Looking for some meals that you can make in a hurry instead of stopping at a restaurant to pick something up? Here are some great ideas for fast cheap food, real foods that can be made very quickly!
Fast Cheap Food
When you first start to cook completely from scratch, all notions of “fast food” goes right out the window. How many times have you had a busy day and your hubby comes home at 5 and asks, “Where’s supper?” and it’s all you can do not to throw the frying pan at him…
Let’s try not to get to that point ever again! Together we are going to brainstorm to find real food real fast recipes. These are foods that you have to make and you can’t use any quick fixes from the store. I’ll start with a list and you can add more in the comments!
Quick Breakfasts
- Instant Oatmeal Packets or really any kind of Oatmeal (here are mix-in ideas!)
- Scrambled Eggs or Omlets
- Pancakes (with pre-mixed homemade pancake mix)
- Smoothies (Or homemade Orange Julius)
–Find more Breakfast Recipes.
Fast Cheap Food for Lunch & Supper
- PB&J Sandwich (with homemade bread and homemade jelly!)
- Loaded Potatoes (potatoes take just minutes to cook either on the stovetop or in the microwave)
- Home Canned Pork and Beans
- Refried Bean Bowls
- Grilled Cheese Sandwich (with homemade bread)
- Pasta (or Rice Pasta) with Quick Spaghetti Sauce
- The 30 Minute Pizza
- 3 Ingredient Mac and Cheese
- 7 Layer Taco Dip Recipe
The idea to create fast cheap food is just focus on simple foods that take very little prep work. Carrot sticks, hard-boiled eggs, sliced apples or oranges. As close to the way nature made them the faster they are to prepare!
–Here are even more Cheap Recipes for the End of Your Budget.
Make-Ahead Quick Cheap Meals
When you have good ideas on hand, it is easy to create real food real fast! Don’t forget that you can make a variety of make ahead meals that you can store in the freezer for fast and easy meals. Another thing I like to do is have pre-made mixes on hand to make it easier on me for things I do have to bake! I also love to do a bit of large batch cooking when I do have time. It takes less time than full-on freezer cooking but you can benefit from it just as much.
Quick and Cheap Meals from the LHL Readers
Of course, all of my readers are experts when it comes to making quick meals out of real food that still tastes good. Here are some ideas that you had to share.
- Noodles and home-canned beef. – Joanne S.
- Tuna and noodles with cheese. – Janet D.
- Swedish Meatballs in gravy over mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles. – Katrina R.
- “Clean out the fridge” Veggie Soup – Mary L.
- Sloppy Joes! I make a double batch and freeze leftovers into individual “pucks” in a cupcake tin. – Dawnette T.
- Beef and barley skillet. – Johanna S.
- Easy white chicken lasagna soup with bow tie pasta. Boil several chicken breasts in broth. Add 2 large carrots sliced 1 med. – large onion 2 large hand fulls of spinach 1 if you don’t care for it add 1 box bow tie pasta, After your pasta is tender chop up 1ea. 8 oz. Block of cream cheese, 1/2 stick of butter, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, 1 cup heavy cream allow to thicken and come together, Oh so good with French or Italian bread. Add a small side salad your world is complete…especially when it’s cold and snowing. – Jo Dee B.
- Stovetop Cassoulet with Italian sausage, white kidney beans, onion, celery, carrots, and tomatoes. – Nancy G.
- Fried potatoes and onions with white beans and spinach. – Kim S.
- Hamburger and gravy over toast, egg sammies, hamburger patties browned then cooked more in stewed tomatoes served with plain rice and spinach. – Michelle O.
- Bacon-wrapped meatballs…under the broiler Or – A bag of stuffing, 1 lb of ground beef, 1/2 c bbq sauce. Mix it up. Form mini meatloaves. They actually make a decent microwaved meatloaf. – Genelle H.
- We eat a lot of tacos made from whatever leftovers we have. Chef salad with bread. Hash with eggs. Grilled cheese, BLTs. – Deborah D.
- Sausage and mash. Toad in the hole. – Victoria J.
- Cook ground beef and drain! Then bring water to a boil and mix in McCormick’s mushroom and onion gravy reduce and simmer until gravy has thickened! Once the gravy has thickened, pour the gravy over the cooked ground chuck and simmer for 10 minutes! Finally, make your instant mash potatoes and pour the ground chuck over the potatoes! Yummy! – Robin S.
- Baked chicken and roasted veggies, just pop a pan in the oven for 30 minutes after seasoning and drizzling in olive oil. – Ashley G.
- Homemade hamburger helper is quick and easy. – Lori Ann B.
- This sounds so simple and crazy but my husband loves loves loves it: cut up a green cabbage into bite-sized pieces or a little larger and a large onion and add a tablespoon full (or to desired taste) of minced garlic from a jar. Boil to desired tenderness. Fry a 96% lean or very lean pound of ground beef. Add in the meat and some V-8 juice then whatever other veggies you like if you want (carrots if you’re not extreme low-carb). Season with Himalayan salt or regular salt, pepper, whatever you like. I also like to add the Trader Joe’s Umami (mushroom) spice but feel free to omit. – Melissa L.
- Chicken Pot Pie! – Brittany F.
- Mix bread crumbs, shredded parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Dip chicken in preferred liquid (milk, water or egg). Coat with flour mixture. Place in foil-lined the baking dish. Pour half a cube of melted butter (a whole cube is the best) over the chicken. Sprinkle any leftover flour mix on chicken. Bake at 400 for about 20min or until the thickest part reaches 165 degrees. – Melissa M.
Trying to plan better, more frugal meals for your family so that you always have a good meal on the table and don’t waste money on fast food? You’ve got to check out my ebook Meal Planning Made Simple. Even if you thought meal planning didn’t work for your family, this ebook will help you find the perfect fit for your family’s style.
It’s your turn, share your favorite fast cheap food in the comments!
This blog post with Fast Cheap Food ideas was originally posted on Little House Living in November 2012. It has been updated in November 2019.
My favorite quick meal is soup. I keep broth in the pantry (and sometimes cheat with bouillon), and all you need to do is throw in some veg, a bit of leftover meat, and voila, dinner! Paired with bread or a salad, it’s a quick, throw-together option. Best yet, the kids can join in too! I also make soups and freeze them for later consumption, either at lunchtime or for “one-offs” when everyone’s eating out and about at different times. 🙂
For breakfast on the run, I always grab a couple bananas!
Even cheaper than store broth-I keep the broth off of chicken and roasts that I cook in the crockpot or roaster and put them in plastic containers and freeze. Instant broth and I know exactly whats in it (be sure to mark those containers-everything looks like chicken when its frozen:)
I love this idea….wow…i thought about what I just flushed down the drain , the juice in the home canned Alaskan Salmon. It could have been the base for chowder. I love this website, there are so many common sense ideas. Thank you, much.
For breakfast I have a big mason jar that I fill up with homemade pancake mix, all I have to do is add milk or water and an egg (the egg is optional) and then make pancakes. It is quick and easy! One of my favorite fast dinners is taco soup. Just brown some hamburger and add a can (or homemade frozen bag) of corn, a can of beans – I use black or kidney beans, taco seasoning, a large can of tomato sauce, a can of green chilies, and whatever else I have on hand (left over rice, sweet peppers, onions, etc). Top with crush tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese, etc. Another thing I like to do for easy dinners instead of eating out is to freeze part of whatever I made for dinner and then when I don’t feel like cooking I just take something out of the freezer and unthaw. I think that’s even faster than driving to a restaurant!
I almost always have cooked, shredded chicken in the freezer and a variety of tortillas and cheeses in the fridge. I can defrost the chicken, sprinkle it with some chili powder and warm quickly in a frying pan. Meanwhile, shred some lettuce, dice a tomato, shred cheese (if necessary) and cook a pan of rice. Serve on choice of tortillas. Bam! Chicken tacos in less than 30 minutes.
For quick meals I love to throw together black beans, rice and vegetables. I usually cook black beans and rice ahead of time then freeze them so they are always available for a quick meal! I also make pancakes and muffins ahead of time so they just have to be warmed up in the morning. A little bit of prep goes a long way!
I’m just beginning to play around with idea of freezer cooking. I love the idea of having homemade “fast food” that’s ready to grab and go. Thanks for the great post!
Tacos are always a quick dinner in my house, or grilled ham and cheese sandwiches are another favorite. Also, any type of pasta bake/casserole. Or you know, a nice healthy salad. 😉
This was the best post, thank you so so much! I am making mixes for my girls for Christmas; can’t wait!!!!!!!!!!
At the end of gardening season is a great time to can any, and all variety of vegtables into a pre made vegtable soup. With this base in the pantry it can be an easy fix in the winter. Heat alone or add some shredded meat. Fast and ready vegtable soup.
A tried and true fast food dinner for me is tuna and pasta. I just cook 2 cups of whole wheat rotini, or whatever pasta I have on hand, al denti. Drain and return to pan over low heat. Add 1 can albacore packed in water, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and just enough milk to make it creamy. Open a jar of home canned green beans and add a slice or two of bread to the meal. Quick and so easy!
Fast dinners here are all the time. I home can pork and beans, chicken, hamburger, chili, broths, applesauce, fruits, salsas, and more.
A quick dinner of soft tacos is easily made by dumping a jar of home canned meat into skillet, adding desired spices and water, let simmer… Put a jar of beans in saucepan with some saved bacon grease, heat up then mash with potato masher or stick blender, add a little salt to taste. And then cook tortillas or reheat some from store. Takes us all of 10 to 20 minutes to throw that on.
Open a jar of chili, heat and top with shredded cheese, sour cream and guacamole.
Quick stew: open a jar of stew meat, add diced potatoes, frozen peas, diced carrots, salt, pepper, etc.. Heat until veggies are cooked, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with home made bread.
I have been cooking from scratch due to food allergies, that it isn’t time consuming for us. I can foods so I know what the ingredients are. No corn of any kind can come into our house.
Quick snacks: peanut butter and freezer jam on homemade graham crackers.
Dried fruit, nuts, homemade fruit leather, fruit, veggie sticks… Date balls ( a favorite here!).
I make a large batch of baking mix, flour, salt, shortening (coconut oil), baking powder, powdered milk. I have that made up, measure out what I need and add egg and water and sugar.. Bam… I can make biscuits, pancakes, muffins, cookies…
Do you have the quantity of the ingredients and how much you use to bake
We do “bread pizza” often. Spread a slice of homemade bread (or whatever you have on hand… English muffins are good, too.) with pasta sauce, put on whatever toppings you have handy, add cheese and bake in the oven or toaster oven for 10 minutes.
I have home canned turkey meat in my pantry… so if I need a quick sandwich meat (we don’t do lunch meat.. can’t eat it before it goes bad!) I can make up quick “turkey salad” sandwiches.
Quesadillas are a great quick meal.
Home canned tomato soup and grilled cheese – REALLY can’t beat this one!!
For cheaper than store canned broth and better than boullion-I save the broth off of chicken and beef that I cook in the crockpot or roaster. When its cool I put in plastic containers and freeze. Instant broth and I know exactly what is in it. (be sure to label and date the container-everything looks like chicken broth when its frozen)
Do not forget sausages. Tired of the usual potato mash and sausages? The chunkier meat sausages you can take off sthe “skin” hull, and very quickly fry in a pan, loosening the meat with a fork. Add whatever you like to the meatmixture and serve with, mash, potatoes or chips and a salad (greed salad vegetable – you can use endives – , slices of onion and tomato, the rest is optional). This does not scream loudly :” I started dinner too late”.
Tidy Mom’s Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal is really good for a quick breakfast. You mix it all up in one bowl. It does take 20 minutes to bake but that just enough time to get myself and the kids dressed so it’s perfect. We also like scrambled eggs wrapped in a tortilla with some cheese.
I’ve also been loving the freezer for pre cooked hamburger (tacos, chili, lasagna), chicken and dumpling noodles, soaked and cooked beans, homemade tortillas, etc.
Home canned broth in the pantry helps meals come together quickly as well. I love that I don’t have to wait for it to thaw and when I freeze the other foods flat in ziplocs, it only takes a few minutes to thaw enough to get dinner into a pan.
I freeze lots of vegetables this way. Most can be frozen in large bags and I just take out what I need and reclose the bag. Blanched broccolli and cauliflower, carrots, cooked potatoes, even diced onion and bell peppers work well. And all these make good additions to a fast soup or side to a roast meat dinner.
My favorite go to meal is pinto or black beans. Beans on a tortilla with shredded cheese, onion and hot sauce or in a bowl with the same toppings or on top of a baked potato with sour cream added to the same toppings or with scrambled eggs and toast. I LOVE BEANS!
Quick spahetti. Put spaghetti on to cook.
Heat 2 cloves of garlic chopped in a good slosh if olive oil. Dont cook it just warm it up so it flavours the oil. Stir in two tablespoons of tomato paste and cook until pasta is done. Stir in a ladle of the pasta water and stir . Strain the pasta and add to the sauce. Stir in fresh herbs if you want.
Done in the time it takes to cook the pasta.
Cheap healthy vegan vegetarian meal in minutes. 😁
Thanks for sharing this!
So sorry people have been so mean…I follow several families on e-mail and Instagram and it’s happening to so many people! I truly don’t understand. And you have such a great blog and I’ve enjoyed it for a long long time. Hang in there and know that lots of enjoy all of your content💕
Love this post! I really enjoy your website and the many helpful posts in it. As an online community of strangers trying to get ideas on how to live a simple and yet abundant life, you are definitely a contributor to that goal and I thank your website for that and others who share their ideas .
For others who have constructive feedback, the old adage: compliment in public, criticize in private still applies in this digital century- send your respectful feedback in a private email. Online negativity is so rampant don’t contribute to it. Kindness is contagious so keep passing it on… Thanks for a great website! Now for my go-to quick meal:
Leftover pasta
can of quality tuna in oil
lots of fresh cut tomatoes
capers or frozen peas
basil leaves if you have it
italian dressing and parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste
Thanks for sharing your “recipe”!
I am going to try some of your ideas. They sound good we are retired but busy so I need quick meal ideas.
As for the negative comments, just forgive them and move on. I am sorry that they did that to you.
Bless you.
Merrisa, you most certainly have one of the better blogs which utilizes your expertise so well in so many areas and benefits so many. I am 82 years old and would love to be your age again and know what I know now.
I have an old post card with a message which everyone needs to heed. it says:
“There is so much bad in the best of us and so much good in the worst of us that it hardly behooves any of us to talk about the rest of us.”
Take the hateful comments with a grain of salt, for that is about what they are worth.
Keep up the good work!
I am making Lazy Cabbage Rolls at the moment I started reading this,it is so easy & economical.
Just pretty much ground beef,canned tomatoes,rice,onions(to taste) of course garlic ,salt ,pepper ,what ever seasonings you like . I cook rice prior .
Brown beef & onions add seasonings once brown,I add a can or as much canned tomatoes as you like, then add your cabbage ,I cut mine small so cooks fast ,let simmer until tender then add rice simmer on low to allow flavor to go thru .
I use my big electric fry pan ,You also an make as big a batch as you want & the leftovers are even better ,I have frozen leftovers It don’t matter how much of each you use ,it works out just fine .
My grandma used to make those all the time. They are great!
Love your articles. Don’t let the mean people get to you. I think some people’s lives are so bad they want everyone to be that way. We need to teach them if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything. You are great & you are making the world a better place for a lot of us. Bless you.
I have been following you for several years (clear back to the RV days) and truth be know, if I looked at my ‘food recipes” bookmark on my computer, there would be tons of yours. I’ve never commented before, but it made me a bit sad to read you received negative emails and comments so I felt compelled to write. Keep the good ideas flowing and if I don’t like something, I know in a week or so you will have some idea worth saving. There seems to be a green light in the USA the past couple of years that allow people to say what ever attack on a fellow human they have on their mind. Don’t be fooled into thinking that their attacks are an exercise in the first amendment, it is just plain hiding behind a keyboard and spewing rude and hateful BS that contribute nothing to the greater good. carry on, I’ll still read :). hugs
Merissa-
Please know that you are doing a great service with your blog and many people enjoy it very much. It is sad that people feel the need to try and bring others down just because they don’t always agree.
Keep up your good work and hold your head up high
Hi, I’m so sorry to hear you had a bad week! I enjoy reading your posts and I hope you dont decide to quit publishing your articles. It seem that people think it’s ok to bully and it isn’t! If you cant say something nice sont comment just keep on scrolling. . Hope you have a wonderful weekend! And please dont through in the towel!tammy
A few years ago we had a guest with special dietary needs: no gluten, egg or dairy. She was newly diagnosed, and being a typical American teen, was in full-on rebellion against the new restrictions. We brought her home from the airport starving. Before she could really get in stride about how she could no longer eat *anything*, I has whipped a bag of home-grilled IQF slices if egplant, squash, peppers and carrots from the freezer and tossed them under the broiler. Cooked frozen chicken went into the microwave and glass noodled went into boiling water. In about 5 minutes dinner was ready. A handful of fresh snipped basil and a pinch of mushroom salt finished the presentation.
I use leftover taco meat for breakfast omlets and add to mac & cheese to make a zesty hotdish for dinner
These ideas are worth their weight in gold! Thank you so much Merissa! What a help you are to our family.