given a picky eater. (DH) what are your go to budget meals?

[Tiam]

DH, doesn't like a bowl of rice an beans for a dinner. He doesn't like Hummous and pita either, not rice and veggies, or pastas and veggies. He likes straight forward meals, Nothing too foreign. Not willing to try new things. Kind of a meat and potatoes guy. What can I design for a weeks worth of meals?

[puglogic]

He's the picky one -- why not ask him what he suggests, and go from there? Have him give you a list of acceptable "main courses," a short list of starches he'll eat (pasta, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice) and a short list of vegetables, and then just mix and match. I can't imagine being so restrictive in my diet. I don't really have that luxury....if I did, my husband would very politely suggest I feed myself.

[Rosemary]

Some of the less costly meal-based meals I know of are:
roasting whole chickens or turkeys, or boneless/skinless chicken when on a good sale
whole boneless pork loin, when on sale for $2-2/50/lb - can be cut into smaller roasts or chops

My DH likes a lot of meat, too. I am able to keep everyone happy by making 1-2 meat-heavy meals/week, and the rest of the week meals that are vegetable-based with meat as seasoning. He likes tofu and salmon, too, but not as much, so I don't make those as frequently.

But it sounds like your DH has a short list of "likes," so I suggest you do as puglogic suggested and get a list from him.

[reader99]

My late DH ate man-food, too, and boy-food like hot dogs and PBJ. Chili can taste quite meaty while still having lots of vegetables. Spaghetti with meat sauce. In my area chicken is usually the least expensive meat, and Winn Dixie has buy one get one meat prices regularly.

[mara61]

My DH is on the pickier side, thankfully not as bad as when we first met. Some recipes he will eat

Spaghetti sauce with ground turkey
Chili with ground turkey (I'm on the hunt for a new recipe as he likes the Chili Magic cans and I don't want to use them anymore, since my youngest can't eat it)
Fried rice with chicken, with just a bit of carrots and peas
breakfast (but with sausage or bacon, he just needs a bit the remainder of the bacon gets cooked, chopped and frozen to be added to other dishes
Garlic pasta with chicken

With all of these, the meat is not as much as you would think. Especially the garlic pasta

My husband is a no meat on the bones kind of guy, but I can roast a chicken for a few things like soup and pot pie.

[Bastelmutti]

Well, meat & baked potatoes (pick something on sale, and it's not actually too bad)
Chicken & vegetable (leg quarters are good for this)
Rice and beans in another form - say, in hard taco shells?
Does he like ground beef/turkey? Lots of sites online with cheaper recipes containing those - chili, stroganoff, etc.
My MIL likes straightforward food like that & she is a fan of potato soup and beef stew.
Can you add salads on the side? Or try something like chicken caesar salad for a main?