What cheap food staples do you always keep in the pantry for when money is tight?

Hamburger Gravy over Rice
4-6 servings of Minute rice prepared normally
1 lb ground beef (or ground turkey) browned
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
Add the can of cream of mushroom soup to one can of water and mix...pour over browned hamburger and simmer until warm enough to eat.
Pour hamburger mixture over serving of rice.
We usually serve mixed veggies or corn with this meal.

Tacos
Flour totillas
pack of taco seasoning
ground beef
canned tomatoes
canned black beans/ or refried if prefered
shredded cheese
taco sauce
avacado

Tater Tot Casserole
1 package frozen tater tots, 1lb. ground hamburger (or turkey) 1 can cream of mushroom soup, mixed veggies (frozen or canned)
spray a casserole dish with cooking spray, spread tater tots over the bottom covering it, brown hamburger in skillet, add one can of water to one can of cream of mushroom and mix, pour mixture over browned hamburger and mix well, pour entire mixture over tater tots, pour any left over tater tots over the top of the casserole. (I mix the veggies into the casserole too, but you can keep them seperate) Bake by directions on tatertot bag and check after that time, possibly need 5-10 minutes more.

I don't really have a handful of staple meals. I have a lot of things I make often because my family likes them so much. But I do have item staples I keep around. Instant rice and regular brown rice, hamburger in the freezer, flour and other cooking ingredients, pastas, pasta sauces, canned diced tomatoes and green beans, various frozen veggies, Oh and boxed mac and cheese for the kids just in case. But I have set meals for the week so I can make a shopping list so I never make any meal at the last minute. I might bake something on a whim but all my meals are decided the week before. It saves me money since I can plan for tight weeks and makes it simpler when trying to keep up with the daily lives of my nutty family. I couldn't imagine deciding what was for dinner when it was time to make it.

Spaghetti or plain pasta
I always have pasta on hand and at least one jar of red sauce. If it's just me and the kids we just use the pasta ... cook like normal and then I add butter and garlic and sprinkle mozerella cheese on top. If it's everyone I cook the sauce too and possibly make garlic bread.

Pasta, rice, canned beans, tortillas, chili, hot dogs.
Look for roasts. I bought two this week because they were on sale. That will give me at least two meals per roast for my family.
Whole chickens because you can use them to make soup also. (I always have stuff for chicken soup.)
Adding a soup day and sandwich day are good ways of keeping cost down. Also, breakfast for dinner can be cheap.

Freezer staples:
hashbrowns
chicken breasts
ground beef
frozen veggies

Pantry staples:
gravy packets
pasta, spaghetti
tomato sauce/paste
Bisquick

-Spaghetti and spaghetti sauce (Prego!!)
-Bread for sandwiches
-Mac & Cheese
-Pasta Salad
-Uncooked white rice
-Uncooked black beans
-Uncooked lentils
-Cereal with milk (gotta have our breakfast haha)
-Ravioli/Spaghettios (or other canned pasta in sauce)

As you can tell...we love pasta =3 We're horrible and don't eat enough vegetables.

Ours is Spaghetti. I usually have a can of Hunt's Spaghetti sauce to which is add browned ground beef/turkey, a can of diced tomatoes and my own spices like garlic and onion and Italian seasons. The sauce comes with spices already, but I like to add more. If I have carrots, I usually toss them in the food processor and then add them when I am browning the meat. That adds more nutrition to the meal. I always have some sort of pasta, it's not always spaghetti noodles. In all, it only takes about 40 minutes start to finish, so when I am in need of a quick, good meal, this is what I do.

Chile mac or chile over rice. Can of chile poured over speghetti or rice. My 12 year old daughter loves this and it is a complete protein if you use the vegetarian chile with beans.