Eating for Postpartum on a Budget

You enter into the postpartum season and suddenly, you’re hearing about collagen powders, expensive supplements, superfoods, organic everything, elaborate meal plans, and all the things you’re “supposed” to eat after having a baby.

Nourishing yourself after birth is an investment, but does not have to be insanely expensive. Truthfully, some of the most traditional postpartum foods are incredibly simple and affordable: slow-cooked meat, eggs, rice, oats, lentils, root vegetables, broth, and well-cooked vegetables.

Across traditional food cultures, including Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the principles taught by Weston A. Price, there’s a common theme: postpartum women benefit from foods that are warm, cooked, easy to digest, mineral-rich, and made from nourishing whole-food ingredients.

You don't need a pantry full of expensive ingredients to eat well after birth. You need a few good staples, some simple cooking methods, and meals that are easy enough to actually make while caring for a newborn. We’re going to walk you through how to eat well while postpartum on a budget.

Quick Links

Pot of stew reheating on the stovetop

Primal No-Bean Chili by Restorative Roots

The Postpartum Food Philosophy

While these traditions differ in their specific recommendations, they share several principles that can be helpful when planning postpartum meals.

1. Choose warm, cooked foods

Ayurvedic postpartum traditions place a strong emphasis on warm, soft, cooked foods that are easy to digest. Traditional Chinese Medicine similarly emphasizes warm, cooked foods and soups during the postpartum period.

Think:

Soups and stews
Slow-cooked meats
Rice
Oatmeal
Cooked vegetables
Lentils
Eggs
Warm broths
Stewed fruit

And conveniently, many of these foods are some of the least expensive foods at the grocery store and freeze well if you’re meal prepping for postpartum.

2. Prioritize nutrient-dense animal foods

One of the biggest themes in traditional foodways is not necessarily eating less, but eating foods that provide a lot of nutrition in a relatively simple package.

Weston A. Price's research emphasized traditional diets that included nutrient-dense animal foods, including meat, eggs, butter, and other animal fats. For postpartum women, this can translate into keeping inexpensive sources of protein and nourishing fats on hand. You don't need filet mignon when you have a chuck roast.

Chuck roast, ground beef, chicken thighs, eggs, and whole chickens can all be incredibly nourishing while being much more budget-friendly.

3. Don't overlook the humble foods

Some of the best postpartum foods aren't trendy at all.

White rice
Oats
Potatoes
Eggs
Lentils
Carrots
Onions
Squash
Bone broth

These foods are inexpensive, versatile, easy to batch cook, and can become the foundation for dozens of meals. Postpartum is not the time to make eating unnecessarily complicated, stick with just a few staples and you’ll have an abundance of healing meals.

Chuck Roast

10 Budget-Friendly Postpartum Foods to Keep on Hand

1. Chuck Roast

Chuck roast is one of our favorite examples of how an inexpensive cut of meat can become an incredibly satisfying postpartum meal.

How to make:

Season generously with salt and pepper, then sear the roast on medium-high heat on all sides.

Transfer it to a slow cooker and cover with bone broth. Cook on low for about 10–12 hours, or until the meat is extremely tender and easily pulls apart. Serve it over white rice with cooked carrots, potatoes, or squash.

Budget tip: Save the leftover cooking liquid. It can become the base of another soup or be spooned over rice for extra flavor.

2. Crockpot Chicken

A whole chicken is one of the best budget-friendly proteins because you can stretch it across several meals. Put a whole chicken in the crockpot with salt, herbs, onions, carrots, and a little broth. Let it cook until tender.

Then use the meat for:

Chicken and rice
Chicken soup
Chicken bowls
Chicken and potatoes
Tacos or wraps if those work well for you
A simple chicken and vegetable stew

And don't throw away the bones! Use them to make a nutrient-packed bone broth for your next meal. One chicken can become several meals plus a pot of broth.

Recipe link

3. Hard-Boiled Eggs

Eggs are one of the easiest postpartum foods to prepare ahead of time.

Keep a container of hard-boiled eggs in the refrigerator for those moments when you realize you've been holding the baby for three hours and haven't eaten.

Pair two eggs with:

A piece of fruit
Rice
Sourdough toast
Cooked potatoes
Oatmeal
Leftover vegetables

They're also an easy way to add protein to a meal without cooking an entirely separate dish.

4. White Rice

White rice gets a bad reputation in some nutrition circles, but there's a reason rice has been a staple food in traditional cultures for thousands of years. It's inexpensive, easy to digest, quick to prepare, and pairs with almost anything. Soak and rinse the rice prior to cooking to remove excess starch and arsenic, which accumulates naturally in the soil.

Bring about 2 cups of water or bone broth to a boil. Add 1 cup of rice, 1–2 tablespoons of butter, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed.

5. Ground Beef

Ground beef is one of the easiest ways to make a filling, protein-rich meal without spending a fortune. Cook a large batch on the stovetop or crockpot with salt and seasonings and use it throughout the week.

Turn it into:

Beef and rice bowls
Chili
Shepherd's pie
Meat sauce
Beef and potato hash
Stuffed sweet potatoes
Soup

If you're able to purchase higher-quality beef, great. But if your budget doesn't allow for the most expensive option, don't let perfect sourcing keep you from eating enough protein.

6. Chicken Thighs

Chicken thighs and whole chickens are both affordable, nutrient-dense options that can stretch into several meals. They’re flavorful, don’t dry out as easily as breasts, and especially helpful when you’re trying to nourish yourself without spending a fortune.

Roast chicken thighs or a whole chicken with salt, garlic, herbs, and plenty of butter or ghee. Serve with rice and cooked vegetables for an easy, nourishing meal.

You can also shred the meat and add it to soups, stews, rice bowls, or leftovers throughout the week. Don’t forget to keep the bones! Save them carcass and bones to make a simple homemade bone broth for your next meal.

Bone Broth Recipe

Roasted Whole Chicken

7. Oatmeal

A warm bowl of oatmeal can be an easy postpartum breakfast, especially when you don't have the time or energy to cook something elaborate. You can also prep ahead of time and make overnight oats if mornings are chaotic. Oats are like a blank canvas, you can really make them into anything you want with some simple additions.

Try oats cooked with:

Milk or coconut milk
Cinnamon
Stewed apples
Butter or ghee
Nut butter
Dates
Banana

Our Favorite Oatmeal

Overnight Oats Recipe - usually served chilled, but you can warm these up before eating to stick to warming foods during the postpartum period.

8. Lentils

Lentils are inexpensive, shelf-stable, and a great way to stretch meals. You can make a simple lentil soup with onions, carrots, broth, and seasonings, or serve lentils over rice with a little butter or ghee.

If you're following traditional food principles, proper preparation matters. Soaking legumes before cooking can help improve their digestibility for some people. If you're newly postpartum and notice that legumes don't agree with your digestion, there's no need to force them. You have plenty of other options.

Try Our Traditional Lentil Stew

Simple Lentil Soup Recipe

9. Chili

Chili is practically made for postpartum meal prep.

Brown ground beef, add beans if you tolerate them or sub for sweet potatoes, then add canned tomatoes, broth, onions, and spices, and let everything simmer together.

Make a big batch and freeze individual portions. Serve with rice, potatoes, or a little cheese if desired. It's inexpensive, filling, and requires very little hands-on work.

Try Our No-Bean Primal Chili

Simple Chili Recipe

10. Potatoes and Root Vegetables

Potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, and winter squash are some of the most useful budget-friendly postpartum staples. They're inexpensive, easy to store, and can turn a small amount of meat into a much more substantial meal.

Try:

Ground beef + potatoes
Chicken + carrots + potatoes
Roasted sweet potatoes with eggs
Beef stew with root vegetables
Mashed potatoes with slow-cooked meat
Butternut squash soup

A Simple Postpartum Grocery List

You don't need to buy 40 different ingredients to stock a postpartum kitchen. Start with a short list by picking a few of the following:

Protein

Ground beef
Chuck roast
Whole chicken
Chicken thighs
Eggs
Lentils

Carbohydrates

White rice
Oats
Potatoes
Sweet potatoes
Seasonal fruit

Vegetables

Carrots
Onions
Squash
Frozen vegetables

Nourishing fats

Butter
Ghee
Tallow
Coconut oil

Pantry staples

Salt
Cinnamon
Garlic
Ginger
Turmeric
Herbs
Broth or bone broth

You can build an enormous number of meals from this list.

Don't Be Afraid of Frozen and Canned Foods

Fresh food is wonderful if you’re able, but buying canned goods doesn't mean you’re not getting nutrients. Frozen vegetables can be an excellent option when fresh produce is expensive or you're simply too tired to chop vegetables.

Canned pumpkin, tomatoes, beans, and other staples can also make postpartum cooking much easier. You can often find discounted canned goods or buy in bulk for more savings.

Leftovers

The biggest hack of time and money for postpartum prep is leftovers. Whenever you’re able, double the recipe and freeze the other half. You can do this for chicken, rice, soups, stews, chilis…the sky is the limit.

This is where postpartum meal prep becomes less about spending hours in the kitchen and more about cooking once and eating multiple times.

How to Make a $10-ish Meal More Nourishing

Here are a few easy meal ideas for postpartum on a budget. If you’re able, you can add in some additions to increase nutrients, or keep it simple.

Rice + ground beef
Add in: cooked carrots, onions, and a little butter or broth.

Oatmeal
Add cinnamon, stewed apples, butter or ghee, and eggs on the side.

Lentils + rice

Add a fried egg and cooked vegetables.

Chili
Serve over rice or potatoes to stretch the meal further.

Eggs + potatoes
Add leftover vegetables and a little cheese or avocado if it's in your budget.

Beef cubes, white rice, and potatoes

Traditional Postpartum Food Doesn't Have to Be Fancy

When you find yourself overwhelmed by all the fancy nutrition hacks these days, remember your great-grandmother probably wasn't ordering specialty greens and protein powders online. She was probably eating whatever real food was available.

She may have had soup, meat, eggs, grains, root vegetables, cooked fruit, butter, broth, and whatever else was accessible in her kitchen. Every culture looks a little different here, but many understood something modern nutrition can sometimes overlook:

A woman who just had a baby needs to be fed. She needs food that is satisfying, nourishing, comforting, and easy enough to actually eat.

Eating for postpartum on a budget

Eating well postpartum on a budget is absolutely possible. Start with a few inexpensive staples like eggs, meat, rice, oats, potatoes, lentils, broth, and seasonal or frozen fruits and veggies.

Cook them slowly, make enough for leftovers, freeze what you can, use the bones, save the broth, and buy less expensive cuts of meat. Don't let the pursuit of perfect ingredients keep you from simply eating enough. Postpartum nourishment doesn't need to be fancy.

Sometimes it's a bowl of white rice topped with slow-cooked chuck roast and a spoonful of broth. Other times it’s two hard-boiled eggs and leftover potatoes eaten while the baby naps, or oatmeal with cinnamon and stewed apples.

Simple food can still be deeply nourishing.

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