The Best $10 Meals To Cook At Home
When budgeting, it’s best to cook at home. How many times have we had a fridge full of food or meal swipes left on our meal card but still make the conscious or even subconscious decision to just stop for fast food?
We get to the end of the month and see we may have made one too many trips to McDonald’s than we would have liked. Save money and be more financially responsible by choosing to cook at home or at the dorm if it allows. In college, you have the opportunity to learn many valuable #adulting lessons like budgeting and cooking that you will need once you get into the workforce after you graduate. To help you become more self-efficient, I put together simple meals you can make at home for only $10.
Tired of the cafeteria food? Opt to cook at home instead of grabbing fast food or take-out on the nights when nothing good is being served in the dining hall. All the money you spend on fast-food, no matter how cheap, adds up after a while despite how many $1 fries you get it. Read on for some delicious meals you can cook at home tonight or later on in the week to save you some cash.
Spaghetti & Meat Sauce:
This is the ultimate cheap meal and comfort food you can cook at home. It will probably take about 30 minutes to make or less. All you need is some ground beef which is easily about $3 a pound, some spaghetti noodles, and sauce. If you stick to store brand pasta, from like Market Basket a box of spaghetti noodles will cost about $1. Prego spaghetti sauce normally is on sale for 2 for $4.
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Sloppy Joe Sandwiches
Make some classic Sloppy Joe sandwiches that’ll make you long for your childhood. There’s nothing childish about whipping up some sloppy joes for dinner this week. All you need is a can of Hunt’s Manwich sauce ($1) some ground beef ($3), and sesame seed buns. ($2) Prices will depend upon where you shop for groceries.
You can even create your own Sloppy Joe sauce with ingredients you may have already in your fridge. All you will need is diced onions, ketchup, brown sugar, salt, tomato sauce, and mustard.
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Chili
I love making chili at home during the winter and especially during football season. If you have a crockpot you can simply add ground beef or turkey, kidney beans, diced onion, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and a variety of spices to suit your taste buds. Assemble all ingredients (for $10 or less) in a crockpot early in the morning and when you get home you’ll have dinner ready for you. If you don’t have a crockpot, you can opt to cook chili right on the stove-top for an easy meal to cook at home. You’ll have plenty of leftovers to enjoy the next day or to bring to work for lunch.
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Meatball Subs
You can create your meatballs by hand-rolling ground beef into small balls. Or you can also skip that whole process and pick up some frozen meatballs ranging from $5-7 and slow cook them in a pot of spaghetti sauce for $2. All you need is some cheese and sub rolls to create some delicious meatball subs. With a few bucks to spare pick up some potato chips like classic Lays to have on the side for your own version of a Subway sandwich meal. It really doesn’t make sense to eat out when you can create your own version of fast food at home especially if it comes out better than the original.
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Roasted Chicken
Treat yourself or some friends to some fine dining experience with roasted chicken on the menu. This recipe is simple. Head to any local grocery store and locate all the prepared foods, usually near the bakery. In the hot prepared section, there are already cooked whole chickens made for about $5. That’s a steal! Just grab some sides like some fresh vegetables you can bake in the oven or even the frozen ones you can steam right in the bag in the microwave. Add a starch like potatoes or rice that can range from $2-3 and you got yourself a $10 meal.
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Taco Night
Did someone say Taco Tuesday? It doesn’t have to be a Tuesday night to serve up easy and delicious tacos for dinner one day this week. All you need is a pound of ground beef for $3 and an Old El Paso Taco dinner kit that includes either hard or soft shells of your choice, taco meat seasoning packet, and salsa that cost roughly $3. Add some cheese, lettuce, and tomato for less than $4 for a cheap and easy meal to cook at home.
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Chicken Quesadilla
For this recipe, all you need to have to cook at home is some shredded chicken, cheddar cheese, flour tortilla, and salsa. Opt to purchase a package of raw boneless chicken breast or chicken thighs for $4, season & boil the chicken for about 15 mins or until the internal temperature reaches 165. Let cool and using two forks, shred the chicken. Grab a frying pan and heat a 12in flour tortilla on low. Add cheese to one half of the tortilla. Once the cheese begins to melt add the chicken on top and fold over. Flip the quesadilla and toast the other side. Flour tortillas and cheese should cost you no more than $4 making this a simple $8 meal.
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