25 Home-Cooked Meal Ideas For Easy And Quick Dinners On A Budget

Somehow the week began without you. It’s Monday evening, you just got home from work, everyone is hungry, and you realize that you have absolutely no idea what to make for dinner. And because you’re determined to cut the grocery spending this month, you need ideas for easy and quick dinners on a budget.

This isn’t an impossible task! With just a few staples from your pantry and fridge or freezer, you can create quick easy budget friendly meals for your family. I’ve got a list of 25 home-cooked meal ideas that are perfect for easy weeknight dinners.

These frugal meals are not only delicious but also real food recipes that won’t break the bank. Get ready for some mouthwatering whole food meals that will save you time and money, offering you the best cheap and easy dinner ideas for those busy nights.

Let’s talk about easy meal solutions for quick dinners on a budget!

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Here at the Filling the Jars house, saving money without driving myself crazy is a huge priority.

I do my best on the weekends to prep meal ideas and food for the week. But let’s be honest, sometimes it just doesn’t happen. Life gets busy, or we’re out of town, or maybe I’m just not in the mood to even think about cooking or anything associated with it.

I had to create a list of meals that could be made almost on auto-pilot. Also, the meals had to be made with the usual food items I keep around the house.

Otherwise, it’s all too easy to end up ordering $60 worth of pizza, stromboli, and breadsticks. Plus it costs about a gallon of gas and 20-30 minutes of driving and standing in line to pick up the order. Not ideal at all.

With this list of quick easy budget friendly meals, there’s no thinking, ‘What can I make?!’ or searching for amazing recipes (and getting distracted by the beauty of Pinterest along the way). I just pull out a very few items and throw them together to feed the starving masses. 

Now, fair warning, these quick dinner ideas are very simple. Most of them would benefit from an extra side dish or two, but we’re talking EASY and FAST. These meals may not be the sort of thing you would feed your family every night. Or maybe they are. This is a no-judgement zone.

My favorites are the meals where I throw some vegetables into the oven to roast and start some meat simmering on the stove.

While the food is doing its thing, I have time to change out of my work clothes and take a few quiet moments in my room to transition from ‘rush’ mode to ‘comfortable at home’ mode. You might not have this opportunity if your children are in sports, but at least with the faster meals, you won’t be zipping through the local fast-food joint and throwing away your money on indigestion.

25 Home-Cooked Quick Meal Ideas

1. Chicken and Veggie Sheet Pan Dinner: Roast boneless skinless chicken thighs tossed with mixed vegetables, oil, and your favorite seasonings.

2. Chicken Quesadillas: Tortillas with chicken and cheese; serve with veggies.

3. Roasted Chicken Thighs: Just season and bake; boneless skinless are fastest and can be cooked from frozen, but bone-in, skin-on thawed chicken thighs have the best flavor when roasted at high heat for crispy skin.

4. Fried Egg Sandwiches: Add bacon if you wish; serve with fruit or raw vegetables.

5. Bean Burritos: Beans, cheese, and salsa in a tortilla (or pile on tortilla chips for nachos).

6. Open-Face Tuna Melts: Quick and delicious comfort food.

7. Breakfast for Dinner: Oatmeal or toast, eggs, bacon (cook in oven), fruit.

8. Vegetable Frittata: Eggs baked with veggies.

9. Chicken Wraps: Chicken, lettuce, and your favorite sauce. Use the lettuce or a tortilla for a wrap.

10. Cabbage Stir-Fry: Quick and nutritious with soy sauce and ginger. Add sliced leftover chicken, pork or beef for extra flavor and protein.

11. Pasta Carbonara: Spaghetti with bacon and a creamy sauce of eggs, butter, and parmesan. This comes together faster than you expect!

12. BLT Sandwiches: Bacon, lettuce, and tomato on bread; add mayo if you wish and serve some extra sliced tomatoes on the side.

13. Tuna Pasta Salad: Cool and refreshing with a mayo dressing. (We actually like this better as a warm dish.)

14. Egg Fried Rice: Combine leftover rice with scrambled eggs, onions, peas, carrots, and soy sauce.

15. Turkey and Hummus Wraps: Spread hummus on a tortilla, add thinly-sliced leftover turkey, and roll up with some veggies.

16. Greek Chicken Salad: Combine grilled chicken, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, and feta cheese with a homemade Greek dressing.

17. Egg Drop Soup: Make a quick soup with beaten eggs, chicken broth, and green onions.

18. Beef Tacos: Cook ground beef (you can cook ground beef from frozen, but it’s much easier if you remember to thaw beforehand) with homemade taco seasoning and serve in warm tortillas with fresh toppings like lettuce, cheese, and diced tomatoes.

19. Cheesy Scrambled Eggs: Scramble eggs with shredded cheese and serve with salsa, sliced avocado, or fruit.

20. Pesto Chicken Pasta: Toss cooked pasta with sliced grilled or roasted chicken and homemade pesto sauce (try this budget-friendly pesto recipe with walnuts instead of expensive pine nuts).

21. Grilled Chicken and Veggies: Grill boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs and serve with grilled zucchini halves and bell peppers. If you have time, marinate everything in homemade Italian dressing for at least an hour before grilling.

22. Vegetable Omelet: Make an omelet with a mix of diced vegetables and cheese.

23. Pan-Seared Tilapia: Brush tilapia fillets (you can use frozen!) with oil, sear on both sides and cook with lemon juice and minced garlic until fish is opaque.

24. Chicken and Rice: Simmered boneless skinless chicken (you can cook from frozen if necessary), rice, make gravy from the broth; serve with raw vegetables.

25. Egg and Potato Hash: Sauté diced potatoes with onions and bell peppers, then add beaten eggs and cook until set.

Tips for Making Quick and Easy Dinners

If you’ve never roasted vegetables before, it’s the easiest thing ever!

Preheat your oven to 450°F, scrub & cut potatoes (and/or carrots, broccoli, whatever you like) into chunks and toss with some oil and salt/pepper. Spread out on a large oiled cookie sheet and pop into the oven for about 30 minutes.

Red or yukon potatoes and baby carrots are the absolute fastest and easiest combination, although onions make a very nice flavor addition.

You could roast frozen boneless skinless chicken in the oven at the same time as the vegetables. But I’ve found that in my oven, the moisture from the thawing chicken tends to steam the vegetables instead of allowing them to roast. I prefer to simmer the chicken on the stove and get some bonus chicken broth at the same time.

>> My Amazon kitchen tool inspiration list <<

Foods I Keep on Hand for Quick Dinners on a Budget

Some people might have fancier ingredients on hand, but I am USUALLY more of a whole food type of person and I like to keep a somewhat minimalist pantry. I normally don’t keep frozen fully-cooked meats or ravioli or really any convenience foods like that.

Okay, there is one thing — garlic bread. I try to keep that in the freezer because it’s sooooo delicious. 😉

I also know that to some people, jarred pasta sauce and canned beans are convenience foods. I keep them anyway, because I know myself well enough to know there will be nights I need them.

Here are the pantry, fridge, and freezer items I like to keep on hand to ensure the possibility of making quick meals:

• Pasta
• Rice
• Potatoes
• Tuna
• Pasta sauce
• Refried beans
• Tortillas or taco shells
• Tortilla chips
• Eggs
• Cheese
• B/S chicken breasts or thighs
• Frozen fish fillets
• Ground beef (freeze flat in freezer bags for quicker thawing/cooking)
• Carrots
• Lettuce
• Fruit

Grab my Essential Meal Planning Printables Collection to start getting more organized and simplify your meal planning and shopping.

More Simple Meal Inspiration

July Meal Plan: 31 Easy Stay-Cool Summer Dinners

Summer Dinner Ideas: 38 Easy Summer Meals You’ll Want To Make On Repeat

54 Tasty Spring Crockpot Chicken Recipes For EASY Cooking This Season

And there you have it — plenty of delicious, quick, and easy weeknight dinners that won’t break the bank! With these home-cooked meal ideas, you can whip up frugal meals that your family will love, all without sacrificing taste or nutrition.

Remember, the key to sticking to your budget and keeping dinner stress-free is having a few go-to recipes and staple ingredients on hand. Whether it’s roasting veggies, making a quick frittata, or throwing together a chicken wrap, these real food recipes will make your evenings a breeze.

Meal planning doesn’t have to be complicated. Even when life gets hectic, you can rely on these cheap and easy dinner ideas to keep your family fed. So next time you’re staring into your fridge wondering what to make, just pull up this list and breathe a sigh of relief…

You’ve got this!

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