Good tasting, low budget food?

Dried beans and Chicken Quarters. Dried beans are about $1 a pound and make ~3 lbs when rehydrated. You can still buy 10lb bags of chicken quarters for less than $7. Also, be sure to buy crap in bulk. I pay $7.50 for a 25lb bag of rice where I see people pay $3 for a pound of boil in bag rice.

Learn to make southern rice and bean dishes like Hoppin' John or Savannah Red Rice (add red beans). Part of the trick is to learn to use small amounts of highly smoked pork fat products to season dishes.

Potatoes and canola oil for fries and chips. After frying, let the oil cool to room temperature, then you can freeze it for later reuse.

Tomato sauce + lentils + spinach + eggplant + squash + microwave

When I was a poor collegefag, I ate really well cooking at home for myself. Spent about $75/month on food if I didn't eat out. The trick is to stick to a small set of ingredients you can use for lots of different things.

I usually kept my kitchen stocked with the following:
>Dry pasta
>Rice (one small bag will last forever)
>Sliced sourdough loaf
>Cheese (usually a sharp cheddar or havarti)
>Eggs
>Frozen Veggie mix (toss these into soups, fried rice, ramen, mac n cheese, etc. for a little nutrition boost)
>Any leafy green veg (spinach, kale, etc)
>Chicken stock
>Ground meat or bacon (Pricey, but you can split a pound of either into about 4 servings.)
Occasionally I would buy a cut of meat on sale instead of getting ground meat or bacon. I'd also have a vegetable or two (tomatoes, peppers, broccoli) around from time to time to broaden my meal selection.

Regular meals I had included
>carbonara
>burgers
>meatballs (either over pasta or on top of salad)
>fried rice
>jambalaya
>sloppy joes
>pulled pork
>grilled cheeses
>actually, any kind of grilled sandwich
>salads
>a billion types of soup

With any leftovers you have, chop them up into small pieces and dump them into a soup, or a quiche. Bulk up your soups by tossing in some rice or pasta. For $15, buy yourself a cheapo rice cooker, AKA the poorfag's slowcooker. They're great for soups and sauces, especially in the Winter since they'll keep whatever's in them warm indefinitely.

French Onion Soup is quite literally just onion, butter and water/stock and it's great. If you want you add milk/cream.

This, I'm going through college basically only on black tea, which I add in a bit of lemon. Either hot or cold works. And tea is quite literally just water and the sacks, I buy packs of the bastards and they last me for a while.

Check out this thread too, user: - it's got some great starters.

>shop stores based on sales
>frozen burritos are your friends
>making your own food gives you the most for your $ assuming you aren't a moron

just got into cup noodles how good are these compared to other things
i've never tried maruchan or that garbo

Irish stew. Cheapest potatoes you can find, cheapest carrots you can find, cheapest celery you can find, cheapest cut of meat you can find. Basic herbs and spices and you got a giant wholesome meal for days.

That and beans/rice/lentils.

Don't forget you can make stock easy as shit. Take carcass, stick in pot with enough water to cover meat, toss in left over veggie scraps including the leaves, the butts, the stems. Boil and cook forever.

Slice or cube potatoes
Fry in a little bit of olive oil or butter
Cover in cheese and pepper and salt

Spices are your friend.

Rice, eggs, chunky peanut butter, and sriracha is a pretty good, easy to make, healthy combo

It's great, simple and can be used to give a taste to everything. Sometimes I used marinades as stock, mostly because I like long marinades, so it's ultimately almost a stock of whatever I'm doing.

Speaking of which, depending on where you live, lamb is ultra cheap and a great substitute for beef.

Now my breakfast suggestions: birchermuesli is your friend and will keep you healthy while being a cheapskate. It's quite literally fruit, oats, nuts or peanut butter, some fruit juice and yoghurt/milk. If I want something extra I throw some dark chocolate. Gives about 2 servings per day and it's wonderful. Also ends up being more filling than a smoothie.

I always wondered about the veggie scraps. Are there any no-go's? Onion/garlic peels, carrot/squash stems, the really tough white part of cabbage are all fair game? Also, I assume I should also be saving the stems from my herbs to throw in there as well?

Cook
1 cup rice (dry)
1 cup beans (dry)

Saute 1 diced onion in a tablespoon of butter

Add in:
Cooked rice
Cooked beans
1 cup frozen vegetables
Salt and cumin
Stir and add more butter & seasoning until you get the right consistency & flavor

That's a days worth of calories & nutrients for about a dollar.

Breakfast food is the best way to break into cooking. Boiling a perfect soft egg, pancakes from scratch, crepes and omelettes with various fillings will all help you learn to more difficult recipes in the future.

>get george foreman grill for 20 bucks on amazon
>go to walmart and get a shit load of ramen
>grab some chicken/pork/beef/whatever
>grab a veggie or two
>use grill to cook stuff quick warm up the veggies while cooking the meat
>add to ramen
>every meal is a dollar or less

>Are there any no-go's?

Tomato leaves/stems. Shit's poison, yo.

Any very flavorful herb stems (especially rosemary or basil) are going to change the flavor of the stock so use them sparingly if you want something more neutral

Scalloped potatoes:

Get a casserole dish

Peel enough potatoes to fill most of the dish
Chop them thinly (ideally an 8th of an inch (you can get a tool for this if a knife is taking too long))

Get room temperature (solid) butter and coat the casserole dish with it (use your fingers)

Lay the potatoes into the dish evenly until just below halfway through

Grate some cheese over the potatoes

Lay down another layer of potatoes

Make a roux with butter
Add milk to make a bechamel sauce with the consistency of cream
Add dried onions, salt, pepper, herb's de Provence

Pour the sauce over the potatoes.

Grate some cheese on top.

That's a huge amount of (tasty) calories for $1-3 depending mostly on the price of the cheese (feel free to use lower quality cheese).

chicken thigh, especially on sale. I can get it for $.75 in boston so if you're more remote I gotta imagine you can get it for less. Buy a bunch, toss it in a bowl, coat it with a seasoning mix - I like spicy sazon from the latino aisle

Also college fag here, assuming you have a stove check your local supermarkets meat section, flank steaks at mine are around 8 for $8 buy some rice and seasoning (onions, pepper, etc) and you have yourself a weeks worth of dinner on $12ish all you need at that point is breakfast (cereal or oatmeal does fine) and a lunch snack and your looking at 20$ for a 7-8 days and that's eating good and filling, mix up the beef with chicken every now and then and your eating even cheaper

>spicy sazon
Latino checking in. That's some good shit for your pollo.

Also OP chilaqulies. Tortillas +pato sauce+cheese.

Brown rice, eggs and chicken breast. Season, mix and enjoy.

Frat semen

As much as people bitch about mexicans I fucking love living in texas, the spices and peppers they have on the mexican aisle are always fucking great, south americans got some good spices

They're 10/10

I have not hat the "Cup o Noodles" version, but I have used the Nongshim Ramyun pack for several years. It is 10/10 ramen my dude. I like to add some dehydrated vegetables (usually carrot, zucchini, and green onions), roast pork, and 3 slices of American Cheese. Don't dismiss the cheese unless you try it. It is a very common addition in Korean (from where this ramen originates) as it was popularized for US soldiers stationed there.

slow cooked meat on sale with pasta or bread and some kind of tomato sauce made from big cans of tomato sauce. Also add in some cheese you find on sale and a-wala, you're eating pretty well for not too much money.

be sure to also buy whatever vegetables you can get for cheap to balance out these meals.

>french onion soup
>no white wine
you are wrong good sir.

Mexico isn't south America homie

A few general tips and recipes:

Whole pre-sliced hams can be found for like a dollar a pound. Fuck lunchmeat, this stuff is cheaper and better. Want a sandwich? Perfect. Ham and cheese. When it gets boring, grill it. Add some saurkraut for a lazy ass Reuben. Breakfast? Fry up some potatoes (hell if you're in a hurry, bake it in the microwave, fuck it), an egg, toss in spinach, cheese, and ham. Dinner? Make a simple pasta salad. Cook noodles, chop ham, add vegetables, spices (if you don't know what to use, just shake some Italian seasoning on it), some olive oil, parmesean cheese, vinegar and salt to taste. If you can spend a few bucks add some pesto. Are you seriously lazy and cheap? Ham+egg+brocolli. Toss it in your ramen. It'll keep you alive.

You also get the ham bone. You can do a lot with a ham bone. Ham based soups, just toss in the bone in a pot of water, add whatever you like. Good with potatoes. A traditional recipe would be Pot pie. The Pennsylvania dutch kind. It's not a pie, but a soup. Here's a recipe:foodlion.com/recipes/ham-pot-pie/ Because I'm a lazy piece of shit I don't roll my own noodles, I just use lasagna noodles. Same shit. Or you can use whatever noodles you want, doesn't matter.

Also makes a great pot of beans, soak beans over night, throw em in a pot or slowcooker with the hambone and cover with water. Cook until they're done, which is whenever they feel soft. Add rice and you've got everything you need to keep you alive for a month in one pot.

Also here's a good simple stroganoff recipe. It's great and easy to follow. Will definitely impress any friends that can't/don't cook. Cheaper than eating out.
youtube.com/watch?v=hDybFLoOcGg

And one for borsch. Can also use ham bone for this. Good stuff, lots of vegetables, good for you.
youtube.com/watch?v=-RjawJ8LImM

Drink a lot of coffee or tea. It's better for you than soda or energy drinks, and cheaper in the long run.

We're talking broke college students in the US, more likely. Don't think they buy white wine at all. But yeah, if you can make it with wine and stock.

make your own gnocchi, once you get good at it should only take you like 30 mins
cheap as chips too

oats

I like making this sausage and beans stuff. It's cheap and dank. 2.49 for some hot italian sausage, 50 cents for ro-tel tomatoes, and 50 cents for ranch-style beans. Throw all that together and its pretty fucking good, massively filling, and only cost 3.50 for the full meal. Seriously filling, you are looking at like 1200 calories in just the one meal.

Chicken is the gift that keeps on giving. Around here (washington)a big pack of hind quarters only costs about 7 bucks, depending on the store. Get a bunch, freeze em, thaw one at a time for a solid, healthy, protein.

Bake a bunch at once, pick the meat, roast the bones, simmer those in a pot, BOOM, you have chicken broth.

Learn to take out the bones, (which you will still save for broth), and either bread and fry them chick-parm, or cut up and marinate for stir fry.

Separate the leg from the thigh, soak em in buttermilk overnight, dredge em in season flour and fry them.

My point is, it's a cheap, versatile cut.

Sandwiches
>sourdough bread
>ham
>pepperjack cheese
>lettuce
>tomato
And you can change it up whenever with different deli meats
Omelettes
>butter
>eggs
>jalapeno Tabasco sauce
>bell pepper
>tomato
>green onion
>ham steak
>milk
>cheese
If you're lazy, you can just use salsa instead of veggies, but that's not very cost friendly. Substute ham with bacon or chicken or leftovers, whatever you want. Have omelettes for dinner if you want. It's college.
Instant pancakes
>instant pancake mix
>Milk
>eggs
>butter
>syrup
Pasta
>just boil some fucking water, add veggies and meat and sauce
Pizza Baegels
>Not the frozen kind. Buy the cheese, sauce, Baegels, and seasoning separate. I have a toaster oven and they cook in five minutes flat. Eating a whole $2 bag of Baegels is way cheaper than a $13 small pizza plus tip.

Instead of soda buy tea in bulk. Use tap water, not bottled water. Brew your own coffee. And the cheapest way to get drunk is boxed wine.

For me it's the McChicken

>And the cheapest way to get drunk is boxed wine.

Nah my man, get some cheap ass juice without preservatives, breadyeast and sugar. Mix it all together, put a ballon on top and leave for a week. Could taste better but sure as hell gets you drunk.

Hobo wine is cheaper? I always thought Welches was expensive.

Activating yeast might be beyond the OPs ability.

A go to rright now for me is veggie mix, carrots, etc. chicken (done various ways) & rice.

Super cheap and great.

This is my go to as well. It's dirt cheap, but morepver, it takes little time and effort after a 10 to 11 hour shift at work.

Typically these are the cheapest nutrition-to-price, depending on your area:

>Starches: bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, noodles, beans
>Meat: Processed stuff like tinned meat, ham or sausages
>Vegetables: cabbage, onion, potato, beans, corn, whatever's in season at the time, frozen vegetable packs, any tinned vegetables are cheap

These are my go-to recipes when the bank account is running dry:

>Bubble and Squeak (potato, cabbage, onion)
>Vegetarian curry (curry powder, tinned chickpeas, tinned tomatoes/coconut milk, carrot, rice)
>Ham sandwiches (bread, ham, mustard)
>Tuna pasta (tinned corn, pasta, tuna, mayo)
>Vegetable stir fry (noodles, frozen vegetables, soy sauce)
>Bangers and mash (sausages, potatoes, peas and corn)
>Pizza (flour, water, tinned tomato, ham, sausage, cheese)
>Tuna salad (lettuce, tuna, apple, mayo)
>Potato fritters (potatoes, flour, egg)

The disadvantage is that most of these meals are lacking in iron, potassium, vitamins B and C. If you're going to eat like this every day, make sure to balance yourself once in a while by taking supplements or splurging on a healthy meal.

Was your boss and her daughter hot? I like Asian chicks

This. Beans and rice and chicken thighs or quarters. I can get 10lbs of chicken for $5. There are infinite things you can make with a few spices

Her daughter is. We still go to the gym together twice a week.

You can buy those spices anywhere. Texas sucks; I live here, too

>be college age
>can hold the entire democratic party hostage because the 18-21yrld votes is like 30% of their party.
>never demand your party do something about tuition insanity so you can eat more than ramen and beans

Indian lentil curry. Got me through some pretty tough times and I loved it so much I still cook it regularly even though I'm not poor anymore.

Potato baked
With cold sauce and eggs

Go get decent job.
You can have only two:
Good taste, healthy, cheap.

But unhealthy food is not cheap, you will pay a lot for drugs in 10-20 years when you develop diabetics from all that corn syroup you eat now with cheap tasty food. So 3-4 times more expensive but delayed payment. Not worth it.

You are talking about premade prepackaged food. It's far cheaper to make things in bulk from scratch and portion up and freeze. You get cheap, healthy and very tasty food that way. And once it's made and frozen it's virtually a microwave meal in the waiting then so I think your advice is utter fucking dribble desu.

This, 100%.

Basil (fresh or from a herb bottle)
tomatoes diced (usually 1,5 per person
an apple per person
mozzarella cheese (is not expensive)

Mix with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar (black one, don't get the cheapest, you only need a little but you can use it in any salad and on lose mozzarella). Add some pepper and salt.

I combine this with some meat on a separate plate or some eggrolls to create a meal.

Another is:
2 eggs, scramble them and set aside
chop up 3 tomatoes, throw them in a pan preheated with some olive oil. Add a bit of salt and ,5 teaspoon sugar, add the lid and lower the heat. Time 3 minutes then stir, repeat this till they are mushy. Then flavour to see if it needs more sugar. If yes then add a little bit, if no then throw in the eggs again and stir.
You pour this over fresh made rice and eat it together. Very cheap and very good.

>5 teaspoon of sugar

That's a joke right? Holy fuck!?

0.5 sorry

Only a typo brother. No need for an apology.

leaf checkin in a good sale on chicke is 10 bucks a KG

You should pick up this book. It is pretty good.

Veeky Forums needs a beginner's/poorfag's sticky

wouldn't help because those things would vary depending on a person's location. there is no single answer to that.

for example, back when I lived in Texas I bought beans and rice from any of several Mexican supermarkets; that was dirt-cheap nutrition.

Now I'm living in Helsinki. That same kind of bean is godawful expensive here, if you can find it at all.

Get a bunch of produce / raw meat and do meal prep for like 5-7 days at a time and stretch it.

I ate almost nothing but brown rice, black beans, spinach, and grilled chicken with hot sauce (yeah, sodium I know, who cares) for most of college.

>yeah, sodium I know, who cares
All those ingredients in raw form have virtually no sodium. Hot sauce may vary, Tobasco has very little. Others, not so much.
>who cares
I do.
I need to abide by a low sodium diet because Meniere's disease. Shit sucks, but forced me to learn to cook.

I think we just need a sticky like /out/ has.
Just tell people to lurk more and check the catalog so we don't end up with 20 different mcchicken threads.

A proper sticky can be made to account for multiple locations and situations. This board has needed a sticky for years. And the banning of retards that continue to post "how do i into beans" threads should have started so long ago its not even funny.

imaging if we had a sticky that answered what was the best chicken sandwich and we didn;t have to put up with those threads anymore. whether the answer is correct in the sticky or not, or location specific, i don't give a shit. so long as the mods enforce bans on anyone posting mcchickenshitz.

The cheapest way to get drunk is cheap vodka. Like vladamir.
Cheap boxed whine comes down to around 3 bucks a bottle, a bottle is 750 ML so 12% of that in ounces is about 3 ounces of drunk juice.
I can get 1 liter of vladimir vodka 80 proof for 6 bucks.
Thats 13.5 oz of drunk juice per 6 dollars so 6.75 ounces for the same price of wine.