Sick of plain pasta again? Chef Chris Aquilino , director of culinary at Elior North America , likes to jazz up his meals with jarred items, including pesto, olives, jalapeños, artichokes, sardines, and anchovies.

They also stay fresh for a long time. According to Aquilino, herb purées, such as basil and cilantro, can even stay fresh for weeks at a time. So don't be afraid to open up that tube. Aquilino also suggests stocking up on tomato paste.

There are numerous ways to cook with tomato paste including topping fish and making barbeque sauce. While you can easily find canned tomato paste at most supermarkets, Aquilino prefers the kind available in a tube.

Use limited data to select advertising. Create profiles for personalised advertising. Use profiles to select personalised advertising. Get to the checkout line of any grocery store these days and you may be shocked to see the amount at the bottom of your receipt.

One of the best ways to find cheap groceries is to create a budget-friendly, healthy grocery list and stick to it.

By prioritizing seasonal items, frozen foods and certain cuts of meat and seafood, shopping strategically can help keep sticker shock to a minimum. The key to locating cheap groceries is to create a system for shopping, and that begins before you even grab a cart.

Start by identifying the closest supermarkets to you hello, high gas prices! and cross check the cost of your favorite items online before you shop. Think about what you spend the most on and prioritize finding the best price for those items. The next step is to follow that quintessential shopping advice: Don't go to the grocery store hungry.

You're much more likely to make impulse and unhealthy purchases if you do, so shop after a meal or grab a healthy snack before heading to the store. And remember: The cheapest groceries are not always the most nutritious; consider spending slightly more for foods that are filling and nutrient-dense.

For tips and recommendations for a more economical shopping experience, see below for advice from the experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute Nutrition Lab. Fruit and vegetables are among the groceries with the largest price jumps lately , but you can still find affordable produce by buying seasonally.

Purchasing when produce is abundant helps lower the cost and will all but assure the best taste and highest levels of nutrition.

Seasonal Fruits. Seasonal Vegetables. Another way to save money on produce is to opt for fruit and vegetables that have a longer shelf-life. For example, to help extend your grocery dollars, choose apples over berries or carrots or celery over leafy greens. Generally, some of the cheapest fruit and vegetables year-round tend to be bananas, apples, oranges, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and sweet potatoes.

Meat can be the most expensive category for most food budgets, and can account for a large portion of the overall grocery bill.

To save money, opt for the ground variety of your favorite protein. Ground beef, chicken or turkey are super versatile, easily frozen and can be used in many different recipes. Larger cuts of meat will usually cost less per pound, but they may require marinating, braising and slow cooking to bring out the tenderness.

If you do prefer to include cheaper cuts of meat, consider including:. Buying a whole chicken instead of pre-portioned cuts can also save money and the leftovers, including the bones, are great for making chicken soup or bone broth. Looking for budget-friendly meals that are low-carb?

Check out this post. Apples are one of the cheaper fruit options and are one of the staple favorite foods in our home. The kids have them for a snack almost daily!

Bananas are another inexpensive fruit option. Look for markdowns on bananas that are slightly over-ripe and freeze them to use in banana bread and smoothies. However, depending on the time of year you can score other fruits for great deals: oranges and other citrus in the winter gotta get in that vitamin c!

Always check your local grocery store ads to see where you can get the best deal! Frozen green beans, peas, etc. Buy it uncut and unwashed if you want to save money!

But be sure to prep and wash it so that it actually gets eaten! I like to keep it on hand for making soup. I generally find that a big bag of Russet potatoes is the cheapest option. Check the ad for your local store to see what fresh produce is on sale!

I often see sales for green peppers, asparagus, and more. Cooking a whole chicken and deboning it is a bit of extra work but it will save you money on your groceries!

I like to cook whole chickens in my crockpot. Chicken breasts are not the cheapest cut of chicken but if you stretch them ie: one chicken breast cut up with tons of veggies for stir fry they can be quite cost effective.

Chicken thighs or chicken drumsticks are usually pretty inexpensive and are very flavorful. Change Your Life Chicken is a fabulous recipe for chicken thighs! Who else grew up eating tuna fish sandwiches? I like it mixed with a bit of mayo and chopped tomatoes and served with crackers.

I like to wait for a good sale and then stock up! Smoked sausage is a great meat to keep on hand for quick meals. A little can go a long way in dishes like a breakfast casserole for example, making it very cost effective, especially if you purchase it on sale.

Hotdogs could also be used in similar ways! Eggs can be a great cheap source of protein. I say can because lately in my area the price of eggs has more than doubled.

So, take this one with a grain of salt and be sure to check your local prices for eggs. Brown rice is a great alternative to white rice with a lot of health benefits and is still a great cheap food.

I cook my brown rice with this method and it turns out perfectly every time! I use them often for oatmeal, baked oatmeal , granola , cookies, muffins, and even in meatloaf! While the very cheapest bread is not going to have the most nutritional value, watch for markdowns on nicer loaves made with whole grains.

Check the different stores around you to see which ones have a markdown cart in their bakery section — many of them do! Store-brand tortillas are typically pretty inexpensive and you can use them for all sorts of meals.

Throw them in a pasta, put them in a soup, fried rice, or as an inexpensive side dish. I love frozen peas! Fresh broccoli is fairly inexpensive, but frozen broccoli is even cheaper. The best part is that the broccoli is also already chopped for you which makes it super convenient.

Roast it, use it in a stir fry, or make broccoli cheddar soup. Frozen green beans are an absolute staple in my home. While canned green beans are also cheap, I prefer the crisp and freshness of the long thin frozen green beans.

Use them as a side dish like garlic green beans , in a soup, a stir fry, or Cowboy casserole. Frozen mixed vegetables are great to have on hand for casseroles, stir fry, fried rice, or a quick and easy side dish.

Spinach is an excellent versatile green. You can eat it as a salad, in a soup, blended in a smoothie, sautéd with eggs, or on top of a sandwich. I often sing the praises of how economical a whole chicken is.

Watch my video and read my post on how I get multiple meals from one chicken. It is a great way to stretch your food. Not only do you get the meat, you also get the bones to make broth! As far as beef goes, ground will be your most budget friendly option. To get the best price, wait for it to go on sale and stock up on the sale price.

Chicken thighs are one of my favorite meats. They don't dry out as easily as breasts and they are more flavorful in my opinion. Try my grilled chicken thighs or sheet pan herb roasted chicken thighs with vegetables. Out of all of the cuts of chicken, drumsticks are probably the cheapest.

They are also very kid friendly. Try my oven baked bbq chicken legs for a great cheap meal. Pork is often less expensive than beef and is very delicious.

I often find large pork roasts on sale for a great price which can be stretched for multiple meals. Also pork chops often go on sale which are great for grilling or for skillet pork chops.

Canned tuna is great for tuna salad, but there is so much more you can do with this frugal protein. Canned salmon for salmon patties was a frugal staple in my childhood home. When we were broke, we ate salmon patties and I think they are delicious!

Eggs are an excellent cheap protein source and incredibly versatile. Hard boiled, soft boiled, poached, fried, scrambled for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Make a vegetable frittata or egg casserole. Make a fried egg sandwich, French toast, or egg salad.

Even if you buy high end eggs, they are still one of the least expensive protein sources around, second to legumes. If you enjoy them, lentils should be in every frugal pantry.

They are high in fiber and full of nutrition. They are great in soup, sloppy Joes, curries, and my favorite lentils and rice. White beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, black beans are all super cheap and a definite buy if you are on a budget.

I love a big pot of slow cooker pinto beans and cornbread. Total comfort food and ultra cheap. Dry beans are more economical than canned, but they do require some time to prepare. Read: WAYS TO USE LEFTOVER BEANS. For emergencies and when you need something super fast, canned beans should be another cheap pantry staple.

You can make inexpensive crispy black bean tacos or chickpea curry. Both are very delicious and frugal. Read: 30 AWESOME RECIPES WITH BEANS. There's a reason why when people talk about cheap food they call it a rice and beans budget. Rice is very inexpensive and filling. It is also extremely versatile.

Read: 20 DELICIOUS RECIPES USING RICE. Oatmeal is a very inexpensive breakfast option and much cheaper than cereal.

I also love making oat muffins for snacks or breakfast. Pasta is the ultimate cheap food and also great for beginner cooks. It can be as simple as buttered noodles, pasta with peas and bacon , or paired with pasta sauce.

Pasta sauce also is a great cheap food to have on hand for a quick and easy meal with pasta. Eat it meatless, with poached eggs, or chickpeas for a very frugal meal. This is more of a southern food, but grits are very cheap and stretch a long way. It makes for a cheap breakfast item or inexpensive side dish.

Cornmeal is great to have for homemade cornbread, breading foods, or corn cakes. I don't often use cornmeal in my kitchen, but it is very inexpensive and deserves its place on the cheap grocery list. Corn tortillas are an inexpensive alternative to flour tortillas.

Use them in enchiladas , tacos, or slice them and crisp them up for tortilla soup. Canned tomato products come in so handy. Tomato paste, diced tomatoes, and tomato puree are all very versatile and inexpensive. You can make a pasta sauce, pizza sauce, put it in a soup, or make sloppy Joes.

I always have a couple of varieties in my pantry. Skip the bags of popcorn and go for the kernels. It is a frugal high fiber snack and very kid friendly.

Use an air popper or make stovetop popcorn. A jar of peanut butter stretches a long way for sandwiches, snacks or stirred into oatmeal or smoothies. It's another frugal protein source and kid friendly. Flour is very inexpensive per pound and can be used in so many ways.

Make pancakes or waffles, biscuits , tortillas, bread , homemade desserts, use as a thickener for gravy, or bread chicken tenders. Yeast is not a necessity, but if you want to make your own bread products, it is recommended.

Try my pizza dough or whole wheat bread. If you are going to bake, sugar is an inexpensive sweetener to have in your pantry. Even organic sugar is inexpensive compared to other sweetening agents. Another staple baking supply, baking powder is cheap and great for getting that rise in your homemade baked goods.

Similar to baking powder, baking soda is also a cheap baking staple. Bonus: It also makes a dirt cheap deodorizer for your fridge and a great soap scum buster for tubs and sinks! REAL FOOD MEAL PLAN FOR THE BROKE. It was definitely a stretch for us, but doable.

Week 5: Grocery shopping on a budget. Read my E-book for loads more grocery savings tips! Hi, thank you for sharing this.

At the moment unemployed and with a kid. Your email address will not be published. This four-letter German company also operates on a low-cost model, but it's not the same as Aldi.

Lidl has been offering affordable groceries since the s and is actively expanding across the East Coast of the U. Although there are fewer locations than Aldi, they're constantly in close competition for stocking the cheapest groceries.

The selection of items is curated to keep the essentials in stock, instead of the added expense of keeping every variety and brand on the shelf. Their private label brands also have a Love It Guarantee , which means if a product doesn't meet your standards you can get your money back and exchange the item for something else.

This big-box store has all of the appeal of members-only clubs like Costco or Sam's Club , but without the expensive fees. WinCo Foods boasts locations across the West Coast, and is almost entirely employee-owned—which means their staff receive better wages and benefits.

And yet the prices are still low. WinCo purchases directly from farmers and manufacturers and has a large quantity of bulk foods, which means their prices undercut many other low-cost retailers.

Another way to cut costs is by not accepting credit cards for payment. But fear not: they do allow payment with debit cards and federal food assistance cards.

Market Basket is one of the smaller chains on this list, but their savings make it one of the most affordable places to shop in the U.

A recent study provided by the customer data firm dunnhumby revealed that the New England-based chain was the "top grocery retailer for inflationary times. For over years, Market Basket has maintained the fierce loyalty of their customers for the high quality food at low prices.

You can find anything from international cheeses, freshly squeezed juices, to even handmade sushi without racking up a massive grocery bill.

Trader Joe's is one of our go-to spots for affordable essentials, some of the best frozen food around, and unique snacks.

Beyond the adorably kitschy decor and friendly staff, it's also one of the best grocery stores to visit when you're on a budget. Even amidst the current egg-price hike, the cartons at Trader Joe's remain inexpensive. While some items can get more expensive than at standard grocery stores the produce section can get costly if you're feeding a big family , their private label goods deliver on quality without sacrificing affordability.

If you need shopping inspiration, check out our favorite items here. When you're hunting for low-cost, high quality groceries, Food4Less is an obvious choice.

It's literally in the name. Owned by Kroger, this no-frills grocery chain sacrifices a few amenities to save you money. From bagging your own groceries to using the steep discounts offered in their weekly ads, you're sure to find what you need and pay less. Unlike some of these other affordable grocery stores, Food4Less offers at-home delivery, a pharmacy, and a wide variety of household essentials.

But there's a catch: they have locations, but they're only in California, Illinois, and Indiana. What grocery stores in your area have the lowest prices?