Best Lowcost Healthy Meal Ideas

cooking
Written By Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII

By planning meals around rice, pasta and potatoes you will use lower-cost ingredients. Use vegetables in season and store-brand frozen veggies in season. Think of meat as a condiment. Best of all, cook more and you can use it the next day or freeze for days when you are too busy to cook.• Beans and rice• Chili• Bean soup• Split pea soup• Lentils with rice• Chicken and rice• Stirfry over rice• Pasta and lentils• Paella• Risotto• Lasagna• Tuna and macaroni• Pasta with veggies• Vegetable soup• Stew with potatoes and chicken• Baked potato stuffed with broccoli

Compare cost per ounce:
Rice .03
Potatoes .03
Bananas .04
Cabbage .04
Carrots .05
Dried beans .06
Apples .06
Oranges .07
Oatmeal, grits .07
Pasta .08
Yogurt .09
Frozen veggies .09
Peanut butter .09
Soup .09
Broccoli .12
Tuna, canned .15
Chicken breast .18
Egg white .20
Cereal .25
Beef .25
Frozen meal .29
Bread .30
Chips .34
Cookies .38
Fish (frozen) .39
Cheese .46
Crackers .47
Cake, bakery .50
Deli meat .65

 

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Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII

Judy’s passion for cooking began with helping her grandmother make raisin oatmeal for breakfast. From there, she earned her first food service job at 15, was accepted to the world-famous Culinary Institute of America at 18 (where she graduated second in her class), and went on to the Fachschule Richemont in Switzerland, where she focused on pastry arts and baking. After a decade in food service for Hyatt Hotels, Judy launched Food and Health Communications to focus on flavor and health. She graduated with Summa Cum Laude distinction from Johnson and Wales University with a BS in Culinary Arts, holds a master’s degree in Food Business from the Culinary Institute of America, two art certificates from UC Berkeley Extension, and runs a food photography & motion studio where her love is creating fun recipes and content.

Judy received The Culinary Institute of America’s Pro Chef II certification, the American Culinary Federation Bronze Medal, Gold Medal, and ACF Chef of the Year. Her enthusiasm for eating nutritiously and deliciously leads her to constantly innovate and use the latest nutritional science and Dietary Guidelines to guide her creativity, from putting new twists on fajitas to adapting Italian brownies to include ingredients like toasted nuts and cooked honey. Judy’s publishing company, Food and Health Communications, is dedicated to her vision that everyone can make food that tastes as good as it is for you.

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