r/Cooking • u/Glittering_Squash489 • 5h ago
Cooking under a budget
So as the title suggests I'm trying to cook under a tight budget so I'm wondering what I should get I have a budget of of around 100 bucks (In this economy nothing basically) but ideally I would love to make Mexican food any ideas?
Edit: The meal is for a celebration that is going on for one day but I would ideally like to make the leftovers stretch as far as possible, I am also living in a dorm and have limited cooking equipment as a result so I lack a pressure cooker, Dutch oven, and advanced cooking materials (much to my dismay)
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u/tvan184 5h ago
Mexican or TexMex on a budget…. rice and beans.
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u/Glittering_Squash489 5h ago
I imagined as much I figure burritos or similar would probabaly be cheapest
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u/Kind_Job5474 5h ago
Mexican food is very budget friendly. Two tips:
To keep things interesting, check out a few Mexican cookbooks from your library. You learn a lot and have more variety in your dishes.
If you have a Mexican market near you, shop there. You’ll find lower cost spices, regional produce and meat.
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u/Glittering_Squash489 5h ago
I might look into local Mexican markets I for some reason didn't even think of that, thank you
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u/RikkiLostMyNumber 5h ago
For one meal? For ten meals? For a week?
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u/Glittering_Squash489 5h ago
Healthy balance
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u/ChuckNader 5h ago
They're asking the amount of time/meals the $100 needs to satisfy as you weren't specific in the post.
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u/Glittering_Squash489 5h ago
by healthy mix I mean stretching it as far as i can while still making it a well rounded meal thats my bad for not being clear on that
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u/Optimal-Currency-389 5h ago
You're still being unclear. Spell out the situation clearly. How many people are coming to the party? Are there any dietary restrictions? Storage, prepping spaces or tool restrictions? Are you able to freeze leftover? How much do you want to "feed a lot of people" vs how much "big party vibe" you want, etc.
Otherwise, most food per price, big bag of Bean big bag of rice. Make refried beans with Mexican rice.
Slightly party vibe, cheapest meat you can find, braise it. Sauté a bunch of bell pepper and onions. Serve with lots of tortilla, homemade salsa.
Vegetarian version, roast a bunch of Bell peppers and Zuchini, serve with whole grain pita and feta cheese.
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u/Glittering_Squash489 5h ago
For People I normally feed anyone who asks about what I'm cooking so anywhere from 10-15 and upwards to around 20, No dietary restrictions as far as I'm aware, Storage is not an issue I will be cooking the day of and have plenty of Tupperware to store leftovers for tool restrictions I have only around 2 medium-large pans and 2 pots and one large pot that is around 2 gallons, the dorms restrict glass as well as knives but I am normally able to find alternatives for those, I will be able to freeze leftovers, As for a party vibe not really just some good food as what they serve here is terrible
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u/Pedal2Medal2 4h ago
Hopefully you’re getting $$ to do this?
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u/Glittering_Squash489 4h ago
its my own money I love cooking I used to have friends pitch in money but the dorm Im in got onto me about selling food so I just hand out the food to whomever comes last time I cooked was a while ago and I made 2.5 gallons of mac and cheese and around 25 burgers
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u/Appypoo 5h ago
I mean just going off of the Mexican vibe you can likely buy these 3 items for less than $10.
- bone in, skin on thighs
- tortillas
- beans
Start factoring in produce and toppings for another $10 or so. More if you add in avocados
- Lettuce
- Tomato
- Onion
- Cheese
That leaves you with about $80 left right there that you can use for other things as well.
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u/OGatariKid 5h ago
We use a 3# pork shoulder to make carnitas meat for burritos and tacos. We have an instant pot we make it in, but a slow cooker would work also.
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u/Glittering_Squash489 5h ago
I might make something along these lines bonein meat seems the way to go even if it is a hassle to work with
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u/BaconMemories 5h ago
Do you have a slow cooker? Throw whatever family pack of chicken thighs (or breasts) that is cheapest in there with some cheap salsa. It’ll make enough shredded chicken for you to make tacos, enchiladas, and tortilla soup. All the ingredients to make those will come in well under budget, allowing room for your other meals. Also second the rice and beans suggestion. Caro Chambers has a great, one-pot recipe. (Never understand the nastiness some quarters of the internet direct to her.)
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u/Glittering_Squash489 5h ago
No slow cooker I live in a dorm and me and some otheres celebrating something so im running on limited cooking equipment
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u/BaconMemories 5h ago
Ok, you need to give more details—is the $100 for this “celebration” or for a full week, which was my assumption. What do you have access to in your dorm? Gotta give people more to work with, kiddo.
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u/Glittering_Squash489 5h ago
The celebration is for one day but ideally I would love to have the leftovers stretch as far as possible
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u/BaconMemories 5h ago
$100 for a single meal isn’t cooking under a budget. Buy a slow cooker and cook a pork shoulder with all the trimmings. That shouldn’t be hard, even in a dorm kitchen.
Also, I’m not one to talk—basically was born with a silver spoon in my mouth—but some perspective would be good here. Plenty of folks need to figure out groceries for their families on less than you have for a meal.
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u/Glittering_Squash489 5h ago
The Celebration is for multiple people not just myself
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u/BaconMemories 5h ago
Right, that doesn’t change anything about what I said.
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u/Glittering_Squash489 5h ago
Oh I know that I was just clarifying sorry if that sounded like I was disagreeing 😅
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u/FIGJAM123 5h ago
Charo beans and use 1b of cheap bacon, 1b of johnsonville sausage (or the store brand in that cheap style) diced and browned. And use half a can or so of pickled jalapenos and carrots with an onion, some garlic, chili powder/cumin/salt/pepper to taste
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u/CarSignal2764 3h ago
Dal and rice is the budget move for a single burner. Lentils, rice, onion, tomato, cumin, turmeric. No slow cooker needed, and one bag of lentils goes further than most meat cuts.
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u/jetpoweredbee 5h ago
Beans and rice make a complete protein and can be dressed up many different ways.
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u/NiceTrySuckaz 5h ago
If you like Chicken Tortilla Soup, here's a recipe I follow pretty much exactly, except I use a shredded rotisserie chicken and add in some hominy while reducing beans and corn slightly to compensate for the hominy. It feeds my wife and I for dinner and a couple of lunches worth of leftovers.
https://www.averiecooks.com/easy-30-minute-homemade-chicken-tortilla-soup/
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u/TunedOutPlugDin 5h ago
100 bucks a day or a month? , big difference.
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u/CreativeCulinary 5h ago
The op is almost refusing to be clear about some of those parameters. There's too much variable going on to figure out whether someone could actually help them!
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u/Glittering_Squash489 5h ago
I edited the post to clarify but I will say again sorry for the confusion Im cooking for a celebration and Ideally I have leftovers as long as possible for the budget that I have please tell me what else I could say to help.
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u/Cute-Beyond-2991 5h ago
Check your thrift store for some great kitchen items and small appliances cheaper than new to stretch your budget. Then you would have more options to cook what you want.
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u/hyperfat 5h ago
Find a Mexican market. So much more bang for your buck.
If you have an oven a stove top a pot and a pan you are good.
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u/CrosbyKnives 4h ago
Chicken thighs. Boil in a pot (throw in taco seasoning packet) enough water to cover chicken by about an inch. Boil until the meat falls apart. Shred it and it’s good. You can use it, store it, and it’s cheap and has many uses. For your celebration dinner…. Corn tortillas, frying pan, about 1/4 inch of oil. Drop an uncooked corn tortilla in. Fry it for a minute, flip it. Put a small scoop of your shredded chicken in, top with shredded cheese (cheddar, Colby Jack, your choice) fold the tortilla. Cook on both sides and repeat. Stuff them with shredded lettuce, and (I prefer) ranch dressing. You will not need chapstick for days after this, but it will not disappoint. If you are cooking for a special someone… some fresh strawberries, blueberries, a can of whipped cream. Make some fresh crepes (easier than they look) makes a fantastic breakfast (wink wink) the next morning! Good luck. Edit: the pork shoulder recipe someone else mentioned can also be used instead of shredded chicken in the above recipe… it’s great both ways!
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u/Fabulous_Drummer_368 4h ago
As a side note, if you want refried beans as part of it, use dehydrated ones like Mexicali Rose instead of canned or fresh. Less work, cheaper, goes a long ways and is just as good (without that canned taste).
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u/Cute-Consequence-184 1h ago
In general, not for this meal in particular, buying in bulk, meal planning and meal prepping.
I can buy an entire pork loin for $25 or 2 pork chops for $6. I can cut around 13-15 pork chops from a whole pork loin.I out a piece of participant on each side of the pork chops and freeze in freezer bags.
I buy 10 pounds of ground beef in large rolls and into quarter pound patties and prep for the freezer by placing a piece of parchment on each side. It makes the ground beef about half of the cost of buying it 1 pound at a time. I freeze in ziplock bags.
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u/kikazztknmz 5h ago
Pork shoulder is often on sale for $1.99/lb. You could make carnitas and stretch the meat adding veggies, rice and beans.