25 Cheap food that fills you up when you are broke!

We all have months that are grocery budget is super extra tight, and the trick is not to panic. I am going to give you my huge list of cheap foods that will fill you up!

Bonus Tip: Not only are these foods filling, but most can be stocked up on ahead of time, so that you always have food available even when your short on cash.

Just because you have a super small grocery budget doesn’t mean you can’t eat healthy and filling foods. In fact, when you buy unprocessed and whole foods you will see they are much cheaper than the processed one. The difference is they may take a little but more of your time.

1. Pasta

Pasta is not only cheap, but it can be stretched to make meals bigger and heartier. The trick to pasta is to buy bigger sizes, like penne, wide egg noodles, or flat noodles like fettuccini. For even more savings, check out your international or Mexican foods aisle in the grocery store. At our local independent grocery store, I can pick up packs of pasta in the Mexican aisle for $0.33!!! Pasta is also a good way to hide vegetables from kids, and sneak in extra protein like beans.

2. Rice

Skip the flavored rice packs and go straight to the bags of white or brown rice. White rice is a little cheaper than brown rice, but if you are wanting a healthier option brown rice is usually more nutritious. Typically, boxed rice is more expensive because it is par-cooked, so stick with the bags to get a better bargain. Rice lasts a super long time in the pantry, and the easiest way to store it is in the bag it comes in. Once opened, I use a twist tie to keep it closed and to prevent moisture from getting in. A 2lb bag of white rice runs about $1.36 and a brown rice is usually about $1.45 for a 2lb bag. For super flavorful ways to make white rice less boring, check out “25 Ideas to Jazz up White Rice.“

3. Potatoes

It seems like every week, one of the stores in my area has an advertised deal on white potatoes in a large bag. Potatoes are a great base and can literally be transformed into anything. A baked potato, mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, and boiled potatoes are just the start. You can literally use potatoes for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! You are only limited by your imagination, and they pair well with almost every food. An average price for a bag of white potatoes typically runs about $3.50 but occasionally I see them for as low as $2.00. Sweet Potatoes are also fairly cheap and fillings as well but may cost a little more per pound than the white baking variety of potatoes.

4. Beans

Whether you buy them dried in a bag or canned, beans can add so much to any meal. Personally, I like canned beans because they are ready to be added to a meal without much prep needed. Typically, I just rinse canned beans in cold water and add them to what I’m cooking. Most dried beans will need to be soaked and cooked. We like to add kidney beans to spaghetti to add extra protein and cut back on ground beef or turkey. We can use 1/2 pound of ground meat and 1 can of kidney beans, and the dish is still super filling. I also like to use refried beans or black beans a lot with tacos, fajitas, and enchiladas. Another favorite is chicken chili with white beans or navy beans. Just like potatoes, the possibilities are endless. A 15 oz can of beans typically is less than $1.00 and dried beans can be purchased in 2 lb bags for about $2-3.00. Other good bean options are pinto beans and garbanzo / chickpeas!

5. Lentils

Lentils can be a little intimidating at first, but they are so super easy to cook with. Lentils are very popular in vegetarian dishes but can also be combined with meat to make amazing soups and stews. One of my favorite dishes involves slow cooking lentils in a crockpot with a ham bone and carrots. It is perfect for a cool crisp fall or super cold winter day. Lentils can also be used to make fritters, used in salads, made into veggie burgers, mixed with rice, and made into a dip similar to hummus! Lentils are an excellent source of fiber and have great health benefits too.

6. Eggs

Eggs are a very versatile protein that is super cheap. Whether you’re making a cheap breakfast or a hearty dinner like quiche. We love to use up leftovers and mix with eggs for a frittata or fancy omelets. A quiche or omelet doesn’t need a whole lot of meat or vegetables added in order to be filling. You can also hard boil eggs to make egg salad for lunch or as an easy filling snack on crackers. My kids love French Toast, so we sometimes make breakfast for dinner and my kids are overjoyed! (Little do they know I am trying to use up old bread)

7. Whole Chicken

A whole chicken is usually only about $1-1.25 a pound and can easily be stretched out for 4-5 meals. The trick is to use all the different parts wisely! I like to roast or bake the chicken whole, and then break it down into smaller parts. You can also cut it up into wings, legs, thighs, and breasts while it is still raw. Don’t forget to put the carcass into a pot with water to make chicken stock! Homemade stock is so amazing and makes the best soups. Cooked chicken can be used in a huge variety of ways. We like to make chicken tacos, chicken pastas, chicken rice bowls with veggies, and we love chicken on top of salads. Check out our list of “Budget Friendly Chicken Crock Pot Meals!“

8. Head of Lettuce

When you buy a whole head of lettuce like leafy greens or romaine and cut it yourself, you can make a lot of food for very cheap. Iceberg lettuce is pretty watery and not as filling as the darker lettuce. A head of green leaf or romaine lettuce is typically about $2.00 and can easily make about 10-12 oz of cut lettuce. An average salad is about 2-3 oz of lettuce, so one head can easily be used for multiple meals. We make lots of salads for meals, but we also like making simple side salads with tomato and cucumbers from the garden too. To find out more, check out “Is it cheaper to make your own salad? and see how to make lettuce last for a whole week!

9. Spinach

Spinach is another great cheap food to buy and sometimes I find really good sales on it too. Typically, a 1lb bag of spinach is about $2.00 and I can use it in so many ways. I love to add spinach to eggs in the morning or as a sauteed side dish for dinner. You can make yummy salads with just spinach or mix it with leafy greens for a more robust salad. I add spinach a lot to pasta dishes, soups, and to sandwiches/wraps. We like to eat pretty healthy so on days that I can’t sit down and eat a salad, I feel like I am getting my veggies in by adding spinach to my lunchmeat sandwiches or by making a wrap a tortilla. Don’t forgot to add spinach to your homemade pizza too!

10. Oatmeal

This is another pantry staple of mine. We skip the individual and flavored packs of oatmeal and pick up a large canister of Old-Fashioned Oats. You can buy a 42 oz container for about $4.00 and that is enough to make about 21 servings of breakfast. (An 8 pack of oatmeal packs can easily run $2-3.00 so you save so much money buying a canister and adding your own flavors to it.) If you’re not a fan of hot oatmeal, try making overnight oats and eating it cold. I love to pair my oatmeal with fruits, nuts, honey, and a variety of different dairy products like yogurt, cow milk, or almond milk. Eating oatmeal for breakfast is not only healthy but very filling. You can also make your own oatmeal bars for breakfast on the go or make my favorite oatmeal raisin cookies for a sweet treat.

11. Peanut Butter

Peanut butter is a food that I absolutely adore! Not only is it slightly salty sweet but it is a great way to get extra protein. It is also a food that is perfect in a pinch whether you need a quick snack or a filling lunch. For a long time, I regularly ate peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast. I needed something quick and easy to eat so I could take medication in the morning, and peanut butter sandwiches were perfect for me. You can also use peanut butter in savory dishes like peanut chicken and for a peanut sauce for noodles. Of course, peanut butter can also be paired well with oatmeal for overnight oats or oatmeal bars. For a sweet treat, make some peanut butter cookies!

12. Flour

I always have a bag or two of flour in my pantry. From making homemade pizza to biscuits to baking bread. Flour is very inexpensive and so is dry active yeast. We regularly make homemade pizza every week and it is a fabulous way to use up small amounts of leftovers. You can literally put anything on a pizza! We use a wide variety of meats and veggies on our pizzas and have even made pizzas with leftover fried chicken and diced baked potato. If you want to learn more about homemade pizza, check out “How to Save on Family Pizza Night” and you will get tons of great ideas!

13. Loaf Bread

Maybe loaf bread is not the healthiest thing on this list, but it is very versatile. You can toast it for breakfast, make sandwiches, and fry it for grilled cheese and French toast. My husband used to tease me that when he grew up loaf bread was the same as sandwich bread, a hamburger bun, a hotdog bun, and garlic bread all in the same bag. We truly have used loaf bread for all of these even now just because it is cheap, easy, and convenient. You can also use loaf bread to make croutons and breadcrumbs. A bag of sandwich loaf bread costs about $1.00 at my local Walmart and comes in many varieties like white, wheat, and honey wheat.

14. Cabbage

Cabbage is one of those foods that act as a great filler. You can chop it up and add it to salads, stir-fry, soups, and stews. I also love to sauté it with garlic and butter for a super easy side dish. Cabbage routinely goes on sale for about $0.30-0.40 a pound, but even at a regular price of $0.90 a pound it is still a great deal. During the summertime, a coleslaw salad is a great side dish to barbeque, hotdogs, or hamburgers too.

15. Tortillas

Whether you like corn or flour tortillas, they are a very inexpensive food that can be used in a variety of ways. We love to make salad wraps, tacos, fajitas, enchiladas, and sandwich roll-ups. You can buy a pack of 10-12 tortillas for around $1.00 and they can easily last all week. My husband has even started making breakfast burritos with scrambled eggs so he can eat on the go.

16. Bananas

By far bananas are the cheapest fruit by the pound. They also offer many heart benefits and keep you full. Whether you slice them in your cereal or oatmeal, they also are a great food for on the go. We even save the banana peels for our garden, because the nitrogen rich peels make for great compost! You can also make a variety of items like banana bread, banana pancakes, and muffins for something different for breakfast or snacks.

17. Apples

Most of the year, apples are a very affordable fruit to buy. I typically buy them by the 3lb bag for less than $3.00 and use them for snacks and side dishes for lunch or dinner. An apple has a ton of fiber, so it makes your belly feel fuller longer too! Not only do kids love them but adults should eat more of them too. The subtle sweetness makes a great snack in the afternoons, and some studies show that apples can get you over the afternoon slump of being extra tired. We also sauté them with cinnamon and brown sugar for a side dish with pork, then if we have leftover cooked apples, I can put them in with my overnight oats. (It makes the oats taste like apple cobbler!)

18. Frozen Vegetables

When you are on a tight grocery budget, check out the frozen vegetable section! Not only do they have the same nutritional value as fresh produce, but they are easy to store and last much longer! You can even buy chopped peppers and onions in convenient frozen bags. I love to stock up on green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, corn, and mixed vegetables. Another good trick is that you don’t have to use the whole bag at a time. I love the super easy cooking by steaming them in the microwave, but if I don’t plan on using the whole bag for one meal, I can store the cooked vegetables in a plastic container to use with another meal.

19. Canned Tuna

Canned tuna is one of those items that I stock up on and leave in the pantry. My husband is not a huge fan of tuna, but I don’t mind making tuna salad or a casserole with egg noodles. You can occasionally catch these on a really good sale where you can get 2-3 cans for a $1.00 and they have a rather long shelf life. I have recently come across patty melts, and they are so delicious and a great cheap and filling lunch on the weekend.

20. Carrots

Carrots are so cheap when you buy a 1-pound bag of just plain carrots. Skip the baby carrots or precut kind and go with the regular kind. We regularly have sauteed carrots as a side dish, or add them to salads, stir-fry, and lo-mien noodles. They also work well in rice bowls and soups too! Another benefit is they are a super easy snack! I like them plain, with ranch dressing or homemade hummus.

22. Ground Pork

With the price of ground beef skyrocketing in price, I have switched to buying ground pork. Instead of paying $4.00 a pound for ground beef, ground pork is regularly closer to $2.00 a pound. Not every store carries it, but the small local grocery store in our town has it and sometimes it goes as low as $0.99 a pound. For that price I usually stock up big time and store it in the freezer. Just like with ground beef, I have started to portion the ground pork in 1/2 pound or 3/4 pound with my vacuum sealer. I can easily make a pasta dish, tacos, enchiladas, or a cheesy mac with ground pork and a can of kidney beans or black beans for an extra filling dinner. We even make hamburgers out of ground pork, and it is so tasty!

23. Ground Turkey

Another good alternative to ground beef is ground turkey! We score some deals on ground turkey 1-pound logs at Walmart for less than $2.00 each. We store them in the freezer and defrost them the night before we need them. Anything that you make with ground beef can be made with ground turkey. We love making meatballs, casseroles, and pasta dishes with ground turkey. Plus, ground turkey has less fat than ground beef so it’s a heart healthy option as well!

24. Saltines

Saltines are one of the plainest crackers you can buy for super cheap, but you get a lot in a box for about $1.00. These are great with soups, salads, and as a snack with peanut butter. We also have crushed them for breading meat instead of breadcrumbs and they end up tasting close to panko breadcrumbs. Around Christmas time, my stepmom makes “Crack” with saltines, and it taste like a candy or brittle! Saltines are always in the house for upset stomachs and whenever the kids are not feeling well. They are truly a great pantry staple and last a long time.

25. Popcorn

Popcorn is a super cheap and filling snack! It is so easy to pop a bag and then portion them out into small Ziploc bags. Then you just throw one in your purse for snacking on the go. Popcorn is also a healthy snack that is pretty filling if you are trying to lose a little weight or just maintain your weight. You can eat upwards of 2 cups of popcorn for really low calories. I especially love sitting down and streaming a movie with a bowl of popcorn after the kids are in bed!

Grocery Shopping when you are broke

Hopefully after going through this list of 25 cheap but filling foods to buy when you are broke, you will notice that most of these go together. I could easily go buy every single item on this list and spend right around $50 or less at my local Walmart.

There is easily enough food on this list to last 1-2 weeks and create many healthy and filling breakfasts, lunch, and dinner for a family of four. If you have a large family, you may have to spend a little more.

My goal with this list is to give you some meal ideas that include cheap healthy foods and work with a very tight budget!

For more tips to make your grocery budget stretch further, check out “Grocery Shopping without a Car” and “Rain Checks at the Grocery Store?“