4 Easy & Tasty Recipes For 5-Dollar Dinners

1. Taco nachos

For this delicious meal, I cooked up a pound of ground beef. I added a teaspoon each of salt, cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder. I mixed it up and cooked it in a pan on the stove.

I chopped up 6 tomatoes to use as toppings for the nachos. I also chopped up some cilantro. I just love cilantro. I feel like it adds such a fresh flavor to any meal. If you don’t like cilantro you can skip it.

After the cilantro and tomatoes were chopped I shredded some cheese. I put a full bag of tortilla chips in a pan. You can use more or less depending on how many people you’re serving. Then I strained my meat and poured it over the chips. I heated a bag of frozen corn and sprinkled that on top of the beef.

Next, I added about a cup of shredded cheese. I sprinkled the tomatoes over that and then baked everything in a 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes. Once it was heated through, I took it out and spread some sour cream over the top.

Then I sprinkled the cilantro over everything and it was ready to eat. This made a delicious nacho taco bake that was ready in less than 30 minutes and fed our entire family for less than $5.

2. Air-fried chicken with greens

For this recipe, I air-fried some chicken and served it over romaine lettuce, spinach, and other veggies. This is a super quick and easy dinner. It is great for summer evenings when you don’t feel like getting the kitchen too hot to make your dinner.

To save money I buy the cheapest chicken I can find. This left me with 3 whole chicken breasts that were too thick for the air fryer. I cut them up into smaller pieces to make it easier for the air fryer to cook through.

I put some olive oil and salt on the chicken. Then I also sprinkled some Italian seasoning on there and put it in the air fryer. If you don’t have an air fryer you can cook the chicken in a skillet, in the oven, or on the grill.

Next, I went out to my garden and picked some tomatoes and peppers. I chopped up all my veggies, including the romaine lettuce, and threw them all, along with the spinach into a nice big salad bowl. I also added some shredded cheese.

When the chicken finished cooking I put that on top of the vegetables and it was ready to serve. It took about 20 minutes to prepare and cost around 5 dollars to create this delicious, healthy meal.

3. Stuffed pepper

To make this meal simple I am going to cook it in the slow cooker. I started by cutting the tops off 5 bell peppers and removing the seeds and the membranes. I also cooked up a pound of ground beef.

I added 2 cups of cooked rice to the ground beef, as well as a can of crushed tomatoes. I left a tiny bit of the tomato sauce to put at the bottom of the slow cooker. I also added 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of oregano, and 1 teaspoon of dried basil to the beef. I mixed all of that together and then began stuffing the peppers.

I filled each pepper to the top with the mixture. Then I placed them in the slow cooker, trying to make sure that they remained upright. I sprinkled some shredded cheese on top of each and set the slow cooker to low and cooked it for about 4 hours. This is a simple recipe that will get supper on the table right when you need it.

4. Frittata

Frittatas are really great for clearing out any meat or vegetables that need to be used up before they go bad. I also used a dozen eggs for this recipe.

I heated up a skillet with some olive oil. Then I chopped up 3 zucchini, 1 bell pepper, and 1 onion. I let that cook for a while before adding my tomatoes. While the vegetables were cooking I cracked 12 eggs and beat them.

I added the tomato to the pan of vegetables and once everything was cooked through, I added the eggs. I let the oven preheat to 350 degrees and after the eggs and veggies came to a nice simmer I moved the pan to the oven.

After it cooked in the oven for 10 minutes I sprinkled half a cup of shredded cheese over the top. Then I placed it back into the oven for about 5 minutes until the cheese melted.

This meal was delicious and packed full of nutrients. It’s a really good option for summer when we need something quick to prepare that will still be healthy and nutritious. It’s also great for using up odds and ends that you have lying around in the kitchen.

5-Dollar dinners

All of these recipes tasted delicious and cost about 5 dollars to make. I hope they give you some ideas to feed your family some nutritious and budget-friendly meals.

What are some of your favorite cheap and easy summer meals? Leave me a comment and let me know so we exchange ideas.