What are the cheapest dinners to make for a family?

Dinners built on dry or canned beans, rice, pasta, eggs and potatoes, with a small amount of meat for flavor. In this week's plan the cheapest nights are the beef and bean chili at about $1.37 per serving and spaghetti marinara at about $1.44, both at example prices. Using leftovers from an earlier night keeps the cost down.

How long can I keep leftovers in the fridge?

The USDA says cooked leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator. Put them in the fridge within 2 hours of cooking and reheat them to 165 degrees F. If you will not eat them in that time, freeze them. Every leftover in this plan is used within two days.

How do leftovers carry over without eating the same meal twice?

Cook a component, not a whole meal, twice. Extra roasted chicken turns into fried rice, a double pot of rice becomes burrito bowls, and half a pot of chili becomes chili mac. The ingredients repeat, but each night looks and tastes like a different dinner.

Can I make this plan vegetarian?

Yes. Replace the chicken on night 1 with roasted chickpeas or eggs, use eggs and extra vegetables in the fried rice, and make the chili with an extra can of beans instead of beef. The other four dinners need no change. The total drops a little, since beans cost less than meat.

Where do the cost estimates come from?

They are example prices for fall 2026, rounded, based on store-brand groceries at mainstream and discount chains. Oil, salt and spices are not counted. Your prices will differ by region and by what is on sale, which is why it helps to check your store's weekly ad first.

7 Cheap Dinners for a Week (With a Leftover Plan)

Quick answer: These seven cheap dinners feed a family of four for about $47 for the week, or about $1.69 per serving at example prices. The trick is that leftovers carry over: extra chicken from Sunday becomes Monday's fried rice, a double pot of rice feeds Wednesday's burrito bowls, and half of Tuesday's chili turns into Thursday's chili mac. Nothing waits more than two days in the fridge.

The week at a glance

All costs are example prices for four people, including the produce and pantry items each dinner needs. Oil, salt and spices are not counted.

Night	Dinner	Carries over to	Example cost for 4	Per serving
Sunday	Sheet-pan chicken thighs, potatoes and carrots	Extra chicken goes to Monday	$8.29	$2.07
Monday	Chicken fried rice	Extra rice goes to Wednesday	$6.45	$1.61
Tuesday	Beef and bean chili, double batch	Half the pot goes to Thursday	$5.48	$1.37
Wednesday	Black bean burrito bowls	Salsa and cheese go to Saturday	$7.20	$1.80
Thursday	Chili mac		$8.10	$2.03
Friday	Spaghetti marinara with salad		$5.77	$1.44
Saturday	Bean and cheese quesadillas		$6.06	$1.52

Total: $47.35 for 28 servings, about $1.69 per serving.

Shop on Saturday or Sunday. Raw chicken and ground beef keep only 1 to 2 days in the fridge, per USDA, so the chicken is cooked on Sunday and the beef on Tuesday. If you shop earlier, freeze the beef and thaw it in the fridge the night before.

Sunday: Sheet-pan chicken thighs, potatoes and carrots

Bone-in thighs are one of the cheapest cuts of chicken. Roast about 4 lb of thighs with 2 lb of potatoes and 1 lb of carrots on two sheet pans at 425 degrees F until the chicken reaches 165 degrees F inside. Season with oil, salt, garlic powder and paprika.

Carry over: set aside about a third of the chicken before you serve. Pull it off the bone once it cools and refrigerate it for Monday.

Monday: Chicken fried rice

Cook 2 lb of rice, which is enough for tonight and Wednesday. Fry an onion, add the leftover chicken, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, half the rice and four scrambled eggs, then season with soy sauce.

Carry over: cool the other half of the rice quickly, spread out in a shallow container, and refrigerate it for Wednesday.

Tuesday: Beef and bean chili, double batch

Brown 1 lb of ground beef with an onion, then add three cans of beans, a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, chili powder and cumin. Simmer for 30 minutes. The whole pot costs about $10.95 (beef $5.99, three cans of beans $2.67, tomatoes $1.69, onion $0.60), so tonight's half is about $5.48.

Carry over: refrigerate the second half of the chili in a shallow container for Thursday.

Wednesday: Black bean burrito bowls

Warm Monday's rice, then top it with two cans of black beans, salsa, shredded cheese and chopped lettuce. Everyone builds their own bowl, which helps with picky eaters.

Carry over: the open jar of salsa and the rest of the cheese go to Saturday.

Thursday: Chili mac

Cook 1 lb of elbow pasta, stir it into the reheated chili from Tuesday, and top with cheese. Make sure the chili is steaming hot all the way through, 165 degrees F, before you add the pasta. This night costs a little more because it carries half the chili plus pasta and cheese.

Friday: Spaghetti marinara with salad

A pound of spaghetti, a jar of marinara and a bag of salad. Add sautéed onion and garlic to the sauce if you have them. This is the night to clear out vegetables that need using.

Saturday: Bean and cheese quesadillas

Spread refried beans on flour tortillas, add cheese and any vegetables left in the fridge, fold, and cook in a dry skillet until crisp. Serve with the salsa from Wednesday.

Shopping list for the week

Everything the seven dinners need, sorted by store section:

Produce: 2 lb potatoes, 1 lb carrots, 3 onions, a head of garlic, a head of lettuce, a bag of salad
Meat: about 4 lb bone-in chicken thighs, 1 lb ground beef
Dairy and eggs: 4 eggs, 16 oz shredded cheese
Bakery: 10 flour tortillas
Pantry: 2 lb rice, 5 cans of beans (3 for the chili, 2 black beans), 1 can refried beans, a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, 1 lb elbow pasta, 1 lb spaghetti, a jar of marinara, a 16 oz jar of salsa
Frozen: 1 bag of mixed vegetables

Check your pantry for soy sauce, chili powder, cumin, paprika and garlic powder before you go.

Cooking for one or two

Halve the quantities, but keep the double batches of rice and chili. For two people, the chili covers Tuesday and Thursday with a portion or two left to freeze. For one person, freeze half of each double batch right away and you have ready dinners for the following week.

How the leftovers stay safe

The USDA guidance for cooked leftovers is simple:

Refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking.
Eat within 3 to 4 days, or freeze.
Reheat to 165 degrees F.

In this plan, every leftover is eaten within two days. If plans change and a night gets skipped, freeze that night's leftover instead of pushing it further back.

Ways to make it cheaper

Start from the weekly ad. If pork shoulder or drumsticks are cheaper than thighs this week, swap them in. The guide to building a meal plan from the weekly ad shows how.
Use dry beans. Cooking dry beans instead of canned cuts the bean cost further, if you have the time.
Buy store brands. Pasta, rice, canned tomatoes and cheese are easy swaps to the store brand.
Shop where staples are cheap. ALDI and Walmart are good options for this list, and the ALDI weekly ad meal plan shows a full week built from one ALDI ad.

For the grocery list behind a cheap week, including a version for one person, see the cheap grocery list for a week. To see what is on sale near you, the weekly ad overview covers 23 US chains, including Kroger.

Let Flyva plan the week from your store's ad

Flyva reads the weekly ads of up to three stores you pick and builds seven dinners whose main ingredients are on sale. You can swap any dinner, mark it as cooked, and shop from one list without duplicates. Browse the recipes to see what the plans are made from.