Do you know any 20 minute dinners for £2?

[TheIndisputableRuth]

I've set myself a challenge to find nice dinner recipes (for 4) that cost about £2 and take 20 minutes (or less) to make.

So far:

Pasta, feta & spinach
500 g pasta (Aldi 29p)
300g feta cheese crumbled (Aldi (£97p)
250 g frozen spinach (Asda £35p)
50 ml olive oil (Aldi 15p)
25 ml spoon basalmic vinegar (Aldi 5p)
i/2 teaspon garlic granules (Asda 10p)

Put pasta on
Defrost spinach in microwave & cook a bit
Squeeze out spinach
Mix all ingredients together in a big bowl

Do you know any?
I'll post some more when I can.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Egg, chips and peas. :)

Dhal and rice (my dhal would be more expensive because I use coconut milk plus a shedload of coriander, but a basic one would be cheap if you had a decent store cupboard of spices)

[TheIndisputableRuth]

Thanks!
Love both of those.

[vincentaroony]

It's pasta again but it's lovely! Sorry not sure on quantities:

Linguine or spaghetti for 4 people
A can or carton of passata
Bit of ginger
Couple of cloves garlic
Tin of tuna
Red chilli (fresh or dried flakes)
Parsley (again fresh or dried depending on if you have any cash left!)

Chop ginger and garlic, soften in a frying pan in a splash of olive oil. Chop the chilli and add to the pan. Add the passata and ginger. Meanwhile cook the spaghetti/linguine.

Drain pasta, add half the sauce and serve with the rest of the sauce dolloped on top. Family favourite in our house. The sauce freezes really well too if you make a big batch.

[vincentaroony]

Oh I forgot to sprinkle in the parsley!

[Middleagedmotheroftwo]

Noodles, frozen peas, onions, peanut butter, lemon juice, chilli powder and ginger. And some left over meat if you have any.

[Middleagedmotheroftwo]

Any home made veg soup.

[clary]

Veg risotto - arborio rice is £1 for 500g and you need about 3/4 of a packet; fry some veg eg leeks, mushrooms, onions in a bit of butter, add rice, pour on boiling water bit by bit until the rice is soft; at the end throw in some more butter and a good grating of cheese.

Not very detailed costings but I am sure you could do the veg, cheese etc for less than £1.20.

[ancientbuchanan]

Sausage, mash and cabbage. .

Until and carrot soup.

If your 20 mins is preparation time, and you have a slow cooker, then any stew works. Cheap protein, potatoes herbs veg and spices, easy peasy under 2 pounds.

[TheIndisputableRuth]

Ooh, thanks!

There's a week's meal plan there!

[TheIndisputableRuth]

I just did vincentaroony's spaghetti and tuna, it was lovely! It costs less than £2 for four and it takes much less than 20 minutes.

Pricing –

Spaghetti & tuna £1.80
400 g spaghetti (15p Aldi)
Tin of tomatoes (31p Aldi)
Bit of ginger (13 p Sainsburys)
Shake of garlic granules (10p Asda)
Tin of tuna flakes (41 p Aldi)
Pinch chilli powder (5p Aldi)
Pinch dried parsley (5p Aldi)
100g cheese (50p Aldi)
Splash olive oil (10p)

[StairsInTheNight]

Tuna, pasta, sweetcorn, peppers and mayonnaise. It's not the best meal ever but it's cheap and DS will eat it.

Also stew and dumplings.

Sliced boiled potatoes, roasted. While they are roasting fry some onion, bacon and mushrooms. Add to the potatoes, mix well and grate cheese over top. Put back in oven until cheese melts.

[StairsInTheNight]

Just realised the stew and potato thing will take longer than 20 mins, sorry!

[TheIndisputableRuth]

The potato thing sounds lovely though, so I'm doing it. The boiled potatoes could've been done a night or two before from another cooking session, to save time.

Thank you!

[bluestrawhat]

Lentil dhal, veggie curry, veggie chilli, beans on toast, scrambled egg on toast, omelette, baked potatoes and beans

[justicewomen]

Im not sure of the costings but a family favourite is cubed halloumi and cubed saute potatoes stirred into a tomato sauce (ie fry onion, garlic, tinned tomatoes, pinches of dried oregano and mint) and warmed through until the halloumi has softened slightly. How much you make depends on hunger. Its really tasty

[momwhereismy]

Marking my place :)

[PotteringAlong]

Beans on toast!

[GilbertBlytheWouldGetIt]

Potato wedges and veggie chilli

[Whatamessiamin]

This is great and super cheap to make!

Egg Muffins!!! These are one of my all-time favorite & EASY meal-preps.

Spray a muffin/cupcake pan w/ non-stick spray.
Fill with ANYthing you want: ham & broccoli, chicken & carrots, spinach w/ feta & tomatoes, steak & bell peppers....whatever you have in the fridge. (Note: add all veggies RAW - they will cook to perfection during the baking process)
Mix approx 1 egg per/muffin in a blender w/ a splash of milk. Pour directly into each cup just below the rim.
Top with shredded or sliced cheeses of your choice.
Bake at 425 degrees for approx 20 min.
Let cool before removing from pan
These can be stored in your fridge for up to 3-4 days! Simply warm in the microwave for a quick breakfast on-the-go!

[Whatamessiamin]

It's farenheit so it will be about 200 degrees celcius

[TheIndisputableRuth]

Thank you - brilliant ideas. I'll be back with costings and timings!

[PotteringAlong]

How about savoury pancakes? The pancake batter is pence, filled with scrambled egg, cheese and bacon would definitely come under the £2.

Or fill them with cheese, onion and fried potatoes (either fresh or tinned)?

[BreezefromtheWest]

Have you seen Jamie Oliver's 15 min meal book - i have just made two cheap recipes from there - veg chilli with chick peas, black eye beans, peppers and falafels. Both are really good and although I haven't costed them, think they should be within your budget.

[TheIndisputableRuth]

I was thinking about pancakes.
Will investigate. Thank you!

Thank you for the Jamie Oliver book, I didn't know he had a 15 minute one!

[PotteringAlong]

Bean stew? A couple of tins of mixed beans, tins of tomatoes and root veg (it'll nearly be the time when you get those stew packs for £1). Chilli flakes in it to give to some oomph.

Mop it up worth crusty bread - make your own to come under budget or buy a baguette if feeling flash!