One of the best ways I can save on groceries is in how I cook. Recipes that call for fewer ingredients that are basic are often cheaper than more elaborate dishes. I rely on these dishes which are often also stretchy and make more than one meal.

Do you have a good set of basic recipes or dishes that call for just a couple of ingredients to rotate in with others that cost more to cook?

If not, now is the time to add a few to your menu plan. If you already save with simplistic cooking, what are your favorite dishes?

 This is great advice. We have a lot of simple dishes, both for money and for time, that we use in our menu plan. Even though I am a chef, these are far more common on our menu than more complicated dishe.

Lentil soup (sometimes with meat, sometimes not)

Frittata (uses up leftover veggies)

BLTs (in the summer, great way to use up our lettuce and tomatoes)

Soups, including: tortilla, chlii, bean & ham, split pea, etc.

bean burritos

Stir fry

Eggs over greens

Cottage pie (beef or veg)

Miso noodles w/veggies

Indian Curry

Chickpea saag

There are probably more, but these spring to mind right now. I can't wait to see other people's ideas!

 A staple here is beans/brown rice with different combos of veggies/spices tossed in.  Nutritious and inexpensive.

Homemade soups

Chickpea salad

Veggie stirfry w/small amount of chicken

I love to cook a quiche- like dish... just use whatever veggies or meats are in in the fridge. We save all of our condiment packs, and if I am super low on cheese I'll use parmesean cheese packs from pizza to sprinkle over the top! I made one yesterday at my brother's house with leftover chorizo, black beans and pico de gallo. Everyone loved it! My other go to dinners are:

-Spaghetti and salad

-Baked chicken, rice and salad

-Beans and rice (we jazz this up by adding diced tomatoes and shredded carrots on top, avocado if we have it, cilantro or parsley)

-Sausage and potatoes

I stopped trying to be all fancy and just use recipes that I make up as I go along and use food combinations that I am pretty sure will taste well together. My family really enjoys it when I cook, and I am happy to do it. I was just recently pregnant and had a cesarian, so now that I am back to feeling like myself again, I am so excited to get back in the kitchen- even for simple meals!

chicken soup

lentils soup or a side dish

chili

oatmeal

blt sandwhich

speggittee

chef salad

chicken or turkey or even roast beef sandwhich which is left over from the day before and a heck of a lot of coffee.

My slow cooker soup creations or newer adventures in homemade puree to stove top cream soups/etc

Vegetarian dry legume and bean dishes

Frozen super stir fry veggie mixes and shrimp or fish

My pasta creations

Some of my meals have multiple simple sides and some are really complicated, it all depends on the meal. I always provide a variety at dinner time but not every menu item is complicated and some taste far better if made nice and simple.

 Well, since my cooking consists of making oatmeal and sometimes split pea soup, microwaving vegetables and opening jars of peanut butter and jam and containers of joghurt and cottage cheese, I guess I qualify for the simplicity. Actually, I like these simple things and wouldn't be happy with more complicated dishes.

Some of my meals that save us money:

Beans and rice- I can add sausage or other meat but I often skip this and only use salt, pepper, celery, parsley, garlic and onion.

Spaghetti- If I buy the canned on sale, I don't need to add any ingredients. A double batch that gives me at least two meals with sides costs under $5 to make.

Chicken- I have several different ways to cook the cheapest cuts with sauces, gravies or spices. None of these additions add more than .60 to the cost of the meal.

Meat stretchers- Chicken, beef or pork can be used in smaller amounts if used as a rice topper. I can do homemade gravy or sauce or use barbecue sauce. The other ingredients are the same ones I use for beans if any.

Brandy, great thread!

It dawned on me several years ago that when I cooked recipes, I ended up with so many different foods I had to find a way to work into other meals. For instance, a recipe that may call for a few olives, I'd have most of a very small can of olives left over and by the end of the week, we were tired of dishes that had olives in them, or whatever other ingredient.  I finally got tired enough of that hassle that I gave up on recipes and just began cooking what I know we like and will eat. It is only on rare occasion nowadays that I find a recipe I want to try, rather than replicate it on my own. I have even tried, I won't mention the name, purchasing a subscription service that gives me several recipes a week, with the instructions that I can use the leftover produce (there was a lot) at teh end of the week to just make a soup. That didn't work for us either. Our tastes are just too simple.

I stretch meals with a salad and homemade croutons (i have a bread machine that rarely cools off :)  and in the colder months, vegetable soup and homemade bread. These eaten at the start of a meal greatly reduces our appetites and gets us the veggies our bodies need, and a chicken or roast stretches much farther. The entree then is the meat, a few ounce serving and lots of roasted (with the meat) veggies. Same with crockpot, I usually pile in veggies and set the meat on top of them. The veggies can be used with that meal and also used in soups, pot pie (hubby loves my beef roast pot pie), or the veggies can be mashed and cooked in the gravy and put on rice or pasta. Endless possibilities.

Pretty much anything can be served on rice, quinoa, barley, or baked in a pie crust, or turned into a soup. Love this thread, cant wait to see more replies!

I love stews, soups, and chili, all of which I cook in a crock pot (I have 4, of different sizes).  I add beans, extra vegies, broth, and lots of spices.  I often use pasta or rice as a base for leftover stew or chili. I prefer basic, plain ingredients (e.g. unspiced frozen tomatoes rather than spiced canned tomatoes) because they are healthier and easier to change around by adding different spices.

I also make things I like in bulk, then freeze them in individual servings for lunches at work; I cannot believe how much money some of my coworkers spend on lunch from fast food  places - and time; lunch is only 30 minutes long, and I'd rather relax than rush to a fast food joint, rush back to eat, and only have a few minutes to relax.