I Fed My Family of 5 for a Week on $72. Here's Exactly How.

Welcome to KCL's $75 Dinner Challenge: a new series where we find the store with the best deals to build a full week of dinners for a family of five for less than $75. It might be Walmart, Aldi, or Target. We go wherever the savings are. No sad meals. No cutting corners. Just smart shopping.

This edition's store: Walmart.

The average American family of five spends about $175 to $225 a week on dinners alone. We did it for $72.24 ... for five complete meals, five servings each. That's under $15 per meal and about $3 per plate. Real food: protein, vegetables, actual flavor.

The hack? I built the entire meal plan around items already on Rollback at Walmart. No coupons needed this time — Walmart Rollbacks did all the heavy lifting.

Follow along and we'll show you how to make any store work for your budget.

Not using the KCL app yet? It tracks every grocery deal, so you don't have to. Download it for free .

What's in This Weekly Meal Plan

I kept things simple: one protein, one starch, and one vegetable per meal. No complicated recipes, no fancy ingredients you'll use once and never touch again; just straightforward dinners that'll actually get eaten.

Meal 1: Sausage Pasta — $7.70

• Eckrich Skinless Smoked Sausage, 14 oz, $3.26 (Rollback deal)

• Great Value Penne Pasta, 16 oz, $0.98

• Green Bell Peppers, 3 ct, $2.58

• Yellow Onion, 1 lb, $0.88

Slice the sausage, saute it with peppers and onions, and toss with pasta. Done in 20 minutes.

Meal 2: Beef Tacos — $22.63

• Marketside Organic Grass-Fed Ground Beef, 2 lb, $13.44 (Rollback deal)

• Flour Tortillas, 10 ct, $1.98

• Marketside Romaine Salad, 9 oz, $2.97 (Rollback deal)

• Grape Tomatoes, 10 oz, $2.27 (Rollback deal)

• Great Value Fiesta Blend Cheese, 8 oz, $1.97

Brown the beef and season it to your liking (I used items already in my pantry — salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, cumin, and onion powder), warm the tortillas, and set out the toppings. Let everyone build their own tacos.

Meal 3: Chicken Caesar Rice Bowls — $20.47

• Frozen Boneless Chicken Breasts, 1.5 lb (from 3 lb bag), $8.94 (Rollback deal)

• White Rice, 2 lb, $1.77

• Broccoli, 2 crowns, $4.06

• Carrots, 2 lb, $1.92

• Bolthouse Farms Caesar Dressing, $3.78

Bake the chicken, cook the rice, and roast the veggies. Drizzle everything with caesar dressing.

Meal 4: Chicken and Potatoes — $6.88

• Frozen Boneless Chicken Breasts, 1.5 lb (from Day 3), $0.00

• Idaho Potatoes, 5 lb, $2.47 (Rollback deal)

• Green Beans, 12 oz, $2.47

• Mushrooms, 8 oz, $1.94

Use the rest of the chicken from Day 3 and roast it with potatoes and veggies. This is the cheapest meal of the week.

Meal 5: Pork Chops and Sweet Potatoes — $14.56

• Pork Loin Chops, about 2.23 lb, $7.74 (Rollback deal)

• Sweet Potatoes, 3 lb, $2.88

• Asparagus, 2 bunches, $3.94 (Rollback deal)

Pan-sear the pork chops and roast the sweet potatoes and asparagus. Looks fancy, costs less than $15.

Weekly Total: $72.24 Per Meal: $14.45 Per Serving: $2.89

The Rollback Deals That Made This Work

Walmart Rollback prices are temporary price cuts marked with red labels in-store or online. They're not coupons or loyalty rewards — just lower prices on specific items for a limited time. This week, I found Rollbacks on four proteins and quite a few side items, which is what made this meal plan possible without blowing the budget.

Pro tip: You can filter groceries by "Rollback" on the Walmart app or website before you shop to see what's on sale.

Here's what was on Rollback when I made my list:

• Eckrich Skinless Smoked Sausage, $3.26 (reg. $3.63)

• Marketside Organic Grass-Fed Ground Beef, 2 lb, $13.44 (reg. $14.94)

• Marketside Romaine Salad, 9 oz, $2.97 (reg. $3.34)

• Grape Tomatoes, 10 oz, $2.27 (reg. $2.44)

• Frozen Boneless Chicken Breasts, 3 lb, $8.94 (reg. $9.94)

• Idaho Potatoes, 5 lb, $2.47 (reg. $3.14)

• Pork Loin Chops, 2.23 lb, $7.74 (reg. $10.84)

• Asparagus, 2 bunches, $3.94 (reg. $6.94)

Those deals saved me enough to add extras like Caesar dressing and fiesta cheese without going over my $75 budget.

Quick Tips for Shopping This Meal Plan

• Buy in bulk strategically — I used a 3-pound bag of frozen chicken across Days 3 and 4. Buying in bulk and splitting it across meals stretches your budget.

• Don't skip vegetables — Every meal has a vegetable. Bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, green beans, mushrooms, asparagus — it's all affordable if you're shopping smart.

• Swap proteins if needed — If you don't like the proteins I picked, use whatever protein is on sale at your store. The meal structure stays the same: one meat, one starch, one veggie.

• Prep ahead to save time — Chop vegetables when you get home from the store. Cook the rice in advance. Small steps make weeknight dinners way easier.

• Get the KCL app for more weekly savings — If you love saving money on groceries, download the KCL app. You'll get daily deal alerts and savings tips you can use at Walmart and other stores. It takes 10 seconds to download and saves you money every week.

You May Also Be Interested In:

• Best Deals From the Walmart Weekly Ad

• Walmart vs. Target: Who's Cheaper?

• Hottest Walmart Rollbacks We're Shopping