Grocery prices haven’t stopped climbing, which makes the viral $25 grocery challenge considerably harder than it might have been a few years ago. The USDA’s July 2026 Food Price Outlook forecasts that food-at-home prices will rise 2.7% this year, while federal data show grocery prices in June were already 2.7% higher than a year earlier. So we wanted to test the math behind a simple question: Can $25 still buy enough groceries to make seven dinners for a family of four? The answer is technically yes under the right circumstances—but only if you’re willing to build meals around inexpensive staples, cook from scratch, reuse ingredients aggressively and already have a few basics in the pantry. Here’s what a realistic $25 dinner plan could look like in 2026.
