Pasta can be a frugal food and a staple or "must have on hand" food in many homes.

What are some of your favorite frugal pasta dishes to make? what makes them frugal? Do you prefer to bulk batch cook your pasta or cook just enough for the time you need it or with room for a round of leftovers? Tips to share for those who do bulk batch cook or cook for leftovers: tips for freezing, fridge, how to prevent soggy/mush or sticky/dry leftovers/bulk batch, etc.?

When buying boxed pasta I look for sales on the whole grain and veggie made (really tasty) pastas. When I see a good sale on these kinds of pastas I will stock up a few boxes at a time for pantry storage. They are really good to have on hand when we need a quick pasta meal. A great way to add frugal protein without meat is to add cooked beans and sauce (bulk batch these seperate and freeze, they really come in handy for many occassions) or drizzle with olive oil. I love adding fresh veggies to my pasta dishes but if fresh is not available frozen veggies, especially Italian style blends. are easy, quick and frugal fill ins. If the blend mixes are too expensive you can also buy the cheaper bags of single veggies, divide and make your own blended mix bags for the freezer. You can get more for your money this way too. They may not be as jazzed up but can be customized to what you like and can afford. You can also beans and veggies to give your pasta creations ethnic twists: black beans, corn, broccoli, peppers... white beans, mushrooms, spinach... mixed bean/onion/chili style...stir fry veggies & peas... garbonzo, zucchini, tomato... green beans and garlic... the list goes on and on since there is so much to work with and consider for pairing ideas. Mix and match ideas! Keeping it meat free though can cut costs and those are some ways to make the dish tastier and keeping things frugal. Lentil meat balls or lentil meat mix is also a great frugal vegetarian option... When using meat, I've found stretching it in the sauce works well or stretching it with veggie or grain/legume fillers to cut costs. I think having a tasty frugal "meat mix" (actual meat/stretched or vegetarian legume or bean "meat mix") is always good to have on hand. Use it like ground, add to sauce or shape into balls or bulk batch and make enough for all these options and ship to the freezer for quick pull during times of quick need!

On of my favorite frugal dishes is pasta, garlic, olive oil and broccoli.  Another is an old country dish, pasta (usually noodles) and cabbage (or sauerkraut, brussle sprouts, other cabbages), with butter, salt and pepper.

One of DD favorites is pasta with oil and a little mozerella cheese sprinkled on top. SIL likes pasta with parmesan cheese on it.  Babs

I'm diabetic (fairly recent diagnosis, can still get myself back on the other side if I really watch my diet and get off my butt a bit more!), so can't eat regular pasta anymore. Don't like whole wheat or veggie pasta (tried both, just...don't like), so I have to buy Dreamfields, which is more expensive. I do eat less of it than I used to eat of regular, so that helps, plus I only fix that for myself, everyone else in the family gets regular pasta that I can always find on sale at the commissary.

We're pretty traditional with it here--mac and cheese, basic noodle dishes like tuna casserole, and of course spaghetti. All frugal dishes the way I make them, no fancy ingredients or anything.

I cooked up about 2 lbs. angel hair pasta this morning as we have a lot of errands the next few days.  DH likes his with melted butter and Parmesan.  Yesterday I made spaghetti sauce with some of the tomatoes in the freezer. 

Has anyone made sage brown butter sauce for pasta?  I cut 8 oz. of sage today.  I already have enough dried sage on hand for Thanksgiving stuffing for the next century, and we have a lot of cooked pasta in the fridge.  Thanks. 

One of my frugal favorites is any type of pasta tossed with olive oil, butter, sauteed garlic and topped with parmesan cheese (or other Italian cheese).

I just saw the recipe for the sage brown butter. It sounds so yummy. I grow sage so will be trying this in the future.

Another good one at my house, is pesto on pasta.  I have lots of pesto in the freezer. Babs

Babs, I was just talking about brown butter sage sauce on a Thanksgiving forum and highly recommend it with butternut squash raviolis or a nice filled pasta. You will love it.

 pasta

seasome seeds

tyme

basil

bits of left over chicken

tad bit of olive oil extra vergin style

ground up pepper

throw all together asain style dish serve hot herbed asain chicken style the lady makes this lives in our town house sectiuon block she is a sweet lady she came from korea.