90 Cheap Quick Easy Dinner Recipes (2024)

Need cheap meals for large families? Here’s you’ll find cheap quick easy dinner recipes using ground beef to quick vegetarian recipes, you’ll find all the inspiration you can handle here!

90 Cheap Quick Easy Dinner Recipes

Being a busy mom on a budget is no easy feat. Seriously, sometimes I think it’d be easier to unicycle across a tightrope while juggling flaming swords! Usually I feel this way around dinner time… or when I’m trying to think up meals everyone will eat to fill out my weekly menu planner. Trying to find cheap quick easy dinner recipes that are at least somewhat healthy and suitable for a picky little eater is enough to make me throw up my hands and start doing Google searches for the nearest circus I can run off and join!

Okay, not really, but close. And I’m sure you can relate.

Healthy budget recipes and cheap and easy family meals frequently seem to be polar opposites of each other. Luckily, thanks to a touch of creativity and the amazing inspiration found on Pinterest and other mommy blog sites, I’ve managed to amass a treasure trove of cheap quick easy dinner recipes that my family will actually eat.

No, really.

Here are 90 of my favorite cheap quick easy dinner recipes. The next time you feel like trading in your apron for a clown costume, refer to this list for a little inspiration!

Oh, and if you need even more ways to save at the grocery store, be sure to check out my money saving grocery shopping secrets! You might also enjoy:

• 39 Cheap Meals for Large Families
• 56 Cheap and Easy Family Meals
• 39 Easy and Cheap Meals to Cook for Large Families
• 25 Cheap and Easy Meals for College Students

Cheap Meals With Chicken

1.Easy Chicken Taco Soup Slow Cooker Recipe (Freebie Finding Mom) – Taco Tuesday? Yes please! Just swap out ground beef for ground chicken to make this cheap quick easy dinner recipe healthier.

2.P.F. Chang’s Orange Chicken (Freebie Finding Mom) – Turn Hump Day into Wok Wednesday with help from P.F. Chang’s. Only, instead of heading out, head to your local grocery’s freezer aisle. Pair this cheap and easy family meal with white rice or ham and vegetable fried brown rice (maybe leave the ham out) and some broccoli.

3.Chicken Cacciatore Slow Cooker Recipe(Freebie Finding Mom) – The slow cooker and cheap quick easy dinner recipes go hand-in-hand. If you don’t own a crockpot or slow cooker, invest in one now! You won’t regret it. This chicken cacciatore is perfect for novice chefs since you only have to cut up a few things and boil some noodles.

4.Chicken Marsala Crockpot Recipe(Freebie Finding Mom) – Think you don’t have time to cook? Think again. For this recipe you just throw 9 ingredients into the crockpot and go about your day. Cheap quick easy dinner recipes don’t get much easier than this!

5.Easy Crockpot Chicken and Salsa(Freebie Finding Mom) – Spice up your work week with this tasty crockpot creation. Tip: If you’re concerned this might be too spicy for younger family members opt for a mild salsa and leave out the cayenne pepper.

6.Easy Crockpot Chicken Sausage and Peppers (Freebie Finding Mom) – This cheap quick easy dinner recipe requires just 10 minutes of prep time. Yep, you read that right. 10 minutes. You’d wait in line at the drive thru longer than that!

7.Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs(Cincy Shopper) – When it comes to cheap meals with chicken, this is one of my favs. It’s delicious, can be paired with a variety of side dishes, and really is cheap. In fact, the creator pegs this meal at just $6.64!

8.Chicken Pot Pie Casserole(Cincy Shopper) – Pot pies are perfect when it’s cold out and you just need some comfort food. Don’t worry, this homemade dish makes good use of store-bought ingredients (ex. refrigerated crescent rolls) to make sure you don’t have to spend all day in the kitchen!

9.Bacon Chicken Sausage Macaroni and Cheese(Small Town Woman) – Looking for cheap meals with chicken that your picky little eater will you know, eat? Look no further. If your little one is like most he or she simply can’t get enough mac n cheese! 🙂

10.Chicken and Pasta Sheet Pan Meal(Slap Dash Mom) – If you can boil pasta and place a baking sheet in the oven, you can successfully tackle this cheap quick easy dinner recipe. This is a great option when you need to get dinner on the table in under 30 minutes.

11.One Pot Creamy Garlic Chicken Thighs Recipe(Nerdy Foodie Mom) – Other than crockpot recipes, my favorite recipes are “one pot” meals. Not only do one pot recipes tend to be easy to throw together they also leave behind very few dishes. I hate it when you find a quick and easy meal that somehow manages to dirty half the dishes in your kitchen.

12.Baked Coconut Chicken Tenders(Whomesome Yum) – Healthy budget recipes do exist, and this is one of them. This recipe is gluten-free and paleo friendly. Bonus: Chicken tenders (or shall I say chicken nuggets) tend to be a big hit with picky little eaters.