Cheap Side Dishes

Sometimes it may be hard to think of things to cook for your side dishes. There are many side dishes you can make for cheap. I have a section with some side dish recipes. Here is a list of a few cheap sides. I always make a vegetable for every dinner I cook along with a side dish. If you have a bigger family, I'd suggest making a main dish, two sides, and a vegetable.

• White Rice- Combine rice with twice as much water in a saucepan. Boil. Cover and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes, without uncovering at all.
• Macaroni and Cheese - I load up on the Kraft brand when there are sales. They taste a lot better than the store brands.
• French Fries- I think they go well with Hamburger Helpers. To save even more money, make your own french fries. Here is a link to some home made french fries: Homemade French Fries
• Baked Potatoes- Very cheap side dish. Can top with whatever you like, for example: butter, sour cream, chili, cheese, peppers, onions, etc...
• Flavored Rice- You can usually buy these for less than one dollar for the store brand. 
• Pasta Salad- In some stores you can find these for $1. Or you can make you own. Macaroni Salad Recipe
• Mashed Potatoes- I buy the powdered kind because it is very quick and easy to make. 
• Biscuits- You can buy the 4 pack of biscuits for pretty cheap. Or if you'd like you can make your own.
• Stuffing- The boxed stuffing doesn't cost too much for the store brand.
• Ramen Noodles- A very cheap side dish.
• Beans- Canned or dried beans make good side dishes. Dried beans just take a lot longer to cook.

Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

This is a good vegetarian dish, or a side dish as I would make it. You could even make mushroom burgers with these by putting them on a hamburger bun. I suggest cooking these up if you are planning any BBQ parties. That way you can have something to serve your non-meat eating friends as well as the meat eaters.

Servings: 3

Ingredients:

3 portobello mushrooms

1/4 cup canola oil

3 tablespoons chopped onion

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Clean mushrooms and remove stems, reserve for other use. Place caps on a plate with the gills up.

In a small bowl, combine the oil, onion, garlic and vinegar. Pour mixture evenly over the mushroom caps and let stand for 1 hour.

Grill over hot grill for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Jalapeno Poppers

I've been making my own jalapeno poppers for years. I have tried many different batters, from boxed fish and onion ring batters to my own home made batters. I've filled them with cream cheese only, adding cheddar cheese and bacon only a couple of times. I have not tried this recipe yet, but will try it out next time I make them. It sounds really good. Just make sure you use gloves to deseed the peppers. Deseeding them does diminish some the heat, so if you choose, you can use Pepper Jack cheese or add some of the seeds to the cream cheese mixture to make them hotter.

Servings: 10


Ingredients:

12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon bacon bits
12 ounces jalapeno peppers, slice down side and deseeded
1 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup dry bread crumbs
2 quarts oil for frying

Directions: 
In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese, Cheddar cheese and bacon bits. Spoon this mixture into the jalapeno peppers.
Put the milk and flour into two separate small bowls. Dip the stuffed jalapenos first into the milk then into the flour, making sure they are well coated with each. Allow the coated jalapenos to dry for about 10 minutes.
Dip the jalapenos in milk again and roll them through the breadcrumbs. Allow them to dry, then repeat to ensure the entire surface of the jalapeno is coated.
In a medium skillet, heat the oil to 365 degrees F ( 180 degrees C). Deep fry the coated jalapenos 3 to 4 minutes each, until golden brown. Remove and let drain on a paper towel.

Old Fashioned Onion Rings

These were really great! They just took me forever to make because I used two onions and made my own dry bread crumbs. I didn't even use bread crumbs for half of them and they still turned out great. Next time I won't bother with bread crumbs unless I buy them.

Servings: 3


1 large onion, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk, or as needed
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
seasoned salt to taste
1 quart oil for frying, or as needed


Directions:
Heat the oil in a deep-fryer to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C).
Separate the onion slices into rings, and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Dip the onion slices into the flour mixture until they are all coated; set aside. Whisk the egg and milk into the flour mixture using a fork. Dip the floured rings into the batter to coat, then place on a wire rack to drain until the batter stops dripping. The wire rack may be placed over a sheet of aluminum foil for easier clean up. Spread the bread crumbs out on a plate or shallow dish. Place rings one at a time into the crumbs, and scoop the crumbs up over the ring to coat. Give it a hard tap as you remove it from the crumbs. The coating should cling very well. Repeat with remaining rings.
Deep fry the rings a few at a time for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove to paper towels to drain. Season with seasoning salt, and serve.

Garlic Bread

1 loaf of french bread
5 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 tablespoon garlic powder, garlic salt, or chopped garlic
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine butter and garlic powder or salt. Spread over one side of every slice of bread. Place bread slices on a greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle bread slices with the parsley flakes. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

**This is a great recipe for homemade garlic bread. I prefer to use garlic salt on my bread but you can use garlic powder or chopped garlic too.

Spinach and Cheese Casserole

I got this recipe from a parenting magazine about five years ago. I make it every Thanksgiving and we love it. This is a recipe that you can prep and bake the day before.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 75 minutes
Yield: 8 servings

Cooking Spray
4 eggs
2/3 cup flour
Two 10-oz packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
24-oz container low-fat cottage cheese
3 cups grated cheddar cheese
salt, to taste

1. Coat a 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs with flour until smooth.
2. Add remaining ingredients and stir well to blend. Spoon into prepared dish, cover, and refrigerate.
3. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 75 minutes.

Tip: To prep and bake the day before, shorten oven time by 10 minutes. Cool, wrap, and refrigerate. Reheat in the microwave, checking at 10-minute intervals, until heated through.

Cheesy Broccoli Soup

Serves: 6

3 cups chicken broth

1 (32 oz.) large package frozen chopped broccoli

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon chopped garlic 

1/2 cup butter or margarine

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups milk

1 pound process American cheese (Velveeta), cubed

In a large saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Add frozen broccoli, cover and bring to a second boil, lower heat and simmer 7 minutes or until broccoli is tender. Drain, reserving 2/3 cup of the broth. In another large saucepan, saute onion and garlic in butter until tender. Whisk in flour until blended. Stir in milk and add cheese. Cook on medium-low until cheese is melted, stirring frequently. Stir in broccoli and reserved chick broth.

** I made this recipe last night instead of the potato and broccoli soup that I was originally going to make. I found the recipe online and changed it a little. This came out really good. There was more than enough for my family. I slowed cooked a whole chicken and used the broth from chicken. Instead of the butter, I cooked the onions in chicken fat and added a couple tablespoons margarine in with the milk and cheese. I will definitely make this broccoli soup again. I think I might try adding bacon next time and cook the onions in the bacon grease. 

Tex-Mex Alfredo

Serves: 8
Cooking Time: 15 min


Ingredients
1 pound uncooked fettuccine noodles
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
2/3 cup picante sauce
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish


Instructions
In a large pot of boiling water, cook noodles until tender. Drain and set aside in a large bowl; cover to keep warm. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine butter, picante sauce, and Parmesan cheese; cook over low heat, stirring, until butter melts. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and salt. Pour picante sauce mixture over warm fettuccine noodles, and toss. Sprinkle with parsley, and serve.


***I got this from MrFood.com. This would make a good side dish. You could make it into a main dish by adding your choice of meat. I think the addition of browned ground beef or turkey with a taco seasoning packet added to it would be a good dinner. If you want to go even farther with this dish, you could add black olives, onions, and red or green peppers. 

Iowa Corn Salad

Ingredients:

1 package of frozen corn

1 package of frozen green beans

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons chopped parsley

1/2 red pepper, finely chopped

1 small sweet onion, finely chopped

Directions:

In large saucepan, boil 3 cups water. Add frozen corn and green beans. Reheat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 6-8 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold running water. Prepare dressing in a large bowl with wire whisk; mix vinegar, olive oil, parsley, salt, and black pepper until blended. Add corn and green beans, red pepper, and onion to dressing in bowl; toss to coat. Serve, or cover and refrigerate.

**This is a pretty good side dish. I have made this once. I thought it tasted pretty good, but the kids didn't particularly like it though.