Your favourite budget recipes

[Annie Goolahey]

You know the kind you can throw together in 10 mins which fill you up...


Mine have to be
Leek and Potato soup (could feed a small army for about £2- serves 8!)

Mushroom Stroganoff (packet spices)- feeds 4 comfortably for £3.

What are yours?

[Pancake01]

In my youth when I was a poor graduate living in London, I used to make 'poor person's pie'. This was layers of sliced potato, onions, bacon, covered in chicken stock (from a cube) and topped with cheese, baked in the oven. It was great - was really filling and cost nothing. I used to serve it with a side dish of baked beans. :grin:

[Valentine]

Mine is a real basic quick cheaty meal.

Tin of ratatoui, pasta, tin of tomatos and cheese with salad.

[*kate*]

In my youth when I was a poor graduate living in London, I used to make 'poor person's pie'. This was layers of sliced potato, onions, bacon, covered in chicken stock (from a cube) and topped with cheese, baked in the oven. It was great - was really filling and cost nothing. I used to serve it with a side dish of baked beans. :grin: This reminds me of what is called "hotpot" in the North East (but isn't proper hotpot in the lancashire sense - at least I think it's not).

Layers of potato, layers of corned beef and onion, dissolved Oxo cube over it and baked in the oven until the taties are done. I hate corned beef normally but this is lovely. Is it just a NE thing or any other damsels had it?

[Annie Goolahey]

Layers of potato, layers of corned beef and onion, dissolved Oxo cube over it and baked in the oven until the taties are done. I hate corned beef normally but this is lovely. Is it just a NE thing or any other damsels had it?

sounds yummy

[*kate*]

And cheap, Lola, so it ticks all my boxes :lol:

[Angel]

Pretty much anything that can be cooked in bulk and frozen eg chilli, bolognese.

Pasta sauces eg basic tomato ones, tuna pasta is always on our menu when I'm cost cutting !

Veggie soups in various guises

Chicken casserole or roast chicken, always does a couple of meals too.

[noo noo]

macaroni cheese

corned beef hash

omelettes

baked tatties with cheese and beans

tuna & pasta bake

[scatterbrain]

Spag bol (incl baked beans to bulk it out)

Jambalaya (lots of rice with small amount of leftover chicken/ smoked sausage/ pepper, stock cube, dash of garlic/mild tabasco).

Baked potato, cheese & beans

Scatterbrain

[katkinn]

For quick cheap meals my fave is Chorizo pasta (just chorizo - packet from Tesco :oops: nothing flash!!), an onion, tin of toms, paprika and chilli flakes. And pasta. You can add loads of fresh basil but that does push the cost up and it is absolutely delish without it!

Burgers

I make beefburgers, spicy chicken/turkey/pork burgers, pork and apple burgers - all really cheap and really quick. Mince is SUCH a fab invention!!

Along the mince lines I also think you can't beat things like spag bol (which I love), chilli con carne and shepherds pie (both of which I absolutely hate) but they do take longer. BUT they're great for filling the freezer with and are uber cheap to make!!

I'm sure there are loads more that I do - will put my thinking cap on!

katkinn
xxxx

[katkinn]

For quick cheap meals my fave is Chorizo pasta (just chorizo - packet from Tesco :oops: nothing flash!!), an onion, tin of toms, paprika and chilli flakes. And pasta. You can add loads of fresh basil but that does push the cost up and it is absolutely delish without it!

Burgers

I make beefburgers, spicy chicken/turkey/pork burgers, pork and apple burgers - all really cheap and really quick. Mince is SUCH a fab invention!!

Along the mince lines I also think you can't beat things like spag bol (which I love), chilli con carne and shepherds pie (both of which I absolutely hate) but they do take longer. BUT they're great for filling the freezer with and are uber cheap to make!!

I'm sure there are loads more that I do - will put my thinking cap on!

katkinn
xxxx

[Annie Goolahey]

For quick cheap meals my fave is Chorizo pasta (just chorizo - packet from Tesco :oops: nothing flash!!), an onion, tin of toms, paprika and chilli flakes. And pasta. You can add loads of fresh basil but that does push the cost up and it is absolutely delish without it!



Sounds yum!

[Sparkly]

Lola how could you forget Irish Stew??!! :eating: Fish pie, various pasta dishes, good old beans on toast with grated cheese melted on top mmm....

[lucypede]

My impoverished student day's fodder was bread and butter, layered with onion and cheese, with egg and milk poured over and baked for 40 mins. Like a savoury sort of bread and butter pudding. Always had the ingredients and cost virtually nothing! Yummy too!

[Annie Goolahey]

Stew like my mammy makes...of course! ;)

Did my shopping today and got enough in to make a lot of the suggestions on here. It's a lean month in our house.
I've made my lunch up for work tomorrow- no more spending a fortune on manky sarnies when I can make my own perfectly fine and manky sarnies for a fraction of the price!

[WoollyNewty]

Well I find the cheapest foods are potatoes, dried pasta, seasonal veg, beans and similar (i.e. no meat or fresh fish) so when its the end of the month and cupboard is bare I make things like:

Tuna bake (fry an onion with baked beans, some worcester sauce, tomato ketchup and some herbs and then mix in 2 tins of tuna. Put in an oven dish and cover with breadcrumbs and grated cheese and bake. I hate baked beans but for some reason actually find this edible!).

Chick pea curry (soften 2 onions and some garlic in a wok and then add tins of chick peas and a table spoon of curry paste and some tomato puree. Add a big handful of fresh corriander, which you can grow in pots yourself for a few pennies. Serve with rice).

On the curry theme you can also mess around adding different things - potato and spinach is good or add yoghurt for a creamy touch or different veg you might have in the fridge.

Various pasta salads and also vegetable stir fries. Just made up really out of what I have in.

Jacket potatoes with various fillings.

Trays of roasted vegetables - cut up onions, peppers, potatoes, courgettes etc etc (whatever you want) and cover them in a bit of oil and balsamic vinegar and roast them in the oven until cooked. Grate cheese over them and serve.

Ohhh and of course, bowls of cereal :oops: !

[Annie Goolahey]

Made the Chorizo pasta t'other night, DH loved it!

Can I have more specific instructions about the corned beef too please?

[flipflop]

Vegetable and lentil soup, dead easy to make and very filling and tasty for lunch with a chunk of crusty bread.

[Cailín Deas]

Curried lentils and rice.

About half way through cooking lentils add some curry powder, turmeric, cumin or whatever you've got. Fry up some mustard seeds and onions and mix up with the lentils when they've cooked down and serve with rice.

Cheap, quick and protein-containing.

[chicken.babe]

My OH makes a lovely mince thing,its just mince,onions,oxo,bisto,tom sauce,brown sauce and thats it he serves it with loads of mash. Its really nice and fills you up:hungry:

[sapphire]

I love chicken breast (i use smartprice ones - i know they're probably crap but i've no money lol) with tomato puree and topped with a bit of cheese....! It's delish!!!
Can serve with mash pot or large mushrooms and veg!