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What is your cheapest tasty dish?

97 replies

hidinginthenightgarden · 24/08/2019 07:15

Looking for a few cheap and cheerful recipes.
My cheap dish is dhal.
20-30p of lentils, coconut milk for 70p, passata 33p, onion, 20p = £1.53

OP posts:
Stilllivinginazoo · 25/08/2019 06:17

Pea pesto.
Cheap peas cooked and blended with basil,garlic and parsley and little olive oil .season well
Upgrade it switch oil out for nut butter or add sunflower seeds or ground almonds
Tinker with the herbs too.mint and parsley is popular with my children

Toss pasta.add little cheese if have any

Pasta mix with sardines in tomato sauce parsley,peas or sweetcorn

If you have lots leftover mushrooms finely chop and used as sub for mince..makes a lovely meat free chilli

Curlyshabtree · 25/08/2019 06:24

Chana Masala. Vegan too. If you have the spices in already then it’s really cheap - 2 tins chick peas and 2 tinned of plum tomatoes.

Nothingcomesforfree · 25/08/2019 07:36

Chicken livers and really cheap in the frozen section. Defrost and fry them with a bit of bacon ,onion and balsamic vinegar.
Chuck over a nice green salad. Really tasty.

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JapaneseBirdPainting · 25/08/2019 07:36

Loving thisnthread. Inspired to do ratattouille tonight from this!!

tmh88 · 25/08/2019 07:40

Well mines probably Cajun chicken (£1 including chicken and spice), penne pasta (10p) and bisto cheese sauce (10p) it takes me about 10 minutes to make, don’t have it all the time but it’s my go to quick tasty meal

MaybeitsMaybelline · 25/08/2019 07:41

Spaghetti, a knob of butter and a tablespoon of finely grated hard cheese (cheaper Parmesan)

SinkGirl · 25/08/2019 07:44

Pasta with passata, a spoonful of creme fraiche, a handful of grated cheese or some Parmesan and some fresh basil, garlic, salt and pepper. Even without the cheese it’s still lovely.

If I don’t have a basil plant on the go, I buy a pack of fresh basil, chop it and freeze it in ice cube containers with olive oil (although I recently bought a cheap back of frozen basil from Waitrose alongside chopped frozen garlic and one of ginger - they were really not expensive and live in the freezer for ages)

Parmesan freezes brilliantly so I buy a piece, grate it and stash it in the freezer - lasts ages.

Similarly, pasta with butter, sage fried in the butter, lots of black pepper and some Parmesan. Better with fresh pasta if you can make your own but still fine with dried stuff. Absolutely best with spinach and ricotta tortellini but then not as cheap!

OrangeJustice · 25/08/2019 07:54

.

PersonaNonGarter · 25/08/2019 07:56

Baked Potatoes - always and with everything.

Lentils with bacon, cinnamon and allspice. Fry chopped veg in butter with the spices, add lentils and stock. Cook. You can add tomatoes but I don’t usually.

feelingverylazytoday · 25/08/2019 08:32

1 jar light pasta sauce (or homemade sauce), frozen spinach, 4- 8 eggs, chilli flakes. Cook spinach in sauce, add chilli flakes then poach eggs in sauce. Serve with potatoes or rice.
As above, but replace eggs with a tin of chick peas, and any other vegetables you have. Serve with rice or pasta.
Both these recipes come in at well under a pound per portion.
Sainsburys 5 beans in chilli sauce, 2 tomatoes, 1 onion. Fry onion and tomato, add beans, serve with rice. Serves 2 @ 40p per portion.

feelingverylazytoday · 25/08/2019 08:39

Forgot one.
Split pea stew/soup. Yellow split peas, onion, carrots, curry powder, potatoes. Absolutely love this in the winter, and it's about 25 p per portion of good nutritious food.

DeathMetalMum · 25/08/2019 08:49

One of my cheapest.

Four slices of smoked bacon chopped 75p(ish)
One courgette 25-50p
Creme fraiche 89p
Small handful of parmesan 30p ish
One garlic clove
Pack of spaghetti.

Chop bacon, and fry til cooked, add grated courgette cook on high for 5-10 mins then add crushed garlic and cook for another 5 mins. Then add cooked pasta, creme fraiche, parmesan and some of the pasta water to the bacon/courgette and remove from the heat and mix. You get a nice creamy pasta sauce.

Starlight2004 · 25/08/2019 08:53

Shop bought chilli pesto - 1 jar with value spaghetti and a bit of Parmesan comes in at about £2.50 for 4 people so that's a weekly meal for us.

Bean burgers made with a tin of value kidney beans, a tin of bean salad and some chopped spring onions and chilli flakes and salsa and bread crumbs mashed and formed to burgers, grilled and served in buns comes in at around £3 for 4 of us

Falafels made with chic peas and served in pitta breads or wraps with salad and mayo or another dip is another cheap meal. We do lots of veggie options

BiBiBirdie · 25/08/2019 08:58

If I've got leftover chicken and potatoes from a roast, i stick them in an oven tray, add a chopped red onion, if I have a pepper lying around (usually always one in my fridge) I bung that in, then some Olive oil and spicy tomato paste (I have these from making fajitas as my DCs won't eat it) and put it on a medium heat in the oven.
Leftover traybake, I make it all the time, DH had a mate turn up just as I was finishing it off a few weeks ago and he pinched some too, now he makes it as well!

PurpleWithRed · 25/08/2019 09:03

Put a tin of anchovies in a frying pan and fry until they mush, then add breadcrumbs (saved from stale bread) and fry till crispy.

Meanwhile boil pasta - something stringy is best like good old spaghetti.

Chop and gently fry garlic and a chili (according to taste), add a tin or two of sardines mashed up a bit, stir through the pasta, add lemon juice and something leafy and green like spinach (great for that bag of rocket and watercresss salad you didnt quite use up). Sprinkle on the anchovy breadcrumbs and enjoy.

Bluesheep8 · 25/08/2019 10:01

Corned beef mish mash:

Fry onion and lots of garlic
Add a can of baked beans and tinned tomatoes or passata
Add cubed corned beef and parboiled quartered new potatoes
A good glug of Worcester sauce
Sprinkle over grated cheese and melt.

Delicious! Grin

Bluesheep8 · 25/08/2019 10:03

Obviously cook it all together for about 10 mins

Moodyfoodie · 25/08/2019 10:05

Veggie chilli. 1 red onion, garlic, few mushrooms, tin kidney beans and passata, chilli powder. Serve with pitta.

KurriKawari · 25/08/2019 10:06

Boil 150g pasta in a pan.
Fry one onion, add crushed dried chillies, splash of lemon juice, 150ml plain yogurt, 75g salmon fish paste. Stir everything. Add in the pasta when done. Serves 2.

Clutterbugsmum · 25/08/2019 10:17

Not necessarily 'cheap' meals but more using leftovers.

Bacon, pea pasta.

Fry a chopped onion and a couple of cut up bacon rashers per person until brown and crispy.
Boil some pasta (whatever you have) with a couple of handfuls of peas.
When cooked mix together with a couple of spoons of parmesan and some black pepper.

Use leftover meat into fried rice, or stir fry's.

If it just about spending less money then plan a couple of cheap/leftover meals in your week.

JapaneseBirdPainting · 25/08/2019 11:42

Whitebowls my mum used to make tuna fricasse, but she called it tuna cassrole. She would scatter the top with sliced boiled egg and breadcrumbs. It was amazing. It remains one of my favourite comfort food dishes. She also did another version with seafood mix.

Happy days.

KurriKawari · 25/08/2019 12:33

Also for dessert Google "three ingredient chocolate brownies mumsnet". We made it with Tesco own brand chocolate spread rather than nutella and still lovely.

Jamhandprints · 25/08/2019 12:38

I love cheesy tuna pasta but my family won't eat it so it doesn't work out so cheap. Just cooked pasta, tin of tuna in oil and grated cheese mixed in and on top, grill to melt top. Yum Yum...how can they not like it?!

graziemille567 · 25/08/2019 13:29

Fried halloumi topped with fried eggs is a winner in this house for a cheap and easy lunch.
Often do pasta with jarred pesto and frozen peas - throw in some leftover chicken if there's any in the fridge from a Sunday roast.

Gottoloveabagel · 25/08/2019 13:45

Roast veg that's lingering in the bottom of the fridge with some oil and curry powder, whist it's roasting boil rice and an egg (or 2) per person. Once veg is cooked mix with the rice and serve with the eggs. Delicious!