# Cheapest tastiest meal(s) you can make? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-tastiest-meal-s-you-can-make/786545 "2017-05-13T18:05:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-tastiest-meal-s-you-can-make/786545/21 "2017-05-16T03:17:15Z")
I find risotto is good, tasty value for money. Onion, rice and stock - which can be homemade from scraps. Add in some vegetables and, if you’re feeling wealthy, maybe some meat. Cheese can be included or omitted, finances permitting. I regularly make pumpkin, bacon and spinach risotto, and it’s great value for money but in no way seems like budget food. When things are very tight (especially time) I make “cheaty risotto”, which uses the cheapest pack of supermarket-brand frozen mixed vegetables as the vegetable component, and I follow a recipe I found years ago that involves adding all the stock at once, and minimal stirring. It would never be served in a fine dining establishment (risotto purists would be horrified), but it has my family’s seal of approval and that’s all that matters. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-tastiest-meal-s-you-can-make/786545/22 "2017-05-16T04:50:51Z")
Chicken quarters on sale here are often in the 50 cents a pound range. So, if we’re not going the beans & rice route, I’d say chicken quarters. Throw some jerk paste on there, let it sit for a day, throw it on the grill. Serve with whatever the hell else you like to eat. Rice. Beans. Plantains. Greens. White bread. Or make some paprikash or whatever kind of chicken stew you like and serve with some spaetzle (flour, water, egg.) For five bucks I can feed probably around six. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-tastiest-meal-s-you-can-make/786545/23 "2017-05-16T12:31:04Z")
Absolute cheapest meal here would be Kale (from garden) salad, an omelet made of eggs from our hens, with harvested chanterelles and ramps. For dessert stewed rhubarb from our rhubarb patch. Total cost zero. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-tastiest-meal-s-you-can-make/786545/24 "2017-05-16T13:08:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The cheapest you’re going to find is going to be some variant on rice and beans, plus the spices of your choice. Maybe add some cabbage for vitamins, and some sort of fat. Yum! I could eat nothing else day in and out! Cheap AND nutritious. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-tastiest-meal-s-you-can-make/786545/25 "2017-05-16T14:35:33Z")
Fried potatoes, onion and sausage of choice, preferably something like Polish. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-tastiest-meal-s-you-can-make/786545/26 "2017-05-16T14:50:08Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Fried potatoes, onion and sausage of choice, preferably something like Polish. Oh, that’s always a good combo. There’s a Hungarian dish called _paprikás krumpli_ (potato paprikash) that is pretty much the same ingredients, but usually also a bit of tomato, paprika (of course), and the potatoes are stewed in the liquid instead of fried. Used to be one of my favorite cheap belly-warming dishes when I was low on cash. [Looks like this when done](http://www.nyiregyhazikosar.hu/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/paprik%C3%A1s-krumpli.jpg) (although there’s many variations, some with bacon instead of sausage, some with more weiner-like sausages in stead of smoked sausage, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-tastiest-meal-s-you-can-make/786545/27 "2017-05-16T16:59:07Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Oh, that’s always a good combo. There’s a Hungarian dish called _paprikás krumpli_ (potato paprikash) that is pretty much the same ingredients, but usually also a bit of tomato, paprika (of course), and the potatoes are stewed in the liquid instead of fried. Used to be one of my favorite cheap belly-warming dishes when I was low on cash. [Looks like this when done](http://www.nyiregyhazikosar.hu/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/paprik%C3%A1s-krumpli.jpg) (although there’s many variations, some with bacon instead of sausage, some with more weiner-like sausages in stead of smoked sausage, etc.) It’s what I always made for myself when I was traveling and staying in embassy-provided quarters. You can find local potatoes, sausage and onions in almost any country in the west. Drop a fried egg on top and you have a gourmet meal. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-tastiest-meal-s-you-can-make/786545/28 "2017-05-16T17:29:07Z")
As I’ve mentioned in other threads: baked macaroni and cheese. I use spaghetti for the pasta (dirt cheap store brand), one or two eggs (cheap) and any and all cheeses that I have sitting around (cream cheese, block cheese, sour cream, or whatever). A cup or two of milk finishes it off. No meat or other expensive add-ons. A casserole dish of this will feed two or three people for two days. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-tastiest-meal-s-you-can-make/786545/29 "2017-05-16T17:58:26Z")
A pot of beans kept many a Southern family alive during hard times. My dad’s family ate a lot of pots of beans. Packages of dried beans are dirt cheap. Get some ham trimmings from the butcher or even a ham hock. Ideally, there should be enough ham so that everyone gets a few bites. Unless money is very,very tight. Then get just enough to season the beans. Soak the dried beans over night. Next morning, add the ham, ground pepper and bring to boil. Simmer a few hours. Add water as needed to keep beans covered. Cook a pan of cornbread. A small bag of flour, cornmeal lasts a long time. You got a meal for 5 people. Beans are very nutrious. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-tastiest-meal-s-you-can-make/786545/30 "2017-05-16T18:06:07Z")
Almost, forgot… Dried beans often have rocks. Spread the beans out on a clean towel. Pick out any rocks, twigs etc. No joke. You can break a tooth chomping down on a rock. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-tastiest-meal-s-you-can-make/786545/31 "2017-05-16T19:22:23Z")
Franks and beans: My favorite Hillshire mini franks and Campbell’s pork and beans. Spanish eggs. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-tastiest-meal-s-you-can-make/786545/32 "2017-05-16T19:44:14Z")
Grilled cheese sandwich with a bowl of tomatoes soup . I was going to say potatoes latke but that was also ready used. Homemade borscht with a slice of Russian black bread . ---
**Author:** ![Santelia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Santelia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santelia)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-tastiest-meal-s-you-can-make/786545/33 "2017-05-16T21:06:33Z")
Two rashers of bacon, a handful of seasonal spring greens wilted in the leftover fat and and a soft boiled egg plopped on top. About 50p altogether. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheapest-tastiest-meal-s-you-can-make/786545.md?page=1)