Get ready to feed the family with the best budget-friendly and cheap air fryer recipes, but don’t worry they are still packed with flavor!
I saw a meme recently about the most expensive vehicle right now, the grocery cart, I’m sure we can ALL agree that is the truth! I used to easily feed my family of 4 for under $150 a week and that was with cooking from scratch nearly every night of the week…now I’m lucky if I ever make it out of the store for less than $300.
That means having some budget-friendly and cheap air fryer recipes to choose from is a great way to break up the cost of groceries; however, these days seems to be about $10-15 a meal, when in years past it was relatively easy to make dinner for under $5 a meal.
This post will focus on cheap air fryer recipes; however, these are still going to be mostly made-from-scratch recipes and delicious meals that you will love to serve to the family.
Tips for Eating on a Budget:
The best tip for eating on a budget is to use a menu planner to fully plan out your week so that you do not buy food you do not need, for instance, if you had plans that day to eat out or if you had leftovers that you could use that day.
This cuts down on unnecessary costs. If you need a FREE menu planner, I offer one for FREE with an email sign-up on Mommy Hates Cooking or you can purchase one at my Etsy Store.
Another tip is to stock up during meat sales, this will help you utilize meat that you have on hand instead of having to buy meat each week at the store.
Lastly, choose inexpensive ingredients like fresh fruits and vegetables that are on sale that particular week or other food items that may be on sale and create meals around those items.
These are just a few simple and basic tips to help you save on ingredients. Be sure to leave comments with your suggestions to share with others as well!
Cheap Air Fryer Recipes:
Here is a quick list of cheap air fryer recipes; however, you can find a full list with links to each recipe below as well.
- Air Fryer Pork Chops (Season pork chops with pantry seasonings to make a variety of different variations.)
- Air Fryer Potato Recipes (Potatoes can go a long way and be served in a variety of ways including air fryer baked potatoes, air fryer potato chips, air fryer roasted potatoes, sweet potato fries, french fries, and more!)
- Air Fryer Pork Roast (Air Fryer Pork Roast or Air Fryer Pork Recipes in particular tend to be much less than higher-end beef recipes and can be money-saving in the long run.)
- Air Fryer Homemade Falafel (These are packed with protein and easy to make even better with a Trader Joe’s Mix, these are great to stock up on during sales as the mix lasts for a long time.)
- Air Fryer Chicken Thighs or Chicken Breasts (Chicken Thighs or Breasts are a go-to cheap, simple recipe. They can be seasoned with lemon pepper, ranch seasonings, or many other options to make them a different flavor each time.)
- Air Fryer Fish (Use fresh caught or store-bought fish to air fry instead of deep frying in minutes!)
- Air Fryer Chicken Drumsticks (Drumsticks may be one of the cheapest options at the store to stock up on and they can also be seasoned in many different ways, even cooked right along with vegetables for a one-dish dinner!)
- Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts or Vegetables (These are great to pick up on sale and air fry with your favorite protein! Just about any vegetable can be roasted or breaded and cooked in the air fryer.)
- Air Fryer Snack Recipes (Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks or Air Fryer Potato Chips are simple to make in the air fryer even foods like pizza rolls can easily be purchased on sale and cooked in your Air Fryer.)
Why should you choose the air fryer to cook these foods in?
The air fryer is a great option for preparing foods with less oil and in most cases less time.
The air fryer uses hot air that circulates in the air fryer basket around the foods to turn snacks into crunchy snacks and chicken into the juiciest chicken that you’ve ever tasted in mere minutes!
It’s a great way to make delicious recipes on busy weeknights.
This list below is going to give you some of our personal favorite air fryer recipes that are also budget-friendly, just be sure to follow the tips about focusing on sale items and stocking up too.
Most of these recipes are going to use just a handful of ingredients that are typically pantry ingredients, many you will already have on hand but if not can easily be found at your local grocery store.
Let’s make some simple recipes together and share with us what some of your favorite easy recipes are too!
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