I will be exploring how to make 6 different dinner recipes that cost no more than $6 to make per person. In the interest of this being my own exploration I will be creating recipes for a total of four people so that I can have leftovers!

The one caveat to this is that I will not be including the price of simple household ingredients such as vinegar, salt, sugar, pepper, oil etc..

I will label and take photos of all the ingredients purchased in the grocery store that will be used in the recipe and I will go through a step-by-step process of how to cook the meal!

Meal 1 – $6 Chicken noodle soup

The ingredients needed for this recipe:

  • 4 chicken thighs
  • a head of celery
  • 5 carrots
  • 1 onion
  • couple cloves of garlic
  • chicken broth cubes
  • a package of pasta
  • salt and pepper

I got the ingredients for the chicken noodle soup at Country Grocer (one of my favorite grocery stores)

I spent a total of $15.29, see the prices of the ingredients above. Which will likely make an 6 serving soup rendering a price of $2.55 per bowl of soup.

Time to cook the chicken noodle soup!

  1. Start by getting a large pot, placing it on medium heat and searing the chicken breast.

    2. While this is happening chop up your carrots, celery, and onions in relatively small pieces. Peel 2 to 3 gloves of garlic and put aside.

    3. Once the chicken breast have been seared remove them from the pot and place them on a clean plate, put aside.

    4. Put your onions straight into the pot and cook until translucent (about 2 minutes) if they are sticking to the bottom of the pot just add half a cup of water to deglaze.

    5. Next in two cups of warm water dissolve 4 chicken broth cubes.

    6. Add your carrots, celery, and 2 cups of chicken broth to the pot along with another 6 cups of water. Put the chicken thighs back into the soup as well.

    8. Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil, once a boil is reached add your crushed garlic and let simmer for 25minutes.

    9. Once you have let the soup simmer, add about half the package of spaghetti pasta, let cook for 8 to 10minutes.

    10. It is ready to serve when the noodles are cooked through. I added half of a bag of spinach right at the end which cost an additional $1.50 to the total meal, however I did not use all of the carrots, the chicken broth cubes, and only half the package of spaghetti noodles so we can estimate that it cancels out with the price of the spinach. Enjoy this cheap meal!