As food prices squeeze American households, the nation's food editors are rediscovering an old kitchen virtue: making something delicious out of something inexpensive.
There was a time when the nation's food pages seemed determined to convince us that dinner required imported olive oil, a handsome cut of beef, three fresh herbs and a bottle of wine costing more than the rent once did.
Lately, a different sort of recipe has been finding its way into America's kitchens.
Meet the econo dinner.
With grocery bills taking a stubborn bite out of household budgets, food writers are giving renewed attention to inexpensive proteins, leftovers and ingredients capable of surviving several appearances on the dinner table without anyone declaring a hunger strike.
Consider Costco's famous $4.99 rotisserie chicken. For years, it has been one of the great bargains in American retailing. Now it has become something of a culinary Swiss Army knife. Sunday's roast chicken becomes Monday's chicken salad, Tuesday's enchiladas and Wednesday's soup. By Thursday, what's left of the bird might be contemplating retirement in a pot of lemon lentil soup. That's four meals from one chicken, provided the family doesn't devour the whole thing on Sunday.
The economics are compelling. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery prices in September 2026 were 1.8 percent higher than a year earlier.
Restaurant prices rose 3.5 percent. Those figures measure the latest increases, not the cumulative pain of several years of inflation.
The American consumer knows the difference.
Does the following sound familiar. A cronie of the president suggests a higher tariff on meat. Tariff goes in. Prices on meat soar as supplies dwindle or die in the store. Meat industry on cue cries wolf--you're killing gus. The real wolf in power takes away the tariffs on beef. "My bad," says the administration. Meanwhile, the tariffs go away. But the higher prices caused by the tariffs stay in place. Beef industry in cohoots with administration gets big price increases and give the blame over to the Washington DC crowd.
Consumers are wise to that and take revenge the next election.
Yet, a rising grocery bill is still a large grocery bill tariffs or no. And the food media know their audience. The old-fashioned concept of stretching a food dollar is enjoying a modern revival. Beans, lentils, rice, cabbage, potatoes and canned fish are getting another look.
Even Spam, that durable back of pantry survivor of military rations and midcentury American cupboards, keeps turning up in inventive preparations. But for our money, the most interesting rehabilitation belongs to tofu.
Yes, tofu.
For generations, this modest soybean product suffered an undeserved reputation among American meat eaters as something resembling a damp kitchen sponge.
Pro veggie consumers know better.
Asian cooks had known better for centuries. But convincing a committed hamburger enthusiast to embrace tofu could be harder than selling him a used electric lawn mower.
Enter New York Times Cooking writer Alexa Weibel and her Crispy Tofu Tacos, a recipe that demonstrates how a little imagination can transform an inexpensive ingredient into a convincing dinner.
Weibel's cleverness begins with texture. Instead of presenting tofu as pale cubes swimming politely in sauce, she grates it, seasons it assertively and gives it enough oven time to develop crisp edges and a satisfying chew.
Tomato paste and olive oil deepen the flavor.
Cumin, smoked paprika and other seasonings do the heavy lifting.
An avocado-lime mayonnaise adds richness, while tortillas turn the whole enterprise into a familiar American favorite. The result is a taco filling that can stand in for seasoned ground beef without making dinner feel like an exercise in financial restraint.
That's the secret of successful economy cooking. The diner shouldn't have to be reminded that money is being saved.
Of course, thrift has its limits.
Two ripe avocados, olive oil and a collection of spices can make an inexpensive protein considerably less inexpensive if every ingredient must be purchased from scratch. The smartest budget recipes take advantage of what is already in the cupboard. Their savings come from the entire shopping list, not merely the price of the featured ingredient.
And nobody should mistake economical cooking for a recent invention. Our grandparents knew how to turn yesterday's roast into tomorrow's hash. They understood that soup could rescue almost anything and that a sack of potatoes represented several possibilities rather than one dinner.
One retail grocer is offering five pounds of potatoes for $5. Read familiar?
During the Depression, resourcefulness was an economic necessity. During World War II, rationing made it a patriotic habit. What distinguishes today's kitchen economy is the sophistication of the results. Food writers have an extraordinary international pantry to draw upon, and the Internet has made unfamiliar ingredients and cooking techniques accessible to millions.
The humble soybean can become a taco, a curry, a stir-fry or a crisp, spicy topping for rice. A five-dollar chicken can travel from Mexico to Italy to China without leaving the refrigerator.
There is something reassuring about the return of this kind of cooking. It suggests that ingenuity remains one commodity inflation hasn't managed to price out of reach.
Weibel's tacos deserve their place in this movement. They're inventive, attractive and sufficiently familiar to persuade the tofu skeptic to try one. The recipe follows in our accompanying sidebars. And if anyone at the dinner table asks where the beef went, tell them it was eliminated during the last White House budget negotiations.
TOFU TACOS THAT TREND TOWARD TERRIFIC
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