13 'poor person meals' people loved growing up and still fantasize about today

The funny thing about growing up is that, for the most part, you think that everything about your life is normal. If you grow up incredibly rich, you think that’s how everyone else lives. If you grow up with very little, you think most people are in the same boat.

When you get older and start making economic decisions for yourself, you start to have an inkling about how you grew up, especially when you hit the grocery store. Some people get older and are better off than they were raised, making them realize the meals they ate as a kid were designed to stretch the budget and not necessarily appeal to the palate.

However, even if you don't have to eat cream chipped beef on toast or Kraft Macaroni & Cheese with hot dogs, there is something so comforting about these meals. Further, at a time when people are tightening their belts due to inflation, it may be a good idea to revisit some of these classic recipes to get through the month.

A Redditor asked people to share the “poor person meals” they ate growing up, and it was a fun list of creative food options, with some very loose recipes for making them at home.

13 ‘poor person meals’ people ate as a kid that still sound pretty darn good right now

1. Cinnamon toast

"Cinnamon and brown sugar butter toast as a snack."

"A few months ago, I came across a similar post, and it reminded me all over again of how awesome cinnamon toast is. I have now eaten it more than I care to admit, for both breakfast and sometimes for lunch."

2. Honey sandwich

"Honey sandwich. Was told it was just a snack or because we behaved well. Turned out we were super poor and that was my mom’s way of protecting us from knowing."

"Put a mashed banana on it for even more yum."

It's pretty easy to make a hot honey sandwich: toast some bread, heat some honey in the microwave, add butter and cinnamon, then drizzle it over your toast.

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3. Butter noodles

"Noodles and butter in college."

"Variation: Ramen noodles, butter, and 1/2 packet of ramen seasoning."

"Add Parmesan cheese and garlic if you’re fancy poor."

4. Cowboy casserole

"My mom used to take any leftover meat like the end of a meatloaf, a leftover pork chop, chicken breast and diced them up w onion. She'd simmer them in some tomato sauce and serve it over rice or egg noodles. All those flavors came together nicely."

"This was cowboy casserole or Friday at our house."

"Hobo hash at my house."

5. Red beans, rice, and cornbread

"Throw in some andouille and that’s a great meal no matter how rich you are."

"Just load up those beans with Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning and slather the cornbread with salted butter. Bon appétit."

6. Daddy's eggs

"Just soft-boiled eggs over crumbled buttered toast. Lots of pepper. Whenever my dad made dinner it was 'Daddys Eggs' and we loved it. Always thought there was more to it than just that, but the extra love he put into it made it taste great."

"My Nana made Nana's eggs, which were similar but with crackers instead of toast. I still make it for my kids."

7. Fake crepes

"Mixing flour and water (with a pinch of salt), cooked/fried like a crêpe in a pan. Whenever we did not have enough money to buy even the cheapest bread from the supermarket. It had the feeling of something "special": Fresh, still warm, hand made..."

"This is how you make old southern 'dumplings' that you put in soup. My grandmother used to make what she called 'turkey pot pie, ' which was sorta a turkey stock with these dumplings and potatoes. My dad still makes it after Thanksgiving."

8. Kraft Mac & Cheese

"I double the amount of butter, then use half & half instead of milk and melt the butter and heat the cream in the pan while the mac chills in the strainer for a minute... Mix it all together and it's extra creamy and delicious."

Kraft Macaroni & Cheese has always been a staple in homes where money was tight. It debuted in 1937, when a family of four could have a filling meal for 19 cents. While the meal-in-a-box is popular in the United States, it's even more popular in Canada. Of the seven million boxes of macaroni and cheese sold every week across the globe, 1.7 million of those are purchased by Canadians.

One of the hallmarks of eating on a budget is taking a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and adding a little protein to make it more nutritious. Some of the most popular "fancy it up" staples are: bacon bits, ground beef or turkey, sliced hot dogs, tuna, and steamed broccoli or peas. If you want some more carbs to add to your macaroni, try crushed Ritz crackers, hot Cheetos, or fried onions.

9. Ketchup and rice

"I have some weird sensory issues that are still present today. And ketchup and Rice never did me wrong. Or hurt me. So ketchup is always alright in my book."

"Okay, I’m in amazement right now. I used to eat this as a kid in the '80s, and it was awesome. When I tell people they’re like yuck, but it was yummy."

10. Spamwiches

"Chopped spam with shredded cheese and chopped pickles, ya pu it in a hot dog bun, wrap the whole sheebang in tinfoil and pop it in the oven. I know spam is conceptually gross, but spamwiches are great."

"Our spamwiches were slices of spam browned in a pan, between two slices of white bread with mayo. Hit the spot."

"My spamwiches as a kid were thinly sliced fried spam on a slice of bread with some yellow mustard. If it were white bread, even better, cause the leftover grease would flavor the bread better than it would if it were wheat bread (imo)."

11. Mayo sandwich

"Mayonnaise sandwich. Mayo and bread. That is the recipe."

"We called that a Wish Sandwich cause you wish you had meat."

12. Chicken a la King

"We used to do this with a jar of chicken gravy, the cheapest frozen bag of mixed veggies, and pieces leftover from a rotisserie chicken. If we were feeling extra fancy, we’d bake up some Pilsbury crescents instead of toast."

"One of my favorite meals, but not so cheap to make anymore!"

Chicken a la king is often seen as food for folks on a budget because it became popular as canned, heated, and poured over toast. However, in the 1950s and '60s, it was a popular dish you'd eat at a restaurant, served with wine, often sherry or Madeira, added to the white sauce. At the height of its popularity, it was served out in a chafing dish with toast points or biscuits. In some places, it was served over noodles or rice.

13. Goulash

"Not sure if it'd be considered a poor person meal, but we'd have this concoction my grandad came up with and called goulash that was made with any leftover roast chicken, boiled rice, baked beans, fried onion, bacon, all mixed together, a bit of salt and pepper. It was basically a way of making a roast chicken stretch for three meals for a family of five, I think, but it was tasty!"

"My family (in the US) had something we called goulash, too: browned ground beef, macaroni noodles, and stewed (canned) tomatoes. Turns out it's nothing like traditional Hungarian goulash either, and I've often wondered how the recipe mutated over time and distance."

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