18 Easy, Low Cost Meals To Make The Most Of Tight Budgets
Produced by Sun Ngo; Food Styling by Eshun Mott; Photography by; Christie Vuong; Prop styling by; Catherine Doherty.
Groceries are expensive—and getting even more expensive. Canada's Food Price Report, produced by eight Canadian universities, predicts food prices will rise between 4 percent and 6 percent in 2026, with the average family of four spending more than $17,000 a year on food.
Because some of the steepest increases will come for meat, you can save money by swapping it out for legumes (like lentils and chickpeas) and tofu. And, of course, there's also canned goods, with low-budget multi-taskers like beans or tuna fish lending lower cost protein to any meal.
We've got a few other low-cost heroes to check out below too—plus the cheap meals you can make with them.
Add some eggs
The cost of meat and seafood can add up when used on a steady rotation. Make better friends with eggs—an affordable, protein-rich substitute—and incorporate them into more weeknight meals. In this dish, the eggs are gently baked in a spiced chunky tomato sauce and served with crisp shards of toasted pita. (Kitchen note: Grape tomatoes are called for here, but feel free to substitute with the best-value tomato.) Get the recipe for tomato and egg shakshuka.
Swap meat for tofu
A block of tofu rings in at under $4 and is packed with protein. Wrap firm or extra-firm tofu in a kitchen towel and press it under a pot to make it extra tasty in stir fries, or salt it and toss it with corn starch before frying to give it a crispy kick. Use medium or soft tofu as a convincing stand-in for eggs or use it in an Instant Pot stew.
Kedgeree is a traditional Indian-British dish that's usually topped with eggs and fish. We skipped both in favour of tofu to make this vegan—and also a lot cheaper than the original! You can sub regular tofu for smoked to save a little bit more (but the smoked makes it more flavourful) and use up any leftover vegetables in a frittata the next night. Get this tofu kedgeree recipe.
Pick up some potatoes (and more eggs)
Yes, more eggs! (They’re incredibly versatile.) This one-pan dish makes the most of simple ingredients like potatoes, broccoli and onion, so you can eat a hearty meal without having to buy more than a handful of things. Get this skillet broccoli and potato frittata recipe.
Go big on lentils
A big-batch meal that also skips costly animal proteins? Yes, please! Slide this dish into the rotation for a meal plan two ways courtesy of this two-dinners-in-one recipe, starring the healthy, protein- and fibre-rich lentils, with always-affordable carrots, celery and onions. (Leftovers from the first night are turned into a new meal on the second!) First up, lentil Bolognese. Second? Leftover Bolognese turned into a ragu, over creamy polenta with fresh herbs.
Red lentils cook incredibly quickly and are full of nutrition and flavour. Try them out in Chantal Braganza's flavourful dal tadka (red lentils with spiced oil) recipe.
Green lentils don't cook as quickly as red, so this is more of a weekend dinner. Get Irene Ngo's lentil pot pie recipe.
Stock up on chicken thighs
Boneless chicken thighs are a very affordable cut, often coming in large family packs (extra savings!). Not only are they more flavourful, they’re quick to cook with, too. Throw them (and a can of beans) into a soup with some canned tomatillos, spices and aromatics for a perfect weeknight meal. Get this chicken chili verde recipe.
Or try this quick sheet-pan dinner that makes excellent use of chicken thighs: our sheet-pan orange chicken with sweet potatoes recipe.
Beans, beans, beans
When you pick up canned lentils, don’t forget the white beans. These burritos are from a *highly useful* feature on weekend meal prepping, so they use made-ahead white beans cooked from dried—but you can easily use drained canned white beans, too (just follow the substitution instructions in the recipe). They only take 20 minutes to make, too. Get Jennifer Pallian's white bean burritos recipe.
Pasta (and homemade sauce)
Canned tomatoes, blitzed with cooked garlic and a handful of herbs and spices makes a delicious homemade sauce you can use anywhere. Making 750mL of sauce, it’s a low-effort, affordable substitution for jarred versions. Use one of a spate of new protein pastas to add extra nutritional oomph to your dinner. Get our homemade tomato sauce recipe.
Canned salmon
Canned salmon is a healthy, affordable, versatile choice. Bonus: almost all canned salmon is wild! Turn a can of salmon, some kale, rice and eggs into a delicious, nutritious dinner with our salmon kedgeree recipe.
Add oats
Penny pinchers know that bringing your own is always cheaper. For a portable breakfast, prep this overnight chia oats in a mason jar recipe the night before—then grab and go in the morning.
For dinner, oats add heft to this Chatelaine-favourite recipe, which also makes great use of the above budget faves lentils and potatoes (so go ahead, get the big bag!). Get Irene Ngo's vegetarian cottage pie recipe.
Keep a bag of rice in the cupboard—and make a meal of leftover rice
This dish highlights simple staples like rice, frozen vegetables and eggs. It’s even better when made with leftover rice (bonus), but if you really want to make it today, simply cook the rice, spread it on a baking sheet and cool in the fridge first. (Kitchen Note: The chicken thighs you bought for the chili will work just as well as chicken breasts here.) Get this garlicky fried rice with chicken recipe.
For a vegetarian take on fried rice, get out your tofu for our pineapple-tofu fried rice recipe. (Frozen pineapple will work just fine here too!)
And, of course, cooked rice and cooked chicken makes for an excellent casserole. Get Jennifer Pallian's hearty chicken broccoli casserole recipe.
Don’t forget the chickpeas
Another member of the legume family to add to your pantry, the chickpea can be blitzed for homemade hummus, crisped up for a crunchy snack or thrown into a stew for added protein and fibre. Pair it with canned tomatoes, spices and a couple of small sweet potatoes, and you have a one-pot curry. Serve with rice and fresh cilantro for garnish. Get this sweet potato and chickpea curry recipe.
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Born in London, Ont., Gillian was Chatelaine’s former deputy editor, digital. She has also worked at Toronto Life and the National Post. Gillian cares deeply about fighting climate change and loves birds, sad lady singers, bikes, baking and wide-legged denim. She lives in Toronto's east end with her partner, two children and Rosie, her very exuberant Bouvier des Flandres.
