I definitely lived on soups in college. It was easy to make a huge batch of something and then eat it for days. I usually spent no more than 35-45 dollars a week on food. Here are a couple of staples that I still make today:
Italian Farmwife Soup – I caught this one on an episode of Mario Batali’s show, and it’s one of the cheapest filling things you can make. Ingredients for about six servings of this come out to around $5.
2-3 potatoes, peeled and chopped into large chunks
1 onion, cut into large chunks
1 batch of your favorite leafy green (I use kale; Mario used beet greens), cut or torn into medium-sized pieces
3-4 cloves of garlic, cut in half
salt and pepper, red pepper flakes to taste, and a bay leaf or two if you’ve got them
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
5 cups water (just water! The greens, onions, and other seasonings impart a great flavor to it and make it a fine base)
In a nice big pot, cook the onions and garlic in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil until they’re soft and translucent. Then, add in the water and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes and boil until they begin to get soft before adding the greens (so that the y don’t wilt) and your seasonings, then keep boiling until your potatoes are entirely cooked. This is great with parmesan cheese on it, and even better if you put a toasted piece of good Italian bread on the bottom of the bowl.
Vegetarian Chili – So easy that I feel lazy just making it, and I always end up with so much that I get sick of it before I can eat it all. Mostly canned stuff, so it’s cheap.
3 cans of beans (I usually go for black beans, red kidney beans, and whatever else looks good in the goya section that day.)
2 cans of diced tomatoes. (Go ahead and get the kind with jalapeno bits in them, if you find them)
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, diced
hot peppers of your preference, diced
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
a packet of pre-mixed chili seasoning, or do your own experimentation with chile powder and other seasonings
1-2 tablespoons oil
Once again, the big pot, the oil, then cook your vegetables until they just start to get soft and good smelling. Drain off the liquid from your cans of beans and dump them into the pot, along with the tomatoes and your seasonings. Heat until it’s heated through, and you’re done! Great with chips crumbled into it, or cheese and sour cream.
Beans! Beans, lots of beans, lots of beans, lots of beans! A bag of black beans is screamingly cheap, there are lots of things you can do with them, and on top of that, they’re healthy! I tend to go by the instructions on the back of a bag of Goya black beans when I’m cooking them. They’re good in tortillas, or you could make a salad (with some corn, sweet peppers, and lime juice), use them in a soup/chili, or go for the old classic of rice and beans.
Mm… now I’m hungry.
