Feeding your family on a budget doesn’t have to mean boring meals or complicated cooking.
With the right recipes and a little planning, it’s easy to create delicious dinners that stretch your grocery budget while still keeping everyone at the table happy.
Whether you’re cooking for a family of four, a large family, or trying to plan meals for the whole week, simple and affordable recipes can make dinnertime much less stressful.
In this collection of 45 cheap family dinners, you’ll find plenty of easy meal ideas made with budget friendly ingredients like chicken, ground beef, tuna, pasta, potatoes, and rice.
From quick skillet meals and stove top dinners to casseroles, air fryer recipes, and simple one pot meals, these inexpensive dishes are perfect for busy weeknights and school nights.
With kid friendly options, vegetarian meals, and plenty of frugal dinner ideas, these recipes will help you save money while still serving satisfying meals your family will love.
Cheap Family Dinners
Chicken Gumbo Sloppy Joes are an easy weeknight dinner recipe using lean ground beef and Campbell's chicken gumbo soup.
One Pot Chicken Spaghetti is an easy dinner recipe using just spaghetti noodles, condensed cream of chicken soup and spices.
Cheesy Beef Goulash with Corn is an easy weeknight dinner recipe that takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish. This one pot dinner is loaded with diced tomatoes, macaroni noodles, ground beef corn and mozzarella cheese.
Bacon Cheeseburger Pierogies are the perfect comfort food. Delicious pockets of mashed potatoes are tossed in a creamy cheese sauce loaded with ground beef and bacon in this easy dinner recipe.
Buffalo Chicken English Muffins are an easy weeknight dinner recipe using rotisserie chicken. These English muffins are topped with shredded chicken tossed in Buffalo sauce and baked with cheese on top.
Sloppy Joe Cups are an easy recipe perfect for a fun weeknight dinner or to serve at a party. These hamburger bun cups are filled with ground beef tossed in homemade sloppy joe sauce.
Pizza Bagel Casserole is an easy dinner recipe the whole family will love.This everything bagel casserole is loaded with pepperoni, pizza sauce, green peppers, bacon and cheese.
Pizza Crescent Rolls are an easy dinner or party snack recipe using Pillsbury crescent rolls, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese and pizza sauce.
Homemade Hamburger Helper is an easy weeknight dinner recipe made with ground beef, egg noodles and condensed cream of mushroom soup.
Crock Pot Cube Steak is an easy dinner recipe of tenderized steak cooked in a creamy mushroom gravy sauce.
French Bread Pizza is an easy dinner or party snack recipe made with a large loaf of French or Italian bread toasted with garlic butter and topped with pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni and green peppers.
Naan Pizza is an easy dinner recipe using store bought naan bread topped with pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, sliced pepperoni and diced green peppers.
Garlic Bread Grilled Cheese is an easy lunch or dinner recipe with garlic buttered bread filled with gooey mozzarella and cheddar cheese.
English Muffin Pizzas are an easy dinner recipe made with split English muffins topped with pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, mini pepperonis and diced green peppers.
Crescent Roll Pizza is an easy weeknight dinner recipe using a can of Pillsbury crescent dough topped with pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, pepperoni and diced green peppers.
Cheeseburger Subs are an easy family friendly dinner recipe loaded with ground beef, shredded cheddar cheese on a bun spread with a special mayo sauce.
Pizza Subs are an easy weeknight dinner recipe using 9 inch sub rolls loaded with pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni and green peppers and then baked until perfectly toasted.
Texas Toast Sloppy Joes are an easy ground beef dinner recipe made with frozen Texas toast garlic bread slices and loaded with sloppy joe ground beef and shredded cheese.
Texas Toast Pizza is an easy weeknight dinner recipe using frozen Texas toast garlic bread and topped with pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, pepperoni slices and green peppers.
Ground Beef and Potatoes is an easy weeknight dinner recipe loaded with diced hash brown potatoes, ground beef, corn, diced bell peppers, cream of mushroom soup and shredded cheddar cheese.
Bacon Pasta is a creamy shell pasta recipe loaded with crispy crumbled bacon pieces and flavoured with garlic and parmesan cheese.
Air Fryer Pigs in a Blanket are the perfect party snack or kid friendly dinner using cocktail sausages, Pillsbury crescent dough and everything bagel seasoning.
Sloppy Joe Tacos are hearty ground beef tacos with sloppy joe sauce and baked with cheese.
Mini Chicken Pot Pies are an easy dinner recipe using precooked chicken, frozen mixed vegetables, cream of chicken soup and Pillsbury refrigerated biscuits.
Air Fryer Hot Dogs are a simple and delish lunch or dinner dish the whole family will love.
Hamburger Helper Lasagna is an easy ground beef dinner recipe using pasta that looks like mini lasagna noodles, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, beef broth, shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
Spaghetti Alfredo is rich and creamy pasta recipe made with butter, minced garlic, heavy cream, Italian seasoning and shredded parmesan cheese.
Sausage and Noodle Casserole is a hearty dinner recipe loaded with Italian sausage meat, egg noodle and diced bell peppers all tossed in a cream of mushroom and cream cheese mixture and baked with provolone cheese and French's crispy fried onions on top.
Pizza Baked Spaghetti is a hearty spaghetti recipe loaded with Italian sausage, pepperoni, green bell peppers, pizza sauce, marinara and mozzarella cheese.
Tuna Casserole with Potato Chips is an easy dinner recipe loaded with egg noodles, canned tuna, peas, diced onions, cream of mushroom soup and shredded cheddar cheese with a crushed potato chip topping.
Baked Beans with Ground Beef is a hearty dinner recipe loaded with red and green bell peppers, onions, bacon and Bush's Original baked beans all baked together in a sweet and savoury barbecue sauce.
Pierogi Casserole is a hearty dinner recipe loaded with crumbled Italian sausage, onions, three cheese pierogies, cream cheese, Alfredo sauce, shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese.
Homemade Tuna Helper is a delicious twist on boxed tuna helper loaded with egg noodles, green peas, corn, cream cheese, parmesan cheese and tuna all in a creamy sauce.
One Pot Mac and Cheese is a creamy and delicious pasta dish made with milk, cavatappi noodles, condensed cheddar soup, shredded cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese and crushed Ritz crackers.
Chicken and Egg Noodles is a simple comfort food dish made with shredded rotisserie chicken, extra broad egg noodles, diced onion, cream of chicken soup and milk.
Pizza Tortellini is a hearty pasta dish loaded with Italian sausage meat, cheese tortellini, diced onions, green peppers, pepperoni, pizza sauce, pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese.
Ground Beef and Dumplings is a delicious comfort dish loaded with ground beef, mixed veggies and Pillsbury biscuit dumplings all cooked in a creamy and flavourful soup mixture.
Cajun Chicken Alfredo Garlic Bread is an easy dinner recipe loaded with chunks of rotisserie chicken, Cajun seasoning, creamy alfredo sauce, mozzarella and cheddar cheese all baked on top of a loaf of Italian bread spread with garlic butter.
Transform your weeknight dinner game with this irresistible Garlic Parmesan Texas Toast Sloppy Joe recipe—a mouthwatering mashup of comfort food classics! This super easy dinner recipe is made with frozen Texas toast garlic bread slices loaded with ground beef in a creamy garlic parmesan alfredo sauce and topped with mozzarella cheese.
Sloppy Joe Pierogi Casserole is a hearty casserole that is super easy to throw together. This easy casserole recipe uses store bought frozen pierogies, ground beef, a homemade sloppy joe sauce, shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese, bacon and green onions.
Air Fryer Pizza Dogs are a fun and easy recipe perfect for lunch or a quick weeknight dinner. These tasty hot dogs are loaded with pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni and bacon all air fried to crispy perfection.
Garlic Bread Alfredo Meatballs are an easy family friendly dinner recipe perfect for busy weeknights.
These sub buns are slathered with garlic spread and loaded with meatballs in creamy alfredo sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese and crumbled bacon before being baked to perfection.
Taco Pizza with Crescent Rolls is a family friendly ground beef dinner recipe perfect for busy weeknights.
This tasty pizza starts of with a Pillsbury crescent roll crust and is topped with a ground beef and cream cheese taco mixture, shredded nacho cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and mini Doritos nacho chips.
Cheesy Queso Ground Beef and Rice is an easy one pot dinner recipe perfect for busy weeknights.
This hearty dish is loaded with ground beef, minute rice, Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies, store bought salsa con queso and shredded nacho cheese.
Air Fryer Sloppy Joe Dogs are a fun and easy recipe perfect for lunches or weeknight dinners.
These tasty hot dogs are loaded with a homemade ground beef sloppy joe mixture and shredded cheese and air fried until perfectly toasted.
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Hi! My name is Erin and I have been here since 2016 sharing simple family friendly recipes that can be prepared by any home cook. Get ready to whip up delicious meals in no time!