7 Cheap Dinner Ideas for a Large Family of 7 People

Sunday: Loaded mac and cheese and garlic toast

Sunday's dinner was a $3 dinner for us. I bought two boxes of macaroni and cheese, frozen peas, and 2 ounces of honey ham lunch meat.

I prepared both boxes of mac and cheese and 5 cups of water, mixed, and cooked on high heat until the pasta was almost cooked, then added frozen peas. I cooked for another minute before adding in chopped ham. We had garlic toast for the side dish.

Monday: Salisbury steak, potato cakes, and peas

On Monday night, we had Salisbury steak with potato cakes and sweet peas. I'm just taking two packets of low-sodium brown gravy mushrooms and onions for the gravy.

I'm just going to bring that up to a boil in my Instant Pot, and then I fried my Salisbury steaks separately. I added them in and submerged them in the gravy. I served this with potato cakes and peas.

Tuesday YOYO: Ramen with fried egg & bell pepper with cream cheese

Tuesday was our yoyo (you're on your own) day. A couple of us had leftovers. My kids had a sandwich with fruit and vegetables and some chips. I had ramen with a fried egg added to it, along with bell peppers and cream cheese on the side.

Wednesday: Pizza sloppy Joe's

We tried out a new recipe for pizza sloppy Joes, and I started by browning up some ground beef, and to that, I'm adding in chopped bell pepper.

Once the bell peppers are softened, I add in a little bit of chopped-up pepperonis. Then I'm adding in about half a jar of spaghetti sauce. I'm just using up what was left in that jar, and I put some water in it to get all the rest of it out, and then I'm going to let this simmer for just a little bit.

My husband made some fried potatoes on the side with his favorite seasoning - Cajun two-step multi-purpose seasoning. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I add cheese to the top after it's simmered for a little while. I'm just going to put a lid on it and let that cheese get all nice and melty. We served ours on just regular sandwich bread because that's what we always do.

Thursday: Skillet lasagna and garlic toast

We had what was supposed to be lasagna soup, but I was going to take my soup recipe and use less water to make it into a skillet meal.

The only kind of pasta that we had left was spaghetti pasta, and I had an open box that I needed to use up anyways, so we basically just had fancy spaghetti. I started out by browning up some beef.

To that, I added in a little can of tomato paste and then a whole lot of seasonings. I added in a chicken bouillon cube, some Cajun two-step, parsley, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, parsley, and garlic powder; then I added five cups of water.

I added about two tablespoons of sugar just to cut the acidity level. Then once I get that up to a boil, I am going to add in my spaghetti noodles and just stir that occasionally until the pasta is fully cooked.

My goal was to make this more like a skillet meal, and I wanted the pasta to absorb all of that liquid. We served it with cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese on top, and then we made some garlic toast to go along with it.

Friday: Chicken pot pie pasta

We had the chicken pot pie pasta dish on Friday night, which was also a $3 dinner. I'm starting with five cups of water, a beef bouillon packet from Ramen soup, and then a chicken bouillon cube. I've also peeled and diced sweet potato, and I'm adding that in.

Then I'm going to add in one pound of pasta, and I'm going to turn it on high heat, put the lid on it, let it come up to a boil, and cook the sweet potatoes and the pasta most of the way before adding in frozen mixed vegetables.

I'm going to let all that cook for a little while longer to make sure everything is fully cooked. Then I'm going to add a can of cream of chicken soup. I let it cook until heated through.

Saturday: Mummy dogs with carrots, oranges, and chips (or fried potatoes)

Saturday night was movie night, and we had mummy dogs or pigs in a blanket. This was a theme dinner for us. The mummy dogs are to go along with our movie, which was Hotel Transylvania, it's on Amazon Prime.

My husband made fried potatoes, but my kids had chips, oranges, and carrot sticks.

Cheap dinner ideas for a large family

Do you have cheap dinner ideas for a large family? Share your ideas and recipes in the comments below. You can eat well while saving money, and sharing recipes is one of the best ways to make that happen.