I have a theory that there is a impossible trinity (like in economics), where a food cannot be delicious, cheap and healthy at the same time. At maximum 2 of the 3 can be achieved.

Is there any food that breaks this theory?

Edit: I was thinking more about dishes (or something you put in your mouth) than the raw substances

Some popular suggestions include

  • fruits (in season) and vegetables
  • lentils, beans, rice
  • mushrooms
  • chicken
  • just eat in moderation

Edit 2: Thanks for the various answers. Now there are a lot of (mostly bean-based) recipes for everyone to try out!

Also someone made a community for cheap healthy food after seeing this topic!

  • LoafyLemon@kbin.social
    26·
    2 years ago

    Onion. It’s cheap, nutritious, acts as a low-key anti bacterial solution, can be served in a multitude of ways, or eaten raw.

    Subscribe for more onion facts. 🧅

  • GTac@lemmy.worldEnglish
    17·
    2 years ago

    You already mentioned them, but I’m a huge fan of lentils. They go with so much stuff and you can combine them with a variety of spices. Give me any leftover ingredients and some lentils, and I’ll cook up something delicious.

    They are also a pretty solid crop, they can grow in a variety of climates, require little water and are good for the soil.

  • eduardm@lemmy.worldEnglish
    12·
    2 years ago

    Well, something being delicious is subjective, but if we assume a “general acceptance” of most delicious foods, potatoes could fit easily. They can be cooked in all kinds of ways, are very nutritious and, again, pretty much everyone says they’re delicious.

    • nijntjefan@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      11·
      2 years ago

      That’s a good point, but even within potatoes there is perhaps still a trade-off between “delicious” and “healthy”. As in steamed potatoes without sauces or stuff is kind of meh, while french fries are not that healthy.

  • MesaCoast@infosec.pubEnglish
    81·
    2 years ago

    Ah yes, a food that you can eat for three days without pooping while you stay in a tent?

  • PaxSapien@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    2 years ago

    When I was in college, I had the rule of not buying anything that is >$1.50 per pound. This is what I was reduced to (prices may be different now due to inflation and geo area):

    1. Apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries when they are on sale
    2. Milk, yogurt
    3. Pork shoulder, chicken quarters, thighs, drumsticks
    4. ground pork, ground beef
    5. Carrots, broccoli, potatoes, cabbage (you’ll be surprised at how good thinly sliced cabbages taste in a sandwich)
    • fluxion@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      Cabbage sandwich? Is there some special prep to it? Seems like it would be super bland

      • Reoru@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        2 years ago

        Spice it up with sriracha mayo on toasted bread. salt, pepper and a sprinkle of msg on tomato slices and add simple pickled pink onions. Slice the cabbage into very thin strips and assemble. It’s my favourite sandwich.

        Pickled onions: Red onions, sliced thinly, Boil 50/50 water and vinegar, add salt to the solution and optionally a bay leaf or other aromatics to create the brine. Put sliced onions in a jar and fill the jar with the brine, put it in the fridge after cooling down and wait a night for the sharp oniony taste to disappear.

  • Resonosity@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    2 years ago

    I have a feeling that the answer to this might be anything that you can grow from seeds. So, fresh fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, etc. then, like tomatoes or snow peas or apples or wheatberries. The thing is that these all take time to transform from seed to fruit, so if you include time in your constraint space these don’t work. But you didn’t so here you go :D

  • Elle@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    2 years ago

    …Do we have a community yet for sharing cheap, healthy food recipes? I’d say cooking, but I don’t want to get into all the back & forth over what counts as cooking/baking/frying/etc.

    Maybe /c/cheaphealthymeals? Or maybe cheapgoodmeals would be better? 🤔

    Whatever the case, I think it’d be a solid idea for a community for exchanging recipes and tips!

      • pineapplefriedrice@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        Can I kindly suggest maybe making a guideline post as to what constitutes “healthy”? It was really sad to see all of the people on the previous sub posting their supposedly “healthy” meals that weren’t anywhere close to healthy. I get that there’s a need to leave room for people who are starting at zero and still improving, but it also shapes people’s perceptions in a very real and misguided way. If reliably sourced and well moderated that would make the space a lot better.

        • Raindrop@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          2 years ago

          Great idea! I agree, it’s such a good point.

          Edited to add: I added a blurb to the community - please let me know if you think it needs any changes. Thanks again, I really appreciate the insightful feedback :)

  • Chobbes@lemmy.worldEnglish
    71·
    2 years ago

    So… Are you just unaware of fruits, vegetables, and legumes, haha? In my opinion there’s a huge amount of food that fits all three categories. One of the best example of cheap, delicious, healthy, and easy is beans and rice, spiced up however you like.

    • foggenbooty@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      2 years ago

      Yup. Mexican, Indian, a lot of cuisine from poorer countries figured this out long ago. Beans or lentils over rice with the right spices, incredible. The restaurant version will add a lot of fat and heavy cream but if you make it yourself you can adjust that so it’s not unhealthy.

      • Chobbes@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        2 years ago

        Yeah! Exactly! A huge amount of the best food (imo) comes from these cultures. Plus many of these dishes are also really easy to make in bulk, which is a big win too.

    • vividspecter@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 years ago

      I’m a big fan of these cooked in an air fryer. Usually a bit cheaper than black beans as well in my area, although I prefer the latter on balance.

      • yippeekyay@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        just make sure you keep the smoke extractor on for an extra 15-20 min after turning off the air fryer to get all the carcinogenic particles out of your kitchen.

          • yippeekyay@lemmy.worldEnglish
            0·
            2 years ago

            There was a paper somewhere that shows the high temperature cooking method would result in release of acrylamide? I don’t remember the exact chemical it talked about but the gist is that the person eating the air-fried food aren’t as susceptible to the carcinogens than the person cooking the food because the particles got pushed out the fryer very rapidly.

  • Ben@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    2 years ago

    It depends where you live (I’m in Bangkok, so grocery choices are quite limited).

    I love Oats. I got massively back into them again this year… now I buy around 3kg every month (instant oats).

    It’s only this year, really, that I discovered that oats are still really good and creamy when not made with milk… and it’s really easy to boil a single cup of water to dump on a cup of oats for a perfect breakfast (left standing for a minute - done… no need to ‘microwave’ oats).

    Also, cheap staples include: carrots, potato, broccoli, spinach…

    Frozen strawberries are dirt cheap here too.

    Breakfast 1:

    • Instant Oats (1 cup, 1/4 tsp salt, 3tsp sugar, 3 tsp creamer)
    • pulsed to powder in the blender with a cup of boiling water poured over.
    • Blend 100ml milk with 3 strawberries and mix that in. The beauty of this is (as my son does NOT like stodgy/thick porridge) I can add an extra 100ml of milk to his breakfast, and it becomes a liquid smoothie.

    Breakfast 2:

    • Weetbix are not too cheap, but ONE biscuit mixed with ONE cup of oats is a massive breakfast - and tastes of Weetbix… and is ridiculously cheap in comparison.

    Breakfast 3

    • Oats work great with eggs…
    • 1 cup oats, some salt, some cumin (maybe a teaspoon)
    • 2/3 cup boiling water (soak a minute)
    • 2 duck eggs mixed in
    • butter up the frying pan and dump it in there, cover and cook gently for 3 minutes, flip and give them another 3 minutes.

    DIsgusting poopy one

    • 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder mixed with 4 teaspoons of non-dairy creamer + 1 cup oats
    • pulse to powder, add a cup of hot water.

    That’s choccie heaven right there.

    • McrRed@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      Love your enthusiasm! Oats are a great antioxidant. My problem lies in that I was jujjing them up too much; I quickly went from low calorie health to massive oat-fest banquets - and wondered why I was putting on weight!