Thrifty Meals Around $5 Or Less - Taco Salad

You can make a taco salad as thrifty or as elaborate as you like.  I've even made them with the tortilla bowls, which are inexpensive to make and quite delicious.  Here is a thrifty version we enjoyed one evening that was more than satisfying.

For the base of the salad I wanted a nice assortment of greens.  I chopped up a third of a head of Romaine lettuce, added a healthy handful of baby spinach leaves and a fourth of a bag of shredded cabbage mix.  I use this as the base for a lot of my salads, actually.

I browned and drained a pound of ground beef with half a diced onion.  Then I added half a packet of taco seasoning with 1/3 of a cup of water.  I stirred it around until the water had cooked off and was left with a lovely pan of seasoned taco meat.

For toppings I served it with half a can of black olives we sliced, a cup of shredded cheddar cheese and a small bowl of tortilla chips to crumble on top.  I also set out a jar of salsa a friend had given us (because she doesn't like the spicy stuff) and some homemade Buffalo Ranch dressing.

Here is the breakdown:

1# lean ground beef - $1.89

Lettuce - $.43

Spinach - $.40

Cabbage - $.24

Onion - $.15

Cheese - $.50
Olives - $.50

Tortilla chips - $.25

Grand Total = $4.36

Everything I used was purchased on sale which helps curb the cost quite a bit.  There was more than enough here for four people or in our case a mom and her two ravenous teenage girls.  In fact everyone had seconds.  I could have added taco bowls and probably still come in under $5.

Good, healthy food doesn't really have to cost a lot.

In some cases costs are approximated.  Groceries prices vary depending on where you live.  I don't include condiments, oils, herbs and spices when I figure the cost of a meal as it would be incredibly tedious to do so.  Plus condiments are subjective as each person uses more or less.