Harvest Time: 8 Cheap and Seemingly Bottomless Fall Dinners

Food can be expensive. It can be a huge drag on your bank account and on your energy levels. Trying to keep costs down while serving up dishes everyone loves is not always the easiest thing to do. Throw the need to pack lunches for the next day at work or school, and food alone can suck up all your time after work.

What you need is a few extremely cheap, nutritious meals that just never seem to end. They keep giving the gift of leftovers for as long you see fit to eat them, lowering your food bills with each and every meal. Even if you have a large family, you can successfully double and triple these recipes, still pay minimal amounts per serving, and still have lots leftover for lunch. Yes, such dishes exist, and they’re delicious, and I’m getting hungry just thinking about them.

Here are 8 cheap and seemingly bottomless fall dinners:

1. Beef Stew

Cost per serving: Between $1 & $3

Beef stew is so hearty and filling. Served up with some fresh baked dinner rolls that cost just pennies a pop at your local grocery store, and you’ve got a belly full of yum that tastes even better the next day. Here’s my favourite affordable recipe:

2. Kale Soup

Cost per serving: Less than $1

Relax carnivores, kale has this magical way of creating a very rich, meaty taste in soups - you won’t even know the meat isn’t there. Kale is surprisingly hearty for a leafy green and in soups, it’s absolutely to die for. You’ll keep going back for more of this soup, and it won’t matter because it costs next to nothing to make! Here’s a great recipe:

3. Vegetarian Lasagna

Cost per serving: Between $1 & $3

Lasagna is a real belly-filler and the best part about it is that adding some browned off ground beef to the sauce isn’t really going to make the meal too much more expensive. Vegetarian or con carne, it’s still an affordable dish for a family. It tastes even better the next day, too! Here’s a delicious recipe:

4. Vegetarian Chili

Cost per serving: Between $1 & $2

Served with a few tortilla chips, chili is comfort food defined. To keep it cheaper, save the meat, but honestly, the meat isn’t going to bring up the price all that much. Even a big man with an oversized appetite is going to have leftovers for work lunch the next day. Here’s my favourite recipe:

5. One Pot Roast Chicken

Cost per serving: Between $2 & $3

Throwing everything into the same pot makes for less cleanup and way more flavour. There are a million applications for the leftover bird you’ll inevitably have as well, from chicken caesar salad, to chicken salad sandwiches or even just toss the cooked chicken in with your favourite jarred indian curry sauce. Here’s a great recipe for one pot roast chicken:

6. Chicken Pot Pie

Cost per serving: $1

Leftover chicken from your one pot roast bird? No problem! Throw it in a rich, creamy, comforting pot pie that every kid and adult from east to west will love. This stuff is easy to make and serves as a perfect leftover bagged lunch for work the next day. Here’s a great recipe:

7. Chicken Stir Fry

Cost per serving: $1

It’s fall now, so your garden is probably bursting with vegetables - either that or all your neighbours are trying to dump zucchinis and cucumbers on you by the crate load. Whatever the case, it is the season of cheap veggies and there is no better way to use them than in a stir fry. Here’s an affordable recipe:

8. Red Beans and Rice

Cost per serving: Between $1 & $2

A Big Easy staple, this dish from New Orleans defines hearty. Every bite attacks hunger with the power of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in a mack truck. A big pot of this is going to last you weeks - I guarantee you will have to freeze some, no matter how big and hungry your family is. The name of this dish does not do any favours to how delicious it is, and how much every meat eater on the planet will love it. Just check out the recipe:

What is your favourite dish to eat leftover? Let us know in the comments!