruit. Buy some Pancake mix we did lots of breakfast for dinner. Sending strength and hugs to you and your family.
Ask your boss to take the raise back or get off an hour early a few days a week.
I just lost my food stamps due to a raise. (single mom 4 kids).
I need to do $50/week… but with the raise in grocery cost its become $100/wk.
Trying to budget lower.
I do recommend using lentils though! I found a great recipe for a Lentil Tortilla soup (like chicken tortilla but with lentils, literally tastes the same and is so filling!).
Also, home made tomato soup is SUPER EASY! (and you can make big batches and freeze them for later).
Hi Kate, hope this will help Steph over at Cheapskatecook.com and Beth at Budget Bytes.com have wonderful inexpensive recipes Merissa at Little House Living as well. We have Farm Share that comes to our area no qualifying also food banks and local churches. Sending lots of positive thoughts and prayers your way.
Gina
That sounds really good. Such A good mom to think of such healthy things. To feed your kids.
Living off $50 a week is extremely easy for a family of 4. There are four grocery stores within a few miles of my house. The sales get very predictable after a while.
Here are some examples. A large container of Quacker Oats goes on sale at one of the grocery stores for $2.99 every month. Whole grain noodles are always available somewhere for $0.99. Brown rice ranges from $0.89 a pound to $0.66 a pound. Boneless and skinless chicken breast is available every two weeks for about $0.99 a pond. The list of cheap foods goes on forever.
I do not purchase snack food, soft drinks, or deserts for health reasons.
My foods always tastes good because I rarely rush to cook a meal. I take my time to make sure that I get every detail as perfect as possible. Attention to details can make anything including oatmeal taste great.
Here is another example. Put your glasses in the freezer about an hour before super. At the last minute put refrigerated water in the glasses and serve. I get lots of compliments from my family because I make water seem special with white frost on the glass. This is plain ordinary tap water.
That is great idea with the water glasses. I am not terribly excited when it is just plain glass of water. Thank you so much!
This is fantastic!! And as a base set up for you to go on to feed your family, SPOT ON!! I buy any meat on sale.. we at in the backwoods so we hunt and fish frequently so those meats are used prior to buying more. This has saved us a ton!! Also with a garden I don’t have to wonder where my food is coming from! These particular meals wouldn’t be ok with my hubby and kid however the practices used to make it in under budget with these meals I will be using!!!
Thank you so much! This is for real life! My friends keep encouraging me to try meal plans that will RAISE my food budget. This looks doable and would LOWER the food budget! I can’t wait to try it!
You’re so welcome Rosa! It’s not a fancy menu by any means, but it gets the job done without spending a lot of money! 🙂
Thankyou for posting this. We are a family of 7 and find it really hard right now to feed our kids. Our budget was 100/w now we had to cut it to 60/w. It’s not fun at all.
Hang in there Lanesha – we’ve found that the times of famine are what helps us grow most as a family. It’s not fun, but God holds lessons in everything. You can make it through!
I signed up for the download a total of three times and no link appeared or did I receive anything in my email.
Hi Diana! Sorry the link didn’t work! Send me an email here: tiffany (at) dontwastethecrumbs (dot) com and I can get it sorted out for you!
I give you my heartfelt and biggest thank you ever imaginable! you are a lifesaver. thank you!
You’re welcome Jo!
I literally cried when I read this. Thank you so much for posting! I had to quit my job because my Lupus was getting too bad to work, and then my husband had his hours cut. My son just turned 3 this month and I felt like a total failure because I couldn’t afford a birthday party for him, all I could do was get him one thing he really wanted. I am trying to put a happy face on for him, but with rent at 1500 and me locked into a lease, and my husband barely working, I feel like I’m drowning. I knew I had to make some major cuts, and this article makes me feel much better and much more motivated. I can do this! God bless you and thank you again xoxox
I have a family of 5. 2 adults 11 yr old 2 yr old and a 9 mo old we have a budget of $80 for two weeks I’m in desperate need of help to plan our meals!! I found this very helpful but fear that everyone would get tired of the same stuff all the time/
This meal plan isn’t designed to be an all the time menu Breann, but rather a short-term option to free up funds. When money is as tight as it is, variety sometimes isn’t an option.
Stealing from another meal plan that I am combining to incorporate different ideas, hard boiled eggs for lunch is a good protein and also filling. My two three year olds even peel them by themselves. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper and even my daughter who won’t eat scrambled eggs will eat hard boiled eggs. Surprises me every time. I get mine at Aldi’s and buy about four dozen for two weeks. You can pair this with a fruit and go to town.
I use some to make a quiche. I use frozen spinach ($1) and cheese to make it. It is a protein, great veggie, and a dairy with calcium. You can add toast if you can afford the extra bread. Adding eggs does not increase your budget a lot and they can go very far. This is definitely a way I would add variety. For breakfast, consider cinnamon toast (a little butter and some cinnamon). Also, mine like to have yogurt and dip apples in it. To beef up the protein content in this, I use vanilla greek yogurt that I buy by the tub. This lasts a long time. Lastly, a box of pancake mix and smash bananas up in your pancakes. This makes them include a little something extra and even oatmeal tastes good in these if you have it from your other breakfasts. I have taught mine to like pancakes without syrup. I cut it up into strips so they eat it with their hands that way. It was something new and different and was an easy transition away from sugary syrup. Pancake mix will last a long time so if you get a decent, but cheap box you can use it for a few weeks. Lastly, carrots are pretty cheap. I buy the petite ones, a few bags at aldis. I boil them or steam them. My kids still prefer their carrots soft. Your nine month old could probably eat them too. They are a great vegetable and are incorporated in some of the other meals she mentions so just another option with them if your littles don’t love them. Mine will eat half a bag if they are soft and I am not watching them.
i live in NJ, not sure if the food price is lower here. im able to get alot more with $50 a week while including snacks and i am feeding a family of 4.
i think the price of the foods play such a big role in this. i only buy the things that go on sale also or shop at walmart only.
i usually get a little lost when it comes to lunch time lol so thank you so much for this post. these are awesome lunch ideas that i can totally include in my $50 budget
You’re absolutely right Michell – the cost of food in your area is the biggest unknown when it comes to eating well within a budget. That’s why I try to stress strategy more than money itself, because prices will be different everywhere!
I can’t seem the find the link. Also do you have downloadable recipes anywhere? My husband is in medical school and we just moved to a new state so I stay home with our three month old until I can find a job and someone to watch her. We have a very low monthly grocery budget and I need help!
Hi Alex! The link to download appears towards the end, a few seconds after the page loads. I don’t have recipes for this meal plan, but I do for a similar plan I wrote in October: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2015/10/one-week-50-meal-plan-family-four-number-2/
Thanks for providing a real food menu: We’ve cut down our grocery budget by cooking meals that stretch for multiple meals. Like a simple roasted chicken, that can be made into multiple meals like chicken salad, or chicken enchiladas and chicken stock! Homemade soups/stews to use up produce that might otherwise go bad. Freezing veggie cut offs from celery, onions, carrots etc and making stock.
Using basic pantry ingredients to make sauces, soups, marinades, and dressings. Also, much healthier!
I have a vitamix blender that I use and while it’s an upfront expense but, I near 0 food waste. I can whip up smoothies, sorbets, ice creams, and most anything using up scraps
You’re welcome Cory! I agree with everything you said, including the blender. I’d be so lost without my Blendtec and although it was an upfront investment, I use it almost every day to save!
I wish my family could live off of this much food. My husband is training for an ultra marathon and needs a lot of calories and protein. I personally eat gluten free and vegetarian (I do eat seafood, fresh eggs and cheese). My youngest has allergies to soy bean oil, corn syrup and oil and cooked tomatoes. My oldest has allergies to red 40. Do you have any ideas? Even if I could get my groceries under $100 I will be happy. I usually spend $50 just on fruits and veggies. Please help?
Hi Shelly – this is a bare bones, absolutely minimum meal plan. It is in no way representative of what we eat on a weekly basis, nor what I’d recommend. The intention was to provide ideas for those who are truly struggling to make ends meat and still need to eat.
I am on a limited budget also. We have a family of 5 regulars, every other week my grandson lives here, plus my older sons come over on the weekend with their wives for laundry and dinner (total of 8). I feel strained at $200 per week. I shop mainly Aldi. I need to try some of this at their prices.
Do you have the recipes?
Hi Kimberly! This one does not have the recipes, but I did another plan in October that does:
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2015/10/one-week-50-meal-plan-family-four-number-2/
You can get spices at Woodman’s where I live (Oak Creek, Wisconsin) for 75 cents. It’s a good size jar, not a mini one.