Top 8 Foods for Eating Healthy on a Budget

Eating Healthy on a Budget may seem impossible, and my all means it can be very expensive depending on where you shop and what you buy. But by leveraging these 8 ingredients as staples, you can easily manage your waistline and your pocket book at the same time.

Healthy eating is not always easy, I mean obviously. If it was, we wouldn’t be struggling with the obesity and lifestyle disease rates we’re seeing today, right? Depending on your lifestyle, there can be a variety of barriers. In my two decades of experience, it generally boils down to one of these I’ve listed below. Can you, or do you know someone who can relate?

Barriers to Healthy Eating: It is…

1. Too time consuming to shop and prepare (i.e I don’t have the time).
2. Far too complicated and hard to cook (i.e I don’t know how to do it).
3. Way too expensive (i.e. Whole Foods = Whole Paycheck).
4. Bland, boring or gross tasting (i.e. I love my added salt, sugar and fat).

There are other less common ones too, but I’d say those make up the majority of reasons we don’t eat better on a regular basis. And trust me, I can relate to all of them. I grew up on Skittles, Captain Crunch Berries and Tuna Casserole.

These were the perks of being raised by a single dad who was truly awesome, but diet quality was not something he understood well. Over time, I’ve overcome them all (most of the time) and I’m truly passionate about helping others do the same. I believe so strongly in the power of food. My goal has always been to provide solutions to all barriers to healthy eating.

Today, let’s talk about eating healthy on a budget!

This is why I love unprocessed plant forward (Clean & Colorful) eating so much. It was something everybody can do and with the right support (and of course motivation), all these barriers can be overcome. Today’s topic is near and dear to my heart because I have lived on a budget nearly my entire life. And even if I was showering in cash, I’d still be a bargain shopper, it’s in my DNA. 

Top 8 Budget Friendly Healthy Foods

Of course where you live and shop will impact the total cost of these items and shopping in season also helps keep cost low on produce. But generally speaking, these are your winners because not only are they inexpensive and full of quality nutrition, these are truly some of the most versatile foods. These are all staples in my house and I geek out all the time over how many awesome, nutritionally dense meals you can get out of these winners.

1. Beans (any and all of them!)

I truly feel bad for Paleos because they don’t get to incorporate these beauties into their diet. They are a protein from the earth, which means the are unprocessed and plant based. they are full of fiber and other minerals like calcium, potassium, and folic acid. It will vary per type, but on average a 1/3 cup serving has about 80 calories and 5g of both protein and fiber.

When you buy them by the can, they are like a buck for 3.5 servings. When you buy them by the bag and boil them yourself, they are like a buck for 14 servings! Plus they taste better, have less sodium, less anti-nutrients and freeze like champions. I use beans in every salad, hearty bowl, omelet and can even be blended into brownies.

2. Eggs

Eggs are great because they last forever (well, like a month), are a great source of protein (6g for less than 80 calories for a whole egg) and also have important vitamins like Vitamin D and B12 and are staples in many recipes.

They are so easy to cook and very versatile. You can scramble, poach, fry or hard boil them and they can go on top of just about anything. You can pack in all five colors easily into a veggie scramble with you mix with Simple Roasted Vegges and and stay full well into the late morning. And when they are hard boil them to have them on hand as awesome, portable, nutrient dense snacks.

3. Bananas

Bananas are filled with fiber and of course potassium and have about 100 calories making them a great addition to breakfast or as a grab-and-go snack. They will vary in price depending where and when you buy them, but generally they are less than a $1 per pound.

I love them fresh to put on top of toast with peanut butter, in optimized oatmeal or steel cut oats. You can blend them frozen and make something as delicious as ice cream. If they are past their prime, you can peel then and freeze them for smoothies making them a safe produce investment knowing they will never go to waste.

4. Cauliflower

Even though the cauliflower lacks the vibrant color of many of it’s counterparts, don’t let that fool you. It is a nutrient power house! An entire head can run as low as a buck and have only 145 calories with 12g of fiber and 11g of protein! It also houses key nutrients like Potassium, Iron, Magnesium and Vitamins B6 and C. And one of my favorite fun nutrition facts is that calorie for calorie, it has just as much protein as chicken!

I like to call cauliflower the chicken of vegetables because it will do whatever you tell it to. You can chop it up to mimic rice, mash it into look like mashed potatoes, boil and blend as a base for many creamy/cheesey sauces and even flatten it out into pizza crust.

5. Sweet Potatoes & Yams

Yams & Sweet Potatoes are a term often used interchangeably but they are actually different tubers. Sweet potatoes lack color and yams have a deep orange hue. But they both beat out white potatoes with more phytochemical power.

Sweet Potatoes will cost you less than a buck per pound and make an awesome side dish to French Toast for breakfast in lieu of hash browns when roasted. They are also delicious mashed, cut up and baked as “fries” and tossed in the crockpot for vegan or turkey chili. And people are really into Sweet Potato Toast these days for a less bready breakfast treat.

5. Celery

I like celery for a few reasons. It’s not something anybody craves or is really stoked to eat, but it’s essentially a zero calorie food (one cup has about 16 calories) with a few important nutrients like Potassium, Vitamin A and C. It provides a ton of water and crunch making it incredibly satisfying and a good craving kicker. An entire stalk/bunch is usually about a dollar or two and will last quite some time once washed and stored in the refrigerator.

Because it contains so much water, it’s a great staple ingredient for Basic Green Juice and makes a simple snack which easy to dip in peanut butter or hummus. It’s a great replacement to processed, calorically dense and nutritionally inefficient chips or crackers. You can also use it to add bulk, texture and flavor to tuna salad and save yourself from being buried under too much mayo or sour cream.

6. Carrots

Carrots, like their orange sister the Sweet Potato are also a great source of beta carotene, making them an amazingly dense source of Vitamin A. One cup has 50 calories and about 4 grams of fiber and cost less than .70 per pound. Baby carrots are higher in sugar than the larger ones Bugs Bunny eats, however I don’t know of anybody whoever became overweight from overconsumption of baby carrots.

Carrots, similar to celery make great, simple grab and go snacks that provide a ton of crunch and water. They are an excellent vehicle to deliver yummy dips like hummus to your mouth without an inefficient chip or cracker. The Italian Carrot Salad is one of my all time favorites and is perfect for these warm Summer months.

7. Dry Rolled Oats

Dry oats should be a staple in everybody’s pantry, and not the little microwaveable ones with added sugar. The giant, cheap cardboard canister of plain old quick oats will do perfectly. You can grind them up to make oat flour and use in lieu of refined white flour and will deliver 4x the fiber and double the protein and a few bits of bonus iron as well. Oats should run you about a buck per pound, they last forever and are good for so much more than oatmeal in the morning.

In addition to power packed hot oatmeal, try this overnight oats recipe to maximize your time in the kitchen and have an awesome grab and go quality breakfast in the morning. You can also add oats to pancakes and smoothies adding good fiber and making them more filling.

8. Canned Tuna

Canned tuna in general is a bargain, but when on sale, you can get it for like $1 for a 5 oz can. In that tiny 5 oz can (when packed in water) you’ll get about 200 calories and 40g protein. This is hands down the most affordable source of animal protein. Tuna is also low fat, yet a good source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids and comes with a good bout of  Iron, Phosphorus, Niacin, Selenium as well as Vitamins B6 and B12.

The shelf life of a can of tuna is 2-5 years making it virtually impossible to waste and great to have on hand all-the-time! In addition to being the main staple in that Tuna Casserole I grew up on (thanks dad!), you can used canned tuna in salads and sandwiches. It is awesome runner fuel when paired with white beans and wrapped up in this satisfying lunch!

Eating Healthy on a Budget in Summary

There you have it! If these foods are not staples in your pantry they should be. Add them to your grocery list now and check out all the recipes I linked to in this post and always keep an eye on my Instagram to see what I’m cooking up at home. Getting comfortable and creative with these ingredients will make your healthy eating efforts much more budget friendly.