Let’s face it, meat has become very expensive. Sale price on a pack of Ground Round is $2.99/lb, and that’s one of the cheapest meats out there. That can really hurt the grocery budget.
One way to combat that is to go meatless or at least decrease the amount of meat in a meal. Not only does that help your budget, but it’s supposed to be healthier for you too.
Previously, I have shared how eggs are a good protein alternative. One meal we eat quite frequently is Frittata Muffins.
Today, however, the protein alternative is Garbanzo beans and the recipe is for Chickpea Tacos. Like most of my recipes, this is a quick and easy meal to make. In fact, the inspiration for the meal was a recipe called Six-Minute Tacos from the January 2013 issue of Redbook.
Here’s what you’ll need for my version of Chickpea Tacos that fed 6
- 2 Small Onions chopped
- 1 Red Bell Pepper
- 5 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 3 cans chickpeas (drained)
- 1 avocado peeled and diced
- 1-3 TBSP Lime Juice
- 10 Flour Tortillas
- Garnishes of your choosing – I used cheddar cheese, shredded romaine lettuce, and salsa
To get the meal started, heat 1 TBSP Olive Oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and Red Pepper and Cook until they have softened. This will be about 4 minutes. Add your spices.
The original 6 Minute Taco Recipe only called for the Cumin. I added the Garlic and Chili Powder to make it more taco like. You can change up the amounts to fit your taste.
After cooking for about a minute, add your chickpeas to the mixutre as well as 1 tsp salt. Stir it all together and cook while you peel and dice the avacado. Due to some interruptions, this took about 5 to 10 minutes. I wasn’t too upset though because it gave the chickpeas time to warm up.
Place the avacado in a large bowl and pour in the chicken pea mixture. Next put in the lime juice and gently toss all the ingredients together.
I served the mixture rolled in Flour Tortillas for myself and the kids. We garnished it with shredded lettuce, a bit of shredded chaeese and Salsa.
My husband resists going meatless, so for him I added some chicken that I had poached and shredded.
This is definitely a do again meal. Even my daughter who wasn’t crazy about Chickpea Salad, asked for seconds of Chickpea Tacos.
To make it even better the whole meal only cost $7.25 or $1.21 per serving and here’s the breakdown. As you can see almost all the items were purchased at Aldis or Bottom Dollar.
Beans at 95 cents a can at Bottom Dollar Foods = $2.85
Red Pepper – 74 cents using Price Matching at Bottom Dollar
Avacado – 78 cents at Bottom Dollar
Fajita Wraps – 99 cents from Aldis
Salsa – 42 cents (only used about 1/4 of the jar that I bought at Bottom Dollar for $1.68)
Shredded Cheese $.92 (used 1/2 the bag)
Spices, Onion, and lime juice $.30 (estimated) – Don’t forget to check out the great deal on Spices at Aldis
Romaine Lettuce $.25 (used 1/2 a head)
What’s your Favorite Meatless Meal? I would love to hear other’s ideas.
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