This was actually supposed to be a baked ziti, but it turns out ziti is just about impossible to find in grocery stores right now, so I went with a Roasted Vegetable Baked Penne instead....
Recipes under $15
Are you ready for a dinner that is seriously easy and is so good that it will make you go weak in the knees? Just wait until you try this Blackened Salmon with Zucchini....
This Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili is the perfect example of why people love slow cookers so much. You literally just dump everything in the slow cooker, give it a quick stir, then turn...
As soon as the weather turns cool, I grab the cozy sweaters and start cooking the comfort food, like this Classic Baked Ziti. It’s rich and gooey with its layers of pasta, homemade red...
This One Pot Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta was inspired by those little packets of powdered pasta sauce mix I always see in the grocery store. While those little packets are probably great for camping,...
What am I doing over here cooking a casserole on one of the hottest days of the summer? Crazy, perhaps, but the stomach wants what the stomach wants, and mine wants King Ranch Chicken...
One of the coolest things about having been blogging for over ten years is seeing how my cooking style and skills have changed through this experience. One of my first recipes to go viral...
“Chicken and vegetables” sounds like some sort of boring diet food, but when you skewer them on a stick (food on a stick is always more fun) and drizzle them with the most vibrant...
I went down the rabbit hole of looking at diet or macro-friendly meal delivery services online the other day. It’s a booming business these days and I was really curious about what kind of...
Oh my goulash, you guys. It’s not often that I use wine in my cooking because it can be pretty pricey, but something magical happens when you add red wine to beef, and it’s...
If I could only say one thing to people who read my blog, it’s that dinner doesn’t have to be complicated. These Sweet Chili Chicken Stir Fry Bowls are the perfect example. It’s really...
It’s hot outside. Like molten hot, and that calls for some cold, no-heat meal prep ideas! I’m all about huge salads full of yummies that are filling and totally meal-worthy. Cobb salad is a...
You guys, I am SO IN LOVE with this meal! Browned beef full of warm spices, a medley of roasted vegetables with caramelized edges, and a bed of warm rice makes a fabulously well rounded...
I made some simple Roasted Summer Vegetables as a side dish this week and I debated whether or not to give them their own recipe post. Roasted vegetables are so basic that it’s almost...
It’s totally been one of those weeks, guys. I didn’t get to my meal prep this week, but I did prep the ingredients for these Greek Chicken Wraps. Because of all the chaos, this is...
I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! I made a huge pot of Slow Simmered Black Eyed Peas and Greens earlier this week, and of course I meal prepped it! I kept...
Woohoo! I’m excited about this one! This Garlic Parmesan Kale Pasta Meal Prep might be one of my most favorite meal preps so far. It is a little pricer than most, thanks to the...
Hey guys! Long time no see! Okay, maybe it’s only been a week, but it feels like forever. I took last week off to celebrate the holiday and enjoy some time with an out...
We’re almost at peak autumn here in Nashville so I made a very autumn-inspired meal prep this week. I went deep into the Budget Bytes archives and pulled an awesome recipe that I haven’t...
Hey guys! I hope you’re having a fantastic weekend! I got back from a short trip to Seattle a couple of days ago, but wanted to hop right back on the meal prep wagon...
Hey guys! I hope you’ve had a wonderful weekend so far and have saved a little time to do some meal prep for the week! I didn’t have a lot of time in the...
Okay, I’m back to comfort food this week with these Pesto Stuffed Shells Meal Prep. It’s a classic pasta dish that I paired with Homemade Garlic Bread. I had planned on making it an...
Okay guys, I thought I’d do something a little more all-American, comfort food style for this week’s meal prep. This Garden Vegetable Turkey Loaf Meal prep contains my veggie-packed Mini Garden Vegetable Turkey Loaves,...
Hey guys! It’s Sunday and you know what that means—I’m sharing my meal prep combo for the week! That’s 2-3 Budget Bytes recipes that I’ve combined to create four pre-pack meals to eat over...
Y’all know how much I love slow cooked meat, right? It’s always so tender and full of flavor, yet nearly effortless. While I usually opt for a southwest blend of spices, a couple of...
“Meal prepping,” as it has now come to be known in fitness circles, has always been a huge part of my budget eating strategy. Cooking your meals ahead of time and having them pre-packed...
If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my story the other day where I was trying to figure out what to do with a pound of ground beef that I had...
“Plus? What is this ‘plus’ business?” … I can hear it now. Well, the “plus” is LENTILS! *crowd cheers* Yes, these easy Homemade Sloppy Joes Plus have lentils for added fiber and to bulk them...
While checking the sale flyers for my grocery stores last week I noticed that Whole Foods had beef stew meat on sale for $3.99/lb. and I was ALL OVER that. I was finally able to...
You guys know that I love my bowl meals, right?? They have everything you need in one bowl, with more flavor, texture, and color than you can shake a stick at. But the more...
Last week I saw an amazing photo for some Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches from Carlsbadcravings.com and I couldn’t stop thinking about them. I wanted those sandwiches and I wanted them bad. But then...
It’s party season! Between Thanksgiving and the New Year I feel like every weekend is booked up with parties, parties, PARTIES. So, I’d love to give you at least one idea for easy party...
The other day on Facebook I asked your opinion on “classic casseroles.” The response was almost unanimous—you love them, but would like to see versions made without as many canned ingredients or “cream of”...
This week I played around with the concept for my classic Taco Chicken Bowls and made a “green” salsa version, or Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken Bowls. Salsa is kind of a secret weapon when...
This post is a little different than my usual. Instead of a “recipe” this is more like an experiment. It’s no secret that I love salad bars, I even wrote a post about How...
Okay, so I made this Pressure Cooker Chicken and Rice for myself the other day just as an experiment and not for the blog. Luckily, I decided to snap some photos of the process...
I got that craving for fajitas the other day and just had to have ’em. I decided to switch things up a bit from my usual oven fajitas and use portobello caps in place...
Remember that Thai Curry Vegetable Soup that I made a while back that was like, “GAH! THIS IS SO GOOD!”? Well, yesterday I had a craving for those flavors again, but decided to do...
My pasta situation is getting a little out of control. My pantry is starting to overflow with half-full packages of pasta and a girl can only eat Bowties and Broccoli so many times per week....
I’ve been craving the salty, briny flavor of kalamata olives lately, so I bought a handful of olives off the olive/salad bar at the grocery store, combined them with a can of diced tomatoes,...
I don’t think I can accurately articulate how delicious and fresh this Nam Sod is. Imagine a fresh and zesty ginger and lime dressing that has a little bit of spicy heat, and a...
Okay, this one is a bit of a splurge, especially considering my tight September Challenge budget, but after last week’s meat heavy menu I was craving bright fresh flavors. This Parsley Pesto Pasta is...
Hello! I just got back from an extremely restful, yet indulgent, beach vacation. The sea was beautiful and the food and drinks were even better. I have to admit, my friends are far better...
Today I had this insane craving for cold and crunchy vegetables all wrapped up inside a fluffy pita (it’s weird how specific my cravings are sometimes). So I threw together this super simple Roasted...
My freezer is lookin’ a little bare these days, so it’s time to start making some stuff that I can freeze portions of for nights when I just want to pop something in the...
While I love cooking from scratch, there are always those nights when all I have the energy to do is grab a few grocery store staples and throw them together for a quick meal....
When I first started this blog I used to cook in “complete meal” mode (a main dish + sides) and post each recipe individually, as well as a “complete meal” summary. Somewhere along the...
Slow cooked shredded meat is one of my all-time favorite things. I was craving beef this week, so I decided to make a new version of shredded beef that could be used in burritos,...
Whoa. Just, WHOA. I’ve never smelled anything as lovely and drool-inducing as the scent in my house the day I made this Slow Cooker Rosemary Garlic Beef Stew. It was absolutely incredible. It had...
Every once in a while I get a very specific craving for a burger. Not just the patty itself, but the bun, tomato, and the whole deal. I wanted to do something a little...
One of my all-time favorite recipes is Oven Fajitas. It’s easy, flavorful, and healthy. So, I decided to try the same concept with different flavors. For this version, I chose Greek inspired vegetables (bell pepper,...
I came up with this recipe because I had half of a flank steak in my freezer that I needed to use up. As usual, I bulked up the meat with beans, rice, and...
I caught a few minutes of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn the other night and was reminded of how much I love stories like that and The Grapes of Wrath. They really make me...
This is the last installment in the shredded beef series. Although this recipe ended up being something quite different than I intended (thanks to my chronic absent mindedness), it still ended up super delicious!...
So, I broke down last week and bought a burrito from the hospital cafeteria for lunch. It was SO good, but at $5.50 for the least expensive option, I knew I could do better....
But Mom! Everyone else is doing it! I don’t know who the first person was to stuff pasta shells with taco fillings, but it’s definitely a good idea. I kept seeing taco shells around...
I LOVE quesadillas. Crispy on the outside, all warm and melty on the inside… Oh so good. While I don’t think I can top my favorite black bean quesadillas, these mediterranean quesadillas are an...
Betcha didn’t think you could eat shrimp on a budget, did you? Well, if you use the basic Budget Byting principle of combining an expensive ingredient (like shrimp) with less expensive ingredients (like rice...
Due to poor planning on my part, I only came out of this weekend with one recipe to post… but boy, oh boy, is it a GOOD one!! These little individual Thai chicken pizzas...
So, my appetite has been pretty wonky lately and all I’ve wanted to eat is burritos. I love a good burrito. I mean I LOVE them… and it’s all to easy to waltz right...
I fell in love with Indian food last year and have craved it ever since. I’ve experimented here and there but it’s still completely uncharted territory to me. I recently discovered the show Spice...
One of my wonderful readers recently asked for more fish recipes. I fully intended on doing cod or some other type of fish that I had never cooked before, but when I got to...
Why am I making stews in the middle of summer? I don’t know. It just sounded tasty… and making hot food in the middle of summer never really bothered me much. So, if it’s...
This taco chicken bowls recipe is definitely “slow-cooker 101”. It’s probably one of the first recipes that most people learn to make in their slow-cooker. In fact, some version of Slow Cooker Taco Chicken...
This dish is a little more fancy and expensive than the usual Budget Bytes fare, but when you compare it to the cost of a restaurant meal, it still can’t be beat. I get...
This post is dedicated to all of you who are still going out to eat at the Olive Garden. ;D This is a super simple, very flavorful pasta dish that will cost about the...
I had never really cooked with ground turkey before (okay, maybe once and it wasn’t good) but I think I discovered the key. You have to season it up really really good. I added so...
Oh, I’ve been wanting to make this Coconut Chicken Soup for such a long long time! There are few things that I like more than coconut milk so I just knew this was going...
Today’s recipe is brought to you by the word mirepoix. Via wikipedia: Mirepoix (cuisine), a traditional French culinary combination of onions, carrots and celery aromatics. I felt it important to share this piece of...
Hindsight is 20/20. One of the main ingredients in this mouth-watering teriyaki pulled pork is the teriyaki sauce. The entire ten minutes that I stood in the Asian foods aisle trying to decide which...
