Last year, I captured my first month of shopping and eating on food stamps. At the time, I was experiencing a lot of fear and anxiety about grocery shopping, and those feelings resurfaced a few months ago when most of us lost access to our food stamps during the government shutdown -- yay fascism. These days, though, I feel like a SNAP shopping pro.
Whether you're shopping with food stamps or just feeling the squeeze on your grocery budget, I hope this information will help you feel empowered in the choices you're making to feed your face in these trying times.
In this post, I'm comparing prices from three grocery stores: Aldi, Walmart, and Kroger. I don't live near a Kroger, but the Internet assures me that lots of other people leave near Krogers, so I'm throwing them into the mix anyway. In most cases, brands vary, but I made my best effort to ensure products were as comparable as possible. This post reflects the regular sticker price (no sales or coupons) available to me in Virginia in March 2026. Your mileage may vary; I wish you the best.
Let's start with beans, since we already know they're the queen of cheap eats. Black beans, dry, in a bag, only cost 1.4 cents per gram of protein. If you, like me, can't be bothered to deal with dry beans, don't fret. Canned beans cost less than a nickle per gram of protein -- 4.7 cents for fancy-pants organic lentils, to be exact.
I know a can of beans doesn't look like food most of the time. And that's because it's not; it's an ingredient. You deserve food that tastes good, no matter how broke you are, and beans by themselves do not taste good. It's not you, it's them. Try a zingy black bean dip or chickpea salad.
You know what does look like food? Mac and cheese. That's why my favorite way to get protein is with pasta. Stay with me now. The Barilla Protein+ pasta has 10g of protein per 2oz serving. That's more protein per serving than garbanzo beans. You're welcome.
Even if you don't spring for the Barilla Protein+ or something like a Banza pasta alternative, normal, cheap-as-dirt, whole wheat pasta is still a solid source of protein and it's at a price point similar to beans.
You know what goes good with pasta? Peanut sauce. Toss in some veggies and you have a meal that looks healthy and responsible but tastes like takeout. And for only two cents per gram of protein, peanut butter is one of the most cost effective and tasty ways to fill out your diet.
Keep in mind that nuts and nut butters can have wildly different prices when sourced at different stores and in different quantities. If the price you see feels too high, look elsewhere or wait for a sale.
Speaking of things that feel expensive, let's talk about meat replacements. I assumed that anything with a brand name on it was going to be unattainable when money got tight. After crunching the numbers, though, I found that keeping a stash of frozen "meats" on hand was well worth it for me.
The Morning Star Grillers Crumbles have been my go-to for many years now, and I was thrilled to realize they were a pretty cheap staple, at less than $1 per serving. The other vegan meats I checked were a bit more expensive, but still reasonable, especially if you catch them on sale or stretch them out with other protein-packed ingredients.
I would be remiss if I spent a whole post talking about vegan protein and left out tofu.
Tofu is not my favorite ingredient, nor is it the cheapest way to get your protein, but it is extremely versatile and worth having in your culinary arsenal. Nora Cooks has a good marinade with Asian vibes and It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken has a solid taco filling recipe. You can even hide tofu in junk food, like French Onion Dip.
Before we go, let's do a quick-fire roundup of what we learned. The cheapest protein-per-penny is dry black beans at 69g per $1. The most expensive protein is Impossible Beef at 6g per $1. Peanut butter has the lowest cost per serving, at 9 servings per $1 (if you don't eat peanuts, remember that almond butter is significantly cheaper at Aldi). And last but not least: Pasta is your secret weapon for affordable protein.
If you're experiencing any kind of food insecurity, please lean on community resources. Feeding America makes free food available across the country. If you qualify for SNAP, reach out to your local social services office to sign up. You can also join the wait list for Full Cart grocery deliveries if you see your situation persisting long-term.
Do you have any other protein-packed budget tips? Share them in the comments!
