Dinner For Six For Sixty Dollars

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Posted by Lynne Webb on August 14, 2008

Dinner For Six For Sixty Dollars No one can deny that grocery prices seem to have risen dramatically in recent months and entertaining can put a dent in your wallet if you do it frequently enough.

I generally feed a party of six once a week, and I thought it would be a challenge to see if I could put a complete meal on the table, beer and wine included for no more than $10 per person. We're a pretty food-focused group, so no comprimise in flavor and freshness of ingredients was going to fly.

Read on to see what I put together ~

The Menu

~ Spicy Thai-Inspired Shrimp Cocktail
~ Vietnamese Ground Pork Rice Platter With Tomato Sauce
~ Stir-Fried Snow Peas With Red Pepper And Shallots
~ Lemon-Ginger Berry Dessert

The Main Ingredients

For The Shrimp Cocktail ~
1 lb cooked peeled and deveined shrimp - $7.13
(these were a bargain - on sale at Publix - 31-40 count shrimp $6.99 lb.)
Lime wedges and juice (1 lime) - $.33

For The Vietnamese Rice Platter ~
8 cups of soft leaf lettuce - $4.98
6 scallions - $.50
1/2 cup spearmint leaves - $1.99
1-1/4 cups cilantro leaves - $.89
1/4 cup basil leaves - $1.99
1 hot house cucumber - $1.99
1-1/2 lbs ground pork - $3.69
1 medium sweet onion - $1.26
6 cloves garlic - $.73
1 26 oz container diced tomatoes - $1.99
2 medium tomatoes - $1.21
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (2 limes) - $.67
8 cups cooked brown jasmine rice - $2.30 Stir-Fried Snow Peas With Red Pepper And Shallots

For The Snow Peas ~
1 lb. fresh snow peas - $2.33
1 medium red bell pepper - $1.44
1 large shallot - $1.29

For The Berry Dessert ~
1 pint blueberries - $2.50
16 oz. strawberries - $2.50
1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt - $.28

Lemon-Ginger Berry Dessert Beverages ~
1 Six-pack Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy - $6.99
1 Bottle Redwood Creek Sauvignon Blanc - $7.19

Grand Total $56.17

There are a few other pantry ingredients that I didn't list here - 1/2 cup fish sauce, 1/3 cup ketchup, a couple of tablespoons of sugar, a little frozen lemonade concentrate, salt and pepper, etc. that couldn't amount to more than the remaining $3.83.

So there you have it, dinner for six, complete with drinks for sixty dollars!

Here are the links to the recipes:

  Spicy Thai-Inspired Shrimp Cocktail
  Vietnamese Ground Pork Rice Platter With Tomato Sauce
  Stir-Fried Snow Peas With Red Pepper And Shallots
  Lemon-Ginger Berry Dessert

About The Beer ~
Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy is a limited-release lemonade flavored beer, crafted specifically for the summer months. It has a hint of honey flavor in addition to the citrus and complements the tangy Asian flavors in this meal quite well.

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Reader Comments (3)

I think many people would love to attend this dinner party. It's so summery and the flavours are so perfect for hot, humid weather — like in Southeast Asia. :-) Good job on keeping it at such a low cost. I think it's the ultimate challenge to prepare a cheap, nutritious, AND delicious meal.

Posted by: Yu Ming Lui on August 15, 2008

WOW! What a terrific looking meal. You are the master to prepare all that food for only $10 a plate.

Denise

Posted by: Denise on August 23, 2008

Thanks for the compliments - I don't feel like much of a master though! The budget was a challenge, but I had a couple of good sale items to help me out. I plan to try it again soon with a different cuisine. We'll see how I make out next time!

Posted by: Lynne Webb on August 24, 2008