We get a lot of feedback from readers who are trying to cook for families who all have different dietary needs and preferences, especially families with both vegetarians and meat eaters. So I wanted...
Main Dish Recipes
Creamy, tangy, and filling, these Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas are an awesome comforting weeknight dinner. Whether you cook a couple of chicken breasts up quickly in a skillet, or use pre-cooked chicken like rotisserie...
If you’re looking for a meatless main dish this summer, you’ve got to try these Spinach Stuffed Portobellos. They’re super easy, a little like lasagna without all the noods, and light enough to not...
Y’all know I love one pot pasta meals, and I know a lot of you do too. They’re quick, easy, and pack a lot of flavor into only one little dish that needs to...
My boyfriend saw what I was cooking and said, “What is this, the “Hungry Man” edition of Budget Bytes? 😆 What can I say, this pandemic has me craving comfort food! And for some...
Y’all know I’m obsessed with meatballs, right? They’re just so easy, delicious, and something that I’m always in the mood for. So, when I got an unexpected pound of ground chicken in my Instacart...
I’ve probably made a hundred iterations of the bean-salsa-corn combo over the years, and yet I still keep making more. Why? Because it never stops being delicious, it’s super versatile, and I love making...
Sweet potatoes and chili are totally made for each other. The subtle sweetness of the sweet potatoes perfectly contrasts the smoky, spicy flavor of the chili. Add a little creamy cheese on top and...
The other day I was scrolling through Pinterest and an image of some cheesy, tomatoey gnocchi made me stop in my tracks and drool a little. But the funny part is that at first...
Taco bowls, burrito bowls, whatever you want to call them! I went with taco bowls this time because of the homemade taco seasoning used on the roasted cauliflower, plus the fresh toppings like tomatoes...
It’s almost Friday and it’s this part of the week when my cravings for comfort food really start kicking in. It doesn’t help that it’s been dark and rainy non-stop for like, the last...
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...
I’m all about quick stir fry dinners because they’re easy, you can work a LOT of vegetables into them, and they’re just plain delicious. My newest creation, Crunchy Chicken Ramen Stir Fry, is kind...
Keep it stupid simple. That saying applies to so much in life, including food. One of my favorite “stupid simple” meals is buttered pasta with a vegetable and a healthy does of salt and...
Sheet pan meals are my savior. There’s really nothing easier than roasting vegetables in the oven, and it happens to make them taste really good, too. Add a little meat to the vegetables and...
What is a Wonderpot? It’s a pasta dish that cooks all in one pot (a.k.a. One Pot Pasta) with vegetables, aromatics (garlic, onion), and broth so that every bite is packed with flavor. The...
Ever since I added coconut milk to my ramen broth, I haven’t been able to stop adding coconut milk to all of my savory saucy and brothy dishes. The creaminess of the coconut milk...
Some nights you just need something warm, comforting, and easy to help melt off the stresses of the day, like a big bowl of chili. And maybe some cornbread, too, for good measure. This...
Can’t stop, won’t stop with the yummy soups over here! Soup is easy, soup is filling, soup is an easy way to pack some more vegetables into your day, and soup (usually) freezes well....
I’m kind of obsessed with meatballs. They’re easy to make, filling, they pack well for lunches, are freezer-friendly, and can be paired with so many different flavors. Plus, I just kind of think meatballs...
Is there any food that isn’t good when drenched in garlic butter? It’s the easiest, most fool-proof way to make something insanely delish. So, because it’s the week after Thanksgiving and I don’t feel like...
If you’ve been following the blog for a while, then you know how I love to meal prep my breakfast. It’s just so much easier to spend a little time on the weekend to...
Have you ever tried Garlic Noodles? They’re a super rich, buttery, salty-sweet, umami filled dream. I usually serve them as a side dish, but this week I decided to just go ahead and turn...
If you haven’t quite honed your kitchen skills, but still need a recipe to impress, this Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin is for you. It’s ridiculously simple and pretty much fool proof. Just mix up...
Pan sauces for the win! Making a quick sauce in the skillet after browning meat is one of the easiest ways to make a really spectacular meal. Those little browned bits on the skillet...
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,...
I hope I’ve convinced you to experiment with leftovers in your fridge by now. Most of my favorite recipe creations have come from me just piling whatever I have leftover in my fridge into...
Do you love garlic bread as much I as do? Like, do you keep it on hand in your freezer at all times? Then you’re going to love this Garlic Butter Baked Cod. In...
This past week I was talking to a reporter from MarketWatch and as I told the story of Budget Bytes I joked about being a broke college graduate and not wanting to eat canned...
Making sure I get vegetables into my diet takes daily effort. But one thing I know for sure is that if I have them prepped, I am 1000x more likely to eat them. So...
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...
Easy dinners are my jam! I love these Sweet and Sour Pork Chops because they’re a super fast alternative to take out, they require NO chopping, you need only a few pantry staples to...
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...
I love taking advantage of all the fresh produce in summer and all the color and texture it brings to my plate! This week I played around with eggplant, which has a unique almost...
I’ve been trying to brain storm up some easy plant-based meals lately, and this week’s creation was these Creamy Coconut Curried Lentils with Spinach, which are kind of like the creamy cousin of my...
It’s been a while since I’ve made something that was just a straight up simple comfort food, and after a super long week comfort food was definitely in order. These BBQ Beef and Beans...
I bet you’ve never had a spicy chicken sandwich with yogurt in it before! Sounds weird, but stick with me. I love using basic pantry staples in fun new ways, so when Stonyfield Organic...
“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...
This Cold Peanut Noodle Salad is the perfect meal prep for summer! No need to reheat, it’s light but filling, and the flavors are oh so fresh. It’s topped off with a homemade tangy,...
This Spicy Orecchiette with Chicken Sausage and Kale is a variation on one of my favorite fast weeknight dinners, pasta + parmesan + vegetable. If you’re a Budget Bytes veteran you probably have this...
If you want to take your Taco Tuesday to the next level, try baking your tacos! Yes, I said baking them. These Baked Beef and Black Bean Tacos are one of my favorite fast and...
I didn’t grow up eating fast food, so I’ve never really been a chicken nugget person, but the other day, out of the blue, I got a massive craving for them. So I thought,...
It’s been a while since I’ve posted a “one pot” recipe, but I’m really excited about this one. This One Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Rice is incredibly easy, requires very little chopping, and is one...
It’s almost grilling season!! I kind of want to make weekend grilling a thing at my house this year, so I’m testing some recipes. I already have some fun burger recipes on the site,...
The sun is shining, Cinco de Mayo is next week, and I’m over here craving bright fresh flavors, like cilantro and lime. Okay fine, so I’m actually craving margaritas, but my body doesn’t let...
New day, new burrito bowl! Seriously though, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of burrito bowls, or run out of fun variations on the burrito bowl theme. This week I made my burrito...
It’s no secret that I love spinach artichoke dip and I’m always looking for ways to make it into a legit dinner, instead of just an appetizer that I accidentally over-indulged in. For this...
Move over sriracha, gochujang is having a moment in the American food scene, and I’m really happy about it. These Gochujang Mushroom bowls feature sweet and spicy gochujang marinated mushrooms, quick pickled cucumbers, crunchy...
Cabbage and noodles is one of those super simple, no-frills comfort foods. The flavors aren’t complex or even particularly special, it’s just straight up satisfying and comforting. A lot of people add a little...
I gave a little TLC to one of my older recipes this week, Spicy Tuna Guacamole Bowls! With many people avoiding meat for lent, I figured this was a good time to revisit this...
I seriously never get tired of super easy stir fry dinners! I mean, what’s not to love? Only a few ingredients, you can work in a TON of vegetables, and they’re super fast! Using...
Okay, I’m going to squeeze in one more wintry comfort food dish before the weather really starts warming up! This Cheesy Cottage Pie is chock-full of vegetables in a rich beef gravy, and topped...
If you’re intimidated by fish, this Easy Oven Baked Fish with Tomatoes is a great place to start. Baking the fish in a mixture of tomatoes, garlic, and herbs infuses flavor, helps keep it...
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...
One of the best parts about recipe testing is that when you stumble onto something good you have a great excuse to make it over and over again while you tweak the details. I’ve...
This is like, “the week of quesadillas” at my house. LOL. When the concept for these super easy creamy quesadillas first came into my head I couldn’t decide whether to make them with chicken...
My interest in canned salmon has recently been reignited, so I decided to start playing around with it again. I figured a good salmon burger would be a great place to start, but I...
It’s self care Saturday over here at the Budget Bytes house and I’m eating this super cozy Coconut Turmeric Chicken Soup. With chilly temps outside I knew I wanted to make a pot of...
It’s only been two days since the Vegetarian Challenge ended, but my stomach is already like, “Whoa girl, take it easy. I thought I told you before not to change things up so suddenly!”...
I had seen recipes for Peanut Stew and all of it’s many variations around the internet for years before I finally gave it a try, and I’m only kicking myself for not trying it...
This super easy, ultra creamy, and heavily spiced Cauliflower and Chickpea Masala is my new favorite dinner! That spicy-creamy sauce is just so 👌that I have to sop up every last bit with a...
While planning my menu for week 3 of my Vegetarian Challenge, I took inventory of my pantry and noted that I still had about two pounds of potatoes left over from week one that...
Sun dried tomatoes are a fairly expensive ingredient, but I think this Sun Dried Tomato, Kale, and White Bean Skillet perfectly demonstrates how higher priced ingredients, when properly combined with less expensive ingredients, can...
These Loaded Sweet Potatoes with Chipotle Lime Crema are the perfect meal prep item, since they’re already pre-portioned and ready to go. There are a lot of options for toppings and seasonings with this...
Happy New Year! My 31 Day Vegetarian Challenge officially starts today and I have to say, the first recipe I made for the challenge, Sweet and Spicy Tempeh Bowls, is pretty killer. I chose...
Whyyyy don’t we have smell-a-vision yet? I feel like if you could smell this Kale Swiss and Mushroom Strata as it baked, it would be a total game changer. Forget photos, just smell it....
Hi, my name is Beth and sometimes I eat weird things. But if ten years of blogging has taught me anything it’s that a surprising number of you also like to eat weird things....
Y’all know I’m all about the bowl meals, right? It’s pretty routine for me to just go into my fridge, grab whatever odds and ends I have, and throw them into a bowl for...
I found myself with a handful of leftover vegetables in my fridge this week, so you know what that means—STIR FRY TIME! I went extra tropical this time, to escape these winter blues, with...
I’m all about the simple meat and vegetable dinners. By changing up the seasonings, the mix of vegetables, and cut of meat, you can have an endless number of simple go-to meals. This week...
I don’t know what it is with me and meatballs lately, but here we are again. #sorrynotsorry This weekend I made these deliciously Giant Slow Cooker Meatballs, which are a fun way to change...
Are you ready for the easiest of easy stir fry dinners? This Salad Bar Vegetable Lo Mein is the perfect no-brainer dinner for when you can’t be bothered to even think about cooking, or...
Okay guys, I’m going a little out of my price comfort zone for this one because it’s so good that I have to share. And you may very well be able to make this for...
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...
Raise your hand if you have multiple Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving gatherings to attend this year. 👋 Well you can’t make a turkey for all of them, so how about bringing these fun Turkey and Stuffing...
I’ve been playing with my rice cooker again! This time I took this classic fall comfort food, scaled it down and scaled it back to make it as easy as possible, and cooked it...
Today is the most fall day of all fall days. The fall colors are at their peak here in Nashville, the air smells like wet leaves, it’s a little overcast and spooky looking, and...
It’s been a while since I’ve made a one-pot pasta! But this weekend I got a craving for a creamy, smoky, spicy, easy one pot dish, so I set to work! This One Pot...
I’m already declaring THIS my favorite recipe of the winter of 2018/2019, and we haven’t even gotten to winter yet! That’s just how excited I am about this Vegan Winter Lentil Stew. I’ve made...
I’ve been craving meatloaf for weeks, but I was a little reluctant to make a classic meatloaf because there are a million and two recipes for “classic meatloaf” out there, all of which claim...
One of the first recipes that I wanted to try to make in my rice cooker is Spanish Chickpeas and Rice, and I finally got a chance to do so this week. This simple...
I’m coming around to the idea of baked chicken breast, guys. I used to be dead set against baking chicken breast because they always turned out so bland, blonde, and just bor-ing. BUT if...
What do you do for self care? I think most people avoid cooking themselves a good meal as part of their self care routine because it sounds like a lot of work, but recipes like...
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...
There’s a restaurant in my neighborhood that has a vegetarian Nashville Hot “Chicken” Sandwich made with tempeh that is sooo good even though it hurts sooo bad. Spicy food lovers, you know what I’m...
Now that it’s officially fall, I think we could all use a good primer on how to make a basic pot of chili. I have several chili recipes on this website, but this basic chili...
There’s nothing better to keep you going through that late night study sesh than a warm bowl of rich and creamy mac and cheese, and luckily it’s incredibly fast and easy to make using...
Baking is usually my least favorite way to cook boneless chicken breast because you don’t get any browning action like you do in a hot skillet, or that yummy flavor that goes along with...
What did we do before the cauliflower revolution? While I’m not the type to completely replace foods with cauliflower (I can’t do the pizza crust guys, sorry), I love mixing cauliflower into foods because the...
Fast French bread pizzas are a classic Budget Byte because they are super fast, ridiculously easy, customizable, and inexpensive! But one of my favorite reasons for making French Bread Pizza is because it’s a...
I love simplifying recipes and making them accessible for the average everyday American cook, with simple ingredients and simple prep, but I think went too far with the original version of this Slow Cooker...
My Glazed Pork Chops recipe has been viral for several years because it’s ridiculously easy, super tasty, and the sweet and spicy glaze helps keep the pork chops nice and moist. While I’ve often told people...
Rice cookers are a convenient and inexpensive way to cook food for those confined to small spaces or without access to conventional kitchens, so I’m going to develop a few recipes specifically for rice...
Pan frying chopped tofu and drenching it in a yummy sauce is my new favorite tofu technique. It’s so easy and as I think about the sauce options, the variations are totally endless! Today...
I’ve been super into meatballs lately. Now that’s a something I never thought I’d type. But it’s true. Meatballs are easy, flavorful, filling, and you can serve them in more ways than just with...
Yeah, I know, it’s 90 degrees outside and most people don’t want to be eating chili right now, but I’m a year ’round chili eater. Especially back in the day when I worked in...
If I’ve said it before, I’ll still say it 100 times more, simple pan sauces are life! 🙌They’re the fastest, easiest way to create a flavorful meal from a simple cut of meat. This...
Salsa is my secret weapon on busy nights. It’s a one stop shop for adding tons of flavor, without having to dice, chop, and measure out a million ingredients. Everything you need is inside...
Om-nom-nom! That’s the sound of me devouring these sweet, savory, indulgent, and super easy Pineapple Pork Hawaiian Burgers. Seriously, this is the type of meal that makes you unconsciously make noises of glee while you’re...
