When your money is tight you need to buy the cheapest foods while still feeding your family healthy meals. This list of frugal foods will help you do just that.
Buying frugal foods and cooking frugal meals doesn’t mean you eating tasteless unhealthy meals. You’ll find it’s exactly the opposite.
You’ll eat a healthier meal with $4 if you buy these frugal foods from the grocery store then if you decided to settle for a $4 meal at a fast-food restaurant.
Your grocery budget is an area where you can really cut costs when the need arises. Let’s look at 50 frugal foods to buy when you’re broke.
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Broke Grocery List
When figuring out what to eat when you’re broke, you need a list of foods that are the cheapest foods you can buy to create dirt cheap meals. This is when you need to create your broke grocery list.
This list of frugal foods can be found at any grocery store. Buying in bulk from stores like Costco can help you save even more. With these low budget foods and these healthy pantry staples in stock, your family will eat well on a very tight budget.
Don’t believe me?
Check out the recipes using these items at the end of this post.
Frugal Food Tips
Download your free copy of our 25 Frugal Food Tips to help you stay on budget below.
11 – Cornmeal
Frugal Tip: Utilize cashback apps like Ibotta to save even more on your grocery bill. You’ll earn cashback on many of the frugal foods on your list.
Proteins
12 – Ground Turkey
13 – Pinto Beans
14 – Black Beans
15 – Lentils
16 – Garbanzo Beans
17 – Eggs
18 – Almonds
19 – Chicken Thighs
20 – Chicken Legs
21 – Whole Chicken
22 – Canned Tuna
23 – Canned Salmon
24 – Canned Chicken
25 – Peanut Butter
26 – Ground Beef
Related Post: Healthy Air Fryer Recipes – Mega List
Frugal Tip – Take advantage of mobile coupons. Use this list of frugal foods to plan your grocery list and add mobile coupons prior to your trip to the store.
Fruits & Vegetables
32 – Apples
33 – Bananas
34 – Pears
35 – Carrots
36 – Lettuce
37 – Cabbage
38 – Potatoes
39 – Onions
40 – Garlic
41 – Kale
42 – Spinach
43 – Broccoli
44 – Canned Tomatoes
45 – Canned Vegetables
Frugal Tip: Don’t forget to look for specials. Check the sales papers for your local stores. Also, take advantage of weekly specials like Double Ad Wednesdays at Sprouts.
Miscellaneous
46 – Sugar
47 – Baking Soda
48 – Vinegar
49 – Salt/Pepper
50 – Other Seasonings (garlic salt, onion powder, etc.)
Frugal Recipes to Try
Now that you have the items on your Frugal Foods Shopping list, what the heck can you make? Here are a few Frugal Recipes to get you started. You’ll quickly see that you can save money and eat well.
- 50 Frugal Meals to Make When You’re Broke – Healthy Wealthy Skinny
- Dirt Cheap Meals – Feed Your Family on a Budget – Healthy Wealthy Skinny
- 20+ Frugal Meals for When Money is Tight – The Free Range Life
- Homemade Hamburger Helper – Four Hats & Frugal
- 20 Frugal & Tasty Rice and Bean Recipes – Family Balance Sheet
- Better Than Take Out Chicken Fried Rice – Rachel Schultz On Homemaking
And don’t forget to pull out that Air Fryer!
Leave a comment and share some of the frugal foods on your shopping list. Or share some of your favorite frugal recipes.
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I am definitely going to try some of these recipes however I like frozen veggies over canned! You can get them for 10 for $10 at Kroger or 4 bags inside 1 large one at Sam’s club.
Thanks for the tip Angie! 10 for 10 is a great deal.
This is such a good tip! Well needed too haha
Thanks Valerie!
Great list! When I’m focused on budget, I definitely do my best to focus on sales and buy in bulk! It’s amazing that you can get like 2lbs of rice for a few bucks in bulk, but like half a pound of pre-packaged rice is like $6-$8! It’s ridiculous!
Hey Shannon! You are so right. It’s amazing the difference buying in bulk can make.
Great list. Think I’m going to try out some of those recipes too 🙂
Thanks Kat! There are tons of good ones
This is such a great post! Eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive.
That’s is so true Mirley!
Loved these tips! When I first moved out and was hit with how expensive living is I would sometimes skip meals and eat a lot of fruits and veggies because they were pretty cheap. You have some wonderful ideas in here!
Thanks Danielle! When I was younger it was noodles and canned ravioli… lol. I wish I had this list back then.
I enjoy a can of black beans served over riced cauliflower from Aldi freezer section. Add seasoning and maybe some Tajin from Walmart. Very filling, lots of fiber and very reasonably priced. ❤️
Elizabeth,
That sounds like a really healthy frugal meal!
Great list, healthy too. I need to be more frugal at the store. Party of five in my house. I need to try those recipes.
I’m with you Stacy! I’ve got 7 at house. It requires some frugal buys.
Such a good list! Personally, quinoa is my favorite!
Thanks Jubilee! It’s starting to grow on me. I’ve been trying it in different recipes.
How do you fix quinoa????
Hi Doris,
Here are some awesome Quinoa recipes from Pinterest:https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?rs=ac&len=2&q=quinoa%20recipes&eq=quinoa&etslf=6527&term_meta%5B%5D=quinoa%7Cautocomplete%7C0&term_meta%5B%5D=recipes%7Cautocomplete%7C0
I absolutely love this! Going to check out that fugal recipe post too. Most of that food is in my cabinet now. Great for college students trying to figure out too! I’m pinning this to refer back to.
Hi Anissa! You are so right. This list is excellent for college students on a budget.
These are some great foods and you can really make so much with them!
Hi Cara… it’s really amazing what you can do with a few core foods.
These are all really great options. I will pin this for future reference.
Nailil
http://thirtyminusone.com/
Thanks Nalil!
These are all great budget conscience tips, I think it is great the you also offer links for healthy recipes too. This makes saving money and eating well easy.
Thanks Jen!
Cheese singles?! are you kidding me? There is nothing more expensive that already sliced cheese
plus the crap that they wrap individually! Slice your own- thats the way to save money!
Judy, I would have to agree. A cheaper way to buy cheese would be to buy in a brick and slice it yourself. Thanks for the tip!
I have found that making your own mac n cheese can be alot cheaper than buying boxed And tastes so much better!
Bag of elbow noodles
Mac n cheese seasoning from McCormick
Milk
Butter
Cream Cheese
Delicious!!
Thanks for the tip Carmen. I love to make my own Mac n Cheese. But I didn’t know McCormick had a Mac n cheese seasoning. I have to try it.
Yes! I love bananas and it’s awesome that they’re priced so low. Also, I switched from Shoprite to Walmart for groceries. It’s awesome. A can of tuna for $.66 and canned vegetables for $.38! Can’t beat that!
My family loves bananas too Ariel! I’m always so surprised that they are so inexpensive.
I chop up cabbage, onions and carrots and dump in a crockpot. After it is cooked I add a can of diced tomatoes. This is nutrient dense and waistline friendly.
I put frozen chicken breasts in my Instant Pot and shred them when they are done.
These items are versatile and can be mixed with other foods.
When I was broke with two growing boys, I followed the directions on powdered milk and added it to whole milk. If you have a gallon of whole milk, add 1-2 quarts of the powdered milk. They couldn’t tell the difference and neither could I. I had to do this when the kids weren’t around, or they refused to drink it. Plain powdered milk tastes awful.