Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Can you actually feed yourself for $50 a week? After the Secretary of Agriculture said Americans can eat for $3 a meal, I went to Walmart with $48 and built a full week of dinners — Thai green curry, tater tot casserole, Cajun-inspired beans and rice, breakfast burritos, chicken fried rice, and brownies. Here's exactly what I bought and what I made.
This is a real $50 weekly grocery budget — not the sad "rice and chicken and broccoli" version. If you've been told to cut your grocery bill, you don't need to eat crap meals to do it. You need a plan, a few smart staples, and recipes that stretch.
In this video I'm sharing the complete $50 grocery haul (every receipt, every price), the order I cook everything in to save time, and how I prep produce on Sunday so the whole week falls into place. Whether you're cooking for one, two, or a family on a tight grocery budget, the system works the same — you just scale the portions.
If you're new here, I post practical, no-BS budget cooking videos every week. Subscribe and stick around.
Here is the shopping list!
Burrito size tortillas $2.12
Pepper jack cheese (8 oz) $1.69
American cheese (16 slices) $1.88
1 dozen eggs $1.97
Coconut milk $2.12
Cucumber $0.74
Green onions $0.98
Jalapeno pepper $0.41
Roma tomatoes (3) $0.63
Yellow onion $0.71
Limes (2) $0.50
Ginger root $0.97
Garlic $0.72
Cilantro $0.97
Frozen stir fry veggies $2.72
Frozen mixed veggies $0.98
Frozen tater tots $2.97
Andouille sausage $3.26
Boneless skinless chicken breast (1.2 lb) $6.94
Ground beef (1 lb) $6.72
Brownie mix $1.08
Dried pinto beans (1 lb) $1.00
Cream of chicken soup $1.24
Green curry paste $3.88
Long grain rice (2 lbs) $1.77
TOTAL $48.97
Recipes:
--- Instant pot pinto beans: loveandlemons.com/instant-pot-pinto-beans
--- Tater tot casserole: 1 lb hamburger, 1 can cream of chicken, milk, Worcestershire, mixed veggies. Top with cheese and tots and bake.
--- Cajun-inspired beans and rice: from my cookbook amzn.to/3mx6eHv
--- Breakfast burritos: Tortillas, eggs, cheese, pico, tater tots, beans
--- Pico de gallo: natashaskitchen.com/pico-de-gallo
--- Thai green curry: recipetineats.com/thai-green-curry
--- Chicken fried rice: cookingclassy.com/chicken-fried-rice
--- Cucumber salad: budgetbytes.com/thai-cucumber-salad-2
🗓️ Get the Dinner: Done Meal Planner → https://jenchapin.shop
⏰ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
1:26 Grocery haul
2:49 Prep produce
3:31 Cook the pinto beans
6:13 Cook the rice
7:00 Pico de gallo
8:18 Tater tot Casserole
13:48 Cajun-inspired Beans and Rice
16:50 Breakfast Burritos
20:01 Thai Green Curry
29:08 Cucumber salad
30:12 Chicken fried rice
36:00 Brownies
38:15 A note about how the $3 meal budget was calculated
For business inquiries, contact me at: contact@tablerockmanagement.com
📫 Want to send friend mail?
Jen Chapin
PO Box 1204
Muscatine, IA 52761
*In compliance with FTC guidelines, please assume the following about all links, material on this website/videos: Any/all of the links on this site/video are affiliate links of which Jennifer Chapin receives product credit or a small commission from sales of certain items, but the price is the same for you. Jennifer Chapin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Links on this site may include affiliate links to Amazon and its affiliate sites, on which the owner of this website will make a referral commission. Thank you for supporting my channel!*
*My videos are for entertainment purposes only. Any information related to food, food safety, cooking, recipes, etc., are my opinions only. Jen/Jennifer Chapin is not liable and/or responsible for any advice, services, or product you obtain through this video. My opinions and the views expressed in my videos do not represent the views of my employer.*
Can you actually feed yourself for $50 a week? After the Secretary of Agriculture said Americans can eat for $3 a meal, I went to Walmart with $48 and built a full week of dinners — Thai green curry, tater tot casserole, Cajun-inspired beans and rice, breakfast burritos, chicken fried rice, and brownies. Here's exactly what I bought and what I made.
This is a real $50 weekly grocery budget — not the sad "rice and chicken and broccoli" version. If you've been told to cut your grocery bill, you don't need to eat crap meals to do it. You need a plan, a few smart staples, and recipes that stretch.
In this video I'm sharing the complete $50 grocery haul (every receipt, every price), the order I cook everything in to save time, and how I prep produce on Sunday so the whole week falls into place. Whether you're cooking for one, two, or a family on a tight grocery budget, the system works the same — you just scale the portions.
If you're new here, I post practical, no-BS budget cooking videos every week. Subscribe and stick around.
Here is the shopping list!
Burrito size tortillas $2.12
Pepper jack cheese (8 oz) $1.69
American cheese (16 slices) $1.88
1 dozen eggs $1.97
Coconut milk $2.12
Cucumber $0.74
Green onions $0.98
Jalapeno pepper $0.41
Roma tomatoes (3) $0.63
Yellow onion $0.71
Limes (2) $0.50
Ginger root $0.97
Garlic $0.72
Cilantro $0.97
Frozen stir fry veggies $2.72
Frozen mixed veggies $0.98
Frozen tater tots $2.97
Andouille sausage $3.26
Boneless skinless chicken breast (1.2 lb) $6.94
Ground beef (1 lb) $6.72
Brownie mix $1.08
Dried pinto beans (1 lb) $1.00
Cream of chicken soup $1.24
Green curry paste $3.88
Long grain rice (2 lbs) $1.77
TOTAL $48.97
Recipes:
--- Instant pot pinto beans: loveandlemons.com/instant-pot-pinto-beans
--- Tater tot casserole: 1 lb hamburger, 1 can cream of chicken, milk, Worcestershire, mixed veggies. Top with cheese and tots and bake.
--- Cajun-inspired beans and rice: from my cookbook amzn.to/3mx6eHv
--- Breakfast burritos: Tortillas, eggs, cheese, pico, tater tots, beans
--- Pico de gallo: natashaskitchen.com/pico-de-gallo
--- Thai green curry: recipetineats.com/thai-green-curry
--- Chicken fried rice: cookingclassy.com/chicken-fried-rice
--- Cucumber salad: budgetbytes.com/thai-cucumber-salad-2
🗓️ Get the Dinner: Done Meal Planner → https://jenchapin.shop
⏰ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
1:26 Grocery haul
2:49 Prep produce
3:31 Cook the pinto beans
6:13 Cook the rice
7:00 Pico de gallo
8:18 Tater tot Casserole
13:48 Cajun-inspired Beans and Rice
16:50 Breakfast Burritos
20:01 Thai Green Curry
29:08 Cucumber salad
30:12 Chicken fried rice
36:00 Brownies
38:15 A note about how the $3 meal budget was calculated
For business inquiries, contact me at: contact@tablerockmanagement.com
📫 Want to send friend mail?
Jen Chapin
PO Box 1204
Muscatine, IA 52761
*In compliance with FTC guidelines, please assume the following about all links, material on this website/videos: Any/all of the links on this site/video are affiliate links of which Jennifer Chapin receives product credit or a small commission from sales of certain items, but the price is the same for you. Jennifer Chapin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Links on this site may include affiliate links to Amazon and its affiliate sites, on which the owner of this website will make a referral commission. Thank you for supporting my channel!*
*My videos are for entertainment purposes only. Any information related to food, food safety, cooking, recipes, etc., are my opinions only. Jen/Jennifer Chapin is not liable and/or responsible for any advice, services, or product you obtain through this video. My opinions and the views expressed in my videos do not represent the views of my employer.*
