Looking for winter dishes that are warm and comforting but also budget friendly? You’re in the right place! Here are five winter dinners that you can make on a $50 budget.
I shared a blog post last year about easy fall meals on a budget and it was quite popular, so today I thought I’d follow that post up with one about winter meals.
Fall and winter can sort of get lumped together as far as meals go – for both seasons I think we all tend to gravitate towards warm, nourishing dishes and comfort foods. But with fall I do tend to think more specifically of foods like squash and pumpkin, whereas for winter meals I often think of foods connected to the holidays, like ham or turkey or maybe roast beef.
Anyway, the meals I’m sharing today would be great for any time of the year but are especially tasty during cold weather and just feel like good winter meals in my opinion.
First of all I’m going to share five specific winter meals that you can make for a total of only $50. I’ll include my grocery list and all the prices. After that we’ll cover a couple more questions around winter meals.
So let’s jump right in!
Five Easy Winter Dinners On a $50 Budget
1. Scalloped Potatoes with Ham + simple salad
My grandma always made ham for the holidays, and she’d often serve it with those au grain scalloped potatoes from a box. This dish isn’t from a box, but the scalloped potatoes remind me of my grandma. It’s cozy and delicious and definitely a must to make sometime during the winter season. It’s the perfect way to use up any ham that you might have leftover from the holidays.
Pair this with a simple romaine salad for a lovely and satisfying meal.
2. Ham Buns + raw vegetables
Another favorite way to use up leftover ham is this recipe from ham buns that my mom made growing up. These are such a comfort food for me and are always a hit at potlucks.
A plate of raw carrots and celery on the side helps to balance out this yummy meal.
3. Vegetable Beef Soup + homemade French bread
My kids aren’t as big a fan of this one (we’re still working on loving veggies), but this soup is one of Pablo’s favorites. The beef gets so tender after simmering away for hours it’s such a great, healthier winter comfort food.
I like pairing this soup with my favorite homemade French bread. The recipe makes two loaves so I’ll save the second loaf for my other soup meal later in the week.
4. Poppyseed Chicken + green beans
You know I had to include a casserole in my list of winter meals! Honestly, Pablo and the kids aren’t huge on casseroles in general, but poppyseed chicken is the exception. I guess it’s a little different than a typical casserole because I cook the pasta separately and then top it with the poppyseed chicken, What do you think, does that still qualify as a casserole or not? Either way, it’s definitely a comfort food for me and is a great meal for a big family.
I like to serve poppyseed chicken over egg noodles. For this meal plan, you’ll buy a 16 oz. package and use half the noodles for this meal and half for the next, chicken noodle soup.
5. Chicken Noodle Soup + homemade French bread
I think that the term comfort food is pretty much synonymous with chicken noodle soup. I like to make my chicken soup the regular way and then add in my cooked noodles for whoever wants them (my kids love the noodles but Pablo prefers his soup without.)
Five Budget Friendly Winter Meals – My $50 Grocery List
The prices included below are from my local Walmart unless otherwise noted and are current as of December 2024. As with all of the grocery lists that I share, I’ve tried to include pretty much everything that you’ll need to buy with the exception of some basic pantry staples (for example: flour, butter, basic condiments, etc.)
Bread/Pantry Items
- Egg noodles (16 oz.) – $1.48
- Cream of chicken soup (2 cans) – $1.36
- Ritz-style crackers – $2.76
- Hamburger buns – $1.46
- Diced tomatoes – $0.96
- Rotel – $0.96
Refrigerated/Frozen Items
- Sour cream (16 oz.) – $1.97
- Shredded cheddar cheese (16 oz) – $4.22
- Frozen corn – $0.98
- Frozen green beans (2 bags) – $1.96
Produce
- Bag of onions – $2.68
- Carrots, 1 lb. – $0.98
- Celery – $0.98
- Garlic – $0.73
- Yellow potatoes, 3 lbs. – $2.84
- Romaine lettuce – $1.98
Meat
- Whole Chicken (approx. 5 lbs) – $6.58
- Ham (approx. 24 oz) – $6.30
- Beef chuck roast, about 2 lbs @ 3.97/lb – $8.75 (I always wait to get my chuck roasts when they’re on sale for this price at Kroger!)
Total = $49.93
Not a bad price for 5 meals at the end of 2024, right? Make sure to watch for sales, especially on things like meat and cheese and that will help you save a lot.
What is the cheapest winter meal you can make?
In my opinion, soup is hands down the best, cheap meal you can make during the winter time. Soup is one of those things where you can add a little bit of this, a little bit of that. You can use up leftovers (extra veggies, leftover meat, etc.) and even stretch the soup with water if you need to feed an extra mouth or too.
Making your own broth is a great way to save money and a good bone broth is so good for your health.
I wasn’t a huge fan of soup as a child, but I’ve grown to love a lot of different soups now as an adult.
What can you feed a large crowd in the winter?
Again, I’m wanting to say soup for this! My mom used to make a huge pot of taco soup to feed a crowd after Christmas caroling (and just thinking about it is making me hungry!)
But if you’re wanting something other than soup, maybe consider something fun like a huge baked potato bar. Everyone can fix up their own individual potatoes with their favorite toppings like chili, bacon, cheese, sour cream, green onion, etc.
One more idea for feeding a crowd is to make a big crock-pot full of pulled pork for BBQ sandwiches or tacos. Yum!
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