Eating healthy while remaining within your weekly food budget can be a challenge. However, with a little effort, you can find cheap yet nutritious foods that keep your body functioning at its best. Focus meals around inexpensive healthy foods that you find on sale and use pricier ingredients only occasionally to stretch your food budget.
Protein
Instead of focusing on meat as your primary protein source, turn to legumes to provide most of your protein needs. Dried beans and tofu are generally less expensive than meat and provide fiber and phytonutrients along with protein content. In addition, cutting back on the amount of meat you consume by using more vegetables in the dishes you create can help. When you buy meat, look for cheaper varieties of the healthiest kinds. Canned salmon, tuna and sardines are much cheaper than fresh seafood and provide a convenient way to get two servings of fish per week, as recommended by the American Heart Association. Pork, chicken, turkey and lean cuts of beef are sometimes cheaper than high-fat meats.
Fruits and Vegetables
Some varieties of produce are cheaper than processed foods. Shop wisely for fruits and vegetables by buying what is on sale and planning healthy meals based around those purchases. Buy from the bins of loose fruits and vegetables, not produce already in packages. Stock up on low-salt, supermarket-brand canned vegetables whenever they are on sale and use them in soups, stews and casseroles. Buy large bags of frozen peas, corn and mixed vegetables, which are frequently cheaper than their fresh counterparts. Canned and frozen vegetables may lose some nutrients in the packaging process, but they are sometimes healthier than fresh vegetables that have been transported hundreds of miles over the course of a few days or weeks.
Carbohydrates
If you buy from the bulk section of the supermarket, brown rice, whole or rolled oats and barley are typically cheaper than the refined prepackaged versions. To get even more cheap and healthy grains, seek out local ethnic groceries where you can find inexpensive millet, kasha and buckwheat in bulk. Baking your own whole-grain bread at home and cutting back on bread consumption overall can benefit both your health and your wallet.
Fats
Healthy fats such as olive and canola oil are more expensive than fats that can damage your health, but you can make up for the added cost by using them sparingly. For example, instead of frying chicken in a few cups of cheap vegetable oil, saute it in a couple of tablespoons of a healthier oil, or simply rub a small amount of olive oil over the top and roast or grill the chicken in the oven. Not only do healthier oils lend themselves to healthier cooking methods, they might even make you think twice about how much oil you are using in a dish when they are all you have in the pantry.
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