We’ve Got $5 Dinner Ideas!
$5 Dinners - Pasta
Ok, you heard about ten dollar dinners, but we are going to top that with our five dollar meals! We challenged ourself to come up with a dirt cheap dinner that would be good enough to serve your mother in law or boss. Since this had to be something you could actually serve company, we knew that PB&J or just about any sandwich was out.
We are also just going in armed with our common sense, so we are not using coupons or any tricks like that. We are going with a half-homemade view. In other words, we will cook what it makes sense to cook, but used some canned or prepared foods where that makes sense. (or cents, haha!)
Pasta A La Cheapskate!
- 1/2 lb. ground meat (i.e. hamburger, turkey, etc.) $2.99/lb. for regular, so that’s $1,50 – you can save the rest for another meal. Yes, I know that everybody only gets 1/8 of a pound, but according the the experts, that’s what we should eat anyway for a meal.
- 1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce – The store brand should be about .70
- 1/4 onion and 1/2 green pepper (chopped) – $1, though sometimes when green peppers are in season they get expensive.
- A few shakes of garlic powder – Pennies if you have it on hand.
- A tablespoon of margarine or butter – Maybe about .25
- 4 slices of bread .50
- Pasta – The store brand is usually about a dollar.
Ah ha! You are free to check our math, but we think we came in at $4.95!
Brown the ground beef and drain off the extra fat. Then add the onion, green pepper, and half the garlic. Turn the heat down and let that cook on medium to low heat (depends upon your stove).
While the sauce is stewing, go ahead and spread the butter or margarine on your bread. Sprinkle each slice with the other half of the garlic and set that in a low oven for 5 – 10 minutes to toast. Ovens vary so make sure you don’t let the toast burn.
Start the pasta according to package directions. Usually you just have to boil it. 
After the sauce is fully cooked, uncover and simmer for a few more minutes. Then turn off the stove and let it get thick.
Now you’ve got pasta, sauce, and garlic bread. If you have another couple of bucks in your budget, a nice salad would really complement this meal. But by our calculations, we have served protein, carbohydrates, and veggies to 4 people for less than $5!
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Thanks Melody. Hopefully we can get some more five dollar meal ideas from our fans. I can think of a few, and I need to get them up!
[...] They haven’t posted any $1 meals yet, but they are getting pretty close. The first post is a $5 dinner for 4, and they checked in at about $4.95. It isn’t a fancy meal, but it seems tasty and [...]
We got some feedback that some people prefer to use ground sausage – or chop up the sausage and mix it in the mix – to form balls – instead of exactly biscuits. This may be simpler. Also if you take the breakfast biscuits in the car, they may be less messy this way.
Chopped mushrooms, grated carrots, some kinds of squash – in season or on sale – these can be great sources of bulk and minerals for your sauce.
One money stretching thing I like to do is to add beans to my sauces. Sometimes I leave them whole and other times I hide them by mashing them and adding them to my taco meat, lasagne sauce, sloppy joes or any pasta sauce. My family usually doesn’t even notice. I prefer black, navy or kidney beans when doing this. I also use alot of grount turkey in place of ground beef. Again, it tastes practically the same.