Are you looking for some cheap summer meals? Then you have come to the right place. Hopefully this post will give you some great ideas for cheap summer meals, both those that you probably have already thought about and some that you hadn’t considered yet.
- Beans and Rice- I know this is the classic budget meal and you likely don’t want to just eat beans and rice. Who does? I know I don’t. However, I had to include it and what I recommend you do is that you add in some cheese (dairy free if necessary) or spices and tomatoes or salsa and it will still be a budget meal.
- Sandwiches- yes really. These can easily be made on the cheap, although if you are gluten free you will need to either make your own bread or use a lettuce wrap in order to really make this meal on a budget.
- Eggs and bacon. Yes really. It’s true that the cost of these has gone up some in recent years and there have been months there they went up by a lot but the price has dropped back down to a recent cost in the last few months.
- A salad- lettuce is still relatively cheap and you can make it more expensive depending on what you add but you can include things like cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, avocados, and canned tuna and even some seeds or nuts without spending too much money.
- Zucchini soup– zucchini is a classic summer squash that you can even get for free during the month of August in most places as there are people leaving it everywhere just to get rid of it.
- Stuffed zucchini- My sister and I made a stuffed zucchini once where we made some white rice and added in some chicken and spices and then put it into the zucchini and baked it. It was very filling, easy to do and quite cheap.
- Grilled zucchini or other vegetables. I wrote another post about simple grilling recipes that shows you how to do this. Focus on those vegetables that are in season and on sale to save money.
- Baked potatoes with toppings. Baked potatoes are cheap, especially if you buy them by the 50lb box and you can add things like butter, broccoli, chicken, beef, or other chopped vegetables.
- Rice pile ups- make some rice and then add on whatever toppings you like and that are in season and cheap. Even zucchini and rice can be really delicious.
- Eggs with vegetables- you can use zucchini or you can also use yellow squash or broccoli and red onion. (a few of my favorites.)
- Pancakes or waffles- yes even for dinner. Even gluten free ones can be relatively cheap if you use a mix like Walmart’s gluten free flour mix.
- Baked or air fried tilapia with rice or potatoes and vegetables. This is the only fish that is relatively inexpensive.
- Air fried Brussels sprouts with sweet potato. This is a great simple summer cheap meal combination if you do it right. I buy my brussels sprouts frozen and have a chopper I use to slice my sweet potato into fries.
- Chicken and tomato soup- I make this by putting chicken breast- usually frozen because it’s often the cheapest with chicken broth, canned tomatoes and a bag of mixed frozen vegetables into a crockpot.
- Lentil soup- this is super cheap. You use your crockpot to make it and put lentils, onions, carrots, and celery chopped up along with 1-2 cups of lentils and chicken or vegetable broth. Then you can add in a can of tomatoes to make it a more summery meal.
- Pea soup- While I eat this more in the winter- you can enjoy it in summer too. I chop up 1-2 cups of onion, celery and carrot and put it into the crockpot with 1-2 cups of dry split peas and chicken broth. You can also add in some ham or bacon, although that will make it cost more of course.
- Butternut squash soup- another twist on the zucchini squash soup idea.
- Strawberry summer salad- you combine spring mix lettuce, chopped walnuts or almonds (these are the cheapest at Costco), feta (or vegan cheese), and strawberries.
- Fruit salad- this can be cheaper than you might think if you are wise about the fruit you include. You can combine canned pineapple or fresh if you have one, with berries, or even add in some oranges or banana slices and grapes.
- Rice salad- use cold rice and add in chopped veggies, tuna, chicken, whatever you have left offer and whatever you like.
- Chicken stir fry- focus on including summer vegetables like zucchini, yellow squash, and pea pods. You can also serve it with some rice or rice noodles (Trader Joe’s and Cotsco both have these at a decent price.)
- A green smoothie or fruit smoothie- Use whatever combinations you like.
- Mashed potatoes with chicken and vegetables. Simple, and not that expensive especially if you buy your chicken on sale and chicken goes on sale a lot.
- Quinoa salad– this one will be a bit more expensive as quinoa costs more than rice, however, it’s one of my favorite summer meals so I had to include it. My favorite combination is cooked quinoa with red onion, broccoli, tuna and a little bit of butter or olive oil. However, there are endless combinations that you can make.
- Grilled cheese with lettuce and tomato- if you are gluten free and or dairy free, this will be a bit more costly. The best and cheapest gluten free bread I’ve found is Franz at Costco and Trader Joe’s has dairy free cheese at the cheapest price.
Did this help you? If so, I would greatly appreciate a share on Facebook, twitter, linkedin, or pinterest.
My Favorite Products (Affiliate links- if you make a purchase I may earn a small commission)
Thrive Market - healthy gluten free, sugar free and speciality online food and household products
Silk and Sonder Monthly Journals and Planners
My Portable Infrared Sauna
Self Care Journal
Martie discounted food
Olipop - healthy soda with probiotics and prebiotics
Digestion Kit
Stress Oils
