DIY meals for $4-6 that don’t require being dehydrated ?

[Aperventure]

Question I’ve asked myself is What food items can I assemble from Store that results in complete meals for $4-6 and doesn’t require time of dehydration?

My go has been:
Ramen, spam, sriracha peas, chives, dried onions & mushrooms w/ sesame oil

couscous fried in sesame oil then cooked with apricots & almonds. Spices if you want.

Anyone else got DIY meals for $4-6 that don’t require being dehydrated ? I’m wanting to diversify from these 2 cornerstones

 

[Ferrulewax]

Skurka's rice and beans goes on pretty much every single trip with me.... and I eat it at home sometimes too

Dinner Recipe: Beans + Rice with Fritos & Cheese

The most reliable crowd-pleaser in my recipe book. It goes on every trip with me. It never gets old. Clients rave about it.

andrewskurka.com

 

[180ls1]

Mass Gainer

 

[hoooogan]

Seems like the world is your oyster with those loose constraints. Are you using a cooler of some sort or does everything need to be (somewhat) shelf stable? Are you trying to cook or just heat/eat?

Cooler/fridge
Frozen "heat and eat" meals are awesome. I have a fridge in my truck, so I frequently take Trader Joe's meals since they have a crazy selection. Most are two servings but combine two packages and it makes a solid three person meal. They are generally anywhere from $2-6 per package. Takes 5-10 minutes to heat up. They don't need to stay frozen either, just on ice or refrigerator temp for a handful of days.

Shelf-stable
Honestly anything in a can is an option. A can of soup is really cheap, easy and filling. I have a couple Chunky soup cans and spam stashed in my truck for emergencies. If you like tamales, I'd recommend finding "walking tamales" at Walmart $2/ea. It is the masa part of a tamale without meat, in a shelf stable packet. Throw it on a tortilla with canned chicken and some hot sauce and you have a relatively shelf stable tamale burrito. Mac and cheese is always a win. I've even done a $5 footlong sub sandwich and leftover pizza for an overnight. Those will be fine for a day without refrigeration. Quite frankly, i've done a lot of leftover dinner for overnight meals. Might cost me an extra $1-2 to make a larger portion for taking the leftovers.