For anyone just starting to explore organic options or who has been eating organic for decades, getting the best value for a dollar at the grocery store is key. While eating organic may have a reputation as being spendier, the truth is anyone can plan delicious organic meals for their family while sticking to a budget. Here are some useful, practical tips for planning organic meals on a budget.

Organic Meal Planning Doesn’t Need to Be Expensive

First, it’s important to know that while organic foods may have a reputation for being expensive, it doesn’t have to be that way. The key is to prioritize cooking fresh foods at home and planning meals in advance.

Tips for Planning Organic Meals that Nourish The Body and The Wallet

Planning organic meals requires many things and can sometimes feel overwhelming. Hopefully, this guide offers some simple tips to get started.

1. Understanding The Budget

Being budget-conscious requires an understanding of what can be spent on food each week. It’s wise to consider all weekly expenses to determine a budget for groceries. This number will be unique to the planner, based on factors such as household size and lifestyle.

Understanding the budget will keep a planner from going overboard. It will also help create a meal plan by dictating what foods and ingredients fit into that budget.

2. Stocking Up on Ingredients for Multiple Recipes

When shopping, planners should try to reach for ingredients that work with multiple recipes to stretch them further. Organic meat and other ingredients such as brown rice work well for this. For example, a few pounds of chicken is perfect for everything from chicken casserole to stir fry.

3. Going Where the Value Is

Planners should check out the weekly shopping ads for all of their favorite stores. They’ll lead to sales and promotions on a variety of products. It offers the opportunity to compare prices between stores and buy in bulk to get the best bang for the buck.

4. A List for the Grocery Store

They say never go to the grocery store hungry. It’s also a good idea to never go shopping when unsure about what to buy. The result is often a mismatch of ingredients that may end up not getting used, which drives up the grocery budget.

Instead, a good planner makes a list of easy organic meals for the week before going shopping. Once they have the meals listed, they can make another list of the ingredients needed for those meals only. That list goes with them to the grocery store and guides them to just the items they need for the week.

5. Inventory the Pantry

There may be some delicious recipes available to make using ingredients already stocked at home. By surveying the pantry and freezer, a planner sees what’s already available for a meal. By starting with ingredients that are about to expire, a planner can discover recipes through an online search for those ingredients.

6. Leftovers Need to Factor Into a Meal Plan

Leftovers often get overlooked in the process of meal planning for the week. Cooking a hefty recipe one evening for dinner leaves leftovers the next day for lunch. Not only does this save cash, but it helps reduce food waste too.

7. Plant-Based Meals for Variety

Meat is expensive, especially organic meat. Once or twice a week, it’s wise to incorporate a few veggie-only meals into the plan. There are many ways to do this. For example, a big salad filled with all meat-free ingredients makes a perfect meal. Or, this Warming Vegetable and Chickpea Curry recipe will satisfy a big appetite as well.

Examples of a weekly Meal plan

For those ready to get started, it’s time to build a meal plan. There are plenty of sample meal plans available online and many of them are even organic. 

For example, this One-Week Organic Meal Plan features meals such as Baked Salsa Chicken and Thai Chicken Curry. Of course, organic meal planning doesn’t have to be boring!

Another example is this 14-Day Clean-Eating Plan which offers enough recipe inspiration for two whole weeks.

A Few of Favorite Organic Dinner Recipes

The meal plans above and the recipes below may not be organic by default. It’s important to select Certified Organic ingredients while shopping.

15-Minute Spicy Red Miso Ramen

This dish is quick and delicious, and it includes Pacific Foods Organic Low Sodium Chicken Broth, which works really well with other meals prepared in the same week. 

It also requires sesame seeds, which keep for a long time under the right conditions. 

So, buying a larger amount at the cheaper bulk price will save some cash.

Read the full recipe: 15-Minute Spicy Red Miso Ramen

Paleo Chicken Sausage and Sweet Potato Hash

This recipe, when made with all organic ingredients, is loaded with protein and offers a pleasing variety of tastes and textures. It’s also made with Pacific Foods Organic Bone Broth. Plus, this recipe only takes eight ounces of the 32-ounce broth so there will be plenty for additional recipes throughout the week.

Read the full recipe: Paleo Chicken Sausage and Sweet Potato Hash

Vegan Rigatoni Bake

This recipe is truly one of the creamiest, most satisfying recipes out there. It’s made with the organic and delicious Pacific Foods Creamy Tomato Basil Soup. Since the recipe requires only half of a container, there will be some tomato soup leftover for lunch the next day. Win-win!

Read the full recipe: Vegan Rigatoni Bake

Organic on a Budget With Pacific Foods

When meal planning, it’s important to prioritize organic ingredients that are easy on the wallet. At Pacific Foods, a wide range of organic broths, stocks and soups are available to use in any recipe imaginable. It makes sense to place all of these products in the pantry.