Enjoy quick and easy weeknight meals as well as delicious special occasion dinners with these fresh spring dinner ideas. We’ve got you covered for meal planning inspo and good cheap eats.
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Winter is fading; spring is springing! That means one of two things:
- Your schedule just got busy.
- A desire to get outdoors and enjoy the good weather was just unlocked
Neither situation is begging you to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.
You and I both know that cooking food we love makes it easier to avoid takeout and save money. This is particularly true in spring when the season is bursting with activity — out of doors and in your daily schedule.
Time for some easy spring dinner ideas!
Fresh Spring Dinner Ideas You Can Afford
Let’s maximize your money and look at what foods are cheap in spring. While there our budget grocery list covers foods that are affordable year-round, there are some particular ingredients and cuts of meat that go lower in price in springtime.
It’s always a good play to plan meals to match the grocery sales
seafood – Thanks to Lenten traditons, grocery stores often lower the prices on fish and shrimp during the spring. Watch for sales and plan a few tasty fish recipes.
brisket – Both regular brisket and the corned beef brisket get attention in spring whether for Passover or for St Patrick’s Day. This is a tasty beef cut that benefits from long cooking. I particularly love this soy ginger meat marinade and a long bake.
ham – Ham is an Easter tradition so you’ll see sales in the spring on ham and to a lesser extent in the States, lamb. Slow Cooker Ham is a regular meal in our spring dinner rotation, but there are plenty of great ham recipes to choose from. Remember that you can freeze ham, so don’t hesitate to buy extra for later.
chicken – While available year-round, chicken is a great budget protein to incorporate into your spring dinner ideas. Meal prepping with rotisserie chicken is key during a busy spring season.
clearance proteins – You probably won’t see too many sales on stew meat or roasts as winter fades, but these items may go on clearance as their demand goes down. Watch for good markdowns and manager specials and be flexible in your meal planning to save money.
spring produce – It’s true that we can get any fruits and veggies from anywhere in the world now, but in-season spring produce, particularly from your local farm stand or CSA box is super yummy.
Shop the grocery sales for these items:
- apricots
- artichokes
- asparagus
- carrots
- chard
- cherries
- grapefruit
- kiwi
- leeks
- lemons
- lettuce
- pea tendrils
- peas
- potatoes
- radishes
- spinach
- strawberries
Spring Dinner Recipes
These are some of our favorite dinner recipes that feature spring cuts of meat or spring produce meaning you’ll save more when you make plan them around grocery sales.
Tell us what you think!
We love to hear your experiences with Good Cheap Eats. Click the STARS on the recipe card or leave a STARRED comment to let us know what you think of the recipe.
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