31 Budget-Friendly Dessert Recipes You Need To Try ASAP

Sticker shock is an all-too-common phenomenon for many shoppers. The price of basic staples and essentials isn't just the same anymore, and higher prices may cause you to think more and more about what you're buying, forcing you to make budget-informed decisions about what you add to your cart or make for meals. 

Lucky for you, you won't have to cut out dessert if you're planning on trimming back on your grocery expenses. We've curated a list of some simple and low-cost desserts that you can make for easy weeknight treats or if you're feeding a crowd. These desserts embody thriftiness in many different ways; some have short ingredient lists, while others are made with low-cost ingredients that you can find at discount grocery stores like Aldi or Trader Joe's. Despite being budget-friendly, these recipes don't cut corners on flavor; they can be enjoyed by eaters of all ages and will definitely curb your cravings for a sweet treat.

No childhood summer outing was complete without a stop at the ice cream truck. Now, you can incorporate that same, nostalgic vibe into an adult-ish dessert with these snow cone cake pops. 

This thrifty recipe is made with boxed cake mix, which is prepared and chilled before being dunked into melted almond bark to create a beautiful white coating. Three stripes of colored sanding sugar add the finishing touch to this recipe and make it one that the kids (and adults) can't get enough of, no matter what the temperature is outside. 

Recipe: Snow Cone Summer Cake Pops

"Cake" might make you think about expensive ingredients and complex preparations, but this cherry cola dump cake is anything but that. It's made with canned cherry pie filling — which is about as easy to find as it's inexpensive — cake mix, cola, and chocolate chips. There's no eggs and you don't even have to do more to the cake mix than just mixing it with the chocolate and the cola, pouring it over the filling, and baking it. It's a cheaper and far easier-to-make take on a Black Forest cake — though it's just as delicious. 

Recipe: Cherry Cola Dump Cake

Desserts don't always have to be glamorous. As long as they're a sweet way to end a meal, they will more than suffice. If you have a sweet tooth, you will appreciate how simple and effective of a dessert these cathedral cookies are. 

These cookies resemble stained glass windows, thanks to the addition of colorful mini marshmallows. The mallows are mixed with melted chocolate before being rolled up in one of three topping variations. This recipe offers tons of room to play with flavors and the ingredients you have on hand. 

Recipe: Cathedral Cookies Three Ways

Puppy chow isn't just a great and inexpensive dessert, but it's also the ultimate road trip snack. The ingredient list for this recipe is pared down and simple: rice Chex cereal, chocolate, coconut flakes, canned or jarred caramel sauce, and powdered sugar. 

When you mix the melted chocolate with the cereal pieces and add-in your sweet additions, you'll get a flavor akin to Girl Scout Samoas, just in a more snackable form. If you want to reduce your cost even more, you can opt for generic-brand cereal over the brand-name Chex. 

Recipe: Chocolate-Coconut Puppy Chow

If you're looking for a dessert option that's as wholesome as it's inexpensive, check out this baked rice pudding. Toss short-grain rice together with canned condensed milk, milk, and flavoring agents like vanilla extract and cinnamon — which you might have on hand already. 

You can serve rice pudding so many different ways, including with fresh (or frozen) berries, jam, or just with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. It also keeps well in the fridge for several days, so you can stretch the leftovers out throughout the week. 

Recipe: Baked Rice Pudding

Fried apples are the simple and sweet dessert that you didn't know you needed. The sliced fruit just needs to simmer in a sauce made with inexpensive and easy-to-find ingredients, like butter, brown sugar, and basic pantry spices, until soft. 

You can use these apples as a topping for ice cream or puddings, or repurpose it for your morning bowl of oatmeal. Though, we won't blame you if you eat them straight from the pan, either.

Recipe: Warm Spiced Southern Fried Apples

It turns out that you can enjoy cobblers during more than just the summer months — thanks to canned fruit. This plum cobbler recipe utilizes canned plums instead of fresh ones, which means they're more accessible outside of the growing season and will do less damage on your wallet than the fresh stuff. Just make sure that you remove the pits and drain out the excess juice before working with the fruit, as you don't want to make your cobbler too wet. 

Recipe: Winter-Spiced Plum Cobbler

Posset is like a cross between a sorbet and a smoothie. It's smooth, creamy, and just as satisfying. This lemon posset recipe only calls for a few ingredients — lemons, heavy cream, and white sugar — all of which you may stocked up in your fridge and pantry already.

Posset is far easier to make than ice cream. Though you'll just want to make sure it has adequate time to chill and set before you eat it.

Recipe: Lemon Posset

Want to get the kids involved with cooking? Make rock candy! It's a timeless sweet that doubles as an after-dinner treat. 

The process for making rock candy is a little tricky and can take a few days, but the result is more than worth it. You can even swirl the extra rock candy into a pitcher of sweet tea or use it as a garnish for lemon cupcakes or cake. 

Recipe: Homemade Lemon Rock Candy

Apple cobbler is a timeless dessert — and for good reason. You can find apples in the grocery store at any time of year, and the rest of the ingredients for this recipe are inexpensive pantry staples that don't require too much thought or time to bring together. 

The biscuit topping on this cobbler is homemade, but that's not to say you can't swap it out with a cheap, store-bought biscuit mix either. Serve it with a dollop of whipped cream or some vanilla ice cream. 

Recipe: Classic Apple Cobbler

Buckeyes may be a big thing in Ohio, but they can also be a great and inexpensive addition to your dessert rotation regardless of where you live. All you need is peanut butter, which you can buy off-brand to save some money, softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and melted chocolate. 

Once the ingredients, sans chocolate, have been brought together, they can be dipped into the microwaved chocolate to form the buckeye's signature shape. This would be a great dessert to make with kids, or if you're someone who prefers sweet and savory mashups over solely sweet flavors. 

Recipe: Easy Buckeyes

If you want to jump on the sweet-and-savory train, try out a batch of these chocolate-covered pretzels. Our recipe makes three variations of them: chocolate-peanut butter, white chocolate and yogurt, and chocolate caramel. To keep costs low, opt for a jarred caramel sauce and generic yogurt brand. 

These pretzels make an excellent snack to eat when you're on the couch watching a movie or when you need a sweet treat break during the day. They're versatile, fun, and super kid-friendly, too. 

Recipe: Trio of Chocolate-Covered Pretzels

Before you start making this banana split chocolate bark, you're going to want to make a trip to your local Trader Joe's to stock up on all the dried fruit options you can find, including banana chips, freeze-dried strawberries, dried sweet cherries, and dried pineapple. The fruits are the perfect contrast to the decadent, melted double-chocolate base. 

This bark would make a great treat to gift to family and friends, as it keeps well and has a delightful crunchiness to it. Its sweet and bright flavor makes it a far cry from the dense and heavy chocolate bark of years past. 

Recipe: Banana Split Chocolate Bark

English toffee is nothing short of a decadent treat. Although you might think that candy-making is a difficult venture to get started in, this recipe makes it easy — and keeps the ingredient list short (and sweet). 

Light brown sugar and butter join up with melted chocolate, chopped pecans, and sea salt for a sweet-salty dessert that everyone will love. Though this recipe is made with pecans, you can always swap these nuts for whatever you have on-hand or a cheaper alternative, or omit them entirely. 

Recipe: Classic 5-Ingredient English Toffee

If you are someone who cannot end your day without an obligatory sweet treat, you probably know all too well how buying pint after pint of ice cream can really rack up your grocery bills. This homemade vanilla ice cream recipe offers an inexpensive alternative, and you don't even need to invest in a machine to make it. 

You can either use canned dulce de leche or boil a can of condensed milk to turn it into the gooey, buttery caramel sauce. And fear not: The eight-hour freeze time is more than worth it. 

Recipe: No-Churn Vanilla Dulce De Leche Homemade Ice Cream

Making eclairs yourself not only requires a whole lot of ingredients, but you also have to have substantial pastry know-how in your back pocket. This no-bake eclair cake simplifies things as much as possible and keeps the ingredient list abbreviated. 

Layers of pudding, whipped cream, cream cheese, homemade chocolate ganache, and graham crackers come together for a tasty dessert for any time of year. Though, you may want to try it out in the warmer months when the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. 

Recipe: Simply Sweet No-Bake Eclair Cake

Sometimes, "thrifty" recipes are more about cutting down on waste than having short ingredient lists. Take this apple brown betty recipe for example. It's made with leftover bread, which will allow you to salvage an ingredient otherwise destined for the trash. Intersperse the chopped apples with the cubed bread and a spiced cinnamon-sugar mixture and let it bake until it's golden brown and fragrant. 

Recipe: Classic Apple Brown Betty À La Mode

There's something about the word "granita" that makes it sound a like quite the sophisticated dessert, but it's far from it. All you'll need to do is freeze a simple syrup with a little bit of citrus juice and scoop the ice out when you're ready to serve it. 

The trickiest thing about making a granita is that you'll want to scrape the surface of it every 30 minutes or so to prevent it from turning into a solid block of ice. Your efforts will be rewarded with a sweet, refreshing treat made with only a few ingredients.

Recipe: Five-Ingredient Basil Citrus Granita

Fall is the season for all things pumpkin, and that includes this pared-down truffle recipe. The interior is made with canned pumpkin, crumbled gingersnap cookies (or substitute with speculoos), and cream cheese. Once the truffles have been rolled up into balls, they can be dipped into a coating of white chocolate and left to harden. 

These little bites capture the fall essence that you're after, all without being super expensive. You can even use off-brand cookies rather than name-brand ones, as they're going to get crumbled up into the filling anyway. 

Recipe: White Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Truffles

If you're looking to feed a crowd dessert on a budget, look no further than this s'mores dip. Our recipe uses dark chocolate, but you can always swap this out with a cheaper and less heavy alternative. The melted chocolate is added to a cream cheese base, which is layered into a baking dish, topped with marshmallows, and broiled for a few minutes until melty. 

This recipe is designed to be served with graham crackers — it's a s'mores dip, after all — though you might also want to try pretzels for a sublime sweet-and-salty combo. 

Recipe: Gooey S'mores Dip

Don't worry, we weren't going to leave you without a crescent roll recipe. In the case of these apple dumplings, the canned dough is used as a wrapping for the apple slices. The dough is coated in a sweet cinnamon-sugar topping before it's baked away until fragrant and crispy. 

These dumplings would be excellent served with ice cream or whipped cream. They also make a convenient, grab-and-go option to satisfy your mid-day sweet craving. 

Recipe: Mini Apple Dumplings

Indulging in an after-dinner mint is a tradition for some. If you're looking to switch up your mint game, though, you may want to try experimenting with these Andes-stuffed cream cheese mints. 

The recipe requires very few ingredients, including the Andes mints, cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, and butter. The most expensive item on this list is probably the peppermint extract, but you won't need a ton of it to flavor a batch of these mints. And, you can always repurpose it for your holiday season baking.

Recipe: Andes-Stuffed Elevated Cream Cheese Mints

This dessert looks so sophisticated that you probably wouldn't be able to guess that it's made with only three ingredients. The base of the bark is melted white chocolate, which is then topped with crushed meringue cookies and freeze-dried strawberries. These ingredients are relatively easy to source at a grocery store; you don't even have to make your own meringue cookies for it. 

Unlike other chocolate barks, this dessert is light and summery. It would also make a great option to break up and give as a gift to someone special. 

Recipe: Eton Mess-Style Summer Chocolate Bark

Sometimes, the craving for a classic vanilla shake just hits and there's nothing that you can do to stop it — except buy or make one yourself. This recipe is a thrifty alternative to a restaurant or fast food shake, and you only need to have vanilla ice cream and milk on hand to make it.

Since the ice cream is going to be blended up anyway, don't feel that you have to purchase a super premium vanilla ice cream brand. Buy a bottom-shelf ice cream and spend your money on fun garnishes and flavor add-ins instead. 

Recipe: Old-Fashioned Vanilla Milkshake

The best thing about this muddy buddies recipe is that you can pick up most of the items you need for it at a convenience store — including the chocolate-covered pretzels, rice Chex, and jar of Nutella. While the hazelnuts may be a little bit more of a premium find, you won't need a ton of them. It's a great on-the-go snack or light dessert that features a diverse array of textures. 

Recipe: Festive Holiday Muddy Buddies

You might not think about fudge being an incredibly budget-friendly dessert, but wait until you see this straight-to-the-point ingredient list and instructions for this dark chocolate peppermint fudge. Melt down the butter, condensed milk, and chocolate with a tad of mint extract, crush up your peppermints on top, and let it set before slicing into it. 

This fudge makes candy-making seem like an easy task, and all of the eaters in your home will love the fresh, minty flavor of it. Just make sure to save us a piece! 

Recipe: Dark Chocolate Peppermint Fudge

Haystacks are like thrifty desserts 101. Just toss chow mein noodles with melted chocolate, melted butterscotch chips, and peanut butter for the perfect mashup of flavors. These treats are crispy, crunchy, and satisfying — not to mention inexpensive. 

Recipe: Chocolate Peanut Butter Haystacks

No Southern dessert table is complete without ambrosia salad. Our recipe is made with canned fruit, in addition to inexpensive add-ins like sour cream and whipped topping. It's as timeless as it's tasty, and it would make a solid addition to an array of other vintage dishes, like the equally-as-inexpensive Watergate salad. 

Recipe: Old-Fashioned Ambrosia Salad

Canned cinnamon rolls are useful for more than just a quick breakfast. They're also the base of this crafty cinnamon roll monkey bread. Simply tear up the rolls into little pieces, roll them in cinnamon and sugar, and stick them in a greased Bundt pan. 

Once the Bundt is baked, you can drizzle on some of that cinnamon roll icing included in the can. It's a great shareable dessert, and one that won't make too much of an impact on your grocery bill. 

Recipe: Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread

Cheesecakes are very classy, and sometimes fussy, desserts — but this sopapilla cheesecake is far from it. It brings together layers of cinnamon-sugar-topped canned crescent roll dough and a simple whipped cream cheese filling. If you want to avoid bain maries, this is the recipe you'll want to make, as you can just bake it in your oven as you would any other dessert — no water baths involved. 

Recipe: Easy Sopapilla Cheesecake

Fudge is a decadent treat; you won't need to eat a ton of it to curb your sweet tooth. This recipe features a satisfying blend of simple ingredients, like evaporated milk, marshmallow creme, butter, and chocolate chips. Walnuts and the flavor extracts are the pricier additions to this recipe, but you can always omit them and still get a flavorful fudge out of it. 

Recipe: Easy Fantasy Fudge