The Prudent Homemaker has a post up on how to eat beans every night. While you probably don’t want to serve beans every single night, there are some great ideas in her post that would be great for keeping your grocery budget low.
What other ideas do you have for budget-friendly bean recipes?
For more ideas, check out my post on How to Live on Beans and Rice for a Week.
sarah says
“While you probably don’t want to serve beans every single night…”
If it were just me, I would – I love beans!
Donna says
*Saucy Beans/Chili Beans*
2 1/2 quarts of cooked beans
1 quart of tomatoes, drain half the juice and crush the tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 T chili powder
1 T cumin
1 t garlic salt
1/2 t oregano
2 T dried onions
Simmer all ingredients in large sauce pot until juice is thick, onions are tender and re-hydrated. Remove bay leaves before serving.
(*Tip: If you use these beans for burritos, the leftover liquid makes a nice enchilada style sauce if you strain it. Also, you can use any bean for this. Pinto, kidney, and black are my favorites.)
RED BEANS AND RICE:
Ingredients:
1 cup of finely chopped celery and tops
1/2 cup of finely chopped green pepper
1 cup of chopped onion
2 T of minced garlic
1 bag of red beans (soaked in water overnight)
freshly ground pepper
Simmer until beans become tender then add diagonally sliced polish turkey sausage or cubed turkey ham (You can often find Jennie-O brand cheap–I can usually get 2 or 3 meals our of one of those!) This is good without any meat too!
Serve over brown rice.
Beef-n-Beans
The pic above was first choice and it is simply;
3/4 lb extra lean beef-browned with-
1 large onion chopped
and 3 cans of pork-n-beans (or leftover white beans or BBQ baked beans)
(Baked Beans: http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2008/02/baked-beans-lunch.html)
Garden Lentils
http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2012/08/garden-lentils.html
15 Bean Soup
http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2011/12/15-bean-soup.html
Black Bean Brownies
http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2011/10/black-bean-brownies.html
Bean Dips:
add spices, leave plain, or blend in other veggies, sauces, or cheeses.
You can spread them on tortilla chips (which can be made from cut and baked corn tortillas to keep frugal/pantry), dip veggies in, spread in layered casseroles like baked nachos etc, use them in wraps in place in the place of meat topped with cheese and lettuce or whatever you have on hand (quick-fix meal!), use as a side on some lettuce topped with cheese and/or sauce, etc.
HOPPIN’ JOHN
1 pkg (16oz) black eyed peas (wash, sort, soak overnight)
1 large onion
3 stalks of celery sliced
2 cloves minced garlic
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
1 t basil
3/4 t thyme
2 to 3 cups cooked brown rice
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1 cup turkey ham *optional
After soaking the beans overnight; drain, rinse, and cover with water, several inches above beans.
I like to boil them for 40 minutes or so, then add all remaining ingredients and cook until tender.
(This is a great dish to add to a study of Little House books!)
Enchilada Bake:
http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2008/04/enchilada-bake.html
Crunchy Chickpeas
http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2008/04/crunchy-chickpeas-snack.html
Bean w/ Turkey Bacon Soup
http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2008/03/bean-with-turkey-bacon-soup.html
Split Pea Soup
http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2008/02/split-pea-soup.html
Bean and Rice Baked Dish
http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2008/01/mexican-or-american-bean-and-rice-dish.html
Nancy says
Oh my goodness, where to start?
As a vegetarian I DO eat all kinds of beans all the time! If you go to my blog and type beans into the search bar at the top you’ll see most of my very favorite bean recipes.
http://www.abridescookbook.com/blog
michelle says
Freezer friendly black bean quesadillas. These are AWESOME!
http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2012/02/hearty-black-bean-quesadillas-661.html
Jen says
My husband loves beans and mexican food, but I tire of them quickly. When I started using dried beans, though, I like them a whole lot better than canned. I’ll cook up big batches and freeze them in can-size portions so that they are ready to go for recipies.
Jessica says
I am trying to find a source for bulk dry beans. I cannot find them at Sam’s Club. I live in Columbus OH and am not on the stops for any of those bulk natural food delivery places, either. Walmart only has 1 pound packs, same as Meijer and Kroger and Giant Eagle. No bulk food stores in my county that I am aware of, either.
The Prudent Homemaker says
Jessica, I have a list of bulk sources here:
http://theprudenthomemaker.com/index.php/pantry/bulk-foods-and-grains
My Sam’s only carries pinto beans in bulk.
Have you tried your local Amish store?
The Prudent Homemaker says
Many of those place will ship.
Jessica says
We are a two hour drive from Amish country and it’s been a few years since we visited that area since it’s not on the way to anywhere we routinely go. I will have to check out your list though Brandy!
nancy says
Beans are certainly cheaper than meat, but I bought some today, and I was shocked at how expensive they have gotten, compared to the recent past.
The Prudent Homemaker says
They have gone up a lot. Try buying them in bulk to keep the cost down.
Lisa- panaMOM says
We totally eat beans every day, and I love this fun list of options!!!
Tammy says
My husband would go on dinner strike if I announced this as my plan. 😉
That said, we *do* like beans, just in moderation. Last night we had beans and rice with pico de gallo and corn chips. Very filling and satisfying!
The Prudent Homemaker says
The trick is not not announce it!
Also, you can use these recipes in between your regular meals with meat. Then you’re not having beans everyday. That is what I normally do.
Donna says
I often use beans to stretch meat. Instead of using 1 1/2 or 2 lbs of meat in recipes, I will use 1 to 3/4 lb and add several cups of beans. This works especially well in Mexi dishes!
Kristin says
Beans are delicious if properly cooked and seasoned. Yesterday, we ate beans at every meal. For breakfast, we made breakfast quesadillas with re-fried beans, scrambled eggs,
and a sprinkle of cheese. Lunch was hummus with pita, olives, and salad. For dinner, I made crockpot split pea soup. I didn’t have a ham bone, so I cooked the peas in chicken broth and added carrots, garlic, peppers, and herbs from the garden. We will be having red beans and rice for dinner tomorrow night. Meat is getting so expensive that I find myself using small amounts to add flavor and savor to our meals, rather than as the main course.
Pamela says
I made delicious curried lentil patties last night -the recipe came from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, but I adapted it a bit. Basically, you soak split yellow lentils all day, then drain them and put them in a blender with a jalapeno, a garlic clove, and curry seasoning (I used curry powder, coriander, and cumin). Then add some chopped onion and chopped fresh cilantro and salt to taste (the recipe says to add either flour if it’s too soupy or water if it’s too thick, but I didn’t need either). Then I fried them in a bit of oil and served with sliced limes, rice and some melon. So delicious! My husband usually freaks out when I talk about serving vegan food, but he was practically licking his plate 🙂
Jen says
Did you seed the jalapeno before putting it in?
I bought a whole bag of lentils and the one recipe I tried (lentil taco “meat”) was not a hit at my house.
The Prudent Homemaker says
Jen, try sprouting the lentils and throwing them in stir fry instead.
Shelly says
I used to make bean burgers on a regular basis. We really did like them. I also have a recipe for lentil and rice burritos at first I didn’t think my family would like them. But even the kids will eat them. Another bean favorite at our home is Ham and bean soup so good in the fall or winter.
Meredith says
Being ex-vegetarians…I know what you mean. You can make a bean burger out of any bean…ok, you can make veggie burgers out of anything. Rice, quinoa, mushrooms, all veggies, etc. Pinto burgers with peppers are extremely good too. Black bean tastes more like a beef patty. Now I’m hungry!!!!
Jenn says
The Prudent Homemaker is awesome! I have been a long time reader of hers and have learned soooo many things from her. Actually, I read this post when it origianlly appeared on her blog and I thought the reicpes were so different that you could probably eat beans every day. And her readers left lots of comments with even more bean recipes.
Felicita says
i make a lot of rice and jeans due to im hispanic. Ejem i make rice i use three cupe of rice, two cups of water, can of beans, hand full of chopped cilantro, salt, two packs of sazón, one cup of tomato Sauce. This is one pot and stir till rice is fully cooked. I always cook a tupe of meat, dinner cost me less than $10 for a family of five.
Anna says
I love the posting by The Prudent Homemaker. She does a very thorough job of making wonderful bean recipes. Also she has a wonderful blog, facebook, and website with great ideas (different from MSM but similar too).
Anna says
I still love MSM too!
Nicole says
We love Navy bean soup and this one that is no longer in the newer Betty Crockers, I got it from my mother in law and we love it! http://www.davidsmommy.com/2012/01/northern-bean-soup.html
Nicole says
The soup is Northern Bean Soup with ham and it is thickened with mashed potatoes! Sorry no coffee yet!
Melissa says
I still have my 24 yr old Betty Crocker book and love it. I learned to cook from this book.
Brandy says
I love some of these ideas! I think beans get a bad rap! When I first started cutting our grocery budgets I added in a beans and rice meal. My husband was less than thrilled but tried to stay positive for me. Turns out that we loved the recipe and it now is one of our staple meals!