Why You Can't Make Cheap Meals

I Have DONE IT! A FULL Book on Anime Food in Japan! Back the Kickstarter now!
www.kickstarte...
Support me on Patreon for Exclusive rewards! / chefpkpre-order MY NEW COOKBOOK!! www.chefpk.com...
For 70% off with HelloFresh plus FREE shipping, use code CHEFPK70 at bit.ly/3fpL9zx
After watching Devil Is A Part Timer I was inspired to deep dive into how to make cheap meals. A lot of tutorials out there don't talk about the REAL cost of making "Cheap Meals" and that's exactly what I want to show you today.
- Get More
Join My Discord: Join My Discord: bit.ly/3VuVf29
Become a Member: [bit.ly/39EXdHD]
-Find Me
Instagram: [ / chefupk ]
Twitter: [ / chefpk3 ]
Some Links include Affiliate Links, which means I get a small commission when you use them. It really helps out the channel.

[@Gremalkin1979]

There are two things you need to know in making meals cheap over a long time. 1: Buying items in bulk is cheaper. This includes dry stuff like rice, pasta, spices (like granulated garlic). The bigger the package the cheaper per kg/pound it usually is. This can be a huge money saver. Same thing with canned and frozen stuff. Things you can use a little at a time. 2: Know what fresh items are the most filling or full of flavour. This one is a bit harder as it takes actual experience, but as a general rule; Vegetables that keep well in the fridge (like cabbage, potato, root vegetables) Rosting cabbage or turnips in a little bit of oil makes a lot of flavour, etc. What are your tips for cheap meals ?

[@mariusweber4990]

Good points! To add to them, one of the main things I picked up over time was to primarily bulk-buy things that are versatile and easy to combine with other ingredients, because a lot of the time (especially if you're a beginner like me) you'll make a great few meals and then end up with a storage full of random leftovers you don't know what to do with. Potatoes, onions, carrots and the like are great for that reason.

[@shelbyherring92]

@@mariusweber4990 I do the same with eggs and cheese: 1.) Because I know it's something I'll frequently use. 2.) Mixes with other cheap bulk buys, like rice, pasta, breads, and some veggies for quick stuff like mac n cheese, quesadillas, grilled cheese, omelettes, eggs and rice, ramen etc.

[@Miss_Kisa94]

I'd like to add, avoid name brands it's the same stuff as the generic just costs more for no reason. Also buy things on sale and then freeze them. I currently have 3 loaves of bread in my freezer. On the topic of frozen food, frozen vegetables can be cheaper than fresh and you don't have to worry about them going bad quickly.

[@maindepth8830]

I like to make pasta with tomato sauce Takes no more than 15 minutes, and is dirt cheap £20 for like 10 to 12 days

[@alliew31]

I buy my meat for a month+ when it’s on sale and freeze them. It’s so much cheaper than buying for a week at a time.

[@brningpyre]

I really love that you kept the cost real. So many cooking channels on here cheat on the price so hard ("Ha ha, only $1.50 of parmesan, even though the brick costs $15"). Like, they don't even care, it's just for a title thumbnail (cough cough Joshua Weissman cough cough).

[@CHEFPKR]

Just trying to keep it realistic. Its what I had to do managing hotels.

[@davidstowe7880]

Bro, this makes me think, every video like this disregards the initial cost of spices and things like oil, assuming people already have them or justifying them as you said because they last so long. I'd love it if you did like a "good, better, best" of essential spices to keep in your cabinet on a budget... with maybe a few opinions for upgrades.

[@CHEFPKR]

100%. Most recipe videos based on this aspect won't usually talk about the little things like that, which is unfortunate. I had to think about that professionally

[@shelbyherring92]

Well, as for essential spices and seasonings? For me it's salt, black pepper, and a toss up between onion or garlic powder. But that's me, because I eat a protein rich diet primarily from animal products (meat), and those just are necessities for red meat.

[@Miss_Kisa94]

The spices you use really just depends on what you cook most often. For example I love baking so I always have cinnamon, cloves, ginger and things like that. If you enjoy Mexican food you will probably have a lot of dried peppers and chilies. If you like Italian food you'll have a lot of basil and oregano.

[@jaspervanheycop9722]

I'm not PK, but I say you can make pretty much any flavour you want with: Salt and pepper garlic powder (onion potentially too, though onion is cheap bulk, so just use fresh!) cumin smoked paprika cayenne some blend of dried herbs (I use d'Provence, but just Italian is great too) some sort of curry powder (a blend is a lot cheaper than buying all the spices, and you'll usually use it as a combo anyway, at least I do). That gets you the stuff you need for everything from Indian/Middle Eastern, to Mexican, to Continental European, and will be just about a once a quarter year purchase of only about 20 bucks. And bonus tip: go to an Indian or Middle Eastern supermarket, they sell huge bags of spices and blends, at a fraction of what a single shaker costs at the regular store.

[@santtumoilanen3065]

i just watched babish buy almost 1000 dollars worth of spices xD aint nobody gonna afford that,,,, i usuallly have just some dried herbs and salt and pepper.... maybe some msg and chili

[@rebeckymo]

The 'seeing a bigger bag of potatoes for the same price as a the handful you bought earlier' moment is the story of my life, lol. But then again, every time I buy a bag of them vs by the pound, they wind up getting roots before I can eat them all, so...I dunno which is better.

[@christopher5855]

There are several things you could do to preserve and save those bags of potatoes if you have the time that is. Slice 1/2 inch thick or dice 3/4 inch blanch in boiling water 3-5 min until they start to soften but not fork tender yet. From here you can cool and then freeze on a sheet pan then bag them up into freezer bags or you could dehydrate them. If you go the dehydration route they will last a good long time on the shelf but really only be good for soups, stew and potato casserole. You could can them but that also requires you to follow a tested recipe and have the equipment to pressure can. This works best with waxy potatoes and they come out tasting like a stewed roast potato which isn't bad but again good for soups, stews and roasts. You could cook the potato fully then let and cool and freeze or store in the fridge for a week tops properly i.e. put in the fridge NOT wrapped in aluminum foil. You could also prep fries. Cut into your favorite fry or wedge shape blanch or fry at 350 degrees until just cooked through drain and line a sheet pan and freeze. If you go the blanch method you may need to drizzle some oil on them depending on how you intend to finish them. To use pull from the freezer and fry in oil at 375-400 until golden. If you blanched and did not oil you will probably need to fry them in oil or toss in some oil then either bake or air fry.

[@makishae9811]

Just slice off the roots tho, it’s not like that stops you from eating the potato o.o

[@randomanon8408]

@@makishae9811 if you see root, toss the potato the roots aren't the poison, they are the sign don't risk death over a 0.30$ potato!

[@miguelgonsalves6161]

Can't you just cut the roots off and eat them after?

[@Freaky0Nina]

People freaking out about roots. Seriously. Just small roots aren't a problem, just a sign that yiu should use them up now rather then later. Cut the roots off, you'll be fine. If the roots got from tiny to big, that's when you can consider tossing them. If you want to be extra safe, carve out the part where the root was. But honestly, who do you know that died off potato poisoning?

[@KiritaWindwalker]

One of the biggest things people forget when eating cheap is never waste! Bones? Veggies scraps? Stock pot it! Cooked or uncooked bones and fat work, tho in my experience uncooked makes better bone broth. Got a handful of veggies/meats you gotta use? Make a stew or goulash night. You can put almost anything in a stew, Shepard pie, or goulash, and its a super easy way to use that half a carrot, wilting bag of kale, one cooked potato, and ground beef that smells okay but you wouldn't give it but another day or two.. toss it in with some extra spaghetti sauce, Sautee, add cooked noodles, top with cheese, and boom. No waste and a pretty balanced dinner. With time, you find spice blends that can work for just about anything too. We splurg on ranch seasoning for example as it goes well with chicken and veggie focused stews.

[@uranus1570]

it works only as long as you know your ingredients well. Bones store antibiotics fed to poultry; veggie skins often are toxic. Usually cheap shopping means low quality so higher risks and bigger pile of waste (e.g. cheap chicken can have extremely unhealthy bones, joints and liver). So you gotta know origin of product and local and import laws

[@Great_Olaf5]

Yup, chop a bunch of stuff up and throw it in a pot of rice. I've taken to partially sautéing chicken breasts and some chopped onions and carrots, pulling the chicken out, putting in a couple cups of rice, chopping up the chicken while the rice is coming to a boil and then putting it back in when I'm wacky to cover the rice. People love their pressure cookers and insta-pots for rice, but they're just too cumbersome to do something like this, and this is done in under an hour (taking prep time into account).

[@DoktorTaiko]

I watched the first season of the devil is a part timer about 5 times and it's one of the all time funniest anime. It's really sad, that the second season was such a huge drop in quality

[@theresivy]

wait til u find out what they did in the ending of the light novels

[@AdarableKitten]

yeah the quality drop is what upset me and my fiancé when we watched the 2nd season. to find out Its due to them moving the production to a different Animation studio. and being an animator myself it felt very lazy and they took alot of shortcuts with the animation. plus season 2 lost the Dark undertones that the 1st season had and became more fluffy and more oriented around the baby. the jokes in the 2nd season also did not hit very well or at all. overall season 1 is by far the best. if they ever make a season 3 I pray they go back to the studio who created season 1.

[@Danboo21531]

I first learned to cook properly few years ago to safe some scholarship money. A good lesson I learned is to learn the local recipe or learn to play around with whatever is available at the local grocer. a very good cheat is to learn good stir fry and pan fry techniques, as those are compatible to almost anything 😂

[@n0etic_f0x]

The way I make food for under a dollar a serving does in fact require what I would call start-up money. A 50-pound bag of rice from an Asian market may cost a lot but... it is 50 pounds of rice you can use it for about a year before you run out. Dried beans, again 5 - 20 pound bags high start-up lasts for many meals. Then you have decently large bags of onion and potatoes. Add to this whatever you can afford and a meal under a dollar (even a good one) is not that hard to achieve.

[@n0etic_f0x]

Also never use a mandolin guard, buy a pair of kevlar gloves and use those. They have a lot of uses outside the kitchen but I admit they are in my kitchen as I can cut super fast with a mandolin if I use them.

[@Angelicwings1]

I got a lovely big bag of basmati rice and it has lasted me so long. Absolutely brilliant. I eat a heck of a lot of rice I can tell you.

[@alliew31]

Make rice 4 servings of rice on Sunday, refrigerate 3, fry/make Mexican rice for half of the week with a main

[@antonioyeats2149]

Under a dollar a serving is insane xD congrats

[@n0etic_f0x]

@@antonioyeats2149 it’s very hard to do but I can likely feed 100 people for about 20 USD. It is not going to be the most gourmet meal ever but I can make it taste good. I have been in places where having a can of sardines is a luxury and it just makes me better.

[@Timmycoo]

If you buy chicken with skin on and remove it, always save it to make some crispy chicken skin later. SO good! Just press it between two sheet trays and bake and season with whatever seasoning you like.

[@AdarableKitten]

OOh! I love eating chicken skins!

[@RiamsWorld]

Sheet trays with parchment paper. I didn't have any once and it can stick pretty bad. Though when I served my Thanksgiving turkey like that, my guests didn't touch the skin which was disappointing.

[@Timmycoo]

@@RiamsWorld On Christmas my family cooks a prime rib roast and my mom and I prefer medium rare, where a lot of the rest of my family prefers well done. We literally take it out, tent it and let it rest. Carve our portions and they put it back in for another 30 mins to an hour lol. It's heartbreaking.

[@RiamsWorld]

@@Timmycoo I hope your portion is the whole spinalis and leave the rest to them 🤣

[@Timmycoo]

@@RiamsWorld I give myself extra for the next day leftovers lmao.

[@majajani8077]

Finally, someone said it, just because it £1 a portion doesn't mean you don't spend more on the ingredients Dx I'm hella glad this video brought me back to your shenanigans

[@supernerdgirl42]

I debone and skin chicken thighs myself for a lot of recipes; way cheaper and not overly difficult to do myself. The skin and bones get frozen to go in the stock pot when I get enough plus or minus a chicken carcass.

[@kcsupersonic1]

It isn't the doing this on a budget that scares me, but the MEAL PREP! That is the thing I am most afraid of. It is borderline painful when meal prep for 3-5 days usually takes me like 3+ hours worth of time not counting cleaning. I know it saves time later in the week, but it's always hard to commit to doing one task for that long. I do however want to try taking on this challenge (maybe after Thanksgiving considering I'm visiting family next week) to teach myself about being creative on a budget. Hopefully it will be better than simply mixing Cream of Mushroom Soup with Pork Chops or mixing Chicken, Eggs, and Green Onions into my Ramen which are some of my usual cheap meals to make on a budget lol.

[@CHEFPKR]

Best way is to reduce it down to prepping one or two days a week if possible and going from there. Also, things like beans/rice can last 3-4 days in the fridge without issue

[@TraciPeteyforlife]

You can do anything if you commitment to it. Its a matter of doing it.

[@samikay626]

Any type of cutting gadget works wonders. A mandolin, a slapchop, food processor pulses, one of those ramp things- anything to just smack out a bunch of chopped veggies in very short time.

[@Rodrik18]

Thing for me is the variety... I don't enjoy eating the same thing everyday. I find cooking/meal prep to be quite enjoyable and relaxing, but I've shied away from prepping too much because of getting fatigued on the taste of the same dish every day.

[@lucylulu1549]

@@Rodrik18 if that’s the case, I recommend buying vegetable, meat, etc. that are easily able to make different types of food. Ex: potato can be smash potatoes, hash brown, Korean potato pancake

[@jaspervanheycop9722]

You need some beans in there, cheapest protein there is, and full of filling fibre. Canned if you wanna be "lazy", or even cheaper dried (after all dried beans are so cheap that people literally use them as pie weights!). Then bulk with rice or potatoes, like you did. Beans+carbs is a staple around the world for a reason. Nutritious, cheap, and very delicious.

[@Angelicwings1]

What I struggle with is having the money to buy things in bulk in the first place. It’s kind of like how in Australia you will get money back for seeing a specialist but not all and you need the initial $100 - $300 in the first place. If you’re able to do it, it really is a game changer. If you don’t have the money to do it though it’s kind of hard. I can tell you dhal has saved my tummy and wallet so much! It’s so cheap and easy and it you get so many meals out of it because it freezes beautifully I also recommend, if you can, not shying away from offal. Chicken feet are not difficult to prepare and they make a great addition to stock. They also can make a healthy and delicious and not expensive Filipino or Chinese dish.

[@marcuspinson]

A thing that's worth doing is having a fry pot. We have a pot on the stove that was started with palm kernel oil and avocado oil. Anything that will render out fat gets fried in it (it's probably a third bacon fat at this point). We take some from that any time we saute or cook in a pan. It's a giant tub of calories we are constantly turning over and using.

[@DoktorTaiko]

I used to survive in 5€ a week during the start of my university days. The amount of variation you can create with 39cent pasta, 39cent rice and 39cent 500ml pealed potatoes is luckily much larger than one would expect :D

[@rodolfoagorio3646]

I've always bought (and cooked) in bulk. It's amazing what you can make for even less than $5 a portion. I'd guess that half my meals are below $3, and half of those are below $2, many under $1. Pizza can be made very cheap, and it will freeze perfectly and last for months. You can make and freeze dumplings and have a quick meal at any time. I am Uruguayan, so I keep a jar with farinata mix: 4 parts chickpea flour, 1 part wheat flour, and a bit of salt. It's just get some of the mix, add water, and cook it. Extremely cheap, long lasting, and shelf stable. Less than $1 per serving, and guests love it.

[@Scaphism_]

Hey, just thought I’d let you know as a cook I learned this recently, if you cut a lemon in half and rub it on your cutting board it’ll temporarily neutralize the side effects of the onion

[@REISGaming24]

As a Type II Diabetic, I have to keep around 1800 Calories per day, really watching things like carbs since I'm not as physically active as I used to be. Which means fish and lean proteins. Which hurts badly since the cheapest (pre prep costs) thing I can get is rice. Which . . . is carbs . . . Veggies per pound is far more expensive per serving than meats. Even fish if you know where to get it. Thanks for pointing this video out ChefPK, most people do not realize pre-costs to make a decent meal. A lot of keeping myself from getting hungry and cheating is just drinking water and staying hydrated. So much metabolism is merely staying hydrated. It's really hard to not splurge and making more than just two or three days of food. And yeah, merely portioning for two or three days is easier than trying for a full 7 day week . . .

[@CrazyTasteyPi]

I actually really appreciate seeing a "budget video" that is taking into account the actual cost of the ingredients, rather than just saying the dish is so much money to make. Doubly so that the cost of ingredients being taken into an account is more an approximation then out right saying, "This is how much it'll cost you to get the thing" always feel like the cook in the video either isn't account all the factors that go into make a dish, or is just out right lieing to everyone.

[@alliew31]

One semester I kept track of my roommate and my spending for groceries since my mom asked how much cheaper it was for us to be on our own instead of in a dorm. Without budgeting and just being cautious about what we spent on (and occasionally indulging in sweets) we spent $811 (average of $45 a week) which comes out to about $8 a day for the 2 of us. We both typically only have a big dinner and more so snack for breakfast and lunch so we spent ~$3 per meal. Just checking for sales and buying in bulk can go a long way for helping save money. This was spring of 2021 though so not sure how much we would spend now with inflation

[@stankmcdankton6204]

Beans, rice, potatoes, green cabbage, off-cuts of meat ( feat, livers, heart, gizzards ), or alternatively chicken drumsticks (usually costs less than thighs ), bullion, onions, garlic, carrots, celery, bacon ( for flavor in dishes and to use the leftover grease, do not eat as a stand alone ), tomato paste in a can ( can be watered down significantly to make sauce ), all-purpose flour, sugar, lemons/limes or their juice if cheaper by volume, oil or butter ( price dependent ), white vinegar, dry pasta*, eggs*, white/crimini/baby bella mushrooms* (use sparingly), unsweetened baking cocoa/cocoa powder*, whatever you can get lucky with at the discount food shelf*. These are generally the cheapest ingredients in the average US supermarket. Use this knowledge as you will. There are several factors that can alter this significantly : Where you live, where you shop, and how much you can haul in a single run ( Doing things on foot makes them significantly harder, especially with America's piss poor public transit system and deliberate system building with preference for cars ). Side note : If you like crispy chicken skin, try chicken feet. Additional side note : I don't think this dude has ever been forced to subsist on SNAP / food stamps, or he would know this.

[@ganganwoo3282]

It might be a bit more of a hassle but, if you get bone in chicken, you can debone it yourself and keep the bones and whatever scraps you have from the other ingredients whether it be from what you just got or from previous days (onion skins, carrot peels, etc) for chicken stock

[@lollertoaster]

I started buying whole chicken on the advise of a KZbin chef and after 3 weeks I can't go back. If I stopped, I would just be buying all the parts anyway, bones included. Especially bones. I usually have trouble figuring out what to do with all the meat while the stock is already long gone. Another tip is that when buying a whole chicken, you will get two sets of bones - first the carcass, then the bones from drumstick, tights and wings. I always collect those in a container, raw or cooked, then bake at 180 for 40 minutes to kill any nasties that could have contaminated them and make a bone broth by boiling (not simmer, this is important) just bones with water for at least two full days, 48 h.

[@thomashongshagen4912]

As an additional tip; if you buy skin-on chicken and remove the skin, you can add it to any stock you might be making and the high collagen content will help your stock gel when cold, which is good for storage.

[@MossCoveredBonez]

My issue lately has been not having the time to do the prep that cheaper food needs. Not that there's any fix to that, other than reducing my commitments or properly subsizing the right parts of the food industry and putting a profit cap on essential resources like food

[@Linkslin]

Just to inform you you were right at first 3 meals a day $5 each meal is $15 and for 3 days that's $45 not $35.

[@makeda6530]

Yeah, like other people mentioned, the best way to save or have ‘cheap’ is to min max whenever possible. One time spending 10-20 bucks on a giant bag of something (rice, bean, etc.) and you could have it for months, then seasonings and sauces spread as well after the initial hit and meat on sale whenever possible. So yeah, you can have “cheap meals” when you have a strong kitchen base.

[@2MeterLP]

Do not throw away that chicken skin! Spice and salt it, fry it up in some oil until crispy, chop it up and sprinkle it on top of your food for some meaty crunch. Bones, tendons and other stuff like that may not be good for eating, but its full of flavor and gelatin, so brown it up with some oil and then boil it to get stock thats a great base for sauces. Same goes for a lot of what you cut off of vegetables. Just dont boil the bitter parts.

[@DB-ku7vu]

This is a great point that I have always taken for granted as someone who grew up cooking, cooking is cheaper than eating out , but the upfront cost can seem quite high.

[@akioaihara]

Finally a video that does not just break it down into "cost per serving" when in reality, you end up with a bill thats 10 times as high and a lot of stuff left over

[@Nachtelfin0des0Todes]

$5 per meal is so expensive! I try to keep mine at about 3€ Max per meal. Most of the time it was more like 1-2€ per meal (rice, veggies, eggs).

[@Sammysapphira]

Can you make more videos like this? I'm a chronic delivery user because making (good) stuff is so difficult for a beginner like me and can feel really intimidating when I'm just feeling hungry in the moment.

[@346Yoman]

Where'd that bacon come from 👀

[@imogenarts3289]

I enjoy watching your videos. Here’s a tip when you cut onions. When you first slice them in half before you chop them into smaller pieces run them under cold water it’ll reduce the eye sting

[@Riechterblade]

The farmers markets around where I live jack up the prices on everything, almost everyone will just go to the supermarket and get 3 to 5 times as much of the same thing and still pay less

[@8644100]

You could make a Farofa, a side dish that uses cassava flour, butter onion and bacon, that is fantastic and very easy to make, you serve it on the side of this dishes and you will make they more filing and goes longer

[@MastaMan88]

Always buy with bones for bone broth! Skins in the pot too! Toss them in the freezer till you have enough.

[@SeleniumGlow]

Solid video. This one I can relate to IRL cause we do this every week. Shop fresh items every week, dry or long shelf life items every 2 or 3 months. Per meal cost is easily less than $2 for vegetarian and $4 for non vegetarian items

[@christopher5855]

I usually buy bone in skin on chicken. The reason is that I save all the skin and bones in freezer bags and when I have enough I make chicken stock. The stock is cooled in sink with ice water and then in the fridge over night and the fat separated. The stock then gets portioned and frozen or reheated and canned if I want something shelf stable. The fat is then used for either cooking or making flour tortillas. Obviously animal fats are not as healthy as your mono and poly plant based fats but in the small amount that is in a couple tortillas or some roasted potatoes isn't too bad.

[@wwoods66]

2:55 Max-packs of chicken thighs for the win! (It's even the same brand!) I usually de-bone, and sometimes de-skin, to make them more eater-friendly. With a boning knife and practice, it doesn't take long. The bones and skin go for the next batch of chicken stock and schmaltz, so they aren't wasted.

[@Rainbowneos22]

Really awesome video! I also buy the food that I need in larger junks and make more of what I cook so that I have some on the next day or so. It saves a lot of money especially when you are living alone. And Gandalf is like the cat from my parents. He also loves chicken for some reason and they have to keep him away from the table otherwise he would jump on it and eat all the chicken 😆

[@LeojPies]

This is another reason why I love French Onion soup. You can make a really nice soup that lasts days and spend so little money on it. It's just the time it takes to cook down pounds of onions. Good video! Might try making some of these at home.

[@anitastafford6617]

I make my own fermented pepper sauces and hot sauces in bulk every month. Beans, rice, lemons, garlic cilantro and a variety of peppers. I also harvest from my garden. Buy spices in bulk from an Ethnic market. Indian spice markets are great because they don't deal in substandard spices. Buy salt and pepper in bulk it last for months.

[@donaldblevins5028]

Can we make aspic from the these chicken bones? I want to modify the 2nd dish to make an alternate version of the "transforming furikake rice bowl " from food wars Your thoughts on this CHEFPK?

[@CHEFPKR]

You definitely could

[@DanskerneFraDanmark]

if you get seeds save them you can use them to grow food later on

[@saiyantwan]

next time you are trying to figure out what to do with potatoes just remember the wise words of Samwise "Potatoes, potatoes! Boil ‘em, mash ‘em, put ‘em in a stew"

[@MapleRhubarb]

So glad you made this video, and so glad you checked out the Devil is a Part-Timer! One of my absolute favorite anime. Ashiya would be proud!

[@justinwhite2725]

2:35 my first thought was 'why are you spending $1 per potato!?' Yeah, this.

[@CHEFPKR]

They were SO GOOD THOUGH!

[@justinwhite2725]

@@CHEFPKR lol. I went through a period where I had next to no money. Bulk potatos and eggs were the most cost effective things I could get (forget ramen, that's trash)

[@DavidSantos-ix1hu]

I make big pots of chicken soup ration out about a breast or two of chicken breast a day I add noodles potatoes spinitch and carrots, sometimes I also add a boiled egg I ate this every day in college while lifting with one whole onion and 1 to 2 cloves of garlic.

[@jeremyahesteban3394]

Hey ChefPK love your videos and greatly enjoyed your budget meal video, can you do other budget meal videos. Given the oppurtunity.

[@Kal_RP]

for cheap food stew's, curry's, pasta. mince meat, chicken, white fish (like cod or whiting), i try to buy when the "best by date" is either that day or the next, grocery store's here then price it at least 35% of, meat stays good in freezer.

[@corvusblackfeather456]

very educational, im hoping the next time i go out to shop i should keep these in mind.

[@theresivy]

Im a huge fan of how chef PK never fails to make even food id never normally eat into smthng mouthwatering, Though, i cant say the same abt how the ending of the light novels for Devil is a Part Timer was done dirty

[@Communinja]

Less healthy option/stretch the budget: fry off the trimmed chicken skin. Use the chicken grease to offset some of the added oil cost (same with the extra bacon grease), and add the crispy skin to something for texture?

[@kmy2759]

I love how we're talking about "cheap" meals and Chef is using a Nenox.

[@CHEFPKR]

I spend my money on other things ;]

[@Raver_S_Thompson]

Spaghetti squash is by far my favorite squash. Some oil, butter and brown sugar makes a sweet squash.

[@MrVivisexy]

Careful with those camp stoves, you never want to use a pot that's so big it goes over the butane compartment, otherwise it might cause the butane to overheat and explode

[@kchortu]

I also always buy leg quarters 10# a time and break them down, some times i will keep the drumsticks but often I split the spines, then debone the legs, sometimes i take off the skin. BUT I always make stock from the bones and skin i did remove now you can soup or cook beans and rice with that

[@samhayes-astrion]

As someone who works in a grocery store, I'm genuinely impressed at the amount of food you managed to get off $31. That'd fill up a small cart easily.

[@adriandiegelmann2417]

Got to love your videos! Lots of love from Germany brother!

[@antoniodicorato725]

My biggest problem with preparing excess food is that I randomly get hungry just ny knowing its there and eating more lol

[@lollertoaster]

I was always a reason why cakes and pizzas lasted only one day in my house. Every time I walked by a kitchen, a piece would disappear.

[@zeketestorman4981]

Put your onion in the freezer for a while before cutting into it. It helps with the odor and rection with the eyes.

[@TheAneova]

Love how the Spaghetti Squash turns to a Butternut Squash when you get it home :P

[@justingerry97]

0:33 math was right in audio the note in post was wrong 15*3 is 45

[@Scud422]

I wish you had said how many meals you actually got out of all of that food. It definitely looked like more than 9 meals worth. $5 per meal is crazy high when you're putting that much effort into them. I have been cooking for myself for over a decade, and I average $2 per meal without even trying to be cheap about it, and the meals I make only require about half as much time to prep and cook.

[@CHEFPKR]

I ended up having about 8 meals out of what I made, but it was for two people (my wife and I). I definitely could have gone a much easier route, but I wanted to show a "fancy" version. I mostly eat egg whites, rice, bagels and some greens during my week lol

[@Scud422]

@@CHEFPKR So, 16 meals total? If so, that would be great. Then you would have ended up spending a little over $2 per meal per person.

[@BecTries]

I really enjoy this video and I think you touched on some points that get ignored a lot.

[@paradox_saber54]

I absolutely LOVE The Devil is a Part-Timer. I started season 2 and it is such an amazing anime. Like SAO, it started as a light novel.

[@alliew31]

Would recommend the manga that started after season 1 didn’t get a follow up for anyone like me who isn’t a light novel person

[@sebastiang8634]

Personal opinion: For any rice dish that calls for frying the still-dry grains of rice, I personally prefer aged basmati if you can find it. I had a half-crazed Indian physics professor in college who swore that when the grains were toasted in oil it actually had more aromatic qualities than jasmine because the flavonoid compounds were less volatile (and thus could tolerate heat better). Is it true? Well, I dunno if the science itself was accurate, but... What I do know is that I prefer the texture, and the flavor of the Basmati Rice does hold up a bit better when you are using herbs and aromatics with the fry method. Note that this kinda makes sense, as basmati is the rice traditionally used when making dishes like biryani. I also personally prefer it for fried rice, because it's a little more forgiving in terms of texture and flavor, so you can be a bit more heavy handed in your heat and seasoning.

[@freehat2722]

Flour, eggs, butter and salt. Make buttered egg noodles. Protein, fat and carbs which is filling, cheap and tasty with basic nutrition. That's the cheapest food that I could think of that would sustain you and still taste good. 2$ dozen eggs 1.5 lbs, 2$ 5 lb bag of flour, 5$ 1lb of butter and salt is free at Burger King :P So 9 dollars for 7.5 lbs of raw ingredients and roughly 15 pounds cooked (personal preference). Total calories is 12,366. Or 9$ for 6 days worth of food. 50 cents a meal.

[@mach2makoto]

Seeing you talk about the chicken reminded me about the Trash Taste Chicken debate. I’d love to see a react to that.

[@kendon81]

....also keep the chicken skin and trimmings and render them down in a pan to get the chicken fat, use that to cook with full of flavour.

[@saiyantwan]

Here's one thing I have never understood about series like this from so many youtubers is what determines a serving size. Like for example a serving size of McDonald's fries is six or a serving of chips is like 11 chips. What I consider a serving may be double or even half of what you consider a serving If you want to say it is based off of calories then how are the calories being determined? 1 chicken thigh may be bigger than another and that could be due to actual meat or it could be due to water/ fat. also wouldn't the cooking process cause it to lose some calories due to heat and gain due to ingredients.

[@CHEFPKR]

I actually weigh mine out by the gram, I should have shown that. So for example, two chicken thighs come out to about 400g of chicken, which is about 800 calories

[@justinwhite2725]

10:37 if you are going to use it for chip dip don't add so mich water. Thicker sauces for chip dip.

[@CHEFPKR]

True, but also not true for salsa.

[@astutechaos]

Chef for the Onions if you put Lemon juice on the cutting board it will help with the crying

[@durandus676]

I would buy 14count packs of chicken breast and several pounds of rice and beans. ~25$ a week of food. Ofc I stretched that out too 2 weeks and bought more stuff with different nutrients and just covered my core diet with less than 30$. I would cook it all in 1 2 hour setting and freeze.

[@4JBrewer]

There is a KZbin channel called The Wolfe Pit that tells you how to make cheap meals.

[@Grodarados]

31$ is normally worth for a month if you are blank as* broke every-day is just instant nudel soupe or if u want something else rama cream fresh in a pan garlic in bring it to boile and put the dry instant nudels in the pan and the use the sesionings from the inant nudel's around 2-3€ for 1 meal a day

[@MewtwoExMasterMusic]

I can hear Garnt and Connor arguing in the background.

[@LilT2o00]

Chicken quarters are top rank for budget (bone in skin on thigh/legs). Aldi sells a 10lb bag for $7.99, 79.9 cents a lb

[@happyhippoeaters4261]

About 1 dollar. Ramen is a blessing.

[@DerBjjjg]

Seriously most of the time I don't bother this much. I live alone so I often make some big pot of stew that I eat over 3 or 4 days. Sometimes I make fresh pasta, rice or mashed potatoes to goe with it. For breakfast it's mostly some kind of bread with some jam, salami or nutella. And like I said I just chomp on my stew whenever I feel like it. When I'm at work I often bring some to go salad from the supermarket or a sandwich or so. I seldom pay more then 30 or 40 dollars a week on food.

[@russellee5216]

This is such a good video. Don't know if you have one about going about coming up with food ideas from what's available, because that part feels like so much magic. I have such a hard time going from ingredients to food without knowing what I want to make first.

[@Icephoenix84]

Why did I subscribe you ask? Because someone includes anime references/clips in his videos at the best moments. That is why. And also, I like the cooking inspiration.

[@WhatAmThatDude]

I feel it important to note that the math hasn't been done on this channel at least to verify that the reason boneless skinless is more expensive is specifically because of the work done to de-skin and debone. And I would like to posit that the reason, for the most part, why bone the skinless is more expensive is because it's being sold by weight and the skin and bones make up a hefty portion of the weight. So therefore you are getting more usable product per unit of weight on boneless skinless.

[@chaoscontrolASH]

This was an awesome video, and it gave me more of an idea of how to approach certain food products now. My only downside is the meal prep, just because of the time put into that. The actual cooking I dont mind. Also, something i hadn't thought about but you mentioned about not adding spices in the budget. I initially thought "yea, why would you? You most likely have it already" but then realized everybody uses different spices too. It's interesting watching other similar video types where I thought literally everything is included in the budget but that's not always the case.

[@sunni6647]

putting very expensive 3 dollar coffee on the budget list - but not putting "very expensive" ravioli - we must live in different worlds

[@coolunusual]

Wait is the $35 the implied mistake? That's kinda funny given it was right as said in the video but the text is added in post lol

[@rbdesignsnh]

I can attest to always using the guard on the mandolin. i sliced the top of my pointer finger off trying to use mine to make sweet potato chips. -1/10 would not recommend.

[@nickpolis1561]

My man gonna dead ass look into the camera while saying he's stretching his cash but then go buy a coffee lol

[@CHEFPKR]

Coffee is life.

[@shelbyherring92]

Don't feel bad, Chef... My mom makes that mistake of distinction between butternut and spaghettti squash often Also, keeping your bacon or beef fat is a great idea. For me, I keep it around just in case I wanna fry potatoes or eggs, or even to add a more natural flavor to my instant ramen. Also also, bacon wrapped chicken thighs or breasts with either mozzarella or cheddar - good time if I say so myself. Don't have to add salt, the bacon does it for you - and oh, it's so good.

[@Necroes]

You can make cheaper meals. Ramen costs less than 30 cents a bag (as of this posting) when bought in bulk. I don't recommend only eating ramen, but the average bag is about 200 calories, so three of them make a reasonable meal in terms of pure caloric content.

[@justinwhite2725]

4:42 pantry items are not usually included in the budget for budget challenges. No foul here.

[@randomtrainerx.3424]

Great dish to enjoy and see be made.

[@jadedgriffin6769]

Don't forget your can fry the chicken skins for a snack as well

[@davidy22]

Every time there's a youtube video of a 1$ meal, it's always divided from bulk prices

[@JaePlay]

Damn you really covered all your bases here, excellent work. Was getting tired of the other guy who says "LESS THAN 2 DOLLARS PER (tiny*****) SERVING!"

[@CHEFPKR]

Gotta say it like it is. When I bought product for our hotels we had to account for everything

[@ProSharpshooter]

Assuming you have none of it, buying *everyhing* you need for the first time is gonna be the heaftiest part of the bill, but the more you do it the cheaper it gets every time after. Kinda like working out; the first time sucks, but it gets easier every time after. You can get your bulk Salt, Pepper, and Olive Oil for about $11 somewhere like walmart, and it'll be a while before you ever need to replace them. Things like Rice and Pasta are dry ingredients that keep for an insanely long time, so you can quite literally buy them in huge bulk once every few months. Your largest learning curves when it comes to making cheap meals are going to be relearing how to shop and learning how to clean as you cook. More often than not you're going to make something that spends some time alone to cook without your supervision, so any time not spent prepping the next stage or (more importantly) cleaing up your mess is time you'll have to spend doing it later. How's that old saying go? "idle hands are the devil's workshop" or something along those lines? Edit: Keep in mind, you're not looking to do a week's worth of cooking in 1 day. Like Chef said, 2 -3 days worth of meals twice a week is really all you need to cook. Eventually you'll get into a rythm and find a workflow that makes it all go faster. It's better than spending $200/week on Door Dash.

[@Nitsirtriscuit]

$5 per meal??? I’m sitting at $1.50 per meal right now my guy, and that’s average. I tend to have a 25 cent coffee for breakfast, maybe a dollar of rice and beans for lunch, and the rest for a little meat with dinner. I would be so happy to win one of those “lifetime supply of canned food” roulettes.

[@Attrius]

Since moving out east, the only thing I miss from from the west coast is Winco. Everything was priced so well. T-T

[@heavyoctane6070]

$35 in Indonesian rupiah actually quite a lot of money, it's around Rp 530.000 and that can feed you for a month.

[@alliew31]

Everything is relative. In the US, some people spend more than that on coffee a week