Times are hard, the cost of living is rising, and so, like many people, I’m trying to cook cheaper meals for the family. I recently did the Piri-piri chicken wing, wedges and corn traybake from BBC Food.
Wings are cheap, potatoes are cheap, and corn isn’t crazy expensive. The limes were probably the most extravagent ingredient. Total price, probably £2-£3 per person.
It was great, and the family all enjoyed it. To the point where it would go on the regular rotation even if we had suitcases full of cash stashed around the place!
What are your best economical recipes that aren’t just beans, chickpeas, and rice? Meals you actively looks forward to, rather than just a budget way of getting calories inside you?
On my list for the coming week:
- Carbonara
- Sausage and mash with onion gravy
- Chicken Quesadillas
- Mac and Cheese with salad
- Spicy black bean tacos
- Stir-fried tofu
- Slow cooker leek and potato soup
I can supply recipes for any of these.
Curry.
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Any vegitables
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chickpeas or tofu
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rice
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curry paste or some spices
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coconut milk
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cut and steam vegetables, rice
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bake tofu
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mix everything
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wait 20min
Lovely vegan curry. Could switch to meat if you want. Costs me roughly €2,50 per portion for a very tasty and healthy meal.
And be hungry in an hour
+1 for curry! My favorite paste is Cock Brand Curry paste for 3€ per 200g, which is 4 portions. Absolutely worth it though, as it’s really the only seasoning you need and it turns out perfect every time. I usually throw in frozen Cauliflower and smoked Tofu.
If I’m feeling fancy, I also start the curry by searing a roughly chopped onion in a big scoop of vegan butter and mixing in a bit of flour, then slowly stirring in the coconut milk similar to how you make bechamel sauce. The flour thickens the curry up, which really improves the texture and shortens the cooking time, as you don’t have to wait for water to evaporate and thicken it up naturally.
I bought these 1kg buckets for €6 each at the local Asian supermarket. It’s highly concentrated, so one big spoon of the stuff is enough for 4 portions (more it too spicy for me). It lasts a looooong time. I’m halfway through the yellow one and I think I made 10 to 15, 4 portion meals. It’s kinda spicy (for Dutch standards) and has a great taste, I love it.
I like baking the tofu with soy sauce and ketjap to a crispy state (takes a while) but it’s that extra bite in all the softness of the marinated vegitables.
Some cashews are also nice to add but they are expensive AF.
What is ketjap if I may ask?
I had to look it up. I thought it was a common product, but apparently it’s Indonesian, so that’s why it’s common in the Netherlands (our dark colonial history) but not internationally.
It’s an Indonesian soy sauce. I found a wiki page with 14 languages, including Dutch, but not English xD
Here’s the Deepl translation:
Ketjap (Indonesian: kecap) is an Indonesian soy sauce. It is made from a fermented mixture of soybean flour, coarsely ground wheat, spices, sugar, and salt.
There are many types of ketjap, including:
Ketjap manis: very sweet soy sauce Ketjap sedang: less sweet soy sauce Ketjap asin: salty soy sauce Ketjap kendal: dark, syrupy soy sauce; similar in taste to ketjap manis Ketjap medja: dark, syrupy soy sauce; sweet and salty. Its flavor is between manis and asin Ketjap asin is used in the kitchen when preparing dishes, while ketjap manis is used at the table as an addition to flavor a meal. Ketjap manis is the most commonly used type.
Indonesian ketjap is characterized by its dark brown color and syrupy consistency. This differs from Chinese and Japanese soy sauces, which are thinner and usually not sweet.
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Tater tot casserole.
Potatoes and lardons
Soup, easy to make, you just need a big pan and some water and some ingredients
My student days:
Curry Super Noodles
After draining most of the water crack an egg in there and give it a small stir, also add small tin tuna and some frozen sweetcorn
Tip into a bowl and drown in Sweet Chili Sauce
Easy to make, only dirties one pan, has pretty much all the nutrients you need. Corresponds to no known world cuisine so name it whatever you want.
2 cans beans (black or pinto work) 4 tablespoons tomato sauce 2tsp cumin 1tsp onion powder 2 tsp oregano salt /pepper to taste 1/2c chicken broth
Mix them all together in a pot. Bring to a simmer then down to a low simmer until the beans soften and the sauce thickens. If the sauce thickens before the beans soften up, add a bit of water(or more broth if you have it)
Bulk cook the entré or protein on the weekend. Make a side everyday so you can switch it up.
The Taco Ground Beef/Turkey can then be prepared 5-7 different ways for every day of the week. Feel like you want a Quesadilla? Or a Taco? Roll it up and pour enchilada sauce on it?
It feels way less depressing than Microwaved rice for the 8th time in a row.
Cheese burger and tater tots. I can turn out a decent burger and tots in about 20 minutes. This is a simple cheese burger using frozen patties with pickles and onion. And the tots take about 14 minutes in the air fryer.
Indian food my friend! Loads of pulse based dishes that are not difficult, and very inexpensive. Dal, Channa, Pani Puri, Paneer etc… If it works for 1 billion modest Indians, it will work for you.
Even if you add meat, you can use the cheapest cuts and include the bones for savoury broth making built into the dish.
I did Gobi Aloo last week!
Pulse? Is that a typo for potato?
Pulse crops are things like lentils, peas, chickpeas, etc. Similar to how cereal crops refer to things like wheat, barley, oats, etc.
Thank you, never heard of that before
(And thanks to the guy asking for all the uncultured swines, like me)Apparently ‘pulses’ are a subset of legumes that are used for human consumption, as opposed to livestock feed.
In the states that’s not a commonly known word, probably because we eat almost none of those foods. Thanks for the info!
Pulse is pulse. No potato. Is only dream.
*Cries in Latvian.
Oh, man, I’d almost forgotten about the Latvian potato jokes from reddit :D
One of the small things that make your cold and dark day a little darker is finding an odd Latvia joke in the wild
Usually when people say “pulse” in this context they’re talking about lentils.
In my search for a reference for you, I discovered that it’s a bit more complicated than that, and many beans are considered pulses too.
See “terminology” section https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legume
Are you just sick of beans and rice or have you not found a recipe you like? If the latter, try this one. I made it a day or two ago and it’s good.
Serious Eats Foolproof Pan Pizza is one of my regulars. You can put all kinds of stuff on a pizza and it’s still good. I’m vegetarian so I use fake chicken and such, but here are a few of my favorites. (they all have mozzarella)
- Teriyaki sauce base, fried tofu, green beans, mushrooms, red onion, fried eggplant
- Barbecue sauce base, chicken, mushrooms, red onions, pickled jalapenos, sweet corn
- Refried bean base, onions, mushrooms, pickled jalapenos. Top with Romain salad w/ ranch. You can make the pickled jalapenos. And the refried bean base is just a can of beans with a little water, garlic, and salt. Heat to cook the garlic then blend/mash.
Roasted sweet potatoes, salt pepper, rosemary. Cut them into 1" cubes, cook around 12-15 min,once warmed up, roast em at 400 for another 5-10min until a little crispy. Delicious.
This is super tasty, but not really a complete meal. I usually make this with courgettes baked in the oven with cumin and a vegan burger. Home made guacamole with this is also nice but takes more effort.
cheap is tacos here.
heat up the tortillas
heat up whatever goes in the taco (usually some leftovers from the fridge, or some ground meat)
saute some onions
make some salsa
put it all together
eat the tacoyou should probably do it in the order that has them all done at the same time, but like tacos is usually leftovers. like, leftover pork butt, leftover beef, leftover whatever. it’s delicious.
Beans and rice takes many forms, and is generally cheap, and fairly nutritious
I’m a fan of pork butt (or shoulder) in a slow cooker all day (or oven on low) it manages to be pretty cheap per serving, and you can spice it to match any cuisine
Beef is just for special occasions unfortunately
Some fish, like tilapia, can be cheap proteins… I cook mine with lemon and dill
Canned proteins should not be overlooked
Bread is one of those things that is cheaper to buy than make IMO
If only cheese wasn’t so fucking expensive lol
The noble potato, savior of many a meal
Bread is one of those things that is cheaper to buy than make IMO
I checked my Walmart. Premium bread flour is $5.25 for 5lb (enough for 6-7 loaves). The cheapest bread is $2.50. Bread is a pain to make, I won’t deny that, but your time would have to be pretty valuable to erase the savings.
For me it was more the responsibility to keep the sourdough well and alive, without really baking a loaf every few days/once a week
At least it didn’t work for us last time
Maybe, I should give it another try and read up more before - because bread is a delicious rabbit holeI’m a huge fan of soda bread, which does not require sourdough (or yeast). You can go from “I have no bread” to “I am eating bread” in about 40 minutes.
The rising is done via buttermilk and baking soda.
Yes, I can make more money than I save by making my own bread with the time used
How is your bread so expensive? Cheapest loaf here is £0.45 for 800g in Aldi, most other shops same size is about £0.70-£0.90
Beans and rice is a very good suggestion. Grains alone are missing many amino-acids. Legumes add them. And legumes are almost as cheap as grains are.
Meat is expensive, so veggie meals first. Something simple, nourishing and tasty is Risotto
Indeed, I did a mushroom risotto last week!
Cook in bulk. Everything is cheaper if you can make 10 portions, divide and freeze.
