Inexpensive, easy, and healthy dinner ideas

Kgerber777

I know i'm asking for a lot...what are your inexpensive, easy, and healthy dinner ideas?

Tonight we had sweet potatoes, black beans, and quinoa topped with a dollop of Greek yogurt and a tbsp of salsa.

Megan_smartiepants1970

I love roasted eggplant ..throw in some tofu and add a sauce ... I also love spaghetti squash carbonara ... tacos made as a salad

https://sweetmoneybee.com/cheap-healthy-meals/
https://www.eatingwell.com/gallery/7561540/cheap-healthy-dinner-ideas-20-minutes/

Brin1956

I love squash. Cut in half, hollow out and bake till almost cooked. Take 1 lb. of lean ground, beef, chicken or Turkey. If beef pat dry to remove as much fat as possible after browning. Add onions, celery to the meat and fry. Add any squash that was removed to hollow and add 1cup of spaghetti sauce and spice to taste. Pour sauce and meat onto the cavities of the squash. Return to oven to finish cooking. Squash is done when able to be pierced with a fork. Top with a little parmesan cheese and serve.

acpgee

The first meal my mom taught me to cook for myself aged twelve was Chinese egg and tomato to have on pasta or rice. Tinned tomatoes are fine with this too. Easily made during the 20 minutes it takes to make rice
https://redhousespice.com/tomato-egg-stir-fry/
If you want extra veg have smashed cucumber or buy some commercial goma dressing to have on cucumber.
https://www.seriouseats.com/sichuan-style-smashed-cucumber-salad-recipe

Korean minced beef bulgogi bowl is easily made in 5 minutes after you put on the rice, and is forgiving if you have to hold it, or re-heat it.
https://mykoreankitchen.com/korean-ground-beef-rice-bowls/
You can have veggie sides of store bought kimchi, the cucumber salad above, or this easy courgette namul
http://crazykoreancooking.com/recipe/hobak-namul

Cheat's soupe au pistou: Boil some frozen veg and add a stock cube for a basic veg soup. Add a tin of white beans and a chopped fresh tomato. Before serving stir in a heaped tablespoon of pesto (store bought is fine) into each bowl. Serve with bread.

Taco night: Store bought soft tortillas. Make cheat's refried beans by gently frying a chopped onion, and finely minced garlic with cumin and chilli powder until onion is soft. Tip in a tin of kidney, pinto or black beans. Add a squirt of ketchup for sweetness, a splash of water if dry, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Use a potato masher or fork to lightly mash the beans once tender enough to do so. Serve with quick salsa (blitz raw fresh onion, garlic, and tomato together in the food processor, add chopped coriander and season with salt), a mashed avocado, and some crumbled feta cheese. Quicker but more expensive is to use store bought salsa and guacamole.

If you want meat with the tacos, fry sound ground meat with cumin and chilli powder or poach a skinless chicken breast by boiling a saucepan of water, tossing in the chicken breast, bring to boil again and turn off the stove and let sit for 20 minutes as the water cools. Slice the chicken breast thinly to have in you taco.

acpgee

Cullen skink! https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cullen-skink
Use kippers (=smoked herring) which are a third of the price of smoked haddock, and for me there is no discernible difference in taste. I deviate from this recipe by gently frying onion then simmer with the diced potatoes and just enough milk to cover. When the potatoes are soft I blitz everything with a hand held immersion blender. Cook the smoked fish in the pureed soup but if the fish is skin on take it out before it is falling apart (1 or 2 minutes) so you can remove the skin before flaking back into the soup. Add more milk until soup is a consistency you like. If you are freezing the soup do it in the concentrated form without the last addition of milk so it takes less room in the freezer. Oh, use a non stick pot for this, as simmering milk otherwise is a pain to clean up.

For veg have this with bruschetta which can be made while you are waiting for the potatoes to cook.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/tomato-bruschetta

IFJagain

I smoke a bunch of meat on the grill for meals throughout the week... can be chicken, rib-eye, flank, pork, etc. Any one (or more) of the meals that week will consist of cubed meat mixed with green beans or fresh spinach... baked potato is optional

MikePfirrman

Trader Joes makes Chili Lime Chicken Burgers. Raw, but really reasonable in the freezer section. That and some steamed veggie like green beans are great for an easy cheap meal. They are lean and really clean ingredients.

Sheet Dinners are easy and healthy -- chicken breast, red potatoes, any vegetable. Drizzle with EVOO and bake or roast.

I love any fish with a raw kale salad and mangos. The salad can be easy -- just cut your kale fine after taking out the large stems. I whisk some frozen OJ or Pineapple juice with some honey, EVOO, Garlic, mustard and Rice Wine Vinegar. Add in a mango and slivered almonds. Serve with a fried fish. Fish is easy with the right pans. I have a non-stick griddle pan that I'm in love with. So easy to make nice salmon or any fish.

Baked potato with frozen broccoli florets and cottage cheese is amazing. I only eat real baked potatoes. So easy to make if you have an hour. Just lightly oil the outside, use rock salt, wrap tightly in foil and put on in a pan and bake at 425 for an hour. Nothing like a real baker.

I'll admit, most of my meals are complex. But my wife and daughter left town recently and I took a boxed Tomato Soup (Imagine brand, really good), a can of Glory Greens, drained and a can of precooked brown lentils. Threw it all in a pan and had that for two nights.

TJs also has a cauliflower gnocchi. Pan fry those with some leafy greens and you have a quick, cheap and healthy dinner.

Oh, Green Giant now has Cauliflower Risotto with only 3 ingredients -- cauliflower, asparagus and mushrooms. Add a bit of butter or margarine and parm and you have a super easy, healthy dinner.

issymissydaemon

Soup! Make a big batch than portion out and freeze leftovers for future meals.

Invest in a steamer and good seasonings. Nothing is as easy and delicious as lemon steamed chicken and veggies. This is easily translated to a baking sheet in the oven too!

Taco Salads

spaghetti squash with tomato sauce

ground turkey lettuce cups

stir fry with your own sauce...the store bought stuff tends to be full of sugar IMO

missysippy930

Another vote for sheet pan meals. Protein of your choice, veggies of your choice, spices of your choice, oil of choice. Cut everything about the same size. Put everything in a gallon zip loc bag. Seal and mix well. You could use a big bowl, but the bags are easier to mix.

Our favorite, turkey kielbasa, bell peppers, onions, baby potatoes, lemon pepper, salt, canola oil.

Use parchment paper to line sheet pan. No sticking, and clean up is a breeze.

Gypsy_ER_Nurse

Black beans with shredded chicken and homemade chili seasoning......and maybe a touch of ranch or cheese

NVintage

meatballs and roasted potatoes with a salad...I'm going to try this next time!
https://youtu.be/iJRccoWsv5k

casillasrocio99

try stuffed Mexican zucchini. wash some zucchinis cut in half then cut the other end so you can stand them up in your pot, hollow them out and save set aside, use 2 or 3 medium or small cooked white potatoes mash them, then use low fat cheese(cheddar, monterey which ever cheese you like), mix potatoes and cheese together. stuff zucchini with potato mixture. then place them in your pot, make sure they are standing so the mixture won't come out, place the stuff you hollowed out in blender, with one tomato, fresh minced garlic about 1 tbsp, a piece of onion, salt and pepper blend until you get a soupy consistency, then pour in the pot of your stuffed zucchinis, making sure the zucchinis are still standing, place a lid to cover the pot use medium heat until it starts to boil, then lower heat, heat until the zucchini are tender. serve with grilled chicken or grilled steak.

cwolfman13

During the week we generally just grill some kind of protein and serve with some kind of veg and a starch or grain. Getting well into fall now so making more stews. Made some green chile stew earlier in the week and cowboy chilli on Thursday night.

jaena4

Just did a yummy Buddha bowl tonight. Roasted broccoli, carrots, and chickpeas with 1 TBSP oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Made black rice. Made a spicy peanut sauce (peanut butter, lime juice, liquid smoke, milk, maple syrup, and cayenne powder). Super easy and tasty!