Plan me a three course meal for 4 for £20.

[IShitGlitter]

I have family over tomorrow for dinner. I would like to do 3 courses ideally for a budget of £20. No alcohol needed as we dont drink nor do they. I have kilos and kilos of chicken in the freezer, also steak mince and most stock cupboard spices, herbs oils ect. ........

Do you have a whole chicken that would feed everyone, or chicken thighs or what?

I love challenges like this!

I have breasts, mini breast fillets, a small whole chicken, drumsticks in a few different flavours.

Bruschetta
Lasagna
Frozen pudding of some sort

I made a chicken & ham pie for my dads birthday dinner & it was cheap & easy. Served with mash & broccoli. It’s a james Martin recipe. Very easy & extremely tasty.
Can’t help with starter & dessert as we didn’t have a starter & my sis in law made a birthday cake as dessert but I’m sure they can be cheaply made.
Let me know if you want the pie recipe. It served 6 large portions.

I'd do a risotto for the main (using Lindsay Bareham's cheat recipe) with chicken and a vegetable (possibly roast butternut squash). For starter, Lidl/Aldi pate and toast and for a pudding, sorbet with some of those little wafers. Those things are all cheap but nice.

Soup as a starter?
A chicken and rice dish. There will be loads of recipes if you google.
Bread and butter pudding

I was going to do chicken and chorizo risotto with rocket salad and nice garlic bread for main, it's always my fail safe thing I can cook and tastes really good so wanted something new ideally I like the idea of pate for starter.

I second the bread and butter pudding, Mary Berry does a good one

Italian night!

3 x raviolis with olive oil, Parmesan and rocket (pre filled fresh past) £5/6

Chicken cacciatore- use breasts and thighs/legs. https://cafedelites.com/chicken-cacciatore/ I skip the olives]
£3/4
Served with herby roast baby potatoes £2

Pannacotta with warmed frozen winter berries over the top £6/7

OK I'd do this as you already have chicken. Use the whole chicken (and the drumsticks if the chicken isn't big enough) if you haven't quite got the same spices/fresh ginger etc it doesn't matter - just make a spice rub with what you have. Couple of kilos of sweet pots and a tin of coconut milk and you're golden. Love this and it always turns out well. You don't need to serve it with anything but I sometimes serve it with rice for hungry people.

Starter of either a couple of packs of Indian starters (making things easy for you), or crudités and dips, you don't need much and something fresh is nice with this.

Pudding you just need something light. Decent ice cream with shaved chocolate? Do you have any Christmas liqueur left over? Get ice cream and make affogato?

Grilled bacon and asparagus / mackerel pate with homemade melba toast
Some sort of chicken stew or pie with tartiflette or mash and veg to use up the chicken
A lemon posset and shortbread / chocolate brownies with raspberries and creme fraiche/ apple individual tarts / Banoffe Pie

Fresh guacamole and chips, chicken enchiladas and Mexican rice with beans, chocolate tart .... about £10-12 depending on supermarket including buying chicken.

More upmarket - goats cheese tartlets with mixed leaves, pan fried lamb steaks in a redcurrent jus, roasted carrots and tender stem broccoli, lemon upside down sponge - around £20

Paella is always a great option too, I cheat and buy ready made tortilla for starter

Based on Tesco price, how about this for £20.36

Starter - easy salmon pate: £5.25

Large can pink salmon £3
200g cream cheese 49p
Packet dill - 76p
horseradish sauce - store cupboard
lemon juice - store cupboard
black pepper - store cupboard
3 x baguette - £1

Main Jamie Oliver Chicken Salina with Couscous - £9.82

Chicken - you already have (fine to use breasts just shorten the cooking time
3 aubergine - £2.40
2 red onions - 42p
200g cherry tomatoes - 90p
pine nuts - £3.60
2 lemons - 60p
fresh red chillies - 60p (or used dried crushed - not so nice but fine)
Fresh rosemary - 60p (or again used dried)
500g couscous - 70p
Oil - store cupboard
garlic - storecupboard
cinnamon stick - storecupboard

Dessert - Berry Sorbet with cream £5.29

1kg perfectly imperfect frozen berries £3.25
Carton apple juice 55p
maple syrup/honey - storecupboard
Single cream to serve - 79p
Fresh mint to garnish 70p

Lasagne, spaghetti bolognaise or chilli are all cheap and filling main courses.

Smoked mackerel pate is cheap & easy starter.

Apple crumble for pudding with custard, or cream or ice-cream if your budget stretches that far.

I would do spinach and ricotta tortellini for a starter with sage butter (add some vegetable stock to the butter as it melts and whisk until it comes to the boil then add sage, black pepper and Parmesan or grana Padano which is cheaper)

Chicken cacciatore for main

panacotta for dessert (I make it with buttermilk, single cream, condensed milk and gelatine leaf - ideally you want a vanilla pod but these days that’s nearly half your budget!)

Tiramisu for desert?