Frugal Dinners: Panko-Coated Cubed Pork w/Potatoes and Veggies

Some of my favorite articles and blog posts to read are ones about meals that cost under $5. It always intrigues me to see what kinds of meals are possible for so little of an amount. With the rising grocery prices, it’s becoming harder and harder to achieve that. But with a little creativity and work, it’s possible

Sure, there are times that I splurge on certain meal items, but for the most part, I try and keep the cost of my meals as cheap as possible. Last night’s meal was one such meal. I made panko-coated cubed pork with leftover potatoes and veggies from a boiled dinner my mom had made on Monday.

The total cost of my meal was under $2. $1.77, to be exact. Yes, that’s right. It’s not a typo. I bought the cubed pork at Market Basket for $1.27. The southern gravy that I put on top of the pork was $.50. The coating and eggs are staples, so I don’t count them. The potatoes and veggies came from my mom, so those don’t count either.

So if you divide that $1.77 among the four people in my family, that’s about $.44 each. Now THAT’S a cheap meal.

I admit, I was a bit skeptical about how the pork would turn out since I spent so little on it. I was worried that it would turn out tough like cube steak sometimes does, which I hate. However, I worried for nothing. The meat turned out nice and tender and golden brown, just the way I like it.

The coating for the cubed pork was as follows:

Coating 1: A mixture of flour, 1/4 tsp., of paprika, 1/4 tsp. of pepper and 1/2 tsp. of salt.

Coating 2: Egg

Coating 3: Panko crumbs

Once the pork was evenly coated, I fried it up in extra virgin olive oil. That’s it. Easy peasy!

(I wish I could say that the photo included with this post is an actual picture of my meal, but my camera is old and no longer works, so I ended up having to use a stock photo. I’ll try and remember to borrow my mother’s camera the next time I make it so I can post a picture.)