Frugal Meal Series: Black Bean Quesadillas and Refried Beans (Vegetarian)

Welcome to my new series aimed at helping families on a budget with some new and cost effective ideas for meals! I aim for around $5 per meal while trying to highlight dishes from scratch, meatless options, common ingredients, and whole grains. My typical weekly grocery bill for 4 was $50-60 just a couple years ago, but with the current economy it has increased to about $80/week. This series shows you my average family dinners including cost breakdown, links to recipes, and other details to help inspire you!

Step 1 of saving money on your grocery bill is to MAKE A MENU! Once a week I sit down and write out a dinner menu for the next 7 days. I take into account what I have in the freezer, what our schedule is like for that week, what the weather is (hot/cold), and any leftovers. It also stops everyone from asking "What's for dinner??" From this you can easily make your shopping list to only get the items you need while keeping an eye out for any markdowns/clearance items you can stick in the freezer for a different meal. I do 90% of my grocery shopping at Aldi as I find that they have the best prices on most items. For a few other remaining items I go to Walmart.

Some meals I make are easy, some are more complicated. I mostly stick to tried and true dishes that I know everyone likes, but occasionally I like to try out a new one and experiment! I cook many style from American to Italian, Chinese, Mexican, and lots of Tex Mex. Variety is the spice of life!

For my cost breakdowns I will show real or estimated prices of items (based on current prices in western NY), but I don't include typical pantry ingredients i.e. spices/oil/butter/milk etc. unless it's a significant amount.

For this meal I made black bean quesadillas with chips and homemade refried beans.

Total cost of meal for 4: $5.10

Cost per serving: $1.28

Click here for the recipe for homemade refried beans made in the crockpot

Price breakdown:

1 can of black beans: 0.75 (I make mine homemade, so my actual price is lower)

1 bag of shredded cheddar: $2.25

1/2 bag tortilla chips: $1

1 can fat free refried beans: 0.60 (I make mine homemade using the recipe linked above, so my actual price is lower)

4 large tortillas: 0.50

These simple black bean and cheese quesadillas are a big hit for a quick dinner here. I usually just add chili powder, but this time I had some leftover diced bell pepper so I threw those in as well. Chips and dip are a quick and easy side. If you have sour cream and avocados you can add those as well! The sky is the limit. I usually make extra to send for school lunches as well.