Tuesday Tip: Budget Breakdown — Feed a Family of 6 a Summer Dinner for $15.54
This Tuesday tip: budget breakdown might be my favorite kind of post to share, because there is nothing better than proving that a real, gorgeous summer dinner does not have to cost a fortune to put on the table. I fed my whole family of six — barbecue chicken legs, corn on the cob, and my family’s campfire potatoes — for just $15.54, which works out to $2.59 a plate. Let me walk you through exactly where every dollar went.
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Watch the full video above — or keep reading below.
I have a feeling a lot of families are going to be leaning on a meal like this one all summer long, and I wanted you to be able to make it and feel really good about it. We are all watching our grocery bills right now, and every little bit of help counts. So I sat down and added up every single thing that went into this dinner — the meat, the spices, the sauce, the oil, all of it — and I broke it down per serving so you can see for yourself just how far a smart summer meal can stretch.
And here is the part I love most: this is not sad budget food. Barbecue chicken legs, sweet corn on the cob, and buttery campfire potatoes is a dinner I would happily set in front of company. It just happens to be cheap, too.
Tuesday tip: budget breakdown — The Whole Meal, Line by Line
Barbecue chicken legs — $8.14, or $1.36 per serving. That covers about a dozen drumsticks plus the spices, the barbecue sauce, and the oil to get them going. Chicken legs are hands down one of the cheapest cuts of meat you can buy, and they happen to be packed with flavor — The Kitchn actually crunched the numbers and crowned whole chicken legs the best value cut you can buy, at right around that same $1.36 a pound. Dark meat, crispy skin, sticky barbecue sauce — nobody at my table is complaining that this one was cheap.
Corn on the cob — about 50¢ an ear, or $3 for six. Summer in a single food, if you ask me. In the warm months sweet corn goes on sale just about everywhere, and at around fifty cents an ear it is one of the best deals in the whole produce section. Six ears, three dollars, done.
Campfire potatoes — $4.40 for six. These are a little family tradition of ours: sliced potatoes layered in aluminum foil with onions, a few pats of butter, and a little seasoning. The name says campfire, but I actually bake mine right in the oven, so this is a year-round trick and not just a summer one. You can take them in a hundred different directions with whatever seasonings your family loves — this is simply our version. Potatoes and onions are pennies on the dollar, which is why this hearty, comforting side lands at well under a dollar a person.
Add it all up and the whole dinner comes to $15.54 to feed a family of six — that is $2.59 a plate, less than three dollars a person. A barbecue chicken dinner with two real sides, for about the price of a single drive-through value meal. That is the kind of math that makes me feel good about what I am putting in front of my family.
This is exactly why I love doing a budget breakdown every now and then. When you can see the numbers laid out plain, it takes the stress out of feeding everybody well. Good food and a grocery budget that works are not enemies — some weeks they are the very best of friends.
If you want another one to hold this up against, I did the same thing with a restaurant-style Cajun chicken pasta that came out to $2.14 a plate — a creamy, feels-like-you-went-out dinner for about the same money as this whole barbecue spread.
Tuesday tip: budget breakdown FAQ — The Questions I Get Every Time
How much does it cost to feed a family of six this meal?
The full barbecue chicken dinner — chicken legs, corn on the cob, and campfire potatoes — came to $15.54 for six servings, which is $2.59 a plate. That includes the spices, barbecue sauce, and oil for the chicken, not just the meat itself. Less than three dollars a person for a real summer dinner is a win in my book.
Why are chicken legs so cheap?
Chicken legs are dark meat on the bone, and bone-in dark meat is almost always the best value in the meat case. The Kitchn ranked the cuts and found whole legs give you the most edible meat for your money. They are also far more forgiving to cook than lean breast meat, so they reward you with juicy, flavorful results even on a busy weeknight.
How do you make campfire potatoes in the oven?
I slice potatoes and onions, pile them onto a sheet of heavy aluminum foil with a few pats of butter and a little seasoning, fold it into a packet, and bake until everything is tender. It is the same idea as cooking them over a campfire, just in the comfort of my own oven. They are endlessly customizable — garlic, paprika, fresh herbs, whatever your family likes best.
Does this Tuesday tip on budget breakdowns work for a bigger family?
It scales up beautifully. The per-serving numbers are what matter — $2.59 a plate holds whether you are feeding six or sixteen, you just buy more drumsticks, more ears of corn, and a bigger bag of potatoes. That is the whole point of breaking a meal down by serving: once you know the cost per plate, you can plan for any size crowd.
Can I make this meal even cheaper?
Absolutely. Buy your chicken legs in a big family pack when they go on sale and stash the extras in the freezer, watch for corn to hit its summer low, and lean on a five-pound bag of potatoes that stretches across more than one dinner. The beauty of a budget breakdown like this one is that once you can see where the money goes, you know exactly where you can trim it further.
More Tuesday Tips You’ll Love
- Tuesday Tip: Budget Skillet — Smoked Sausage & Potatoes That Feed 8 for $7.72 — a one-skillet dinner that feeds eight for just 97¢ a serving.
- Tuesday Tip: Budget Lasagna — I Fed 10 People for $15.73 — one pound of ground beef stretched across a whole pan, broken down to $1.57 a plate.
- Tuesday Tip: Slash Your Grocery Budget Without Cutting Meals — the three things I actually do every week to keep the grocery bill manageable for a family of seven.
- Tuesday Tip: Strategic Sides — How to Stretch Any Meal and Feed a Big Family on a Budget — the cheap pantry sides I lean on to fill plates without buying more protein.
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Tuesday tip: budget breakdown — About Stephanie’s Tips
Stephanie Longstreth is the home cook, mom, and storyteller behind StephanieCooksForACrowd.com. She cooks for a family of seven in Florida — five kids, two cats, and one husband who appreciates a good meal. Four of her children came home through adoption, and family stories are woven into everything she makes and shares. Find her crowd-friendly recipes, weekly meal plans, and real family life on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest @stephaniecooksforacrowd.
