How To Cook Breakfast, Lunch, And Dinner All Week For $40

Whether you want to try cooking on a budget yourself or you're just curious how my experience went, keep reading. I'll break down the whole week for you and offer some helpful tips and tricks I learned along the way.

You can download a printable version of my meal plan if you want to give it a try. Or you can use it as a template to create your own.

Besides a 40-cent package of ramen from CVS, I did all of my grocery shopping at Trader Joe's, where I spent $39.57. Together, my grand total for the week was $39.97.

I know it sounds like a lot of recipes for just a few vegetables. In fact, I was skeptical about my own ability to use a single beefsteak tomato in five recipes. But first of all, it was a very big tomato, and also if you use a slice at a time, dice it, and combine it with other vegetables, I swear it doesn't feel like a skimpy portion.

You can find all the recipes for Monday's meals here.

I'm a huge fan of quesadillas, especially on Mondays, when I'm always craving comfort food to ease me into the week.

I love cooking chicken thighs in cast iron because it gets the skin super crispy, but you can also bake them from start to finish in the oven. I let my cast iron skillet get really hot, then I sear the chicken skin-side-down for about 10 minutes until it's crispy. Then I finish it in the oven for 15 minutes.

You can find all the recipes for Tuesday's meals here.

This breakfast may look small, but it's full of protein and healthy fats that keep you feeling full. It also takes very little effort to prepare. All you have to do is slice an avocado, crack an egg into it, and pop it into the oven.

I like topping mine with a little cheese, salsa, or hot sauce for some more flavor.

For a three-ingredient lunch that's basically all store-bought, this soup is hard to beat. Plus, it's so comforting it honestly feels homemade. I like spicing it up with whatever condiments I have on hand, like a drizzle of truffle olive oil, a shake of red pepper flakes, or a spoonful of Parmesan cheese.

Because you'll have plenty of leftover tomato soup at the end of the week, go ahead and increase the portion to match your hunger level. Then put the rest away for the remainder of the week. This is also a super portable lunch that you can make in the morning or night before.

I am obsessed with tacos, but I used to avoid making chicken tacos at home. They always seem to come out sort of dry and unexciting. UNTIL I tried making tacos with chicken thighs. Because they're super moist on the inside and crispy on the outside, they make a really satisfying taco filling that tastes restaurant-quality.

You can find all the recipes for Wednesday's meals here.

The yogurt and peanut butter already give the smoothie a nice, thick consistency, but you can add more peanut butter to make it even thicker. You can also use any kind of milk (dairy or nondairy) instead of water.

Isn't it the best feeling to not think about making lunch? Thanks to the work I did on Monday night, all I had to do on Wednesday afternoon was grab my lunch from the fridge and pop it in the microwave to reheat it. Today, I decided to spice up the chicken with a little canned tomato sauce, salt, and red pepper flakes.

On its own, packaged ramen feels reminiscent of the cheap meals that probably sustained you in college. But it's easy to upgrade ramen into a meal that actually tastes somewhat gourmet.

You can use whatever flavor ramen you like best. I went with the roasted chicken and mushroom kind. Thanks to some fresh vegetables and an egg, you can transform packaged ramen into a meal that feels somewhat nutritious and really satisfying.

You can find all the recipes for Thursday's meals here.

I always thought of tacos as a lunch or dinner food until a trip to Austin, where I quickly learned that breakfast tacos are quite possibly the most delicious of all.

Yesterday's leftovers are today's treasure. Last night's ramen tasted just as good for lunch today, and it was great having my work lunch ready to grab and go. I had enough ramen leftover to fill up a second bowl, but if you think you might need more, grab another package of ramen. It only costs a few cents, after all. I could have premade a second soft-boiled egg and stored it in the fridge overnight, but I chose to make another so it tasted perfectly fresh.

Pasta salad is one of my favorite go-to recipes because you can really use whatever you have in the fridge to whip up something tasty. And you don't need any fancy condiments: A little olive oil, salt, and red pepper flakes go a long way. This recipe makes a hefty portion, so I stored half the pasta salad in an airtight container for leftovers.

You can find all the recipes for Friday's meals here.

I'd frozen my leftover egg muffins at the beginning of the week, so I put one in the refrigerator to defrost on Thursday night. When I woke up on Saturday morning, breakfast was waiting for me. I topped the egg muffin with sliced avocado and a spoonful of salsa for a kick.

I happen to love tuna fish, but if you're not a fan, you could make this wrap with mashed chickpeas or any kind of deli meat. One can of tuna fish could have easily filled two tortillas, but I chose to make one wrap and eat the rest of the tuna on the side. This is also very easy to make at home and pack for work or assemble right at the office in a few minutes.

Ever since traveling to Israel, I've become completely obsessed with shakshuka. This Middle Eastern/North African dish is usually eaten for breakfast, but it's so savory and filling, it makes a perfectly acceptable dinner. You can spice it up with whatever you have in your pantry, like cayenne, paprika, and red pepper flakes. I topped mine with a little leftover avocado and some scallions.

You can find all the recipes for Saturday's meals here.

This Mexican brunch dish was basically invented as a way to use up leftovers, so it's perfect for an end-of-the-week meal. Traditionally, chilaquiles are made by frying leftover tortillas and topping them with salsa and eggs until soft, but I opted for an easy version that's way less time-consuming and intensive, but still really tasty.

I topped a toasted tortilla with refried beans, some sautéed veggies, a fried egg, avocado, and salsa, and it couldn't have been a better way to start the weekend.

Thursday night's dinner is today's lunch. TBH, I always feel like pasta salad improves over the course of a day or two. I tossed the leftovers in a little more olive oil, red pepper flakes, and a tiny bit of lemon juice.

This was one of my absolute favorite meals of the week. I usually eat out on Saturday nights, so I wanted to cook something that felt a bit special and more like something I'd order at a restaurant. Also, store-bought gnocchi is a total gem to keep in the pantry because it instantly transforms any meal into something that feels fancy, even when it's cooked in a really simple sauce. Combined with the crispy chicken (and a glass of wine), this meal was really satisfying and tasted like a step above the ordinary.

You can find all the recipes for Sunday's meals here.

Despite it being simple, there are few better combinatios than peanut butter and banana. You can eat this breakfast open-faced, roll it up like a wrap, or slice it into sushi-like pieces. And you can get creative with any extras in your kitchen, like granola or yogurt.

I transfered my last egg cup to the fridge on Saturday night so that it could defrost and be ready for breakfast on Sunday morning. Since I woke up a bit hungry, I also heated up some leftover creamy tomato soup.