Cheap & Good

Recipes with receipts.

Every recipe here comes with an honest, itemized cost per serving — because "budget-friendly" should mean a number, not a vibe. Most dinners land under $2.50.

White bean and greens skillet with golden garlic breadcrumbs in cast iron

25 minutes

White Bean & Greens Skillet with Garlic Crumbs

Creamy beans, silky greens, crunchy golden crumbs. The fridge-is-hopeless dinner.

$1.62 a serving

One pot · Freezes great

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Chili

Eight servings from one pot, and it's better on day two. My most-requested recipe.

$1.48 a serving

Crispy spiced chickpeas over rice with quick-pickled onions and yogurt sauce

30 minutes

Crispy Chickpea Rice Bowls with Lemon-Yogurt Sauce

Crackly spiced chickpeas, bright pickled onions, cool sauce. Takeout energy, pantry prices.

$1.79 a serving

How I cost a recipe

Prices come from my actual receipts at regular St. Petersburg grocery stores — no loss-leader stunts, no "assume you grow your own herbs." Pantry staples are costed by the amount used, not the whole jar. Your numbers will wobble with your zip code, but the ratios hold: beans, grains, seasonal produce, and good technique beat expensive ingredients almost every night.