23 Easy Meals To Make For A Family Of 4 When You Only Have $20

Cooking on a budget has always been a tall order, especially if you are hoping to prepare enough to feed a family of four. Luckily, there are plenty of inventive meals you can make with minimal ingredients, prep time, and funds. The following recipes can be whipped up for $20 or lower — at most, each plate will run you $5. Better yet, the vast majority of these meals take less than an hour of active cooking and prep time.

Before getting to the recipes, it's important to note that prices for ingredients will vary based on store, location, and time of year. For the best deals, you will likely want to opt for store-brand products at budget supermarkets. The cost of preparing each of these meals did not factor in prices for certain ingredients — dried herbs, seasonings, spices, flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, butter, and oil — classified as pantry staples.

For a protein-rich version of a classic takeout dish, look no further than pizza beans, a family-friendly meal featuring white beans simmered in aromatics and tomato sauce (plus spinach for some added nutrients), all finished in the oven in a skillet with melted cheese. The vast majority of the ingredients needed for the meal are cost-effective pantry staples, and the entire dish comes together in only 16 minutes, making this the gold standard for a cheap, convenient, and filling dinner.

Recipe: Easy, Cheesy Pizza Beans

Looking for a soul-warming soup hearty enough to serve as an entrée? Check out this recipe for chicken long rice, a soup born in Hawai'i and influenced by an influx of Chinese immigrants to the islands in the 19th century. Ginger, sesame oil, and soy sauce keep the broth fragrant, while bean thread noodles give the soup a bit of extra bulk. The best part of this chicken long rice recipe is that it's made with rotisserie chicken — an inexpensive grocery-store staple that saves plenty of cook time.

Recipe: Hawaiian-Style Chicken Long Rice

Although this lighter pasta dish leans on some summer produce, including tomatoes and corn, it will be a hit at your table any time of year. Foil pouches of cooked pasta, tossed in an herbaceous and cheesy lemon sauce, are finished on the grill, which lets all of the flavors marry (and makes for a fun presentation opportunity). Because pouches are grilled individually, you can also customize their contents so that each member of the family gets only the ingredients they want in their serving of pasta.

Recipe: Foil Packet Summer Pasta

As you will certainly see on this list, chili is one of the easiest meals to throw together simply and affordably. This spicy turkey chili, which comes together with only 10 minutes of prep and just over four hours in the slow cooker, is the perfect example. Green chile and chipotle peppers bring the heat, while diced sweet potatoes add some starchiness that pairs well with the smoky, slow-simmered broth.

Recipe: Easy Slow Cooker Spicy Turkey Chili

With these handheld, beefy delights, taco night can be easier (and less expensive) than ever. After browning your filling and blending up a simple avocado crema for dipping, the entirety of assembly and cooking happens on a singular baking sheet. Just load up your tacos, brush tortillas with avocado oil, and pop them in the oven for a crowd-pleasing family meal that will be complete in an hour or less. This recipe makes 12 tacos, which means a family of four will have plenty to enjoy.

Recipe: Baked Crispy Beef Tacos

Between sweet, toothsome poblano peppers, a filling of gooey melted Oaxaca cheese, a crispy, airy batter, and a tangy guajillo-tomato salsa, these chiles rellenos are sure to satisfy at dinnertime. Better yet, they also make a family-friendly activity out of cooking; from stuffing peppers to dredging them in flour and eggs to giving them a shallow fry in canola oil, preparing this dish is conducive to a fun assembly line in the kitchen.

Recipe: Classic Chiles Rellenos

Skip the TV dinner, and make this iconic meal from scratch with minimal ingredients and very little prep time. Salisbury steaks are made extra savory, with grated onion, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and Dijon mustard blended directly into the ground-beef mixture, while a buttery gravy with plenty of baby bella mushrooms keeps things rich and moist. This is the definition of a comfort meal — and the fact that you can make it without breaking the bank is a bonus.

Recipe: Classic Salisbury Steak

For a meat-free chili alternative that is just as hearty as the classics, give this recipe a try. It boasts three different types of beans — kidney, black, and vegetarian refried — along with corn and plenty of diced sweet and hot peppers for bowls that are truly loaded. This chili recipe also leans heavily on dry pantry spices, including ancho and chipotle chili powders, smoked paprika, and Mexican oregano, for a flavor that is so savory and smoky that you will not miss meat for a second.

Recipe: Basic 3-Bean Vegetarian Chili

Upgrade boring Alfredo by breading your chicken and whipping up this rich and simple sauce. Between cook and prep time, this meal comes together in 40 minutes (and with not much more effort than buying store-bought sauce), making it ideal for a busy weeknight dinner. The crispy, juicy chicken breast and creamy Alfredo sauce, teeming with plenty of Parmesan cheese, are harmonious when eaten in tandem with one another, and bowls of this chef-quality meal are sure to stuff a family of four to the gills.

Recipe: Ultra Creamy Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

Looking for something to do with that package of bone-in, skin-on chicken? A Cuban-style mojo marinade is your answer. Expect sweet, spicy, and zesty flavors from a combination of citrus juices, chipotle hot sauce, and plenty of garlic — all of which are a fitting complement for lean protein. Chicken pieces start and finish their journey in the same skillet, which makes for an even easier cleanup process.

Recipe: Pan-Seared Cuban Mojo Chicken

If you or your family members are avoiding meat, it can often be hard to find a meal that is nutritionally complete while also being affordable, low-effort, and, of course, delicious. Luckily, this Crispy Ginger-Glazed Tofu Bowl recipe checks all of these boxes with shallow-fried tofu coated in cornstarch and a sweet, sticky soy-based sauce with plenty of ginger. Because this recipe relies heavily on pantry staples, you might have leftovers in your budget for fresh herbs or vegetables, which are sure to take this meal to the next level.

Recipe: Crispy Ginger-Glazed Tofu Bowl

We've arrived at yet another easy, scrumptious, and budget-friendly chili recipe. This chili is similar to the Easy Slow Cooker Spicy Turkey Chili. However, it nixes sweet potatoes, opts for ground beef, and is more heavy-handed with its spicy peppers. Notably, this recipe uses jalapeño peppers, which have a little less sweetness and a fair bit more heat than poblanos. Also expect a bit more unctuousness in a chili made with ground beef, which will almost certainly have a higher fat content than a chili made with turkey.

Recipe: Spicy Slow Cooker Beef Chili

These tuna patties, inspired by Spanish buñuelos de atún, are the picture of an affordable, yet still-creative, meal. Their secret? Canned tuna, which greatly cuts down on costs and prep time. Chunks of coarsely-diced roasted red pepper and yellow onion keep the bites texturally interesting. The "shortcut aioli" drizzled atop is made with mayonnaise, so you don't have to spend time emulsifying your own oil mixture for the flavorful condiment. Once you've plated and served them, you'll hardly believe they took under 20 minutes to make.

Recipe: Spanish-Inspired Tuna Patties And Shortcut Aioli

There are few family dinners more fun than a taco night — and these tacos, filled with chicken marinated in citrus juices and plenty of dried spices, are sure to bring both the excitement and the flavor. This dinner is also heavily customizable, and each guest at the table can fill their tortillas with ideal ratios of meat, onions, cilantro, and Mexican hot sauce. Plus, using two pounds of chicken and boasting six servings, there is no chance anyone leaves the table hungry.

Recipe: Chicken Adobado Street Tacos

As it turns out, the ultra-creamy pasta dish that is usually packed with pancetta can be made vegetarian with just a few easy swaps. This take on carbonara features a playground of textures, including crunchy panko, tender zucchini, and "meaty" vegetarian sausages. It also does not skimp on the richness, with a generous portion of egg yolks and plenty of Parmesan cheese. For a dinner that is equal parts fresh-tasting and decadent, this dish is a no-brainer.

Recipe: Vegetarian Spaghetti 'Carbonara'

When thinking about budget-friendly meals, fajitas are a natural choice. Because they rely so much on dry pantry seasoning, the total cost of additional ingredients remains very low. This fajita recipe is no exception, with its fresh ingredient list calling simply for chicken breasts, bell peppers, and an onion. Better yet, the whole meal comes together in only a single pan, and not counting the two-hour chicken marination time, the fajitas are done cooking in a mere 15 minutes.

Recipe: Simple One-Pan Chicken Fajitas

Who doesn't love breakfast for lunch or dinner? Instead of the typical eggs and pancakes, try serving this take on a classic Southern comfort dish. In spite of the fact that this recipe calls for both biscuits and gravy to be made completely from scratch, the total cook and prep time does not exceed about 45 minutes. And, assuming you have typical baking staples at home, your grocery receipt will not exceed $20.

Recipe: Buttermilk Biscuits And Sausage Cream Gravy

The final chili on this list is the zestiest of them all: a chili con carne (translating literally from Spanish as "chili with meat") with three types of beans, as well as both ground beef and chorizo. This loaded stew is absolutely packed with flavor, not only from the spicy sausage, but from diced jalapeños, aromatic cumin, and savory chili powder. Interestingly, this specific chili con carne recipe calls for a small amount of sugar for a fun interplay of flavors.

Recipe: Chorizo And Beef Chili Con Carne

Good luck finding a take on elote as unique as this one. This recipe takes the Mexican street corn dish and turns it into a shareable pizza featuring corn kernels, first browned on the cob and then shaved off atop a round of dough piled high with mozzarella cheese. Instead of the tomato-based sauce typical for pizza, the elote-style counterpart utilizes mayonnaise, sour cream, chili powder, cumin, and, of course, Tajín seasoning. Thinly sliced jalapeños, onions, and cilantro add freshness and crunch to the cheesy bite.

Recipe: Elote (Mexican Street Corn) Pizza

In their original form, taco dinners are always a hit, and, as it turns out, swapping tortillas with loaded, twice-baked potatoes does not hurt the cause. After baking these potatoes once, you will hollow them out and season the contents with a delectable mixture of butter, garlic, sour cream, and spices before topping them with ground taco meat and sticking them back in the oven. Not only is this meal affordable, but it is fun to eat and, just like typical taco dinners, highly customizable with fresh toppings.

Recipe: Taco Night Twice-Baked Potatoes

You will be surprised by how quickly these Italian-style stuffed tomatoes can come together — and even more shocked when you see the low total of the ingredients needed to make them. This take on Pomodori Con Riso uses tender arborio rice, which is cooked using the juice from the insides of hollowed-out tomatoes. The result is a dish with a tangy, cohesive tomato flavor inside and out. A side of simply seasoned potatoes roasted in the same dish takes this dinner to the next level.

Recipe: Pomodori Con Riso (Roman Baked Stuffed Tomatoes)

A common downfall of the turkey burger is its propensity to dry out or to be bland due to its low fat content. Luckily, both of these concerns are put to rest by this ridiculously simple-but-tasty recipe for Tex-Mex Turkey Burgers, which, as its title correctly says, calls for only three non-pantry ingredients: ground turkey thighs, salsa, and a shredded Mexican cheese blend. Salsa and cheese go on top of the finished burgers, but they are also worked into the turkey patty mixture to ensure ultimate moistness.

Recipe: Juicy 3-Ingredient Tex-Mex Turkey Burgers

One ingredient in particular takes this dish from an appetizer to a full-blown meal: pork neck bones, which give the broth a luxurious, velvety consistency, as well as provide some hunks of juicy meat. This is the kind of classic set-and-forget slow cooker meal that's perfect for when you have enough foresight to know that you won't want to cook later. If you have room in the budget, crusty bread for soaking up the final drops will be well worth it.

Recipe: Chunky Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup