Soup and salad is what I order at restaurants and then feel vaguely cheated by, because I know how little it costs to make at home. The pairing is the whole trick: a warm bowl and a cold, crisp plate cover every craving at once and still stay a light, cheap dinner. So I keep a soup on the stove and a salad coming together on the counter, and dinner is two easy things instead of one hard one. Most hold just fine for lunch.
1) Tomato Soup
Tomato soup is the anchor of the whole soup-and-salad idea, the warm half that a crisp salad plays against. Blend it silky or leave it a little rustic, but do not skip a splash of cream or a knob of butter at the end to round out the acid. Pair it with a sharp, lemony green salad and you have covered warm, cold, rich, and bright in one cheap dinner. A grilled cheese cut into soldiers turns it into a meal a kid will actually finish.
2) Chicken Caesar Salad
A chicken Caesar is the salad sturdy enough to be the entire dinner, not just the thing beside the soup. Make the dressing yourself, because 5 minutes of whisking gets you something a bottle cannot touch for pennies. Grill or shred the chicken while it is still warm so it wilts the romaine just slightly, which is a good thing here. Homemade croutons from yesterday’s bread are the cheapest upgrade there is, so skip the bagged ones.
3) Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Broccoli cheddar soup is rich enough that it wants a bright, acidic salad sitting next to it to keep the meal from feeling heavy. Melt the cheese off the heat and stir slowly, because a boiled cheese soup breaks into something grainy and sad. A simple arugula salad with lemon is the perfect foil, cutting the richness bite for bite. Together they are a full dinner that still leaves you able to stand up afterward.
4) Greek Chicken Salad
A Greek salad with grilled chicken is a full dinner that tastes like a vacation and costs like a weeknight. Salt the tomatoes and cucumbers first and let them sit, because that draws out juice that becomes half the dressing. Marinate the chicken in lemon and oregano, then grill it and slice it warm over the top. Use big blocks of feta, not crumbles, so every forkful gets a proper hit of it.
5) Chicken Noodle Soup
A light chicken noodle soup and a crunchy salad is the dinner I make when someone is a little under the weather but still hungry. Keep the soup brothy and simple so it soothes, and let the salad bring the crunch and color it lacks. Cook the noodles separately and add them per bowl, because noodles left to sit turn the whole pot to paste. It is gentle, cheap, and somehow exactly right on a grey evening.
6) Caprese Salad
Caprese is the three-ingredient salad that lives or dies entirely on the quality of those three ingredients. Use the ripest tomatoes you can find, because a pale winter tomato makes the whole plate pointless. Salt the tomatoes a few minutes ahead and tear the basil rather than chopping it, which keeps it from bruising and blackening. With good bread to mop up the juices and olive oil, it is a light dinner in 10 minutes.
7) Butternut Squash Soup
A velvety butternut squash soup begs for a salad with some texture and bite to balance all that smoothness. Roast the squash rather than boiling it, since the oven concentrates the sweetness that water would just rinse away. Pair it with something with apple, nuts, or seeds for crunch, and the contrast makes both halves better. It is a light dinner that still feels like a hug on a cold night.
8) Grilled Chicken Salad
A grilled chicken salad is the workhorse of dinner salads, endlessly changeable depending on what the fridge holds. Grill extra chicken any night you have the grill going, because cold sliced chicken turns tomorrow’s salad into a two-minute dinner. Let the chicken rest before slicing so the juices stay in the meat instead of on the cutting board. Build it on whatever greens are freshest and dress it right before serving so nothing wilts.
9) French Onion Soup
French onion soup is almost a meal on its own, so the salad beside it can stay simple and sharp. The onions are the entire dish, so cook them low and slow until they are deep brown, not the pale gold most people stop at. A plain green salad with a mustardy vinaigrette echoes the savory depth without competing with it. Together they turn the cheapest vegetable in the store into a dinner worth sitting down for.
10) Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
A Mediterranean chickpea salad is proof that a can of chickpeas can be the cheapest, most filling dinner in the house. Cucumber, tomato, red onion, feta, and a lemon dressing turn pantry beans into something bright and substantial. Let it sit for 20 minutes before serving so the chickpeas drink up the dressing instead of tasting like a can. It holds for days in the fridge, which makes it a lunch that is already made.
11) Lentil Soup
A pot of lentil soup with a bright salad is one of the cheapest complete dinners two hands can make. The lentils bring the protein and heft, so the salad is free to be light and acidic, all lemon and fresh herbs. Hold the salt on the lentils until they soften, because salt too early keeps them stubborn. A squeeze of lemon in the soup ties it to the salad and wakes the whole plate up.
12) Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad
Roasted beets over peppery arugula is a salad substantial enough to anchor a dinner, especially with a soup alongside. Roast the beets whole in foil, because that steams them tender and the skins slip off without staining every surface you own. A little goat cheese and toasted nuts turn it from a side into a meal with real staying power. Dress it simply with oil and vinegar so the sweet earthiness of the beets leads.
13) Tuscan White Bean Soup
This white bean and vegetable soup is hearty enough to be dinner and cheap enough to make on a whim. Toss in the parmesan rind you were about to discard, because that is the free ingredient that makes it taste slow-cooked. A crisp fennel or radicchio salad on the side brings the bitter crunch the creamy soup is missing. Finish both with good olive oil and it eats like a trattoria meal for pocket change.
14) Pear and Pomegranate Salad
This is the salad I bring out when a plain green one feels too plain for the table. Sliced pear and pomegranate seeds bring sweetness and a pop of crunch that turn a handful of greens into something worth serving. Slice the pears at the last minute and toss them in a little of the dressing, because pear browns fast once it is cut. With a warm soup beside it, it is a dinner that feels a little special for no extra money.
15) Chicken Tortilla Soup
Chicken tortilla soup and a crunchy southwest salad are practically the same flavors served two ways, hot and cold. Fry your own tortilla strips for the soup, because the 5 minutes it takes beats anything from a bag. A salad of romaine, black beans, corn, and lime dressing rounds it into a full, bright dinner. Set out the toppings and let everyone finish both their bowl and their plate however they like.
16) Italian Pasta Salad
A big bowl of Italian pasta salad is a dinner and three lunches, which is the entire reason to make it. Cook the pasta a minute past al dente, because it firms up as it chills and you do not want it hard from the fridge. Dress it while it is still warm so the pasta drinks up the vinaigrette instead of just wearing it. Salami, provolone, and pepperoncini make it a full meal rather than a side.
17) Tomato, Cucumber and Feta Salad
This is the salad for the height of summer, when tomatoes are cheap and good and barely need anything done to them. Salt the tomatoes and cucumbers and let them drain for a few minutes, or their water thins the dressing to nothing. A slab of feta and a slick of olive oil, and torn bread to catch the juices, and it is a light dinner. It comes together faster than the soup it sits beside, which is the whole point on a hot night.
18) Shredded Chicken and Quinoa Salad
A shredded chicken and quinoa salad is the kind of hearty, protein-heavy plate that eats like a full dinner. Cook the quinoa in broth instead of water, because plain quinoa is bland and this is the cheapest place to fix that. Use leftover or rotisserie chicken and the whole thing comes together in the time it takes to chop a few vegetables. It holds beautifully, so make a big bowl and let it double as lunch for two days.
19) Sweet Potato and Arugula Salad
Roasted sweet potato over arugula is a warm salad that eats like a real dinner, especially in the cooler months. Roast the sweet potato until the edges caramelize, because that little bit of char is what makes it more than just soft cubes. The warm potato wilts the arugula slightly and a tangy dressing keeps the sweetness in check. Add a handful of nuts or seeds for crunch and it is a filling, cheap plate on its own.
20) Burrata and Prosciutto Salad
Burrata and prosciutto feels like a splurge but is really just a small amount of two good things doing a lot of work. Tear the burrata open at the table so the creamy center spills over the greens and becomes the dressing. Let it come to room temperature first, because cold burrata is firm and misses the whole point. With bread and a glass of something, it is a light, almost decadent dinner for very little.
