Everyone knows meat is expensive. The good news is there are plenty of ways to create a classy and enjoyable menu based on vegetables, regardless of the event type.

For example, these vegetarian wedding menu ideas look absolutely stunning. Want to make it fancier? Include a larger quantity of affordable, heavier snacks like mini grilled cheese sandwiches, tortellini and sauce cups, or even items like spinach puffs.

This tip is also great for if you have a lot of children or grown up picky eaters or want to save on wait staff expenses. Which means that a slightly smaller plate might subconsciously discourage them from wasting food or taking too much of your carefully alloted dishes.

Finally, here are other ways to keep event catering costs down. Soups, spruced up canned goods, and all manner of delectable roasted creations combat common colds and ward off overspending on event food.

Check out these light, refreshing, and floral ideas for some spring event food and beverage inspiration. Hummus Without Tahini by Munaty Cooking. This clean-out-your-fridge soup recipe ensures nothing goes to waste. We love budget-friendly recipes like this one!

Twice Baked Breakfast Sweet Potatoes by What Great Grandma Ate. A very satiating and easy breakfast meal to fuel you for the day. To make this even more budget-friendly, swap in beans for the chorizo.

Making your own gluten-free and grain-free crackers is much less expensive! This recipe is packed with budget-friendly seeds and zucchini, and is the perfect complement to salsa or dips.

Almond Butter and Jelly Green Smoothie by Simple Green Smoothies. This antioxidant-rich dairy-free smoothie will remind you of your favourite peanut butter and jelly sandwich, minus the peanuts.

When using budget-friendly cuts of meat, hearty stews or slow cooking can yield a tender and flavourful result. Try this Hungarian goulash recipe stuffed with plenty of extra vegetables.

Super Iron Supper by Stone Soup. This quick and easy iron-rich meal will give you a plateful of energy-boosting power. For the vegans and vegetarians, there is also a meat-free version. Lazy Man Paleo Apple Pie by Paleo on a Budget.

Got apples in the fridge? Gluten-Free Fudge from Gluten-Free on a Shoestring. A Paleo-friendly gluten-free fudge recipe that will satisfy your sweet tooth without breaking the bank. Are you ready for another episode of the Today Is The Day Podcast? While there are some ingredients that are outrageously expensive, those are often concentrated powders, fancy superfoods, or niche….

Food is a fundamental human need that supports our physical, mental and emotional health and is essential to our survival. There are a plethora of staple foods to choose from at the grocery store and sometimes it seems easier to pick up a loaf of….

This time of year can be challenging for those of us who maintain a healthful, whole foods diet throughout the year.

Best Of. Join Our Community Sign up to receive our monthly dose of culinary nutrition inspiration. Food Insecurity and Budget-Friendly Recipes Food insecurity is on the rise alongside food prices.

Budget-Friendly Tips Aside from budget-friendly recipes, these are some things you can do in your kitchen to help save money and make the most of the food you buy.

Eat More Plants Most plant-based foods are less expensive than animal products, so incorporate plenty of vegetables into your menu plans, along with beans, legumes and gluten-free grains. Focus on Budget-Friendly Foods Some foods are simply less expensive than others — and the good news is many of the inexpensive options are true superfoods that are easy to find at most grocery stores.

Reduce Your Food Waste There is a lot of food that ends up in the landfill. Start Menu Planning Creating a weekly menu plan helps you reduce food waste, cut down on pre-made meals or takeout, and lowers dinnertime stress.

Learn how to start menu planning with these resources: Healthy Batch Cooking 5 Essential Meal Plan and Meal Prep Tips Choose Your Own Adventure Family Meal Ideas Podcast: How to Solve Dinnertime Stress and Revive Mealtimes Get your FREE Batch Cooking Guide plus 35 more free resources!

Manufacturers themselves, seeing an opportunity for increased sales, positioned meatloaf recipes on the backs of products such as Quaker Oats, Campbell's Soup, and Post Toasties. With the increased strictures of wartime rationing in the '40s, meatloaf consolidated its high-ranking position in the housewife's culinary artillery.

Here, meatloaf took on new symbolic significance. By maintaining the health and strength of a country at war, it played its role on the front lines. Penny Prudence's "Vitality Loaf" was jammed with beef, pork, pork liver, oatmeal, wheat germ, onion-evaporated milk, egg, and chili sauce.

The most economical options of this era, however, even deviated from the aforementioned ingredients -- they didn't actually feature meat at all. Capitalizing on the familiar shape and texture of the dish to appeal to the American palate, cookbooks with titles such as Cooking on a Ration were filled with recipes that used beans, nuts, rice, and soy flour in place of meat.

But meatloaf was capable of more than just budget fare, and the post-war era of the s and '60s liberated it.

Taste and creativity now served as primary ingredients. For a large contingent of women who spent the war in the work force, the '50s were a time of re-discovering the kitchen. Advertisers, magazines, and newspapers, charged with the task of encouraging women to embrace their new role, glorified the image of the housewife, celebrated kitchen skills, and stressed the importance of being creative as a means to fulfillment.

Naturally, meatloaf fit seamlessly into this milieu. It could be personalized and adapted any number of ways, all the while requiring only basic skills. The edition of the Good Housekeeping cookbook included Sherry-Barbecued Meatloaves, Mushroom-Stuffed Meatloaves, and a Spicy Peach Loaf.

The frosted meatloaf, where mashed potato is slathered on a baked loaf, then broiled for a golden crust, debuted in the '50s. To enliven a simpler offering, there was an inexhaustible trend for garnishing, glazing, saucing, and decorating.

The traditional loaf was even temporarily retired in favor of the fashionable ring shape. A proponent of this trend, Betty Crocker, the fictional domestic doyenne of General Mills, advised piling vegetables in the center.

No doubt innovators of the '50s and '60s would reel at the next turn in meatloaf's evolution. The dish maintained its popularity, particularly in blue-collar homes, but dropped the outlandish accoutrements. And so the sacred triumvirate that many advocates hold as gospel was born.

The dish gained a reputation as tasty, honest fare, for honest, hard-working folk. Then the '90s happened. Restaurant chefs looking for the next wave of culinary inspiration embraced the food of the home and hearth. A tireless chameleon, meatloaf is up to its old tricks again.

With more television shows that document exotic fare, eclectic cookbooks that chronicle dishes from around the world, and wider access to global ingredients in mainstream grocery stores, Americans are increasingly hungry for ethnic flavors.

Waste-nothing chicken & dumpling stew Speedy lentil coconut curry Jacket potato with whipped feta & sumac

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Affordable culinary inspiration - Turkey pasta bake Waste-nothing chicken & dumpling stew Speedy lentil coconut curry Jacket potato with whipped feta & sumac

Chicken thighs work best in this dish, dark meat especially, but nearly any chicken can work. Skip the wine if you need to replace it with stock , but don't use cooking wine, or anything you wouldn't drink. Get the recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup. This simple vegetable soup is surprisingly sustaining.

With beans and broccolini, tomato and quinoa, it'll make a belly-filling bowl that can power you through an afternoon, or quench a serious dinner hunger.

Get the recipe for Vegetable Soup. Nothing beats mac and cheese for filling bellies! What makes this extra easy is that the macaroni cooks right in the sauce. So you don't have to boil it ahead of time! Get the recipe for Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese. Puff pastry makes this extra-yummy pot pie both simple and delicious!

Get the recipe for Chicken Pot Pie. Serve this staple-filled soup with good, crusty bread for a simple, effective, and delicious meal. Get the recipe for Slow Cooker Potato Soup. Perhaps the only thing more warming and delicious than chicken soup on a cold day is chicken and dumplings.

Get the recipe for Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings. This fast stovetop recipe skips roasting, but is steeped in flavor. And with just a few ingredients mostly squash , it's easy on the wallet!

You can skip the brandy and use a little more cider to save some cost. Get the recipe for One-Pot Butternut Squash Soup. Some chicken cutlets and pantry staples — and plenty of Parmesan, of course — can quickly turn into this family favorite.

Get the recipe for Chicken Parmesan. The underrated tuna melt, that staple of diners and lunch plates everywhere, deserves to be making a big time comeback. You probably have most of the ingredients in your fridge right now. What are you waiting for? Get the recipe for Tuna Melt. If you're looking for a way to use ground beef in a spicy, simple dinner that'll make the whole family happy, then you've just found your recipe for tonight!

There are a plethora of staple foods to choose from at the grocery store and sometimes it seems easier to pick up a loaf of…. This time of year can be challenging for those of us who maintain a healthful, whole foods diet throughout the year.

Best Of. Join Our Community Sign up to receive our monthly dose of culinary nutrition inspiration. Food Insecurity and Budget-Friendly Recipes Food insecurity is on the rise alongside food prices. Budget-Friendly Tips Aside from budget-friendly recipes, these are some things you can do in your kitchen to help save money and make the most of the food you buy.

Eat More Plants Most plant-based foods are less expensive than animal products, so incorporate plenty of vegetables into your menu plans, along with beans, legumes and gluten-free grains.

Focus on Budget-Friendly Foods Some foods are simply less expensive than others — and the good news is many of the inexpensive options are true superfoods that are easy to find at most grocery stores.

Reduce Your Food Waste There is a lot of food that ends up in the landfill. Start Menu Planning Creating a weekly menu plan helps you reduce food waste, cut down on pre-made meals or takeout, and lowers dinnertime stress.

Learn how to start menu planning with these resources: Healthy Batch Cooking 5 Essential Meal Plan and Meal Prep Tips Choose Your Own Adventure Family Meal Ideas Podcast: How to Solve Dinnertime Stress and Revive Mealtimes Get your FREE Batch Cooking Guide plus 35 more free resources!

Fill out the form below for instant access. Cook From Scratch You knew this one was coming. best budget-friendly recipes for 3-Ingredient Vegan Pancakes 3-Ingredient Vegan Pancakes by Green Evi All you need are oats, a banana and nut or seed milk to make these pancakes a reality.

Mexican Fried Brown Rice Mexican Fried Brown Rice by Eat Healthy Eat Happy A cheap and cheerful gluten-free meal that includes ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.

Vegan Korean Mung Bean Pancakes Vegan Kimchi Bin Dae Tteok Korean Mung Bean Pancakes by Culturally Ambiguous Things A flexible budget-friendly recipe that you can customize with your favourite vegetables and includes a fermented food for extra digestive measure. Avocado Tuna Cakes Avocado Tuna Cakes by Well Plated Protein-packed tuna cakes that you can enjoy on a burger bun, or pair with a salad or roasted veggies.

Grillable Vegan Black Bean Quinoa Burgers Grillable Vegan Black Bean Quinoa Burgers by Jessica in the Kitchen If you have a hankering for a simple veggie burger, this gluten-free and vegan recipe is just the ticket. Pan Roasted Chicken Thighs Pan Roasted Chicken Thighs by Life Tastes Good Everyone always heads for the chicken breasts first, but the thighs and legs are much more affordable and ultra delicious, too.

Charred Romaine Salad with Tahini Dressing Charred Romaine Salad with Tahini Dressing by The Pancake Princess Ever grilled a romaine heart? Hearty Vegetarian Chili Hearty Vegetarian Chili by All The Healthy Things Nothing says budget cooking quite like a plant-based chili!

Twice Baked Breakfast Sweet Potatoes Twice Baked Breakfast Sweet Potatoes by What Great Grandma Ate A very satiating and easy breakfast meal to fuel you for the day. Almond Butter and Jelly Green Smoothie Almond Butter and Jelly Green Smoothie by Simple Green Smoothies This antioxidant-rich dairy-free smoothie will remind you of your favourite peanut butter and jelly sandwich, minus the peanuts.

Super Iron Supper Super Iron Supper by Stone Soup This quick and easy iron-rich meal will give you a plateful of energy-boosting power.

Lazy Man Paleo Apple Pie Lazy Man Paleo Apple Pie by Paleo on a Budget Got apples in the fridge? Gluten-Free Fudge Gluten-Free Fudge from Gluten-Free on a Shoestring A Paleo-friendly gluten-free fudge recipe that will satisfy your sweet tooth without breaking the bank.

Share your favourite budget-friendly recipes in the comments below! by Academy of Culinary Nutrition in Podcast. by Academy of Culinary Nutrition in Best Of in Health in Resources. While there are some ingredients that are outrageously expensive, those are often concentrated powders, fancy superfoods, or niche… Read More.

by Academy of Culinary Nutrition in Health in Resources. by Academy of Culinary Nutrition in How To in Recipes. There are a plethora of staple foods to choose from at the grocery store and sometimes it seems easier to pick up a loaf of… Read More. Check out our pastry chef's guide to low-cost baking.

Bursting with juicy peaches and tomatoes, this summer salad becomes budget-dinner-worthy thanks to crisped bacon and bread charred in the rendered fat. These three-ingredient wings require little more than chicken, hot sauce, and butter—plus a few staples oil, salt, and pepper that are likely already in your pantry.

The key to great flavor here is that the chicken is marinated after grilling, not before. The bigger the beans the better in this saucy Greek-inspired dish. Sop up that tomatoey sauce with some crusty bread and call it a meal on the cheap.

The secret to this smoky, melt-in-your-mouth eggplant is cooking it in the dying embers of a charcoal grill or charred on the grates of your grill. Back away from the potato ricer. These gnocchi rely on instant potatoes to cut down the time and cost.

Curly kale does double duty in this dish, both mixed in with the noodles and served over the top as crispy chips. The simple salad becomes much less basic when you add tuna, blanched green beans, and basil dressing.

Sure, pasta with a side salad makes for a well balanced dinner, but how about pasta in a salad? Saucy butter beans swimming in caramelized red onions and piquillo peppers.

Consider making a big batch to have around for easy lunches. The baked macaroni and cheese you know and love gets a spicy upgrade with broccoli rabe and a whole tablespoon of crushed red pepper. Like a cozy blanket in meal form, these chicken thighs get tucked into a Caribbean-inspired sauce made with coconut milk simmered with onions, garlic, and chiles.

Like many great budget meals, this makes a terrific lunch or dinner. Looking for more budget-friendly recipes and cooking tips? Check out The Smart Cook , our section focused on making the most of every dollar in the kitchen. Kendra Vaculin. Berna Anat. Anna Stockwell. Cheryl Day.

Joe Sevier. The Smart Cook Linkbanner Make a Food Budget. Photo by Laura Murray, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boystova. Get This Recipe. Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich. Photo and Food Styling by Anna Stockwell.

Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich. Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell. Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell. Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Dana Bonagura.