S/o inflation: Cravable vegetarian or cheap meals

[gardengal]

Like, meals so cheap but SO good that if prices drop, they’ll still be in your rotation.

For me, this misir wat: www.daringgourmet.com/misir-wat-ethiopian-spiced-red-lentils/#recipe

I do use Berbere spice mix from Penzeys bc I got it on one of their promotions. But looking at their recipe in the link, most of the spices ppl probably have on hand or are pretty cheap if your grocery has spices on the Hispanic aisle (they are in white & clear bags). We buy injera usually but have also had it with rice. I typically make greens to go with. SO GOOD.

ETA: if you want to add cheap meal thoughts, that's cool b/c it may help someone else. I totally know how to be cheap & have been mostly vegetarian for a very long time. Just looking for exceptional cheap or vegetarian meal recipes since it came up so much in the inflation post.

[sproctopus]

The NYT Cheesy White Bean Tomato bake

SO good.

I'll also recommend shopping at local Asian or African grocery stores, if you can. They often have high quality traditional spices and ingredients much cheaper than grocery stores.

[cjcouple]

I follow mediteranean diet (for health) so I will stick to many vegetarian meals for anyway. However these are my 2 favs.

www.mediterraneanliving.com/mediterranean-spiced-rice-with-black-beans-chickpeas/

www.themediterraneandish.com/tuscan-farro-soup/

[ellipses84]

I’ve always been a huge fan of *Girl Dinner*

This could be homemade lunchable / charcuterie type meals with cheese, crackers, pretzels deli meat or peanut butter and fruit, nuts or other random things.

Spaghetti or other noodle dishes are probably the best bang for your buck. We use ground Turkey sparingly in the sauce or you could go without meat.

Grilled cheese and soup. Or any type of sandwich / soup. My kids like ramen.

Breakfast for dinner (this can be $$ or cheap but it’s simple to make and a crowd favorite).

DS1 loves potstickers from Costco (they are $$ for a smaller bag elsewhere) so we often do that with rice and they have chicken and veggies in them so it can be a simple full meal. I’m ok with convenience meals because it’s still way cheaper than fast food and I know if I have something in the freezer I’ll be less likely to stop for the kids. Even stopping at the grocery store and letting them pick some convenience food item is cheaper.

I eat a ton of salad, but I do need protein for it to feel like a meal. The easiest thing is to cook up some grilled chicken or frozen breaded chicken in the air fryer (even like chicken nuggets- Costco has some that are chick-fil-a style ) and I use the light Olive Garden dressing you buy at the grocery store.

Eta: my mom makes this for my vegan nephew and vegan chili is easy to make. You can modify for vegetarian (like add cheese on top).

www.aspicyperspective.com/better-than-olive-garden-minestrone-soup-recipe/

[pixy0stix]

This lentil chili is something I make and freeze to have on hand at all times - www.budgetbytes.com/slow-cooker-vegetarian-lentil-chili

[savan]

I love these butternut squash and black bean enchiladas:

www.skinnytaste.com/butternut-squash-and-black-bean/

[gardengal]

Oct 11, 2023 9:27:33 GMT -5 sproctopus said:

The NYT Cheesy White Bean Tomato bake

SO good.

I'll also recommend shopping at local Asian or African grocery stores, if you can. They often have high quality traditional spices and ingredients much cheaper than grocery stores.

Yes! I just know that not everywhere has those stores but most places I've lived have had the "cheap spice" section of the regular grocery

[litskispeciality]

We don't make it as much as we should, but spaghetti squash with red sauce (we use meat, but you could use meatless) is really good, and often leaves enough for left overs. DH and I will also mix left over chicken or meat chili in with the squash, or a veggie pasta (chili mac n' cheese) the next day for another meal. You could probably make veggie chili and place it over the squash. Bonus you *can* eat right out of the squash shell so a little less to clean up!

[mich1]

Tonight I’m doing a leek and potato soup. I usually start the soup with bacon fat, and use that as the topping, but it’s not necessary. Locally, at least leeks are still cheap, and the pot of soup is under $5.

Last night I made chicken pot pies. They’d be easy enough to make vegetarian, replacing the chicken with more veggies and the sauce with vegetable stock rather than chicken. DH has a good hand with pie crusts, so I have him make those for me.

[jinkies]

I am completely obsessed with this soup: cookieandkate.com/thai-carrot-sweet-potato-soup-recipe/

I don't do the almonds on top, so the most expensive part is the red curry paste. I think I'm going to try the local Assi grocery store to see if I can stock up on it for less than our regular store.

[gummybear]

This is so fucking good I can't even put it into words and if you stock the spices it costs pennies. I'm drooling just thinking about it. It's also vegan if you keep with the veggie broth.

biancazapatka.com/en/red-lentil-dahl/

[sent]

I could eat any and all versions of regular brown lentil soups. Red lentils don't feel as filling to me.

[mrsukyankee]

Oct 11, 2023 11:06:29 GMT -5 gummybear said:

This is so fucking good I can't even put it into words and if you stock the spices it costs pennies. I'm drooling just thinking about it. It's also vegan if you keep with the veggie broth.

biancazapatka.com/en/red-lentil-dahl/

Daal is one of my favourite foods and we tend to make a HUGE batch every two weeks and eat it during the week for lunches.

My other favs:

www.mygoldenpear.com/chickpea-and-spinach-curry/

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/winter-vegetable-lentil-soup

Not an exact recipe but I make either quinoa or bulgar wheat (or a mix of both) with a bit of extra veggie stock, roast veg and then add whatever spices/sauces I feel like adding. It's filling and fabulous.

[arehopsveggies]

Feta cheese on the middle of a sheet pan

Surrounded by veggies

Roast it for a while

Mix it all up. Sometimes I toss it with noodles. If I have leftover chicken I toss it with that, but it really doesn’t need meat at all.

The cheese melts into a creamy sauce

[noodleoo]

Black bean quesadillas. I don't really have a recipe, just mix black beans with salsa and heat up. Sauté some onions and peppers. Then warm a tortilla in a skillet with a little oil, fill with bean/salsa mixture, onions, peppers and top with cheese. Fold over tortilla and heat until crispy. Top with more salsa and sour cream. Seriously so delicious and so easy. I made a big batch of the filling and made one for lunch all last week and loved it.

[litskispeciality]

arehopsveggies , I'm drooling! Need to try that sometime.

I don't know if this counts as vegetarian...DH and I also make our own calzones, and the baked feta and veggies inspires me to bake feta with brocoli, then throw that in pizza dough and make pizza or a calzone. We also make our own buffalo chicken dip (obviously not vegetarian) and throw that in calzone. Again usually can get 2 meals, or feed 2 of us with one package of dough.

[loira]

We love this garlicky spinach pasta from Smitten Kitchen: smittenkitchen.com/2022/11/green-angel-hair-with-garlic-butter-smitten-kitchen-keepers-is-here/

It doesn't have a protein but I bet it would be delicious if you tossed a can of cannellini beans in with it.

[VillainV]

Chili. You can make it without meat to save money, but I buy ground beef or turkey on sale. You could also do veggie crumbles but that’s more expensive than meat.

Everything else is just beans, tomatoes, and spices. I also bulk it up with roasted butternut squash (frozen is pretty cheap). For about $10 in ingredients I can get easily 8 servings.

[CurlyQ284]

Everyone in the family is loving this sausage cream sauce pasta. SDs boyfriend is turning 21 this weekend, he is super shy but she said all he wants is a ton of this so he can eat it at our house and take some home 😂

www.allrecipes.com/recipe/26257/bow-ties-with-sausage-tomatoes-and-cream/

I'm making chicken thighs in the air fryer once a week, meatloaf, chili. My friend said they are doing Soup Sundays, and I've started that, soups are usually less pricey!

[sadie]

I do a lot of soups. Eat a rotisserie chicken over the weekend, save the carcass, throw it in the insta with water, veggies and walla, soup lunches for a week.

I also do a lot of breakfast for dinner-eggs, waffles, crepes, french toast, breakfast sandwiches, breakfast tacos.

I like a baked potato or sweet potato with various toppings. My latest combo is chili over 1/2 a sweet potato.

[arehopsveggies]

Oct 11, 2023 18:35:18 GMT -5 sadie said:

I do a lot of soups. Eat a rotisserie chicken over the weekend, save the carcass, throw it in the insta with water, veggies and walla, soup lunches for a week.

.

I call it “garbage soup”
Any odds and ends that could eventually be good in soup get frozen in a ziploc till I have enough.

Buffalo wing soup- random veggies, broth or stock, buffalo wing sauce at the end, blend in a black of cream cheese. Costs basically nothing and is a really tasty healthy way to satisfy a craving for wings.

We also do potato soup a lot because it’s super cheap.

[audry80]

Oct 11, 2023 10:22:21 GMT -5 savan said:

I love these butternut squash and black bean enchiladas:

www.skinnytaste.com/butternut-squash-and-black-bean/

I made these tonight and they were delicious

[basilosaurus]

Now that it's fall for you, maybe not. This involves almost no cooking and none if you get tj frozen roasted corn. It's a summer go-to. It's kind of a kitchen sink recipe. Corn and beans plus vinaigrette are minimum, but I use whatever crunchy veg I have. Green beans, carrots, bell peppers. I often add tomato, too. It all kind of works.

www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/roasted-corn-and-black-bean-salad-386072

How expensive are eggs? I do a lot of egg toast variations.

Split pea soup is always in my freezer because I make a massive batch. Same for other various bean soups like Tuscan white bean (still haven't found a ribolita that matches what I had there, though). I even make a Guinness vegan beef stew, use tempeh, that impressed an Irish coworker.

Anything that has carrots, onions, potatoes, beans as main ingredients. Also, lots of pastas with whatever produce is in the clearance section (or rice if that's your preference).

[twinmomma]

Dh is the master of yummy veggie soups. He boils up some veggies and stock then uses the immersion blender to make it a yummy, creamy consistency. The one he made last night was cauliflower and sweet potato. Add some spices and then put shredded cheese on top and it's delicious! We'll also throw some croutons and/or French's fried onions on top sometimes too. He does it with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots... kind of whatever is on hand.

[rhian]

We love this soup: www.bonappetit.com/recipe/broccoli-cheddar-soup I usually don't bother with the cheesy croutons and we just have a baguette with it.

I will also make fried rice (not always vegetarian, but often). Easy to throw in whatever leftover vegetables that might otherwise go to waste and some egg and tofu.

[lightbulbsun]

I've been obsessed with loubia recently. I eat it with naan. It was cheaper during the summer when I was getting a lot of free tomatoes from my garden. You could use stewed tomatoes to make it cheaper.
www.darngoodveggies.com/loubia-stewed-moroccan-white-beans/#tasty-recipes-13660-jump-target

[mrspez07]

I’m eating the leftovers from this soup now, I’ve made it with sausage on the side for vegetarians in the crowd, but I prefer sausage. We’ve done chicken sausage varieties and also with Italian sausage crumbly kind:
www.tasteslovely.com/italian-sausage-and-vegetable-soup/

I also love this veggie meal:
www.cookingclassy.com/honey-lime-sweet-potato-black-bean-and-corn-tacos/

Cheap and easy:
Refried bean and cheese burritos
Chicken quesadillas
Spaghetti and meatballs, or just spaghetti

[msmerymac]

I've been making this spinach and chickpea stew for YEARS. I get the saffron from Trader Joes and I do put a runny egg on top.

www.npr.org/2009/04/27/102854605/from-chef-jose-andres-a-family-favorite-for-10

I'm making creamy gochujang pasta tonight. I usually have tomatoes, pasta, tomato paste, parm, and gochujang on hand, so the only thing I need to grab is cream: www.eater.com/22323254/recipe-how-to-make-tomato-gochujang-pasta

I made homemade pizza last night with bread flour (I had all the ingredients) - I had some cheese and a jar of sauce, plus some mushrooms left over from our steak dinner the night before: www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/pizza-dough-recipe-1921714