Tight budget Grocery list?

Oranges, Blueberries would be on the list for me for sure.

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Is that $50 for the month? I'd plan the monthly menu out of what's already very cheap or on sale, making something like lentils and rice the main part of the diet and adding meat and veg as an accent.

First, I'd check the sale flyers from the grocery stores in my area. Often one or two items are on super great sale like $1 a pound organic strawberries or 49 cents a pound chicken, both of which I've seen recently. I'd visit the local ethnic supermarkets to check the prices which are usually much cheaper than Walmart or Kroger. I'd buy dried legumes, rice, eggs, oatmeal, milk. I'd use coupons for cheap tuna and pasta. I'd probably hit the 99 cent store for the large cans of canned salmon with bones and cauliflower. I'd also check the frozen and fresh food prices...usually frozen spinach is pretty cheap. Big bags of potatoes, onions and cabbage are cheap, usually. And I'd supplement by finding some friends or acquaintances who grow food...anybody who grows squash is usually trying to get rid of it any way they can.

Frozen broccoli, beans, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese and a crap ton of whatever fruit and vegetables are in season and on sale.

Large 185g tins of flavoured tuna, butter, ground coffee, fruit, greens, dark chocolate and brown rice crackers

- Romaine and dressing
- Bananas
- Apples
- Frozen veggies
- Pasta and sauce
- Rice
- Canned beans
- Tomato sauce for pita pizzas
- Bread, hamburger buns and pitas
- Veggie or ground chicken burgers
- Shredded cheese
- Peanut butter, condiments, etc.

Rice. Cottage cheese, plain yogurt and some jam. Tuna. Frozen veggies or if they have any near you hit up a farmer's market. Bananas. Eggs. I noticed the dollar tree had frozen meals for a dollar, I can't eat them now for medical reasons, but they were a brand I used to buy when I made a lot less.

Tuna and a little mayo, or chopped hard cooked eggs and mayo with whatever spices you like is good on sandwiches, crackers, tortillas, lettuce or even eaten as is. Both were staples when I had no food budget.

Rice and beans. Buy the best price per weight you can afford. Whole chickens. Cut in half and roast. Eat for dinner and shred the rest for use on salads, sandwiches, or soup. Keep the bones and make stock for a big pot of soup. Buy big pieces of pork when they are in sale. Loins can be cut into chops and other cuts can be cooked low and slow, shredded and used like the chicken. Fatty ground beef isn't too expensive and what can't you make with ground beef? Fresh fruit and veggies are cheap if you aren't picky. The prices vary drastically month to month and you have to sometimes do a little math to figure out if something is a good deal when priced per pound, but something is always affordable. Add a dollar loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, milk if you drink it, any condiments you need for recipes, and a treat if you have the extra cash. Eat awesome food for a week.

Eggs.
Canned meat for soup
Frozen veggies
Beans and rice
Canned tomatoes
Frozen fruit
Bannans
Limited perishables
Powdered milk

OP what stores do you have available?

Cheap ingredients you can build meals around:

-eggs
-beans (I can get canned beans for .50 a can or a big bag fo around $1-look at dollar stores for the bags)
-cheapy bread and soft tortilla shells
-frozen veggies
-gallon of milk
-rice
-frozen meat-tubes of ground beef and turkey/bags of chicken tenderloins/breasts
-couple bags of shredded cheese (or block if its cheaper, but you need to be able to shred it)
-potatoes, potatoes and more potatoes (there's a million recipes out there that use potatoes as a base)
-bananas and any other fruit that's on sale (oranges are really cheap right now, look at store ads for the weekly loss leaders)
-fresh veggies that are cheap/on sale (carrots, onions, leafy greens etc)
-spices (hit the dollar store for these, for any that you're missing. You can use them to add flavor to dishes, make taco seasoning etc
-tub of margarine
-as funds allow-ketchup, syrup, mustard etc

Do you have any baking ingredients on hand? Things like flour, sugar, baking soda/powder, salt, chocolate chips etc. If you don't it's worth spending $10 or so of your budget getting these things-you can use them to make everything from snacks/desserts, to biscuits and bread, pancake mix etc etc. My baking cupboard is the most important cupboard in my kitchen and is ALWAYS fully stocked.

OP-I've been where you're at (except I was feeding a family of 5 on $60). What I've learned from that experience is to always buy 1-2 extra items every time I get groceries (sometimes I could only afford a can of corn, other weeks I could make it work to buy extra meat to go in the freezer etc). It took a while, but I now have a stocked kitchen/deep pantry and even if I couldn't get to the store for a few weeks my family would be fed well. Just something to think about as you go forward

If you have an Aldi, try there first. Your $50 will go much further. I would buy eggs (lots), lean turkey (at mine, it’s cheaper than the beef), canned tuna, cottage cheese, fruits, veggies... pasta is a good choice too.