For quicker meal prep, cook up a big batch of rice and freeze it for later, or look for pre-cooked rice that only needs a few seconds in the microwave to be plate-ready. Beans are a great way to add protein to any meal — and they're cheap. While dried beans are a few cents cheaper, canned beans are more convenient because they're ready to use in an instant.

Either is worth stocking, depending on the time you have. Any beans — like black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, or white beans — can be used to replace meat in your meals, like in a black bean burger.

Beans are also a great addition to soups , stews , and chilis. They can be cooked with ground beef or other meats to stretch a pound to feed five or six instead of three or four.

Traditional pasta sauce isn't only for spaghetti — although that's a quick and easy weeknight meal. You can use leftover marinara sauce to make stuffed peppers , chicken Parmesan , meatloaf , pizza, and so much more. Next time you're at the store grab the multipack of sauce; it will save you extra money and provide you with multiple meals for the month.

Canned meat, like chicken, salmon, and tuna, is a great alternative for fresh meats. And it's a non-perishable item that will last significantly longer than fresh meat would, even in your freezer. Canned tuna can be used to make sandwiches, salads, and casseroles. While canned chicken can be used for soups, salads, and, of course, dips.

Combine with a bit of breading, spices, and egg for fast and flavorful cakes or patties. Stock is a common ingredient in soups, sauces, and casseroles.

You can also use chicken stock to flavor your rice or other grains and sautéed vegetables. And a bit of stock can help you stretch soups and sauces if you need a bit more for a full meal. Peanut butter is an inexpensive and versatile ingredient because it can be used in every meal of the day.

From smoothies to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to peanut butter noodles , and tons of peanut butter desserts, the jar in your pantry will certainly not go to waste. And if you have a peanut allergy, you can substitute other nut butters, like almond butter , in many recipes. So many recipes start with oil, and for typical cooking applications, a standard olive oil is all you'll need.

But buying a high-quality extra-virgin olive oil is important if you plan to make no-cook dishes, salad dressings, and sauces. Why's that? Cheap olive oils taste like bad olives. Good oils have a bright, floral flavor that shines through what you're eating. While a higher quality oil may be a bit pricey, remember you're using teaspoons or tablespoons at a time, which stretches the cost out over dozens and dozens of meals.

Have you ever wondered why so many recipes call for garlic? It's because garlic is an aromatic ingredient it has a distinctive smell, and smell is an important factor for taste , and it's an easy way to add a ton of flavor to your meal.

There are so many ways you can add garlic to your dish based on preference and even budget — you can use fresh garlic cloves, store-bought minced garlic, or garlic powder. Fresh garlic is usually preferred, but any garlic will work to pack in the flavor. Ground meat, like beef, turkey, and chicken, is great for making a quick and easy meal.

You can make soups, casseroles, hamburger patties, and tacos with ground meat. Ground meat isn't the most inexpensive meat, especially depending on how lean you want it, but it's a good thing to buy in a bulk package and freeze for later.

And because it's so versatile, you can almost always replace one ground meat with what's on sale — like ground beef for ground turkey. Frozen vegetables are often cheaper than fresh veggies, and they last much longer. And because you can buy a bag of mixed vegetables, there are so many ways to add veggies to your meal.

You can add frozen spinach to quiche, mixed vegetables to fried rice, and corn to tortilla soup. Or you can heat up your favorite veggies and eat them as a side dish.

Use limited data to select advertising. BREAD I typically make my own bread , but it is something that I always keep on hand. We often use it to make sandwiches for lunch, toast it to eat with eggs and occasionally use it in recipes like my Cheeseburger Casserole too!

TORTILLAS I use these all the time to make enchiladas, tacos, quesadillas and wraps. In fact, these Salsa Ranch Chicken Wraps are one of my favorite quick meals!

And these easy recipes with tortillas are also great as well. ONIONS GARLIC I use both of these items regularly to inexpensively add extra flavor to lots of different recipes. Of course, you can always freeze them too , if you prefer. CARROTS These are not only a great addition to many soups, but they also make a healthy snack or side dish.

POTATOES Super versatile! You can use them in soups, casseroles, breakfast dishes or side dishes. A few of our favorite potato recipes are Creamy Sausage and Potatoes , Cream Cheese Potato Soup with Ham , and Country Potato Soup.

BUTTER This is probably the one thing that might seem iffy to put on a frugal pantry list. Plus, I love using it to make these easy Garlic Butter Swim Biscuits!

SOUR CREAM I like to keep this on hand to use in soups, to make homemade dips and to use in several casserole recipes as well.

But , since I cook almost entirely from scratch, I do end up using it quite a bit even so. Just a little bit can make a lettuce salad, tuna salad sandwiches or refried bean quesadillas so much yummier!

And we love these White Pizza Grilled Cheese Sandwiches! FROZEN VEGGIES Often much cheaper than fresh veggies, the other handy thing about frozen ones is that they last much longer!

I use them a lot as a side dish and also in recipes like my Easy Chicken Pot Pie , Cheesy Ham, Potato and Green Bean Bake and Easy Vegetable Beef Soup. CHICKEN Probably the cheapest kind of meat there is and super versatile too! A few chicken recipes that we enjoy: Herb Roasted Chicken and Potatoes , One Pan Chicken and Rice , Creamy Crockpot Mexican Chicken and Homemade Shake and Bake Chicken.

In casseroles or soups, I often can get by with using less than the amount called for. A few ground beef recipes that we really like: Crockpot Tamale Pie and Super Easy Sloppy Joes. It helps me be frugal because I can buy in bulk when food is on sale becoming less and less, it seems, these days , portion it and freeze for later.

Yes, I love stocking up and freezing items that are on sale too! Such a great way to save. I so agree with you. We have worn out many vacuum food sealers over the years. Our son upgraded so he can vacuum seal whole chickens raised on his property.

We opted for a slightly smaller model and use it daily. when canning diced tomatoes can I pressure can them in stead of water bath? If so how long to pressure can?

Yes, you can definitely pressure can them! As for how long, it will depend on your pressure canner and altitude. I would look in the instruction manual that came with the pressure canner and go by what it says there.

I would follow that. Tomatoes also freeze well! Either whole or diced or roasted. Consider that especially when your garden is at its peak.

I would add celery to that list as I use it in making stews. Onions, carrots and celery is your mirre poir for all basic stews. Yes, celery is a great pantry staple, for sure!

Never heard of strained tomatoes but canned tomato products of any kind are handy to have, I think. This is one of my favorite ways to save on cheese too. Great list! A tip on keeping garlic longer — I buy the 3 packs of bulbs from Aldi and immediately put them in a small ziplock kept in the freezer.

It keeps a long time that way!!! Ready to mince, etc. I also keep Panko bread crumbs in the freezer as I use them in a variety of recipes. Lime juice gets used in marinades, etc. and lemon juice is frequently used as well, not only desserts, but certain salad dressings too. Final note, this is not going to work for everyone, but try to hunt out whether or not there is a good local butcher shop in your area.

Or at least within reasonable driving distance. I make a few trips a year and stock the freezer with various meats. Got a great deal on those and they worked just fine for recipes that called for bacon bits or a bit of chopped bacon — just froze them and pulled out what I needed. I never knew you could freeze garlic!

That is totally going to change my life. Thank you! And I started keeping my bread crumbs in the freezer too.

Lesson learned. Freezing lemon and lime juice is so smart! I wish I could find a local butcher shop that has that kind of price on chicken! So glad you are finding the blog interesting and helpful!

Diced tomatoes, pasta, rice, eggs, flour, sugar, beans of some kind, canned tuna, pickles, potatoes, a tube of tomato paste, oatmeal, onions jav-way.site › pantry-staples FREEBS' FAVORITE WAYS TO USE CANNED VEGGIES · Minestrone soup · Pumpkin bread · Chicken tortilla soup · Cornbread · Lentil soup · White chicken

Video