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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

Colorful Instant Pot Rice Pilaf

March 28, 2025 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

All the colors of spring and Easter pulled into a ultra budget friendly rice pilaf, plus the Instant Pot cooks it all to perfection! This Colorful Rice Pilaf is a vibrant and flavorful side dish that's perfect for any occasion. Loaded with sweet corn, tender peas, and bright carrots, it’s both visually appealing and deliciously satisfying. Add everything to your Instant … [Read more...]

Nashville Hot Chicken – Slow Cooker, Instant Pot & Grilled

November 5, 2024 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

The EASIEST TWIST for the TRENDY and VIRAL Nashville Hot Chicken! (Yes, I Know It's Supposed to be Fried!)  Friend.  I love a good fried chicken.  But not in the middle of a busy week.  I have zero time for the setting up of all the things and the frying and waiting.  So... I decided to take a swing at the Nashville Hot Chicken … [Read more...]

VIDEO: How to Cook a “Pie Pumpkin” to Make Pumpkin Puree

September 26, 2024 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

Learn How to Cook a "Pie Pumpkin" in the Slow Cooker and Instant Pot to Get Pumpkin Puree for Your Holiday Baking!  I spotted a great deal on the cute little "pie pumpkins" that are grown to make the Pumpkin Puree that is used in holiday cooking and baking. I grabbed 4 of the pumpkins so that I could cook 2 in the Instant Pot and 2 in the Slow Cooker.  While they … [Read more...]

Instant Pot Holiday Recipes

August 29, 2024 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

instant pot holiday recipes

Instant Pot Holiday Magic: 10 Easy Recipes for a Stress-Free Family Meal   I adore the concept of an Instant Pot Holiday! Instant Pot recipes allow for a hands-off type of cooking, where the appliance does all the work. It doesn't heat up the kitchen, and you can get to work on other things while it cooks! Instant Pot Holiday Benefits: hands-off … [Read more...]

Instant Pot Buffalo Ranch Chicken Mac n Cheese

August 5, 2024 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

This Buffalo Ranch Chicken Macaroni & Cheese is Ready in Minutes, thanks to the Instant Pot! At our house, we love a good homemade macaroni and cheese. I've made them 97 different ways but I keep coming back to the Instant Pot cooking method because it's just so easy. It's pretty simple - you cook the pasta in chicken stock and some other flavoring. In this case, I used … [Read more...]

Instant Pot One-Pot Spaghetti with Sauce

December 8, 2023 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom 9 Comments

I'm all about One Dish Dinners. I wrote an entire cookbook with One Dish Dinners. And am currently experimenting with One-Dish Instant Pot Dinners. This one is a winner-winner-spaghetti-for-dinner. Spaghetti is always a favorite and if you're wanting to move into "one-dish instant pot" meals, I'd recommend starting with this one! It's simple to prep and goes like … [Read more...]

VIDEO: How to Cook Homemade Mac & Cheese

April 12, 2023 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

How to Cook Homemade Mac & Cheese: Battle - Stovetop vs. Instant Pot! It’s a cheesy love affair! But which cooking method will you fall in love with?! Learn the differences between cooking macaroni and cheese in the Instant Pot vs. Stovetop. Either way you cook it, you’ll end up with an elbow of macaroni perfection! New cooking videos are released weekly, so please Like … [Read more...]

Foolproof Instant Pot Risotto

March 8, 2023 by Lauren Drawdy Leave a Comment

foolproof instant pot risotto

Make Perfectly Cooked Risotto Every Time with this Foolproof Instant Pot Risotto Recipe! Risotto, risotto, why are you so hard to make though? If you get frustrated when making this tasty dish, I would like to introduce you to the Instant Pot method. It's a GAME CHANGER, my friend! The best part is, this way of cooking risotto cancels out that dreaded part of … [Read more...]

Instant Pot BBQ Beans

April 19, 2022 by Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom Leave a Comment

instant pot bbq beans

Save EVEN MORE Money on Groceries by Cooking Dried Beans I have 2 boys that could live off of baked beans. They would eat them at every meal, if I served them. As we continue to pinch our grocery dollars, I've started cooking more things from scratch...muffins, pancake and waffle mixes, and of course, large batches of dried beans. These BBQ Beans are inspired by the … [Read more...]

Easy Holiday Side Dish Recipes – Slow Cooker & Instant Pot

October 15, 2021 by Lauren Drawdy Leave a Comment

Easy Holiday Side Dish Recipes for the Slow Cooker and Instant Pot that don't require oven space! During holiday meal prep, oven and stove top space fills up REALLY FAST. When the space starts to run out... the frustration and the overwhelm and the heat starts to rise. My solution to this? Toss as many side dishes into my beloved countertop appliances as I … [Read more...]

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