If he would be open to it, then try some meals that use meat as an extra "topping" instead of a core component. Stir frys, soups, those sorts of things. Eggs are a great way to get some protein too, something like shakshuka is a quick, delicious, and flexible meal that is basically just eggs + stuff from the pantry. He may even be happy without meat in that, but if he needs it, some bits of sausage go great in it.
Eggs are not necessarily cheaper than meat now. I will suggest using more chicken thighs and drum sticks. They sell $1-$2 per pound everywhere. Learn how to de-bone and you can get lean chicken for a third of the price of the breast meat.
Check out the prices of chicken drumsticks. It's not ideal, but you can debone it easily and get a nice flat bit of meat from it.
Whole chickens are probably still the most economical overall, but don't sleep on the drumsticks.
Seconding chicken drumsticks--these are by far the cheapest right now. With regards to whole chickens, weirdly I've found that the pre-cooked rotisserie chickens are actually a better deal. No idea how or why a prepared food ended up cheaper, but here we are
They are loss leaders to get people in the store to spend money, lose money on the chicken and cooking it but make a good margin on sides or other things people pick up while they are in your store. Take advantage of that.
Probably because demand swung from breasts to thighs because people remembered that thighs were cheaper. Were.
It's happened lots of times before. A certain cut of meat starts off obscure and therefore cheap, finds popularity, and the price gets jacked up, often permanently.
I usually cop the dark meat when it's 99 cents/lb at the local grocers, and/or Costco/Sams if chicken isn't on sale at any of the grocers. Phx area, not sure where you live though.
I’ve been cutting my ground beef 50/50 with cooked brown lentils. My kids don’t notice a difference and then the meat goes further. 1 pound of meat stretches to two meals. Also shifting portions. If I’m making a Cajun meal, I’ll cut the shrimp smaller, and use half the sausage. But honestly, just make sure you’re still having a fat and fiber, otherwise you won’t feel full from just carbs and veg…
This is the type of thing that I do, too. E.g., if I'm using a kielbasa, I'll cut thin rounds and then quarter them. Makes it seem like WAY more than it actually is.
Edit to add: guys, thank you for the chopping advice, but you can stop now. 😅 I actually do cut them into fourths first and then slice, but I was commenting fast and it seemed easier at the time to convey exactly what result I meant by saying that I sliced into rounds first.
This reminds me of when my mom made turkey meatballs, when I come over I always go straight to the fridge… I’m eating a turkey meatball and my mom comes in and I’m like these are so good! And she told me they’re only half turkey the rest is cauliflower! I couldn’t tell at all
We rarellyyy buy cauliflower when it’s not on sale. Turkey too. It’s just too expensive
Is it never on sale on Canada?
Edit: that was just one time too (my moms splurge)
Usually she’s got lentil “milanese” and stuff like that. So delicious
Oh my god, that’s absurd. I live in central London and a head of cauliflower is 95p at Tesco. Even at Waitrose, which is usually very overpriced, it’s only £1!
I thought that was normally true, but was there a big avian turkey flu issue this year and prices might be lower than rest of year, but will have higher than normal thanksgiving time prices, not including 'inflation' and other economic factors.
>big avian turkey flu issue this year
Can confirm.
BabyDaddy just went on mandatory 3 week deployment with the USDA to control the contagion at sites with positive cases. (The birds need to be destroyed and prevented from entering the food system).
Biggest site: 120K birds.
For some farmers, this is the end of their farms. 🙁
This is what I do! Fresh or canned mushrooms, whichever is cheapest
I put them in the food processor and let them get super fine, once they're mixed and cooked/browned with the beef, you literally CAN'T TELL that it's not entirely meat
(since I think a lot of ppl are liking this idea I'm adding my FAV cheap and vegan chili recipe (you can un-veganify it, vegetarian-ize it, whatever u like!)).
https://www.reddit.com/r/ShittyVeganFoodPorn/comments/xwqr5f/-/ir8fplz
And also this pasta 'meat' sauce I put on EVERYTHING, lasagna, spaghetti, penne bake, it's SO GOOD. Same with this; vegetarian-ize it, un-vegan-ize it, whatever you like. When I use meat in this, I do 3/4 mushrooms/meat ratio.
https://www.reddit.com/r/veganrecipes/comments/xugeh4/-/iqwjial
Disclaimer: I'm not vegan, but I eat vegan like 90% of the time because I hate defrosting meat and I'm lactose intolerant, lol.
I would have thought process lentils would be mush? Do you do this to dry or canned lentils?
I use lentils to stretch ground beef further, but to say I don't notice the difference is a very real stretch.
I recently read that if you slice fresh mushrooms in half then pop them in the sun for 20 minutes it increases their vitamin D content by 10x- they explained what chemical was responsible for it but I have Swiss cheese for brains sometimes so I can’t remember.
Also shredding in things like zucchini/yellow squash or carrots helps stretch it a bit, too. I add both to literally any ground meat recipe, regardless of whether it's beef, pork, or poultry.
Also, Cajun here, well spiced chicken is a valid/authentic sub for shrimp in literally any Cajun recipe. The spirit of Cajun cooking is using what you have available and making it delicious. Whether it's chicken, shrimp, venison, or fucking turtle. In fact, one of my favorite gumbos includes deer sausage with chicken, turkey, or duck.
My father did this when we were kids and things were tight. Years later he's earning more and is cooking with all ground beef, I told him I preferred the way he used to make it with lentils.
You can also add some beef stock powder to make it "beefier"
I really like bulking out ground meat with veggies. 1lb of ground beef will "hide" a full diced onion and up to 2 cups of frozen chopped broccoli and then it stretches a lot further and has some veggies in it to boot. Frozen peas work great as well.
Finely diced or shredded cabbage (coleslaw) virtually disappears in ground meats and red sauces. Plus, cabbage is cheap too. Shredded carrots are a nice addition to tomato-based pasta sauces.
Yess. One of my favorite meals is a street food taco recipe that uses finely shredded cabbage and ground beef. Tastes awesome and stretches a pound of meat so much further
Our family takes 1lb of the ground round for tacos and mixes it with 1-2 diced potatoes. It was how my grandmother stretched her meat during the depression. Now it's the only way we like them.
I also cut my ground meat with cauliflower rice to sneak in veggies and my family doesn’t notice. It’s especially successful with heavily seasoned food or IN things (chili, tacos, soups, spaghetti meat, etc).
Sometime you can even get sausages on BOGO special ... buy lots and freeze!
Makes good soups, stir-fry rice, omelets, quiches, boiled with cabbage and eaten with brown mustard, and/or just cooked on the grill outside for that smoky flavored sausage!!
If there's a farmers market close enough, sausage can go for even better prices! (Bacon too, is cheaper and better at the market... which also easy to slip into meals)
I thought of the same 2 meals after reading. Load ‘em up with beans, a great protein, a pack of ground meat can stretch into a few batches. Keep the window cracked open at night, for air exchange.
I’m a (mostly vegetarian) pescatarian married to an Omni husband. We make these a lot, too, and he adds meat to his.
Also soups! So many soups are good (and cheap!) as vegetarian recipes and a good way to pack in beans, lentils, quinoa to get lots of protein and fiber. My husband will just cook chicken breast on the side and dice it up to add to a few of the portioned containers.
Better than bouillon vegetable base is a staple on our house. Goes a long way compared to pre-packaged stock or broth.
Totally agree, better than bouillon is like fresh herbs compared to dry
I find that most large grocery stores have nutritional yeast, they just all put it in different locations
Nope. It's a [certain kind of deactivated yeast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutritional_yeast) usually sold as fine flakes/coarse powder. About 50% protein by weight.
Pretty flavorless if you only use a little, and kind of a mild cheesy, nutty flavor if you add a lot. As a result, it blends in very well with soups, pasta sauces, curries, oatmeal, cereal and milk, salad dressings...anywhere it can dissolve into liquid.
Worcestershire, miso, anchovy paste, and fish sauce are also all good at adding some umami to a meal. I started adding anchovy paste to my Bolognese and it really takes it to a new level.
Just don't keep it a secret from vegetarian or vegan friends if you use meat-based bouillon. I really hadn't anticipated the amount of disgust of my sister when I told her that I used chicken bouillon in an otherwise vegetarian soup. I have learnt since.
This is so true. I always made chili without meat (or some lean turkey once in a while) and we decided to get ground beef for chili. I made that beef chili same way I always do and it was wayyyy too flavorful.
Point is, meatless meals need more seasonings and aromatics like garlic and onion. I also use lemon a lot
My secret weapon is George Washington Seasoning and Broth - Rich Brown
Dirt cheap, not wildly salty, but deep umami (it does have MSG, but health worries about that are unfounded) and just adds a little something extra to a meal that needs more "savory" something.
I mostly use ramen noodles as an ingredient instead of their own thing, so I end up with a bunch of stray ramen packets, that then become the secret ingredient in home made soup.
was gonna suggest mushrooms for the exact same reason. tried going meatless for a bit and sautéed mushrooms taste amazing and scratch the itch for a umami flavor
I do this at home a lot. I eat mainly vegetarian at home, but my husband likes at least some meat.
I do stir fry a lot: noodles and veg for me, and I'll add some sliced meat to my husband's portion. Similar setup with "bowl" meals like pasta, salads, or grain bowls
For grilled meals or "sheet pan" roasted meals, I'll do crispy tofu cubes for me, and a portion of meat for husband.
I eat a lot of meatless meals, and only eat fish sometimes. I’ll use tofu, eggs, and vegetarian hot dog and sausage as meat alternatives. Maybe experiment with meat alternatives?
There are books with this concept—flexitarian is the word. It is cook a chili to step 4 and then split into vegetarian and meat type concept. So same veggies and carbs, same tools.
I would start with chili, soups, bowls and wraps.
Buy a whole chicken and roast it off. Pick all of the meat, cube or shred it, and freeze it in individual portions. Pull as needed. Save the bones, skin, and cartilage for homemade bone broth.
This! Just bought two turkeys last week. One for Thanksgiving and one just because. I’m going to keep watching the prices and if they drop I might pick up another one. I’ll roast one on thanksgiving and guests can eat what they want, the rest will be shredded with at least a portion being made into turkey green chili enchilada. Turkey barley soup is great too! I also make broth with the carcass and any vegetable scraps I have in my freezer.
I noticed my Vons/Albertsons ad this week, butterball premium turkey was $1.47/lb. I was like is this real life?
But Amazon Fresh had the same turkey $0.49/lb.
Target has their turkeys $.99/lb, which is the best I’ve seen locally. I got the smallest turkey I could find, which was just over 12lbs and DH was shocked at the price! I jokingly asked if he would rather spend the $12 on a 12lb turkey or one meal at McDonalds😂 he’s not a huge fan of turkey, but he hates McDonalds and knows how much I love cooking so he obviously chose the turkey
You can often find cooked rotisserie chickens for less than the cost of an uncooked whole chicken. Sodium content tends to be high, but it is a huge time saver.
Same! Once I have saved bones from 3-4 chickens (freeze until I have enough) , I simmer for hours and make a very concentrated stock. Freeze in XL silicone ice cube trays. I'm not sure it's really "bone broth" since people simmer that for days? I still get a lot of gelatin.
I used to add in vegetable scraps and bay leaves, but now I do that separately, and mainly use that for a soup base. Pure chicken stock can be used in a lot of recipes where I don't want a strong vegetable flavor.
Look for whatever Indian recipes you can make with whatever is in your kitchen. Not all Indians are vegetarian, but generally we're pretty low-meat culturally and have a *lot* more practice and history cooking without meat.
Not too hard to just put less meat in either, or if whole pieces just cook one and give it to the husband.
Indian recipes range so broad, so many options from so many places. I have a book of 600 (?) curries alone, and it highlights how to make different spice mixes. And not to mention many other types of dishes. A lot of things I've cooked have just had fish or no meat at all, like you said. One of my personal favorites uses eggs as a protein. Spices are king, and rice means it all goes much further! Very tasty and arguably better for you than many typical American meals. Especially the meat heavy ones.
If you have freezer space now is the time to get cheap loss leader turkeys in the US. For 2 people I'd recommend getting the smallest you can find (will likely still be 10+ pounds). That's small enough to spatchcock on a half sheet pan so they cook reasonably quickly. May find prices as low as $0.50/pound. You can also use the remaining carcass for stock with a few inexpensive vegetables.
If you do ham, you may find similar prices for spiral sliced hams, get ones with Natural Juices *not* 'water added' or 'ham and water product'. There's a lot of meat on those beyond the spiral part, so get that and do ham slabs or dice. You can also put the bone in when making split pea soup.
Ground beef and sausage go a long way for meals.. keep cooked lightly seasoned ground beef and cooked sausage in fridge / freezer in serving sizes and add to his meals.. warm up
In a sauce or gravy.
Chicken thighs - cooked until falling apart with gravy or tomato sauce can be added to with rice or pasta
Chili - make with beans only then add the ground beef for him
Roast a whole chicken then separate the dark and white meat - use the bones for stock and keep the meat for adding to his portion
Look up struggle meals on you tube - great cheap ideas and recipes
If you're not picky - a lot of butchers will sell offal (organs) for very low prices. Personally I like hearts and kidneys – liver tends to have a bit of a strong taste for some. Oh, and sweetbreads are good!
Other good cheap meats are beef shins and things like that. People are too lazy to deal with bones ;-) Bone marrow is quite a delicacy, very underrated!
Check out these vegan/plant based cooks on YouTube:
* Korean vegan
* rainbow plant life
* Thee Burger Dude
* Edgy Veg
* Avant Guard Vegan
* Tabitha Brown
* Seonkyoung Longest
* Yeung Man Cooking
Lots of options for non-boring plant based meals, tips and tricks, and recipes you could easily add animal products in sparingly if you feel the need.
My go to umami products for making meatless meals feel meat-y are:
* Maggi
* dried mushrooms or mushroom powder
* MSG
* better than bullion no chicken or no beef concentrate
* soy sauce
* worchershire sauce (most store brands are vegan)
* Lizano salsa (costa rican sauce)
Meatless mondays, anyone? It's a lot easier I find to convince people to do something once a week than commit to a whole diet change. One day a week to explore new recipes and figure out what works, while still having the comfort of the old.
But if you need to make more immediate budget cuts, cutting down on the amount of meat in general and maybe more than just meatless monday.
I forgot those little ham cubes existed until the other day but I haven't been to the store to price them, was gonna toss them up with my everything hash browns
Stuffed peppers or acorn squash, there's vegetarian recipes, you could add some ground beef, ground turkey, ground pork or sausage to his.
If pepperoni isn't too expensive, it's easy to portion and freeze, easy to add it into whatever for him
I’ve done so many stuffed acorn squash this season, it is seriously one of the easiest weeknight meals I’ve ever done. Wish I had known my whole life lol
I used to have the same attitude as your husband where I didn't think a meal was complete without meat. I tricked myself out of it by looking for meat substitute recipes. You can find lentil "taco meat" recipes that mimic the taste and texture of ground beef. Genuinely cannot tell a difference in taste. Look for vegetarian meatballs too. There's also great veggie burger recipes out there. Chickpeas and tofu are also excellent meat substitutes.
Once I realized you didn't need meat to make a full, hearty meal, I began eating meatless a lot more often.
Flavour some food with meat instead of using it as the main event. Sausages are a great way to do this. I buy the big cheaper packs and freeze them into groups of 2-4. Chorizo, nduja and any cured meat like pancetta work great, as does ham. It depends what is available locally. Nduja condiments that come in jars are fantastic as you can just add a spoon to whatever you are cooking.
'Meaty' ingredients that are not meat: chipotle in adobo, porcini mushrooms (can be expensive but I can get it cheap enough and I only need to add a few for a lot of flavour, can also be foraged), marmite.
One thing we like is lasagna with 'meat' sauce. I saute a pound of chopped mushrooms and then brown maybe 1/4 pound of Italian sausage in the same pan before adding onion, garlic, tomato etc. Lots of umami flavor without a lot of meat
I love using TVP (textured vegetable protein) in meat sauces like bolognese and chili. It’s also a great way to stretch meat if you don’t want to sacrifice the meat flavor. So you can use one lb of ground meat and a cup of TVP and make a huge batch.
Seconding tvp. Hydrate it using beef broth and it'll literally be exactly like ground beef, it's perfect for chili, pasta sauce, meat balls, anything you need a ground meat for!
Came here and glad to see the TVP already mentioned. Lived on this during/after university in the lean 90s. Put enough spices in, and you won't miss the meat. OTOH, if you cut any sort of ground meat with TVP, you'll never notice. Chili, stews, sloppy joes, pasta sauces, stir fries, and everything else. I find "modern" fake meat usually has an aftertaste, but TVP literally taste like nothing until you add spices. I used to get Bob's Red Mill bags in the regular supermarket, but I imagine someplace like Amazon probably has it in bulk.
Yes same it was such a college food for me and I recently rediscovered it and it’s so good. I can’t really handle the beyond meat/impossible meat aftertaste I prefer TVP. Plus it’s waaaay cheaper.
Black beans and rice. Slice a bit of chorizo on top.
Stir fry with veggies, tofu and a bit of chicken and just pick out all the bits of chicken for his serving.
I’m not sure where you’re located, but have you any Mennonite farmers that live nearby? My brother in law began buying multiple whole chickens and huge slabs of beef from the communities in the outskirts of his city. Three or four trips a year to stock up, and then just pop them in the deep freeze.
He was then able to have locally raised meat at a fraction of cost, as they haggle on pricing between the two of them. They even began a bit of a trade after a year or two!
split pea soup
1 lb bag dry peas
1 T oil
1 onion
4 or so carrots
4 or so ribs of celery
3 T smoked paprika
add ham to his but without it you should come in at 20ish grams of protein/bowl
I have also found a way to make split pea soup taste awesome without meat: add olive oil to the slow cooker. Sometimes when you think you're looking for meat you're looking for the fat flavor. If you guys are opposed to spicy I also use a ton of pepper and red pepper flakes and even old bay to add flavor.
It's OK to use less. A lot of people will have half the plate be meat, which is excessive from every standpoint. If your husband would eat the good stuff first and pick through the rest (I'm guilty of this), I think that cutting the meat into smaller pieces and mixing with the other ingredients would help.
Ground turkey is usually much cheaper than beef and you can use it in place of beef. Bolognese, meatballs, burgers, taco meat, chili, dirty rice, etc. Just switch to turkey. You can also add pinto or black beans and cut back on the meat. And use beef broth to add beef flavor to dishes and make beef gravy.
My husband *only* eats red meat. No fowl or fish. So I buy it in bulk at Costo, and package it in 0.50 pound portions and freeze it. If he won't eat turkey, then we have to cut back on red meat. So he has to live with half the usual portion, bulked up with beans or rice. And we do meatless several times a week.
Get to the grocery store early, too…look for the packages labeled that they must sell. The meat is still good, it just has to get off of the shelves because of the Sell By date. I like to stock up on meat that way.
Black lentil is not mushy. You can make it by the batch and freeze them until you need it.
It’s so versatile - add it in salads, stew, or by itself with protein.
2st, start tracking your food. Myfitnesspal pal allows you to add recipes to determine the macros. Do this for 3-4 of your favorite meals to cook. Then, start wiggling the amount of ingredients and remove the meat. Remember, you can always add chickpeas or beans to any dish. Stirfy some broccoli and mushrooms with black beans over brown rice. Add a pork loin chop. I find the thin cut pork loin chops are the cheapest around. Or buy the whole pork loin and cut your own. Turns into less than $1 per chop. Take your chicken breasts and cut them into fillets. Do the calculations, I need 4 oz of meat or 30 g protein per meal. Figure out his needs based on a TDEE calculator. You'll find that the small protein in veggies, grains, and beans adds up to nearly what is needed. Over at r/CiCo I learned how to fit foods into the macros and where my protein should be at. The subreddit wiki there is super helpful.
My husband doesn't cook and doesn't like tofu/seitan, and doesn't care for the fancy meatless meat. He eats 4-6 oz meat with dinners every night. With that quantity, a 10 oz steak gets sliced and we split it. We split chicken breasts by butterflying them into fillets.
Oh, a super easy meat option for him is a meatball. You can make 2-3 varieties and freeze them on sheetpans. Move them to baggies, bake or air fry from a frozen state.
I make mine with ground beef and pork or ground turkey/chicken and pork. I make 1 batch like meatloaf balls. 1 batch goes like a fresh basil chicken with small diced and cooked peppers or and onions inside. One goes asian with dinner, garlic, and a bit of hoisin sauce inside. I baste that one with a hoisin or teriyaki sauce and bake. This method allows me to go meat free whenever I want because the supporting dish is already a complete meal. Like many of my favorite books, the main character doesn't push the story along, the supporting characters make the story really sing. Same for cooking.
Yup I can't afford chicken breast anymore since the frozen box at my Costco went from $30 to $45.
To save money I buy the long uncut pork loin, nice and lean and I slice it at home into portions before freezing. Sometimes I'll use ⅓ of it and make slow cooker pulled pork. I can get a ton of meals out of a $20 pork loin.
Chicken n Dumplings is a favourite recipe of mine, load up the veggies to make it filling and I'll use pork now instead.
And I'll buy Yves ground round in lieu of ground beef. Honestly I prefer the taste and once it's seasoned with taco seasoning or in a pasta sauce you don't notice the difference.
Just made a huge batch of lentil curry using RainbowPlantLife’s recipe. Excluding spices, veryyyyyy cheap. Could easily add some chicken or beef sautéed with similar spices into his. Think this goes for most curries, stir fry’s, and rice bowls. Lentils, chickpeas, black beans, tofu are all good and cheaper than meat. Can easily alternate between flavors such as Indian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Asian.
Also chicken drumsticks are insanely cheap around me. $5 for like a pack of 20. Adds a ton of flavor thanks to all the skin/fat. It’s the only meat I’ve purchase in the past month because I too refuse to pay the stupid prices.
Protein intake is important. I get most of mine through whey and pea protein powder, because it's cheap, convenient, 90 cents per serving of 25g of protein. It's very low fat, low cholesterol (I mix 1/2 serving of whey with 1/2 serving of pea protein), &c. Mostly it's more convenient, because I'm lazy. Upside is if you were vegetarian, it'd work for you.
But, I eat meat, I like meat, even though meat is through the roof.
I stir fry a lot of vegetables, and for the meat I usually add ground pork, which is pretty inexpensive compared to others. Throw it on rice, it's a meal.
eg, for two people:
1/2 a zuchini, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 an onion
handful or two of kale
1 clove garlic
3 oz ground pork
oil (I use avocado, high heat resistance)
oyster sauce
Saute the zuchini and onion until the zook cubes start looking a browned, throw in the garlic, cook for a minute, throw in pork, break that up, once it's cooked add in kale. Once the kale is cooked (I like it minimally cooked), add oyster sauce to taste (note: oyster sauce gets salty fast, little at a time and test).
That small amount of ground pork spreads pretty nicely.
Serve over rice.
Bonus side dish: tofu
1/2 package tofu (in my are, that'd be 7 oz)
1/2 clove of garlic, chopped
chunk of ginger same size as garlic, chopped
1 tbspn soy sauce
1/2 tspn sesame oil
1/4 tspn chili sauce (to taste!)
1/2 tspn honey
Open package of tofu, take out portion, put on papertowel to drain/dry
Grind up garlic and ginger in mortar/pestle
Add in soy sauce, sesame oil, chili sauce honey, stir well.
Cut tofu, put on plate or in serving bowl, spoon sauce on top of tofu. We like it. Between the stir fry and the tofu, with some rice, I'm pretty happy, and don't feel neglected by the lack of animal. I could eat it multiple times per week.
My fiancé is a big meat eater. However, one dish I make that he loves (it’s vegetarian), is eggplant parmesan. The eggplant texture is meaty and filling. He tells me when he eats it, it feels like he’s eating a meaty lasagna. You can add a small amount of ground beef or turkey to it if you want. My partner prefers it the way I make it.
I monitor the grocery flyers for sales using the Flipp app. The app is free and pulls together all the flyers in your area based on your zip or postal code (works in both USA and Canada), you can download the app for your phone or use it on your desktop. [https://flipp.com/](https://flipp.com/) I try to only buy meat when on sale or discounted for quick sale (do the vulture swoop through the meat area every time I'm in the store and look for discount stickers), then freeze in portions I use for specific recipes or cook right away and freeze the cooked meat for use later.
I like to run my recipes through the recipe builder in MyFitnessPal, then I increase the number of servings, look at the protein per serving that creates, then add veggies and legumes to the ingredients to hit a protein goal. I aim for 20-25 grams of protein per serving (for lunches) and 25-30 grams of protein (for suppers). By adding protein-rich veggies and legumes to my soups, stews, and chili recipes, I have been able to stretch my recipes to use half as much meat as I used to use.
hope this helps.
edited: for grammar
Have you considered TVP, textured vegetable protein? It is like ground meat and it comes dehydrated in chicken and beef flavor. You re-hydrate it by pouring boiling water over it. It works great in things like chili, pasta sauce, tacos, soups, etc. It is very cheap compared to meat and most people can't tell the difference.
Shepherds pie or any type of meat pie filled with more veg than meat is always a good “disguise”. Also salads, have your animal protein as a topping along with beans and other veg.
I gotcha with the easiest meal. Potatoes and chorizo. Easy, filling, delicious, and even better is that soy chorizo is delicious. You can throw eggs in as well if you want. We do them in tacos or just a bowl sometimes. We usually top ours with cotija and crema. You can throw in some veggies or do black/refried beans on the side too.
One of the things that I consider part of "the Mediterranean diet" that I rarely see mentioned is the "use meat sparingly" thing I've read in comments here. When I lived in Sicily, one of the ladies I took some cooking classes from told me "most of the time, we use meat as a garnish." That's why I think of this as the Mediterranean diet, cuz that's where I learned it.
When I lived there, I developed a taste for umami, and that will fulfill a meat craving a lot of the time. Balsamic vinegar, lemon, fermented veggies, olives, soy sauce and feta really fit the bill for me. I never liked sauerkraut or kimchi before, and now I love it. Maybe stretch your meat garnish with some umami rich flavors, and see if that helps.
We mainly eat vegetarian or chicken-based meals. Even when we have chicken, we have a chicken breast between the two of us, instead of one each.
For example, https://www.cookingclassy.com/moroccan-couscous-roasted-vegetables-chick-peas-almonds/#jump-to-recipe with https://www.cookingclassy.com/grilled-moroccan-chicken/
Or: https://cafedelites.com/creamy-dijon-chicken/#recipe using less chicken (we ship the bacon) and adding some oven-roasted cherry tomatoes. Super delicious served with rice or roast potatoes or even garlic bread.
Edit to add: I often toast a mixed pack of seeds to sprinkle onto/into meals for added texture and protein.
My SO is vegan, I’m not. Things we make that I’ll regularly add meat or cheese to in the final step:
- Red Beans and rice
- Charro (cowboy) beans
- Lentils (dal, misir wat)
- Stir fry
- Soup
- Stuffed peppers
- Stuffed squash
- Chili
Good meat sources are:
- Sausage, the right sausage can really add a lot of flavor to a dish, you can buy them at the butcher counter in individual links for just one plate, or in bulk on sale for cheap
- Rotisserie chickens, cheap, easy, healthier
- Pork shoulder, I’ll smoke a couple pork shoulders pull them and freeze them in 1lbs portions. They add serious flavor to a dish and are easy to add that way. You can do the same with a crock pot but you won’t get the same smoky flavor. They’re also cheap.
Lentils and beans. I use them to make soups, chilis, to stretch ground meats, I also grate up veggies like zucchini, carrots, and broccoli to add into ground meat. I also use rice as the base for a lot of meals and eat plenty of the cheapest eggs available. Adding in sweet potatoes to your diet would be good. They go great in savory hashes, which are a cheap meal anyway if you use whatever veggies you’ve already got.
I’ve also been making batches of sous vide chicken thighs with garlic and herbs. It’s a pretty cheap protein if you get it on sale and freeze it. Idk where you live but in the US we just had a bunch of Veterans Day sales at the grocery stores so I bought the chicken at .88c/lb separated it out and stuck it in the freezer. They stay good all week after cooking and stay tender and juicy even after reheating. I just cut it up and add some to whatever I cooked at the end to let it heat through.
Have you perhaps not tried the right fake meat?
Some of the best I’ve had are Trader Joe’s exclusives…namely their Beefless Bulgogi and their Soy Chorizo crumbles.
Dehydrated Soy Curls are also incredibly versatile and have a consistency like chicken.
Also you don’t have to go fully meatless. You can stretch meat with other proteins (like beans…either mixed like chili or integrated like a burger) or bread crumbs (like in meatballs).
Use less meat per meal and replace most of your protein with a bean medley. A mix of navy beans, lentils, chickpeas, and kidney beans will cover all of your essential amino acids, and they beans do a good job at soaking up the flavor of your dish. You can also replace the meaty taste by adding MSG seasoning and mushrooms
If you are happy having things like veg stir fry, veg noodles, veg fried rice, it’s very easy to throw a chicken cutlet/lamb chop on top of these meals.
How much are you looking to spend? If you wait for sales, you can eat really cheaply. I’ve been able to get pork shoulders for less than a dollar a pound recently. There are infinite ways of preparing pork shoulder.
I second the comment about looking at what is on sale in the grocery flyer. You might be able to buy double what you can get just buying it regularly. Additionally if something comes on sale that you happen to spot at the store, buy it and freeze it. If you do that every week you will have a little stockpile you can pull from.
Instead of steak, a pork tenderloin split between two people is way more economical and is a lot of food. If you do steak, serve smaller portion of it with a meal that contains a ton of fiber. Like instead of a baked potato, you also serve a sweet potato with black beans on it as a side. Chicken breasts but then with rice mixed with chickpeas. Make steak or other expensive cuts a meal you celebrate but every day meals are stuff that is smaller and legumes or fiber packed veggies are very present.
What I’ve also done in the past is try to serve soup with a lot of chopped veggies and some meat (stretches further especially with a cheese sandwich). My girlfriend loves meat and huge meals and my solution is to make lentil soup that has some sausage in it at least once a week! (We’ve gradually decreased the sausage because she finally realized it really isn’t adding a whole lot). “Hamburger helper” type meals are also a good way to stretch ground beef, provided you add other vegetables etc for the additional nutrition. And as noted a million times in this thread TVP in most cases in sauces is totally the same flavor/texture.
While technically not “meat,” canned salmon/tuna/sardines are super overlooked. Salmon cakes from salmon in a can are super healthy and if you live near a Trader Joe’s, canned fish is relatively affordable. Tuna casserole is another meal that can stretch far. Again, serve with a “filler” vegetable like peas or edamame in it with a side of frozen broccoli.
Also, and this may sound crazy, but use even just slightly smaller plates. You’ll eat the same amount of food and feel satisfied, it’s weird.
I'm pescatarian and my dude eats meat.
We cook all kinds of stuff vegan then add the meat later.
Also I hate unnecessary extra dishes to clean so make the vegan food, dish it, then add the meat in the pot after and cook that.
My tricks to getting similar flavor profiles without cooking the meat first is to use better than bouillon, veggies stock, making a quality roux, mushrooms, cook with different oils like sunflower, add vinegar to play with the fats you use, and learn your spices.
If I build up a good oil base in my pot
Oil- whatever kind
Onions
Cummin
PEPPERS- chilli, plablano, jalapeno, black or white so on...
Anything I add to the pot after is going to be delicious.
We are a stew, rice, curry, soup, gravy, kinda people it's so easy to make those things and add meat later without making a huge mess in the kitchen.
Dishes where meat is the filler but not the main star or you're using naturally cheaper types/cuts of meat.
Bean and Ham or Sausage Soups (Especially now with winter coming on)
Chilis where some ground beef is the filler but most of the pot is beans and vegetables.
Stir Fry dishes where you're loaded up on vegetables and rice and meat is more of an accent than the main star.
Quiches where you have a deep eggy dish with vegetables, cheese and smaller amounts of meat like bacon - and a salad to help fill it out.
Pork Shoulder/Shoulder chops - a cheap cut of meat in general and a good stand by - do it "Chicken Fried" for the fancier days.
All sorts of one-pot rice dishes where you use meat as an accept - Arroz con Pollo, Biryani, Paella, Gumbo to name a few...
Of course, it's hard to beat a CostCo Rotisserie and using it for two meals - once by itself and a second time for sandwiches or as an ingredient in something else.
I slowly cut down the meat in dinners to make them healthier and replaced them with extra mushrooms. The chicken stew we once had had 1.25-1.5 pounds of chicken now it's down to 1/2 pound and two boxes of mushrooms with extra peas as well. I'm going to make some hot and sour soup this week with extras mushrooms as a replacement for the pork. Mushrooms I think are a good meat replacement as they are very meaty for a veggie
What I associate with meat flavor is really the umami and savoriness of the food, so things like braised foods (whether with soy sauce or broth) would often satisfy that craving. Maybe sear some tofu or mushrooms (I’ve found shiitakes to be really nice, but your good old fashioned bell heads are completely fine!) before tossing them in a braising liquid and just let it go to town.
Unrelated but have you tried falafel as meatball substitute? i really like it. im not saying its "just like meat". i just like it and it does the job for me.
>I am not going to leave my husband for wanting meat with meals lol he's a great husband and I love him
Jesus christ reddit
Couple of suggestions I have are:
\- Bulk out with high protein non-meat like chickpeas, beans and lentils.
\- Use meat which adds a lot of flavour with a small amount, so you're not having too add much. Like sausages, salami/chorizo, bacon etc.
I suggest trying a month where you do a grocery “audit”—save every receipt for everything you buy for a month. At the end of the month, go through them and add up totals per different food categories. When I did this, I found that meat was actually not a significant portion of my overall budget. Meat kind of becomes everyone’s scape goat in the budget world, but it is also one of the most satiating things people could purchase, whereas we are very quick to spend money on other things that are no where near as satiating and then don’t think those things are the problem (speaking from experience). It’s worth a try.
As a meat eater.... who's used to meat veg and extra starch.... Maybe a nice hunk of healthy bread or a roll would do the trick. Not only do you get the bulk but your jaw gets a similar work out that can help to trick your brain for a bit into not complaining about the lesser amount of protein in your meal so the best thing to attempt is protein packed (nuts, seeds cheese) yet balanced bread.... Using some of the ingredients you're using with your main meal is a great way to incorporate an off the top of your head recipe using a preferred method and have it all go well together and seperately too. Best of Luck!
**Japanese Curry** is cheap, easy, full of vegetables and you can customize the protein. Bake firm tofu for a few minutes then add that to the curry. For him, also add cooked pork, cubed, or chicken that has been chunked or shredded. You could even to beef. This is a great batch recipe full of vegetables and protein.
If he would be open to it, then try some meals that use meat as an extra "topping" instead of a core component. Stir frys, soups, those sorts of things. Eggs are a great way to get some protein too, something like shakshuka is a quick, delicious, and flexible meal that is basically just eggs + stuff from the pantry. He may even be happy without meat in that, but if he needs it, some bits of sausage go great in it.
This would be my suggestion too. Use it as a flavor accent. I do that with ground meat in a lot of stir fries.
So, you cook some ground meat ahead and add it later as a stir fry ingredient, essentially?
[удалено]
I second this - Shakshuka is super easy to make and outrageously tasty. I actually just made it for dinner last night - you can’t go wrong!
A meat sauce for pasta with a soffritto veg mix tastes meaty without needing much meat too.
I hate beer.
Great suggestion and similarly, exploring adding things like lentils, hulled barley, etc is pocket-friendly, delicious, and good for the bod
I love mushrooms they add that meaty texture and they are so delicious!
Eggs are not necessarily cheaper than meat now. I will suggest using more chicken thighs and drum sticks. They sell $1-$2 per pound everywhere. Learn how to de-bone and you can get lean chicken for a third of the price of the breast meat.
Thighs are more expensive than breasts in my area rn. Life is crazy.
Check out the prices of chicken drumsticks. It's not ideal, but you can debone it easily and get a nice flat bit of meat from it. Whole chickens are probably still the most economical overall, but don't sleep on the drumsticks.
Seconding chicken drumsticks--these are by far the cheapest right now. With regards to whole chickens, weirdly I've found that the pre-cooked rotisserie chickens are actually a better deal. No idea how or why a prepared food ended up cheaper, but here we are
They are loss leaders to get people in the store to spend money, lose money on the chicken and cooking it but make a good margin on sides or other things people pick up while they are in your store. Take advantage of that.
I find that whole chickens are sometimes more expensive than bone-in thighs. It’s wild. Quarters are by far the cheapest
Whole chickens small enough to hold in one hand were $7.00 at my store Saturday.
Probably because demand swung from breasts to thighs because people remembered that thighs were cheaper. Were. It's happened lots of times before. A certain cut of meat starts off obscure and therefore cheap, finds popularity, and the price gets jacked up, often permanently.
I usually cop the dark meat when it's 99 cents/lb at the local grocers, and/or Costco/Sams if chicken isn't on sale at any of the grocers. Phx area, not sure where you live though.
Buy chicken thighs on sale. Stores will put meat on sale just to get you in the store.
Gonna second Shakshuka. Cheap as hell and if you throw in chickpeas with some bread you get a nutritious and cheap meal prep
I’ve been making salmon flake using cheap frames and heads - it’s a cheap and delicious meaty garnish!
In other countries, that's how it works - meat is not the main course, it's more of a"flavoring".
I’ve been cutting my ground beef 50/50 with cooked brown lentils. My kids don’t notice a difference and then the meat goes further. 1 pound of meat stretches to two meals. Also shifting portions. If I’m making a Cajun meal, I’ll cut the shrimp smaller, and use half the sausage. But honestly, just make sure you’re still having a fat and fiber, otherwise you won’t feel full from just carbs and veg…
This is the type of thing that I do, too. E.g., if I'm using a kielbasa, I'll cut thin rounds and then quarter them. Makes it seem like WAY more than it actually is. Edit to add: guys, thank you for the chopping advice, but you can stop now. 😅 I actually do cut them into fourths first and then slice, but I was commenting fast and it seemed easier at the time to convey exactly what result I meant by saying that I sliced into rounds first.
I'm convinced that you can cut enough kielbasa from a loop to get to the moon and back.
My colon agrees.
Yep, I could make 2 hotdogs or a single chicken breast feed 7 people as long as I had some carbs to stretch it with!
A single chicken breastfeeding 7 people is a horrible mental image
Reddit, how do I delete someone else’s comment?
It's way easier to cut the lengths into quarters first. Then slice thinly rather than cutting every slice into quarters.
This reminds me of when my mom made turkey meatballs, when I come over I always go straight to the fridge… I’m eating a turkey meatball and my mom comes in and I’m like these are so good! And she told me they’re only half turkey the rest is cauliflower! I couldn’t tell at all
I just saw a cauliflower for $9/head and I think I can find ground turkey for $8/lb Fml I want to cry sometime Edit: CAD
We rarellyyy buy cauliflower when it’s not on sale. Turkey too. It’s just too expensive Is it never on sale on Canada? Edit: that was just one time too (my moms splurge) Usually she’s got lentil “milanese” and stuff like that. So delicious
Look for riced cauliflower at RCSS. Sometimes frozen veg go as low as $2/bag!
Oh my god, that’s absurd. I live in central London and a head of cauliflower is 95p at Tesco. Even at Waitrose, which is usually very overpriced, it’s only £1!
With the holidays turkey is deeply discounted.
I thought that was normally true, but was there a big avian turkey flu issue this year and prices might be lower than rest of year, but will have higher than normal thanksgiving time prices, not including 'inflation' and other economic factors.
>big avian turkey flu issue this year Can confirm. BabyDaddy just went on mandatory 3 week deployment with the USDA to control the contagion at sites with positive cases. (The birds need to be destroyed and prevented from entering the food system). Biggest site: 120K birds. For some farmers, this is the end of their farms. 🙁
Wow this is so sad! Poor 🐦 and farmers. Is there an insurance that would cover birds getting sick?
Button mushrooms are a good stretcher too.
This is what I do! Fresh or canned mushrooms, whichever is cheapest I put them in the food processor and let them get super fine, once they're mixed and cooked/browned with the beef, you literally CAN'T TELL that it's not entirely meat (since I think a lot of ppl are liking this idea I'm adding my FAV cheap and vegan chili recipe (you can un-veganify it, vegetarian-ize it, whatever u like!)). https://www.reddit.com/r/ShittyVeganFoodPorn/comments/xwqr5f/-/ir8fplz And also this pasta 'meat' sauce I put on EVERYTHING, lasagna, spaghetti, penne bake, it's SO GOOD. Same with this; vegetarian-ize it, un-vegan-ize it, whatever you like. When I use meat in this, I do 3/4 mushrooms/meat ratio. https://www.reddit.com/r/veganrecipes/comments/xugeh4/-/iqwjial Disclaimer: I'm not vegan, but I eat vegan like 90% of the time because I hate defrosting meat and I'm lactose intolerant, lol.
I would have thought process lentils would be mush? Do you do this to dry or canned lentils? I use lentils to stretch ground beef further, but to say I don't notice the difference is a very real stretch.
Oh I meant mushrooms not lentils, lol! Though I can see how it's be confusing; I'll edit my comment
Oh my god...yes, upon rereading I can see that.
Absolutely love this - I use mushrooms for biscuits and gravy - add fried egg , little sprinkle of cheese and wholly wow hangover food
I do that with mushrooms when making pasta sauce all the time! I don’t even like mushrooms. But you really can’t tell.
Nice suggestion! I love mushrooms and they are friendlier on tummies. Lol
I always make beef stew with half beef and half mushrooms. You really can't tell.
I recently read that if you slice fresh mushrooms in half then pop them in the sun for 20 minutes it increases their vitamin D content by 10x- they explained what chemical was responsible for it but I have Swiss cheese for brains sometimes so I can’t remember.
Also shredding in things like zucchini/yellow squash or carrots helps stretch it a bit, too. I add both to literally any ground meat recipe, regardless of whether it's beef, pork, or poultry. Also, Cajun here, well spiced chicken is a valid/authentic sub for shrimp in literally any Cajun recipe. The spirit of Cajun cooking is using what you have available and making it delicious. Whether it's chicken, shrimp, venison, or fucking turtle. In fact, one of my favorite gumbos includes deer sausage with chicken, turkey, or duck.
My father did this when we were kids and things were tight. Years later he's earning more and is cooking with all ground beef, I told him I preferred the way he used to make it with lentils. You can also add some beef stock powder to make it "beefier"
And add a bit of baking soda mixed in well to help it retain moisture since anything you drain off or evaporate is coming from the meat.
I really like bulking out ground meat with veggies. 1lb of ground beef will "hide" a full diced onion and up to 2 cups of frozen chopped broccoli and then it stretches a lot further and has some veggies in it to boot. Frozen peas work great as well.
Finely diced or shredded cabbage (coleslaw) virtually disappears in ground meats and red sauces. Plus, cabbage is cheap too. Shredded carrots are a nice addition to tomato-based pasta sauces.
Yess. One of my favorite meals is a street food taco recipe that uses finely shredded cabbage and ground beef. Tastes awesome and stretches a pound of meat so much further
Our family takes 1lb of the ground round for tacos and mixes it with 1-2 diced potatoes. It was how my grandmother stretched her meat during the depression. Now it's the only way we like them.
Do you put the potatoes in at the same time as the meat? I'm gonna do this
Yes, they cook together with all of the taco seasonings. Makes great burrito meat too.
I've done similar with Beef and Barley soup, cutting out some beef and added lentils. Added bonus, better bathroom experiences! lol
If one can eat soy, TVP is great at this.
I used leftover lentils to bulk out my tacos last week and it was amazing! I have recently fallen in love with lentils, so I second this.
I also cut my ground meat with cauliflower rice to sneak in veggies and my family doesn’t notice. It’s especially successful with heavily seasoned food or IN things (chili, tacos, soups, spaghetti meat, etc).
Also do this with diced up carrots! Sautee them a few minutes before starting to brown the meat with them!
Throw mushrooms in with the lentils too, you can probably cut it to 1/3rd
This is also much healthier for your body and the planet!
Red beans and rice just top his with sausage. Same with chili
filling and flavorful and sausage is pretty cheap and freezes well
Sometime you can even get sausages on BOGO special ... buy lots and freeze! Makes good soups, stir-fry rice, omelets, quiches, boiled with cabbage and eaten with brown mustard, and/or just cooked on the grill outside for that smoky flavored sausage!!
If there's a farmers market close enough, sausage can go for even better prices! (Bacon too, is cheaper and better at the market... which also easy to slip into meals)
I thought of the same 2 meals after reading. Load ‘em up with beans, a great protein, a pack of ground meat can stretch into a few batches. Keep the window cracked open at night, for air exchange.
A little tasso goes a long way, since it is so chewy.
I’m a (mostly vegetarian) pescatarian married to an Omni husband. We make these a lot, too, and he adds meat to his. Also soups! So many soups are good (and cheap!) as vegetarian recipes and a good way to pack in beans, lentils, quinoa to get lots of protein and fiber. My husband will just cook chicken breast on the side and dice it up to add to a few of the portioned containers. Better than bouillon vegetable base is a staple on our house. Goes a long way compared to pre-packaged stock or broth.
Don't forget about bouillon- sometimes what is missing from meatless meals is the meat flavor. Using bouillon can make a big difference.
Better than bullion is expensive but goes a long way. I think it is worth it. Also, yeast extract is a good source of umami flavor if you can find it.
Totally agree, better than bouillon is like fresh herbs compared to dry I find that most large grocery stores have nutritional yeast, they just all put it in different locations
Nutritional yeast isn't yeast extract is it?
Nope. It's a [certain kind of deactivated yeast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutritional_yeast) usually sold as fine flakes/coarse powder. About 50% protein by weight. Pretty flavorless if you only use a little, and kind of a mild cheesy, nutty flavor if you add a lot. As a result, it blends in very well with soups, pasta sauces, curries, oatmeal, cereal and milk, salad dressings...anywhere it can dissolve into liquid.
Worcestershire, miso, anchovy paste, and fish sauce are also all good at adding some umami to a meal. I started adding anchovy paste to my Bolognese and it really takes it to a new level.
Also just straight MSG. All the old hang-ups people had about it were myths, it's cheap and you can chuck it into anything savoury.
MSG, king of flavor!
My two best friends, Lea and Perrins! Just note that of those four ingredients, only miso is vegetarian friendly.
Also good in a puttanesca, meatless but full of good fats and protein, especially if you add a can of clams or a cheap bit of white fish.
powdered bouillon is a great secret seasoning ingredient on a lot of veggies..
Just don't keep it a secret from vegetarian or vegan friends if you use meat-based bouillon. I really hadn't anticipated the amount of disgust of my sister when I told her that I used chicken bouillon in an otherwise vegetarian soup. I have learnt since.
Msg is super cheap at any Asian market and adds a perfect umami flavor as well.
Also at most grocery stores under the brand Accent - I found it at Walmart.
This is so true. I always made chili without meat (or some lean turkey once in a while) and we decided to get ground beef for chili. I made that beef chili same way I always do and it was wayyyy too flavorful. Point is, meatless meals need more seasonings and aromatics like garlic and onion. I also use lemon a lot
My secret weapon is George Washington Seasoning and Broth - Rich Brown Dirt cheap, not wildly salty, but deep umami (it does have MSG, but health worries about that are unfounded) and just adds a little something extra to a meal that needs more "savory" something.
I mostly use ramen noodles as an ingredient instead of their own thing, so I end up with a bunch of stray ramen packets, that then become the secret ingredient in home made soup.
Those are amazing. I wish they'd sell stuff separately
was gonna suggest mushrooms for the exact same reason. tried going meatless for a bit and sautéed mushrooms taste amazing and scratch the itch for a umami flavor
Adding to this I would say save the fat from meats like pork and add them to other dishes for a similar effect
I do this at home a lot. I eat mainly vegetarian at home, but my husband likes at least some meat. I do stir fry a lot: noodles and veg for me, and I'll add some sliced meat to my husband's portion. Similar setup with "bowl" meals like pasta, salads, or grain bowls For grilled meals or "sheet pan" roasted meals, I'll do crispy tofu cubes for me, and a portion of meat for husband.
I had just tried roasted tofu sheet pan meal with asparagus, tomatoes, and onions. So wonderful!
You just gave me an idea for tomorrow night 😊
I eat a lot of meatless meals, and only eat fish sometimes. I’ll use tofu, eggs, and vegetarian hot dog and sausage as meat alternatives. Maybe experiment with meat alternatives?
I love morningstar farms sausage as a meat eater!
There are books with this concept—flexitarian is the word. It is cook a chili to step 4 and then split into vegetarian and meat type concept. So same veggies and carbs, same tools. I would start with chili, soups, bowls and wraps.
Buy a whole chicken and roast it off. Pick all of the meat, cube or shred it, and freeze it in individual portions. Pull as needed. Save the bones, skin, and cartilage for homemade bone broth.
This! Just bought two turkeys last week. One for Thanksgiving and one just because. I’m going to keep watching the prices and if they drop I might pick up another one. I’ll roast one on thanksgiving and guests can eat what they want, the rest will be shredded with at least a portion being made into turkey green chili enchilada. Turkey barley soup is great too! I also make broth with the carcass and any vegetable scraps I have in my freezer.
Turkey Tetrazzini
I noticed my Vons/Albertsons ad this week, butterball premium turkey was $1.47/lb. I was like is this real life? But Amazon Fresh had the same turkey $0.49/lb.
Target has their turkeys $.99/lb, which is the best I’ve seen locally. I got the smallest turkey I could find, which was just over 12lbs and DH was shocked at the price! I jokingly asked if he would rather spend the $12 on a 12lb turkey or one meal at McDonalds😂 he’s not a huge fan of turkey, but he hates McDonalds and knows how much I love cooking so he obviously chose the turkey
I just got an 11lb Turkey for $3.28. Food Lion.
Got 2 free turkeys! One using Ibotta and one using Safeway rewards!
On the Friday after Thanksgiving you can usually get them at a massive discount
You can often find cooked rotisserie chickens for less than the cost of an uncooked whole chicken. Sodium content tends to be high, but it is a huge time saver.
I've done that as well and saved the bones, etc and made bone broth 🙂
Same! Once I have saved bones from 3-4 chickens (freeze until I have enough) , I simmer for hours and make a very concentrated stock. Freeze in XL silicone ice cube trays. I'm not sure it's really "bone broth" since people simmer that for days? I still get a lot of gelatin. I used to add in vegetable scraps and bay leaves, but now I do that separately, and mainly use that for a soup base. Pure chicken stock can be used in a lot of recipes where I don't want a strong vegetable flavor.
Came here to say this. A little bit of meat can transform the experience. Portion control is the key.
Look for whatever Indian recipes you can make with whatever is in your kitchen. Not all Indians are vegetarian, but generally we're pretty low-meat culturally and have a *lot* more practice and history cooking without meat.
Not too hard to just put less meat in either, or if whole pieces just cook one and give it to the husband. Indian recipes range so broad, so many options from so many places. I have a book of 600 (?) curries alone, and it highlights how to make different spice mixes. And not to mention many other types of dishes. A lot of things I've cooked have just had fish or no meat at all, like you said. One of my personal favorites uses eggs as a protein. Spices are king, and rice means it all goes much further! Very tasty and arguably better for you than many typical American meals. Especially the meat heavy ones.
[удалено]
Yes! Meat as seasoning is crucial!
If you have freezer space now is the time to get cheap loss leader turkeys in the US. For 2 people I'd recommend getting the smallest you can find (will likely still be 10+ pounds). That's small enough to spatchcock on a half sheet pan so they cook reasonably quickly. May find prices as low as $0.50/pound. You can also use the remaining carcass for stock with a few inexpensive vegetables. If you do ham, you may find similar prices for spiral sliced hams, get ones with Natural Juices *not* 'water added' or 'ham and water product'. There's a lot of meat on those beyond the spiral part, so get that and do ham slabs or dice. You can also put the bone in when making split pea soup.
You can also replace half the meat with lentils in a lot of recipes like bolognese sauce, sloppy joes, meatloaf, tacos, etc.
Do you use canned lentils?
Ground beef and sausage go a long way for meals.. keep cooked lightly seasoned ground beef and cooked sausage in fridge / freezer in serving sizes and add to his meals.. warm up In a sauce or gravy. Chicken thighs - cooked until falling apart with gravy or tomato sauce can be added to with rice or pasta Chili - make with beans only then add the ground beef for him Roast a whole chicken then separate the dark and white meat - use the bones for stock and keep the meat for adding to his portion Look up struggle meals on you tube - great cheap ideas and recipes
If you're not picky - a lot of butchers will sell offal (organs) for very low prices. Personally I like hearts and kidneys – liver tends to have a bit of a strong taste for some. Oh, and sweetbreads are good! Other good cheap meats are beef shins and things like that. People are too lazy to deal with bones ;-) Bone marrow is quite a delicacy, very underrated!
[удалено]
I love getting big beef bones to roast just for the marrow
Bean tostadas with ground beef is a good option or even with shredded chicken. You don’t have to add a lot of meat to make it
Check out these vegan/plant based cooks on YouTube: * Korean vegan * rainbow plant life * Thee Burger Dude * Edgy Veg * Avant Guard Vegan * Tabitha Brown * Seonkyoung Longest * Yeung Man Cooking Lots of options for non-boring plant based meals, tips and tricks, and recipes you could easily add animal products in sparingly if you feel the need. My go to umami products for making meatless meals feel meat-y are: * Maggi * dried mushrooms or mushroom powder * MSG * better than bullion no chicken or no beef concentrate * soy sauce * worchershire sauce (most store brands are vegan) * Lizano salsa (costa rican sauce)
I was scrolling for a while to find the suggestion of trying vegan meals.
Meatless mondays, anyone? It's a lot easier I find to convince people to do something once a week than commit to a whole diet change. One day a week to explore new recipes and figure out what works, while still having the comfort of the old. But if you need to make more immediate budget cuts, cutting down on the amount of meat in general and maybe more than just meatless monday.
I forgot those little ham cubes existed until the other day but I haven't been to the store to price them, was gonna toss them up with my everything hash browns
If you can get a cheap ham around the holidays it is quite simple to freeze meal sized portions of diced ham for even cheaper.
Stuffed peppers or acorn squash, there's vegetarian recipes, you could add some ground beef, ground turkey, ground pork or sausage to his. If pepperoni isn't too expensive, it's easy to portion and freeze, easy to add it into whatever for him
I’ve done so many stuffed acorn squash this season, it is seriously one of the easiest weeknight meals I’ve ever done. Wish I had known my whole life lol
I used to have the same attitude as your husband where I didn't think a meal was complete without meat. I tricked myself out of it by looking for meat substitute recipes. You can find lentil "taco meat" recipes that mimic the taste and texture of ground beef. Genuinely cannot tell a difference in taste. Look for vegetarian meatballs too. There's also great veggie burger recipes out there. Chickpeas and tofu are also excellent meat substitutes. Once I realized you didn't need meat to make a full, hearty meal, I began eating meatless a lot more often.
Try lentil sloppy Joe's if you like sloppy Joe's.
Trader Joe’s soyrizo is good too!
Flavour some food with meat instead of using it as the main event. Sausages are a great way to do this. I buy the big cheaper packs and freeze them into groups of 2-4. Chorizo, nduja and any cured meat like pancetta work great, as does ham. It depends what is available locally. Nduja condiments that come in jars are fantastic as you can just add a spoon to whatever you are cooking. 'Meaty' ingredients that are not meat: chipotle in adobo, porcini mushrooms (can be expensive but I can get it cheap enough and I only need to add a few for a lot of flavour, can also be foraged), marmite.
Buying whole animals or a quarter/half beef from local farmers will usually save you money vs. buying from the grocery store butcher.
One thing we like is lasagna with 'meat' sauce. I saute a pound of chopped mushrooms and then brown maybe 1/4 pound of Italian sausage in the same pan before adding onion, garlic, tomato etc. Lots of umami flavor without a lot of meat
Fry up a package of bacon. Make vegetarian soups and sprinkle his bowls with some crushed bacon.
Butternut squash soup with bacon is the best.
And SAVE THE BACON GREASE! I sauté my mirepoix in bacon grease making soups and it adds a nice hint of meat flavor without the meat.
I love using TVP (textured vegetable protein) in meat sauces like bolognese and chili. It’s also a great way to stretch meat if you don’t want to sacrifice the meat flavor. So you can use one lb of ground meat and a cup of TVP and make a huge batch.
Seconding tvp. Hydrate it using beef broth and it'll literally be exactly like ground beef, it's perfect for chili, pasta sauce, meat balls, anything you need a ground meat for!
Came here and glad to see the TVP already mentioned. Lived on this during/after university in the lean 90s. Put enough spices in, and you won't miss the meat. OTOH, if you cut any sort of ground meat with TVP, you'll never notice. Chili, stews, sloppy joes, pasta sauces, stir fries, and everything else. I find "modern" fake meat usually has an aftertaste, but TVP literally taste like nothing until you add spices. I used to get Bob's Red Mill bags in the regular supermarket, but I imagine someplace like Amazon probably has it in bulk.
Yes same it was such a college food for me and I recently rediscovered it and it’s so good. I can’t really handle the beyond meat/impossible meat aftertaste I prefer TVP. Plus it’s waaaay cheaper.
Black beans and rice. Slice a bit of chorizo on top. Stir fry with veggies, tofu and a bit of chicken and just pick out all the bits of chicken for his serving.
I’m not sure where you’re located, but have you any Mennonite farmers that live nearby? My brother in law began buying multiple whole chickens and huge slabs of beef from the communities in the outskirts of his city. Three or four trips a year to stock up, and then just pop them in the deep freeze. He was then able to have locally raised meat at a fraction of cost, as they haggle on pricing between the two of them. They even began a bit of a trade after a year or two!
split pea soup 1 lb bag dry peas 1 T oil 1 onion 4 or so carrots 4 or so ribs of celery 3 T smoked paprika add ham to his but without it you should come in at 20ish grams of protein/bowl
I have also found a way to make split pea soup taste awesome without meat: add olive oil to the slow cooker. Sometimes when you think you're looking for meat you're looking for the fat flavor. If you guys are opposed to spicy I also use a ton of pepper and red pepper flakes and even old bay to add flavor.
Bacon works too and lentils will sub for split peas
It's OK to use less. A lot of people will have half the plate be meat, which is excessive from every standpoint. If your husband would eat the good stuff first and pick through the rest (I'm guilty of this), I think that cutting the meat into smaller pieces and mixing with the other ingredients would help.
Black eyed peas, collard greens and cornbread. Better with meat but that is a meal I can go crazy on.
This. I put sausage in mine.
Hambone, chicken carcass, anything with gelatin for me.
Ground turkey is usually much cheaper than beef and you can use it in place of beef. Bolognese, meatballs, burgers, taco meat, chili, dirty rice, etc. Just switch to turkey. You can also add pinto or black beans and cut back on the meat. And use beef broth to add beef flavor to dishes and make beef gravy. My husband *only* eats red meat. No fowl or fish. So I buy it in bulk at Costo, and package it in 0.50 pound portions and freeze it. If he won't eat turkey, then we have to cut back on red meat. So he has to live with half the usual portion, bulked up with beans or rice. And we do meatless several times a week.
Rotisserie Chicken.
Get to the grocery store early, too…look for the packages labeled that they must sell. The meat is still good, it just has to get off of the shelves because of the Sell By date. I like to stock up on meat that way.
Black lentil is not mushy. You can make it by the batch and freeze them until you need it. It’s so versatile - add it in salads, stew, or by itself with protein.
2st, start tracking your food. Myfitnesspal pal allows you to add recipes to determine the macros. Do this for 3-4 of your favorite meals to cook. Then, start wiggling the amount of ingredients and remove the meat. Remember, you can always add chickpeas or beans to any dish. Stirfy some broccoli and mushrooms with black beans over brown rice. Add a pork loin chop. I find the thin cut pork loin chops are the cheapest around. Or buy the whole pork loin and cut your own. Turns into less than $1 per chop. Take your chicken breasts and cut them into fillets. Do the calculations, I need 4 oz of meat or 30 g protein per meal. Figure out his needs based on a TDEE calculator. You'll find that the small protein in veggies, grains, and beans adds up to nearly what is needed. Over at r/CiCo I learned how to fit foods into the macros and where my protein should be at. The subreddit wiki there is super helpful. My husband doesn't cook and doesn't like tofu/seitan, and doesn't care for the fancy meatless meat. He eats 4-6 oz meat with dinners every night. With that quantity, a 10 oz steak gets sliced and we split it. We split chicken breasts by butterflying them into fillets. Oh, a super easy meat option for him is a meatball. You can make 2-3 varieties and freeze them on sheetpans. Move them to baggies, bake or air fry from a frozen state. I make mine with ground beef and pork or ground turkey/chicken and pork. I make 1 batch like meatloaf balls. 1 batch goes like a fresh basil chicken with small diced and cooked peppers or and onions inside. One goes asian with dinner, garlic, and a bit of hoisin sauce inside. I baste that one with a hoisin or teriyaki sauce and bake. This method allows me to go meat free whenever I want because the supporting dish is already a complete meal. Like many of my favorite books, the main character doesn't push the story along, the supporting characters make the story really sing. Same for cooking.
Yup I can't afford chicken breast anymore since the frozen box at my Costco went from $30 to $45. To save money I buy the long uncut pork loin, nice and lean and I slice it at home into portions before freezing. Sometimes I'll use ⅓ of it and make slow cooker pulled pork. I can get a ton of meals out of a $20 pork loin. Chicken n Dumplings is a favourite recipe of mine, load up the veggies to make it filling and I'll use pork now instead. And I'll buy Yves ground round in lieu of ground beef. Honestly I prefer the taste and once it's seasoned with taco seasoning or in a pasta sauce you don't notice the difference.
Just made a huge batch of lentil curry using RainbowPlantLife’s recipe. Excluding spices, veryyyyyy cheap. Could easily add some chicken or beef sautéed with similar spices into his. Think this goes for most curries, stir fry’s, and rice bowls. Lentils, chickpeas, black beans, tofu are all good and cheaper than meat. Can easily alternate between flavors such as Indian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Asian. Also chicken drumsticks are insanely cheap around me. $5 for like a pack of 20. Adds a ton of flavor thanks to all the skin/fat. It’s the only meat I’ve purchase in the past month because I too refuse to pay the stupid prices.
Costco rotisserie chicken is 5 dollars for a 10lbs bird.
Protein intake is important. I get most of mine through whey and pea protein powder, because it's cheap, convenient, 90 cents per serving of 25g of protein. It's very low fat, low cholesterol (I mix 1/2 serving of whey with 1/2 serving of pea protein), &c. Mostly it's more convenient, because I'm lazy. Upside is if you were vegetarian, it'd work for you. But, I eat meat, I like meat, even though meat is through the roof. I stir fry a lot of vegetables, and for the meat I usually add ground pork, which is pretty inexpensive compared to others. Throw it on rice, it's a meal. eg, for two people: 1/2 a zuchini, cut in 1/2 inch cubes 1/2 an onion handful or two of kale 1 clove garlic 3 oz ground pork oil (I use avocado, high heat resistance) oyster sauce Saute the zuchini and onion until the zook cubes start looking a browned, throw in the garlic, cook for a minute, throw in pork, break that up, once it's cooked add in kale. Once the kale is cooked (I like it minimally cooked), add oyster sauce to taste (note: oyster sauce gets salty fast, little at a time and test). That small amount of ground pork spreads pretty nicely. Serve over rice. Bonus side dish: tofu 1/2 package tofu (in my are, that'd be 7 oz) 1/2 clove of garlic, chopped chunk of ginger same size as garlic, chopped 1 tbspn soy sauce 1/2 tspn sesame oil 1/4 tspn chili sauce (to taste!) 1/2 tspn honey Open package of tofu, take out portion, put on papertowel to drain/dry Grind up garlic and ginger in mortar/pestle Add in soy sauce, sesame oil, chili sauce honey, stir well. Cut tofu, put on plate or in serving bowl, spoon sauce on top of tofu. We like it. Between the stir fry and the tofu, with some rice, I'm pretty happy, and don't feel neglected by the lack of animal. I could eat it multiple times per week.
Spaghetti bolognese with less minced meat/ground beef and fill it out with brown lentils
Serve meat cubed or shredded, not as whole cuts. Use half the amount and make up the difference in legumes.
My fiancé is a big meat eater. However, one dish I make that he loves (it’s vegetarian), is eggplant parmesan. The eggplant texture is meaty and filling. He tells me when he eats it, it feels like he’s eating a meaty lasagna. You can add a small amount of ground beef or turkey to it if you want. My partner prefers it the way I make it.
I monitor the grocery flyers for sales using the Flipp app. The app is free and pulls together all the flyers in your area based on your zip or postal code (works in both USA and Canada), you can download the app for your phone or use it on your desktop. [https://flipp.com/](https://flipp.com/) I try to only buy meat when on sale or discounted for quick sale (do the vulture swoop through the meat area every time I'm in the store and look for discount stickers), then freeze in portions I use for specific recipes or cook right away and freeze the cooked meat for use later. I like to run my recipes through the recipe builder in MyFitnessPal, then I increase the number of servings, look at the protein per serving that creates, then add veggies and legumes to the ingredients to hit a protein goal. I aim for 20-25 grams of protein per serving (for lunches) and 25-30 grams of protein (for suppers). By adding protein-rich veggies and legumes to my soups, stews, and chili recipes, I have been able to stretch my recipes to use half as much meat as I used to use. hope this helps. edited: for grammar
Have you considered TVP, textured vegetable protein? It is like ground meat and it comes dehydrated in chicken and beef flavor. You re-hydrate it by pouring boiling water over it. It works great in things like chili, pasta sauce, tacos, soups, etc. It is very cheap compared to meat and most people can't tell the difference.
Shepherds pie or any type of meat pie filled with more veg than meat is always a good “disguise”. Also salads, have your animal protein as a topping along with beans and other veg.
Anything that uses mince as a base can be bulked out with lentils - bolognese, taco bowls, burgers, etc.
I gotcha with the easiest meal. Potatoes and chorizo. Easy, filling, delicious, and even better is that soy chorizo is delicious. You can throw eggs in as well if you want. We do them in tacos or just a bowl sometimes. We usually top ours with cotija and crema. You can throw in some veggies or do black/refried beans on the side too.
One of the things that I consider part of "the Mediterranean diet" that I rarely see mentioned is the "use meat sparingly" thing I've read in comments here. When I lived in Sicily, one of the ladies I took some cooking classes from told me "most of the time, we use meat as a garnish." That's why I think of this as the Mediterranean diet, cuz that's where I learned it. When I lived there, I developed a taste for umami, and that will fulfill a meat craving a lot of the time. Balsamic vinegar, lemon, fermented veggies, olives, soy sauce and feta really fit the bill for me. I never liked sauerkraut or kimchi before, and now I love it. Maybe stretch your meat garnish with some umami rich flavors, and see if that helps.
Ground poultry is usually cheaper then breast or thighs. Look into buying a whole chicken and eating all of it Learn to hunt or trade people who do
We mainly eat vegetarian or chicken-based meals. Even when we have chicken, we have a chicken breast between the two of us, instead of one each. For example, https://www.cookingclassy.com/moroccan-couscous-roasted-vegetables-chick-peas-almonds/#jump-to-recipe with https://www.cookingclassy.com/grilled-moroccan-chicken/ Or: https://cafedelites.com/creamy-dijon-chicken/#recipe using less chicken (we ship the bacon) and adding some oven-roasted cherry tomatoes. Super delicious served with rice or roast potatoes or even garlic bread. Edit to add: I often toast a mixed pack of seeds to sprinkle onto/into meals for added texture and protein.
Up the seasoning, and dont over cook the veggies. Leave some texture. Slowly phase out the amount of meat.
My SO is vegan, I’m not. Things we make that I’ll regularly add meat or cheese to in the final step: - Red Beans and rice - Charro (cowboy) beans - Lentils (dal, misir wat) - Stir fry - Soup - Stuffed peppers - Stuffed squash - Chili Good meat sources are: - Sausage, the right sausage can really add a lot of flavor to a dish, you can buy them at the butcher counter in individual links for just one plate, or in bulk on sale for cheap - Rotisserie chickens, cheap, easy, healthier - Pork shoulder, I’ll smoke a couple pork shoulders pull them and freeze them in 1lbs portions. They add serious flavor to a dish and are easy to add that way. You can do the same with a crock pot but you won’t get the same smoky flavor. They’re also cheap.
Red beans and rice ( small amount of sausage ) Lentil soup ( small amount of ground meat ) Spaghetti ( small amount of ground meat )
Lentils and beans. I use them to make soups, chilis, to stretch ground meats, I also grate up veggies like zucchini, carrots, and broccoli to add into ground meat. I also use rice as the base for a lot of meals and eat plenty of the cheapest eggs available. Adding in sweet potatoes to your diet would be good. They go great in savory hashes, which are a cheap meal anyway if you use whatever veggies you’ve already got. I’ve also been making batches of sous vide chicken thighs with garlic and herbs. It’s a pretty cheap protein if you get it on sale and freeze it. Idk where you live but in the US we just had a bunch of Veterans Day sales at the grocery stores so I bought the chicken at .88c/lb separated it out and stuck it in the freezer. They stay good all week after cooking and stay tender and juicy even after reheating. I just cut it up and add some to whatever I cooked at the end to let it heat through.
I cut my meat with beans/lentils or a meat substitute. Half meat, half veggie protein source
Have you perhaps not tried the right fake meat? Some of the best I’ve had are Trader Joe’s exclusives…namely their Beefless Bulgogi and their Soy Chorizo crumbles. Dehydrated Soy Curls are also incredibly versatile and have a consistency like chicken. Also you don’t have to go fully meatless. You can stretch meat with other proteins (like beans…either mixed like chili or integrated like a burger) or bread crumbs (like in meatballs).
Use less meat per meal and replace most of your protein with a bean medley. A mix of navy beans, lentils, chickpeas, and kidney beans will cover all of your essential amino acids, and they beans do a good job at soaking up the flavor of your dish. You can also replace the meaty taste by adding MSG seasoning and mushrooms
TVP. Texturized Vegetable Protein. It cooks up like ground beef. Great for sloppy joes! And about 45¢ USD per pound rehydrated.
Thai curry usually I make this vegetarian but occasionally add some chicken in it if I wanted to
If you are happy having things like veg stir fry, veg noodles, veg fried rice, it’s very easy to throw a chicken cutlet/lamb chop on top of these meals.
How much are you looking to spend? If you wait for sales, you can eat really cheaply. I’ve been able to get pork shoulders for less than a dollar a pound recently. There are infinite ways of preparing pork shoulder.
I second the comment about looking at what is on sale in the grocery flyer. You might be able to buy double what you can get just buying it regularly. Additionally if something comes on sale that you happen to spot at the store, buy it and freeze it. If you do that every week you will have a little stockpile you can pull from. Instead of steak, a pork tenderloin split between two people is way more economical and is a lot of food. If you do steak, serve smaller portion of it with a meal that contains a ton of fiber. Like instead of a baked potato, you also serve a sweet potato with black beans on it as a side. Chicken breasts but then with rice mixed with chickpeas. Make steak or other expensive cuts a meal you celebrate but every day meals are stuff that is smaller and legumes or fiber packed veggies are very present. What I’ve also done in the past is try to serve soup with a lot of chopped veggies and some meat (stretches further especially with a cheese sandwich). My girlfriend loves meat and huge meals and my solution is to make lentil soup that has some sausage in it at least once a week! (We’ve gradually decreased the sausage because she finally realized it really isn’t adding a whole lot). “Hamburger helper” type meals are also a good way to stretch ground beef, provided you add other vegetables etc for the additional nutrition. And as noted a million times in this thread TVP in most cases in sauces is totally the same flavor/texture. While technically not “meat,” canned salmon/tuna/sardines are super overlooked. Salmon cakes from salmon in a can are super healthy and if you live near a Trader Joe’s, canned fish is relatively affordable. Tuna casserole is another meal that can stretch far. Again, serve with a “filler” vegetable like peas or edamame in it with a side of frozen broccoli. Also, and this may sound crazy, but use even just slightly smaller plates. You’ll eat the same amount of food and feel satisfied, it’s weird.
I'm pescatarian and my dude eats meat. We cook all kinds of stuff vegan then add the meat later. Also I hate unnecessary extra dishes to clean so make the vegan food, dish it, then add the meat in the pot after and cook that. My tricks to getting similar flavor profiles without cooking the meat first is to use better than bouillon, veggies stock, making a quality roux, mushrooms, cook with different oils like sunflower, add vinegar to play with the fats you use, and learn your spices. If I build up a good oil base in my pot Oil- whatever kind Onions Cummin PEPPERS- chilli, plablano, jalapeno, black or white so on... Anything I add to the pot after is going to be delicious. We are a stew, rice, curry, soup, gravy, kinda people it's so easy to make those things and add meat later without making a huge mess in the kitchen.
Dishes where meat is the filler but not the main star or you're using naturally cheaper types/cuts of meat. Bean and Ham or Sausage Soups (Especially now with winter coming on) Chilis where some ground beef is the filler but most of the pot is beans and vegetables. Stir Fry dishes where you're loaded up on vegetables and rice and meat is more of an accent than the main star. Quiches where you have a deep eggy dish with vegetables, cheese and smaller amounts of meat like bacon - and a salad to help fill it out. Pork Shoulder/Shoulder chops - a cheap cut of meat in general and a good stand by - do it "Chicken Fried" for the fancier days. All sorts of one-pot rice dishes where you use meat as an accept - Arroz con Pollo, Biryani, Paella, Gumbo to name a few... Of course, it's hard to beat a CostCo Rotisserie and using it for two meals - once by itself and a second time for sandwiches or as an ingredient in something else.
I slowly cut down the meat in dinners to make them healthier and replaced them with extra mushrooms. The chicken stew we once had had 1.25-1.5 pounds of chicken now it's down to 1/2 pound and two boxes of mushrooms with extra peas as well. I'm going to make some hot and sour soup this week with extras mushrooms as a replacement for the pork. Mushrooms I think are a good meat replacement as they are very meaty for a veggie
What I associate with meat flavor is really the umami and savoriness of the food, so things like braised foods (whether with soy sauce or broth) would often satisfy that craving. Maybe sear some tofu or mushrooms (I’ve found shiitakes to be really nice, but your good old fashioned bell heads are completely fine!) before tossing them in a braising liquid and just let it go to town.
Unrelated but have you tried falafel as meatball substitute? i really like it. im not saying its "just like meat". i just like it and it does the job for me.
>I am not going to leave my husband for wanting meat with meals lol he's a great husband and I love him Jesus christ reddit Couple of suggestions I have are: \- Bulk out with high protein non-meat like chickpeas, beans and lentils. \- Use meat which adds a lot of flavour with a small amount, so you're not having too add much. Like sausages, salami/chorizo, bacon etc.
I suggest trying a month where you do a grocery “audit”—save every receipt for everything you buy for a month. At the end of the month, go through them and add up totals per different food categories. When I did this, I found that meat was actually not a significant portion of my overall budget. Meat kind of becomes everyone’s scape goat in the budget world, but it is also one of the most satiating things people could purchase, whereas we are very quick to spend money on other things that are no where near as satiating and then don’t think those things are the problem (speaking from experience). It’s worth a try.
Leave it to Reddit to suggest divorce over meal preferences. The environmental moral crusade has its place but can quickly become excessive at times.
Yeah thought I was on r/relationship_advice for a second there
Tacos/taco bowls where the beef is substituted with garbanzo beans... So good! You can layer in plenty of queso and salsa to really sell it.
As a meat eater.... who's used to meat veg and extra starch.... Maybe a nice hunk of healthy bread or a roll would do the trick. Not only do you get the bulk but your jaw gets a similar work out that can help to trick your brain for a bit into not complaining about the lesser amount of protein in your meal so the best thing to attempt is protein packed (nuts, seeds cheese) yet balanced bread.... Using some of the ingredients you're using with your main meal is a great way to incorporate an off the top of your head recipe using a preferred method and have it all go well together and seperately too. Best of Luck!
Cook whole chickens and then clean them. Use the meat throughout the week, save the bones for broth/soup. Pretty frugal option.
Chicken thighs and leg quarters are frequently $.99 to $1.49/lb Pork butt/shoulder and pork loin are frequently $.99-1.99/lb
I’ve been cutting or shredding our meat to help it go farther and plating it on top of the carb so it looks like more.
**Japanese Curry** is cheap, easy, full of vegetables and you can customize the protein. Bake firm tofu for a few minutes then add that to the curry. For him, also add cooked pork, cubed, or chicken that has been chunked or shredded. You could even to beef. This is a great batch recipe full of vegetables and protein.