Cheapest chicken outside of sales is a whole chicken (usually about $1.10/lb not on sale, sometimes even cheaper). Obviously takes perhaps more skill than this thread allows, though could just poach the chicken whole in water at about 180 degrees until the chicken hits 160-170, just add some salt and pepper. But you can cut the backbone out in less than a minute with a decent pair of kitchen shears, and rubbing some salt/pepper (get under the skin too) takes just another minute, then you can roast the halved chickens skin side up at 425 for ~45-50 minutes. Just eat some and keep the rest for easy/cheap additions to salads, stir fries, etc. I find that half a chicken is good for about 4-5 salads, so that's only about $0.50 worth of protein

Very nice. If using raw salmon and replaced mayo with lemon oil and capers with chives you got the FL dish

http://carolcookskeller.blogspot.com...sweet-red.html

I don't know why my mom ever made this because she normally fixed proper dinners, but one of my favorite things when I was a kid was simply ground beef and rice with soy sauce. Not particularly nutritious, but super easy and tasty.

In the same vein, loco moco is pretty badass. Rice, hamburger patty, fried egg, brown gravy.

Can of soup poured over a baked potato (or two, great meal for couples) that's loaded up with butter, salt, and pepper. (Rub the outside with olive oil and coarsely cracked sea salt ldo) We like Amy's Spicy Southwestern Fire Roasted Vegetables or something as the soup.

Trader Joe's reduced guilt frozen macaroni and cheese with a few (veggie) chicken nuggets cut into rough chunks and added. Cooking time ~4 minutes.

Also, gonna try this soon.

i think their mac/cheese is only 1.99, i think

bake bacon in advance, chop it into bits and seal in the fridge. sprinkle that over just about anything, but definitely this

Sooo much processed crap mentioned in this thread. Cheap and easy doesn't always have to be boxed crap. I would guess some of you are pretty unhealthy based off your suggestions. A ramen burrito?!?!? Where the **** is the protein? 200grams of processed carbs!!!! Eat that if you want to be 300lbs in a year.

If you search around you can get low quality boneless chicken breasts for <$2/lb and you can get good quality for about $3/lb. You could also buy whole chickens or thighs if you want to spend less. Go to an asian market and get yourself some rice (brown preferably). They have some of the cheapest prices for rice.

Cook chicken how ever you'd like and serve with rice. You can make a few lbs of chicken at a time and have meals for a few days that are quick to heat up, cheap, and healthy. Add fresh veggies if you'd like.

There are so many ways to eat healthy with out spending a fortune and your body will thank you.

Sweet potato is cheap and healthy. Microwave it whole for 5-7 minutes, cut it in half and scrape out some delicious mash. Serve it with a side of wilted spinach with garlic and soy.

Or cut it in cubes and put it in daal (yellow/black peas simmered in water for an hour with whatever spices you want). If you add a side of rice this is basically how half a billion people eat nearly every day.

Donk,

Yeah, crazy there's so much processed crap mentioned in a thread requesting "cheapo recipes involving premade food you can bang up without doing any real cooking."

Your suggestion is prob a good one for the cooking chicken, rice, and veggies thread, though.

Spot on el d. Not sure why people keeping doing that itt. Seemed clear what op was aiming for

Nothing perks up a bag of cheap ramen like a tablespoon or two of saffron.

David Chang on Mind of a Chef

just watching that made my gums bleed

It's actually a pretty good show. IIRC that whole episode was about Ramen, but mostly real Ramen, he was just showing something he used to do as a kid.

FWIW, Mexican is easy to make on a budget and still make healthy. Whatever veggies you have or salsa (like onions and peppers/tomatoes) plus a tortilla and some beans or beef and cheese. Sour cream, hot sauce and stuff if you like that. A burrito can cost a dollar or so and still be delicious and relatively good for you.

Always had the same feelings, but I tried it and it was a lot better than expected.

The texture is not like dried pasta as you might imagine, but more like kettle cooked potato chips.

Cheap mac and cheese and canned chicken. Only kind ive ever tried is Costcos. For whatever reason they go great together.

Can of fire roasted tomatos, small canned chicken, hot sauce, heat 5 minutes

Canned tuna is also good in mac and cheese. Just make sure you drain all of the oil/water.

For dessert you can roast marshmallows over the stove.

1. ground beef, rice, and corn all mixed together

2. ground beef, rice, raisins, and cashews/or sliced almonds

Pretty standard school lunch for poor kids in Germany. Open the package at the top, throw seasoning in, hold it closed and crush the noodles / mix, then eat.

Standard in Canada too

average retail prices of common foods in US: http://www.bls.gov/ro3/apmw.htm

props for best $/lb:

-rice
-oats
-whole chicken (legs/thighs also cheap)
-eggs
-potatoes
-beans
-bananas
-various fruits and vegetables
-cheap beer
-water

slops for being more expensive than I thought:
-ground beef
-milk


if you can add a new spice or two to the pantry every month you can eat pretty healthy/delicious at < dollar menu prices. learning to cook is fun if you like food.




buuut in the spirit of the thread,

make your own pizza. make dough from scratch. add tomato sauce, onion, peppers, meat, cheese. put in oven.

canned beans + rice.

cheese quesadilla.

all middle-high school staples for me.

A clay/porcelain pot is perfect for fancying up ramen. It's ~$5 and you can cook and serve it in the same vessel. Add an egg, some type of green, and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Turns $1 worth of food into something you look forward to having. You can also lie and tell people it's some special ramen you learned to cook from somewhere and they'll believe you due to the pot.

Something like this

When people say to add an egg to ramen soup or whatever, how do they mean?

Just crack it open and into the food right before you eat it? Before you nuke it in the microwave?