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$5 Dinners | Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals

Budget Recipes, Meal Plans, Freezer Meals and Cooking Tutorials for the Busy Home Chef

Save on Groceries in 2025

Instant Pot Sticky Rice

April 11, 2021 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 9 Comments

The Instant Pot makes for an amazing rice cooker and make the perfect "sticky rice" recipe Learn how to use your Instant Pot to make the perfect 'fakeout takeout Chinese food carry-out' kind of sticky rice. There are some "rules" to get this right, so read on to learn... This Sticky Rice Recipe is the foundation to all "fakeout takeout" meals. It's perfect with Asian … [Read more...]

QUARAN-Beans and Rice – Recipes & Tips for Eating More at Home

March 23, 2020 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 3 Comments

As we find ourselves staying home and getting creative with the items we have on hand to pull dinner together, this list of rice and bean pantry recipes and tips are a stellar resource to save! I present to you... QUARAN-Beans and Rice!!!  Even though the recipes we share on this site are mostly on a $5 per meal budget, there are times in the month that you … [Read more...]

How to Cook Brown Rice in the Instant Pot

March 27, 2019 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

Learn to Cook PERFECT Brown Rice in the Instant Pot Brown rice can be a bear to cook on the stovetop. It doesn't always cook evenly, it takes a full hour, and it sometimes leaves a "crusted" layer on the bottom of the pot. Well - you don't have to worry about any of those things anymore. Enter "Instant Pot Brown Rice." It cooks and fluffs perfectly - in a fraction of the … [Read more...]

Homemade Pesto Pilaf

September 17, 2018 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

Sometimes it just takes a slight twist to a cooking method, and a simple ingredient addition to really dress up a meal or a side dish. And this Pesto Pilaf is just that... This recipe has a list of simple (and inexpensive ingredients!) and is a great way to use up any extra pesto, or a good excuse to buy pesto (I LOVE ME SOME PESTO....both the homemade variety and the store … [Read more...]

Keto Steak Fajitas

September 13, 2018 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

LOW CARB ALERT! If you're eating low carb, wanting to eat Keto, check out this amazing recipe. (Of course, you can swap the cauliflower rice for brown rice or tortillas for a "regular" meal. Other ingredients are all ketogenic diet friendly!) Saute the peppers in onions in large skillet or Dutch oven. Then set aside. Saute beef with garlic and … [Read more...]

Instant Pot Chicken, Broccoli & Cheddar Rice

July 20, 2018 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 1 Comment

Chicken and Rice Night is about to get an upgrade in flavor! If you love chicken and rice casseroles, here's a popular one made in the Instant Pot! Here's a pictorial for you... Cut chicken into bite size pieces and saute with oil, garlic and onion. Add the rice and stock. Pressure cook. Fluff the rice and chicken, after it's been pressure … [Read more...]

Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice

June 29, 2018 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

You wanna make that amazing "chipotle rice" in your Instant Pot? Here's how... I've taken our Instant Pot Sticky Rice recipe and given it the Chipotle twist and the result is, wellllll...you can see for yourself. You can almost taste it, can't ya! With this cooking method, we are going to "toast the rice" and then "shock the rice" and then "pressure cook the … [Read more...]

Chicken Green Curry

May 9, 2018 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 1 Comment

This is a "fight for the leftovers" kind of curry. I make red curry often. And it's my favorite lunch take-out - a yummy treat a few times a month. But this green curry got a "Whoa, babe. This is delightful!" from my husband. And then we fought over the leftovers. It's certainly the most common thing we fight about - who gets the leftovers ;) Fighting is probably the … [Read more...]

Cuban Chicken Bowls

March 19, 2018 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

I spent 6 years in my 20s living in the Dominican Republic. I met my husband there. My first son was there. A ministry and school near and dear to me are still there. And I hope to take our family back there one day soon. In the years that I spent there, I learned to cook and shop and meal plan. (Because when you have to walk to the grocery store and carry your bags home, … [Read more...]

Kung Pao Chicken

October 30, 2017 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

Fakeout takeout are some of my favorite meals - especially the Chinese inspired ones! This is a simple Kung Pao Chicken with veggies and use a store bought Kung Pao sauce. I've tried to make a homemade sauce a few different times and ways and it's just not the same as what you'd get...so for this particular meal, I default to store bought Kung Pao sauce :) If you have a … [Read more...]

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