30 Delicious Dinners That Won't Break the Bank

Beef and Guinness Stew Recipe

This hearty beef stew is made with lean boneless chuck that's cooked with carrots, parsnips and turnips and flavored with dark beer. Simmering it in a Dutch oven for about 2 hours makes the meat and vegetables fork tender and delicious.

Cube Steak Bulgogi  Recipe

If you thought cube steak was made for chicken frying, end of story… well, welcome to a new, flavor packed chapter. This approachable twist on traditional bulgogi swaps the budget-friendly cut in for skirt steak, resulting in an incredibly tender and flavorful beef dish—perfect for piling over white rice or into lettuce cups with kimchi. 

Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas Recipe

This slow cooker pork carnitas recipe is a perfectly simple and inexpensive way to feed a crowd. Set out a stack of warm corn tortillas along, with a few simple toppings, and allow everyone to pile on the unbelievably rich and tender pork as they please. 

Cacio e Pepe Recipe

This foolproof method delivers the classic, crave worthy flavors and textures of cacio e pepe—strong peppery backbone (without verging towards too "hot"), earthy saltiness from the Pecorino cheese, and a luscious sauciness that will have you ready to lick the bowl. That said, while our method largely stays true to the iconic dish, one element might catch a traditionalist's eye: olive oil. Though not exactly typical in cacio e pepe, we found that incorporating olive oil makes emulsifying the delicate cheese sauce a far less finicky process. 

Slow Cooker Creamy Lentil Soup Recipe

Simple flavors and a rustic touch will make this soup an instant home-cooked favorite, especially on chilly, wintry days. Inexpensive dried lentils make up the bulk of the soup, helping fill in your fiber gaps and keep you full longer. Chickpeas are the secret ingredient to achieve supreme creaminess, which become delightfully smooth when blended, and sneak in an extra 3g fiber per serving.

Cowboy-Style Beef and Vegetable Ragout Recipe

Think of this savory meat sauce as a cross between beef stew and sloppy joe filling. Add pearl onions to soups and stir-fries, or saute in a skillet with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sugar. The perfect pairing for this ragout is our Cauliflower Polenta. While the stock mixture for the polenta comes to a boil, begin cooking the beef mixture. As your finish the ragout, the polenta will be cooking away. The addition of cauliflower to traditional polenta lightens the recipe. To add more vegetables to this ragout, add carrots and parsnips during the fall.  

Speedy Shepherd's Pie Recipe

Making the most of supermarket convenience items gets this family favorite on the table in a flash. Precut matchstick carrots are easier to chop into small pieces quickly, and using prepared mashed potatoes for the topping is a good trick for when you don't have leftover mashed potatoes on hand.

Best Damn Chicken Pot Pie  Recipe

The name says it all—this pot pie is damn delicious! This crowd-winning chicken pot pie recipe comes from Julie Grimes's $10 Dinners: Delicious Meals for a Family of 4 that Don't Break the Bank; grab a copy today for more budget-friendly recipes that taste like a million bucks. 

Lean Lasagna Recipe

Our favorite recipe from the Cooking Light column, this lightened-up lasagna tastes every bit as flavorful as the traditional version.

Pan Seared Chuck-Eye Steaks Recipe

Known among chefs as "the poor man's ribeye," chuck-eye steak is a common and incredibly inexpensive cut of beef readily available at most supermarkets. While chuck-eye is often purchased as a roast—destined to cook for hours in a slow cooker in order to become tender enough to enjoy—what many home cooks don't know is that in steak form, chuck-eye holds the potential to be one of the most succulent cuts you'll ever cook. 

Taco-Tot Casserole Recipe

Tex-Mex meets tater tots in this easy, inexpensive, and all-around comforting one-dish dinner. Our spicy twist on the classic tater tot casserole consists of a succulent ground beef filling—featuring creamy black beans, crisp-sweet corn, cheese, and mild green chiles for a kick—topped with crispy tater tots, and finished with a drizzle of an addictively spicy and tangy sour cream sauce. Top this fiesta of a casserole with fresh garnishes, such as avocado, tomato, jalapeño, and cilantro, and it's as perfect to serve at your next football feast as it is for a casual weeknight meal. We use 85/15 lean ground beef for this recipe and recommend that you do not go with anything leaner, as the higher fat percentage both contributes to the filling's rich flavor and keeps it from drying out while baking. 

Zucchini Fried Rice Recipe

This single skillet dinner is a weeknight-friendly meal the whole family can get behind, not to mention—it's a genius way to put a bulk of summer zucchini to good use. The grated zucchini helps to lighten and brighten this take-out favorite, and stealthily bulks up the nutritional value of pickier eaters' plates. Plus, this budget-friendly dish is actually best made using day-old rice, so it's a great meal to plan on for utilizing leftovers later in the week. You can definitely use whatever you have on hand, but smaller-sized zucchini tend to work best in this recipe, as you want to minimize the number of seeds. Feel free to eliminate the pork or replace it with tofu to make this meal vegetarian. 

Extra-Easy Lasagna Recipe

When we say easy, we mean easy. You don't even have to cook the noodles for this speedy yet impressive lasagna that always gets rave reviews. Lasagna is a family favorite, but this version is extra-special because it only requires 5 quick ingredients: ground beef, pasta sauce, lasagna noodles, ricotta cheese, and shredded mozzarella (we don't count the water!). It's rated 5 stars for a reason. Pro tip: Make a double batch: Enjoy one now and freeze one for a quick meal on a busy weeknight.

Mongolian Beef and Vegetables Recipe

This takeout favorite is typically laden with beef and coated with a sticky-sweet sauce. Our makeover makes crisp-tender snow peas, broccoli, and carrots the star, with seared flank steak as the supporting player. We also balanced the blend of brown sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil in the sauce. Add a sliced red chile or a good pinch of crushed red pepper for a spicy sauce. We recommend serving with Sesame Soba Noodles.

Moroccan Beef Daube Recipe

This flavor-packed twist on beef daube is the perfect use for inexpensive stew beef. With a bright, herbaceous yogurt topping to add a burst of freshness, this hearty dish hits all the right flavor notes. 

Sausage and Spinach Spaghetti Pie Recipe

This budget-friendly dish (costing under $10) allows you to stretch a small amount of meat over several servings.

White Bean and Vegetable Bowls with Frizzled Eggs Recipe

This easy bowl of brothy goodness is loaded with both veggies and umami depth--it's comfort food you can feel good about. It's also great for times when the food budget is tight, as it costs only about $11 for 4 servings.

Cheese Ravioli with Pesto RecipeFresh herbs are premium ingredients that can easily break a budget. Stretch the pesto by adding a little fresh baby spinach.

Classic Minestrone Recipe

This thick, classic Italian soup is packed with healthy veggies like fresh carrots, onion, garlic, and kale. And at only 219 calories, you can afford to have seconds.

Creamy Tuna Noodle Casserole with Peas and Breadcrumbs Recipe

We love the old-school feel of this skillet supper. If you can't find whole-wheat panko, sauté fresh whole-wheat crumbs until crisp.

Instant Pot Mac and Cheese with Bacon Recipe

If you thought you loved your Instant Pot, just wait until you make a rich and gooey bowl of macaroni and cheese within minutes. The Instant Pot's pressure function allows you to skip the entire process of boiling water, cooking, and draining the pasta saving valuable time over a traditional stovetop mac and cheese recipe. And we keep the cheese sauce quick and convenient, as well as decadently creamy, by utilizing canned evaporated milk—an affordable staple that you may already have in your pantry. Plus, evaporated milk packs less fat than using heavy cream, which means you can feel a little better about all the cheese you're pouring in to make a beautiful melty finish. We opted for a blend of cheddar and Gouda cheeses, but feel free to go all-cheddar or try adding another favorite cheese to the mix.

Mojo Flat Iron Steak Recipe

The ultratender flat iron is an affordable alternative to rib-eye. Look for (or request) flat, rectangular steaks--butchered specifically to eliminate the line of tough connective tissue that runs down the middle of the entire cut.

Pork Posole Recipe

Comfort food, Mexican-style.

It's amazing how much flavor there is in such a humble (and, by the way, inexpensive) dish. The star of the soup is hominy, with its chewy texture and toasty-corn character; you'll find it with the Latin foods in the supermarket. Updates were minor: We simply omitted some oil and meat drippings for a cleaner broth.

Ground Beef and Pasta Casserole Recipe

This casserole is perfect for your busy week when getting in and out of the kitchen needs to be a snap. With very simple prep work, it will become a weeknight staple in your household.

Slow-Cooker Green Chile Pork Recipe

"I buy chiles in season when they're cheap, then roast and freeze them so I can make this year-round."

Angela Maddox, 36, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Red Lentil Dal with Carrot Salad and Coriander Flatbreads Recipe

This is basically an all-out assault on the bulk bins, as well as our modern take on the rice-and-beans dinner. Spices, dried lentils, and rice are cheap ingredients, especially when you buy in these small quantities. Chiles are also a thrifty flavor booster; you should be able to score the two here for a nickel. Your vegetable peeler will get you nice carrot ribbons. And you'll use your leftover pizza dough from Spinach and Onion Pizza to make the flatbread.

Chicken with Honey-Beer Sauce Recipe

Opt for an inexpensive, full-flavored domestic beer, like Blue Moon wheat ale.

Pork with Chunky Applesauce Recipe

The fall family favorite goes lighter with barely sweetened apples. And instead of the typical pork chops, we go for lean, inexpensive pork tenderloin. Complete the meal with a side of Broccolini or broccoli.

Garlicky Beef-and-Bean Stir-Fry Recipe

Cut costs at the supermarket by rethinking how you buy meats. Here, we use a less expensive cut of beef and stretch it by adding colorful fresh veggies to the entrée. Thinly slice the meat and stir-fry it quickly to keep it tender.

Tuna Melts Recipe

A delicious, lightly toasted Tuna Melt is just the meal you need to satisfy those crazy lunch cravings. You can serve these with cornichons (small pickles), or with carrot and celery sticks and a bit of light ranch dressing on the side for dipping.