I have a theory that there is a impossible trinity (like in economics), where a food cannot be delicious, cheap and healthy at the same time. At maximum 2 of the 3 can be achieved.
Is there any food that breaks this theory?
Edit: I was thinking more about dishes (or something you put in your mouth) than the raw substances
Some popular suggestions include
- fruits (in season) and vegetables
- lentils, beans, rice
- mushrooms
- chicken
- just eat in moderation
Edit 2: Thanks for the various answers. Now there are a lot of (mostly bean-based) recipes for everyone to try out!
Also someone made a community for cheap healthy food after seeing this topic!
You already mentioned them, but I’m a huge fan of lentils. They go with so much stuff and you can combine them with a variety of spices. Give me any leftover ingredients and some lentils, and I’ll cook up something delicious. I can and will eat lentil soup for days.
They are also a pretty solid crop, they can grow in a variety of climates, require little water and are good for the soil.
Onion. It’s cheap, nutritious, acts as a low-key anti bacterial solution, can be served in a multitude of ways, or eaten raw.
Subscribe for more onion facts. 🧅
eaten raw
You, sir, are a monster.
Hmm time for a snack
Takes a bite from a raw onion like an apple
Listen for some of us that’s a delicacy.
Tony abbott is that you?
Subscribed.
Great fashion accessory too
As was the style at the time
I thought your facts would lean more towards the lemon lifestyle.
Followed. Don’t let me down!
Ah yes, a food that you can eat for three days without pooping while you stay in a tent?
A legend has been born already for this network xD
Chick pea curry.
Oatmeal with bananas, cinnamon, soy milk(unsweetened), flaxseed and sugar + extra fruits according to preference.
I eat it everyday for breakfast and I never get tired of the flavor. Sometimes I even get a bit greedy and eat it more than once. It’s very filling, healthy, and cheap.
Yes - generally beans are both healthy (33% protein, 33% fiber, 33% carbs), cheap (dried or in cans), and can be pretty tasty, even out of cans, but if not with eggs, as part of a soup (tomatoes + grain + spices + veggies).
Agreed. Beans can easily be dressed up and made delicious with just a few spices for very cheap, and are very healthy.
potato
So… Are you just unaware of fruits, vegetables, and legumes, haha? In my opinion there’s a huge amount of food that fits all three categories. One of the best example of cheap, delicious, healthy, and easy is beans and rice, spiced up however you like.
Yup. Mexican, Indian, a lot of cuisine from poorer countries figured this out long ago. Beans or lentils over rice with the right spices, incredible. The restaurant version will add a lot of fat and heavy cream but if you make it yourself you can adjust that so it’s not unhealthy.
Yeah! Exactly! A huge amount of the best food (imo) comes from these cultures. Plus many of these dishes are also really easy to make in bulk, which is a big win too.
My first thought was just just “Bananas?” Lol
When I was in college, I had the rule of not buying anything that is >$1.50 per pound. This is what I was reduced to (prices may be different now due to inflation and geo area):
- Apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries when they are on sale
- Milk, yogurt
- Pork shoulder, chicken quarters, thighs, drumsticks
- ground pork, ground beef
- Carrots, broccoli, potatoes, cabbage (you’ll be surprised at how good thinly sliced cabbages taste in a sandwich)
A few people already keyed in on this but just to make it abundantly clear:
“Peasant food”.
So that means:
- Whatever meat/protein and veg is on sale. Don’t neglect the frozen food aisle. Most (all?) of that is flash frozen and, honestly, fresher than if you were to buy it in the produce section. Some veg handles this better than other (frozen spinach makes me vomit, Frozen peas are amazing) but it is cheap and nutritious
- Something cheap as filler (I grew up with rice so I eat a lot of rice)
- Whatever spice is cheap. You can never go wrong with buying the big bag of mexican seasoning at the supermarket. Usually cheap because “mexican” and usually has a good blend that comes in a range of spice levels. Just taste it to get a feel for how much salt is in there so you can add salt accordingly while cooking.
Cook the filler as you would. Oven or pan the protein. Season generously.
Cooking shows/youtube make us think this is a lot more complicated than it really is. But if you learn a few basic cooking techniques (“stir fry” is love, “stir fry” is life) then you are basically set and can be That Guy who stands in the aisle at the supermarket figuring out what he is making next week based on what is available.
For Brits: Swap “Mexican” for “Indian” or “Polish”
Also buy your spices from Indian supermarkets/shops/sections of Asda rather than getting Schwartz jars.
E.g. My local Asda sells a jar of Schwartz cinamon for £2.50. The next aisle sells cinammon in a bag of 3x the amount for £1! Same for rice, noodles and many other ‘foreign’ foods. Polish meat section can often be cheaper than the normal sections.
I thought frozen veggies weren’t nutritious. Is that a myth?
Do some googling of your own but: Effectively no. The vast majority of vitamins and nutrients are unaffected by the freezing process. In some studies, some specific stuff (like riboflavin, I think?) does degrade a bit. But your cooking method is likely to cause more damage than that
So if you live on a really wild farm with a lot of different biomes: go for it. Otherwise: frozen veggies are awesome.
Well, something being delicious is subjective, but if we assume a “general acceptance” of most delicious foods, potatoes could fit easily. They can be cooked in all kinds of ways, are very nutritious and, again, pretty much everyone says they’re delicious.
That’s a good point, but even within potatoes there is perhaps still a trade-off between “delicious” and “healthy”. As in steamed potatoes without sauces or stuff is kind of meh, while french fries are not that healthy.
Oven-baked potatoes is where it’s at.
Or boil it in chunks and serve it with fried onions and mushrooms.
Well, first we need to define what healthy means, because you could die of water intoxication, meaning there is a point where quantity matters.
Are cheese and butter healthy ? Not if it’s your only diet, but there are tons of very healthy things in cheese and butter. And of course, the same goes for every thing. So we must have balance in mind when defining an healthy food.
The second is to define what is cheap. In most of European countries, fresh food is relatively cheap, but in other countries they can super expensive. And there’s nothing more healthy than fresh food. So you definitely need fresh food as a base for an healthy balanced meal.
The third is highly subjective.
As for my healthy delicious cheap meal:
Breakfast
One scrambled egg by Gordon Ramsay with a melted slice of cheddar on toast and A fruit salad of one orange, one kiwi and one small apple
Lunch
Spaghettis with fresh garlic, olive oil, fresh basil and tomato wedges
Dinner
Pan-fried chicken fillet with frozen peas and carrot rings
Snack
Any fruit really
This is a really good writeup. At a glance, I’m guessing these three meals don’t collectively exceed 1,000 calories, which is important to note since OP will probably be very hungry.
This is a really good writeup
Thanks
At a glance, I’m guessing these three meals don’t collectively exceed 1,000 calories
Except for the breakfast, I didn’t specify the quantities. So I guess some could adapt those “recipes” to their needs.
Kebab plate with vegetables.
A coleague of mine was eating it when he was on a diet to lose weight. It’s basically kebab/gyros meat and a vegetable salad with a dresing (usually tzaziki). You have basically no sugar in it, it’s just protein and vitamins.
Back in the day it cost like 4-5 € where I live which was pretty cheap for a lunch. Now it’d more like 6-7 € but that’s still decent
That is not at all a healthy meal, lol.
That happens when you get told as a child that meat is always healthy.
Thank you for judging my whole childhood based on one comment! 👍
Of all the things one could eat, meat is generally on the healthy side though…
Umm what’s unhealthy in it? :)
I guess it depends how we define what’s a healthy meal but in my book few rules to eat healthy are:
- lower your sugar, flour, potatoes income to minimum
- lower your fat income and choose right fats
- eat more fruits and vegetables
- maintain right ballance of carbs, fats and proteins
A “kebab salad” sounds quite healthy in that take. Despite sounding strange that a common street food could be healthy
It’s a lot of salt, processed meat, and the salad bar at a normal kebab shop is not filled with nutrient dense vegetables. If it’s me, I’d eat it as a takeaway and spread the meat over three days’ worth of meals and up the nutrient content with broccoli and nuts.
Eggs
Eggs are my favorite food probably. It’s hard to beat eggs
Honestly, I think most food can be found pretty cheap, except for proteins. The best bet I think is chicken drumsticks, but even those will add up. Beans are a cheap protein, but it’s about just as carby as it is proteiny.
