Barley Jambalaya - $4.42 a serving

Name: Barley Jambalaya
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 1 cup instant pearl barley; 4 cups water; 2 whole bay leaves; 3 medium onions; 2 small celery stalks; 1 cup diced green, red, yellow, or orange bell pepper; 2 medium cloves garlic; 1 tablespoon canola oil; 4 ounces ground turkey; 2 (14.5-oz) cans diced tomato (no salt added); 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper; 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano; 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Makes 6 servings · cajun · medium · USDA MyPlate Kitchen (public domain)

$26.54

basket total, in-store

$4.42

per serving (6 servings)

-$0.20

cheaper than the $4.62 median dinner

What it costs at Kroger - Kroger On the Rhine

Every non-staple ingredient matched to a real product on the shelf, priced on 2026-07-17 at Kroger - Kroger On the Rhine (ZIP 45202). 4 pantry staples excluded. 3 matches are flagged for you to check rather than silently swapped. Prices change without notice - this is what we paid attention to on that date, not a quote.

The recipe says	We found	Package	Uses	Costs	Left over
1 cup instant pearl barleyCHECK THIS	Quaker® Quick Pearled Barley · 11 oz	$3.29	200 g	$2.11	$1.18
2 whole bay leaves	Simple Truth Organic® Bay Leaves · 20 ct	$2.49	2	$0.25	$2.24
3 medium onions	Jumbo Yellow Onions · 1 lbSIZE UNREAD - 1 PKG ASSUMED	$1.19	3	$0.87	$0.32
2 small celery stalks	Sleeved Celery · 1 ctx2	$2.59	2	$5.18	-
1 cup diced green, red, yellow, or orange bell pepper	Fresh Yellow Bell Pepper · 1 ctSIZE UNREAD - 1 PKG ASSUMED	$1.67	150 g	$0.00	$1.67
2 medium cloves garlic	Kroger® Whole Garlic Bulbs · 5 ct	$2.49	2	$1.00	$1.49
4 ounces ground turkey	Kroger® 93/7 Lean Fresh Ground Turkey - 1 LB · 1 lb	$5.49	113 g	$1.37	$4.12
2 (14.5-oz) cans diced tomato (no salt added)	Kroger Diced Tomatoes · 14.5 ozx2	$1.00	822 g	$2.00	$0.00
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepperCHECK THIS	Badia® Ground Cayenne Pepper · 1.75 oz	$1.49	1 g	$0.03	$1.46
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oreganoCHECK THIS	Smart Way™ Oregano Leaves · 0.63 oz	$1.25	3 g	$0.21	$1.04

Where the money goes

ground turkey drives this basket at $5.49, 21% of the total. The next biggest lines are celery ($5.18) and instant pearl barley ($3.29). $13.53 of the basket - 51% - is package remainder: food you buy because stores sell packages and recipes call for amounts. It does not vanish, it sits in your kitchen for the next meal.

What carries into next week

Kroger® 93/7 Lean Fresh Ground Turkey - 1 LB · about 341 g left, $4.12 of value
Simple Truth Organic® Bay Leaves · about 18 left, $2.24 of value
Fresh Yellow Bell Pepper · about 90 g left, $1.67 of value
Kroger® Whole Garlic Bulbs · about 3 left, $1.49 of value
Badia® Ground Cayenne Pepper · about 49 g left, $1.46 of value
Quaker® Quick Pearled Barley · about 112 g left, $1.18 of value

Ingredients

1 cup instant pearl barley
4 cups water
2 whole bay leaves
3 medium onions
2 small celery stalks
1 cup diced green, red, yellow, or orange bell pepper
2 medium cloves garlic
1 tablespoon canola oil
4 ounces ground turkey
2 (14.5-oz) cans diced tomato (no salt added)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

In a colander, rinse barley under cold water.
In a medium pot over high heat, bring barley, water, and bay leaves to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook barley until tender and water is absorbed, about 20-30 minutes.
In a colander, drain barley. Set aside.

Meeting Your MyPlate Goals on a Budget MyPlate National Strategic Partners Toolkit. MyPlate took its recipe pages offline in 2026 - the original lives on at the Internet Archive. More on this: Why chicken dinners cost more than you would guess.

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